writerundle

Thasos is sleeping without air-conditioning, and awakening to fresh air coming in through the window screens.  Stepping outside and being able to breathe in deeply.  Clean air! Thasos is trading sugar and butter for the local honey and olive oil.  Honey is drizzled in our morning tea, yogurt, and mealtime desserts.  Olive oil lends satisfaction to every dish. Thasos is eating meals under a canopy of grapevines and olive trees in an open-air restaurant.  No roof above allows us a view of the stars and the moon at night, and sunshine filters through and warms our skin.  Herbs and vegetables are adjacent to the tables, picked just before their use is needed. Thasos is conscious eating, noticing the ingredients in each course.  Slowly tasting each dish and filing the flavors in our memory.  We eat meals marinated in a wood-fired oven for hours.  A three hour feast is followed by fresh fruit and honey desserts.  We share our meals with the table and sample every option laid before us. Thasos is eating seafood that was swimming only hours ago.    The daily catch of fish leaps onto our plate:  gavros, sardines, barbounia, sea wolf, mackerel, lavraki (sea bass), calamari, and mussels.  Octopus will never taste as good anywhere else in the world. Thasos is being welcomed into the family at Archodissa.  A fisherman reads his own original Greek poetry, then sings along to the music, and slips off his sandals to dance barefoot.  His son, the next generation restaurateur joins the band, holding the microphone like a professional singer, and serenades his wife in front of everyone. Thasos is drinking in the hospitality:  tsipouro from the island, white wine, red wine, beer and ouzo.  Nero (water) cleanses the palate.  We drink plenty of water to fight the summer heat. Thasos is live music.  A bouzouki band pierces the silence and everyone sways to the music.  Everyone rises to dance.  Greek dancing links our arms, and we watch the best leap and dance their own improvisation inside the circle.  Some people dance on tables, some people dance on chairs, those who are bilingual sing along to the words of the Greek music. The Thasian to-do list is beyond simple:  walk to explore the island, eat, drink, swim, and sunbathe.  My fellow writers on this journey also spend our time enjoying a daily communion with the written word. Thasos is living life with joy.