Making olive oil in the Lesbos mountains

Where: Komi, Lesvos (Lesbos), Greece 🇬🇷 Finding the Tzortzis olive orchards is a bit of a journey, in and of itself. For me the journey started at the restaurant, Mezedopoleio 28, in Mytilene, the largest town on the Greek island of

A family & their olive orchard in Lesbos

Where: Village of Mistegna, Lesbos (Lesvos), Greece 🇬🇷 “Come with me,” Effie said. She exited her property and we began walking down a gravel path too narrow for a vehicle. I was in Lesbos, Greece. On a trip from the island’s

Family of ceramacists in northern Lesbos

Where: Mantamados, Lesbos, Greece 🇬🇷 "This is a whistle," Efthymia picked up a ceramic object in the shape of a bird. "A whistle with a duck." "But the most traditional whistle is this..." She set the object down and walked over to

Making Ouzo on the Island of Lesbos

Where: Mitylene, Lesbos, Greece 🇬🇷 Before making my first trip to Greece nine years ago I remember an old Canadian friend writing to me by email something along the lines of, "Have an Ouzo for me." I arrived on the Island of Lesbos

The freshest fish in Chios

Where: Chios, Greece 🇬🇷 “This is the freshest fish on the island,” Klaidi Carja, a server at Ihtheoskala Fresh local fish tavern said to me as I was getting ready to settle my early afternoon bill: a Greek salad and a Greek beer. I

Health properties of Mastic tree resin

Where: Chios, Greece 🇬🇷 "Mastic has many properties, to the skin, to the teeth," Maria Stavrinoudi, a pharmacist and one of hte proprietors at Mastic Origins, a boutique along the marina on the Island of Chios said to me. I had

A little gem in Alaçatı

Where: Alaçatı, Türkiye 🇹🇷 “A little gem,” I thought to myself as I left the residence I had just started renting in Alaçatı, Türkiye. Alaçatı, along with its neighbouring community to the west, Çeşme, are resort towns on the