About the islands that start with a K...

The text about the island K made me think about how many islands actually start with a K in Greece. In addition, how different and beautiful in their own way each one is. That is why, in the end of August, we are taking a trip through them all. 

A small side note here – the names of most Greek islands are female nouns. This instantly reminds me of Murakami, who while talking about the islands in the central and eastern Mediterranean says – Crete and her sister Malta… yes, that is how it goes. 

Πάμε, as they like to say in Greek!

We kick things off with Crete (Κρήτη in Greek) and its oxymoron beauty – wild and warm, soft and sharp, always different. It has taken it all in – the summer tourists and the harsh winters. A combination of the sea and the high mountains, civilization and wild, village beauty. In Chania, Crete you can find some of the oldest jazz clubs in Greece. Fagotto jazz bar – a place, where in wintertime up until 10 PM it is completely dead, but all of a sudden it comes alive and fills up with people that enjoy the music all together. There is a village on Crete that is probably the wildest place on the island. Years ago, we sat there for lunch, and the man running the taverna, after finding out where we are from, said: “Ah, Bulgaria, good job! I know you sell these two litre beers! I have a good friend that always brings them to me. He comes from a town with T…Tatuin maybe?” After a short discussion, it became clear the man came from Teteven, but in our story, the city stayed Tatuin. A little nod to all Star Wars fans. 

Close to Crete, you can find two islands that start with a K – Karpathos and Kasos. Islands, where time stood still around 30 years ago, where you will walk around with a notebook and you will not want to leave, just because…

And we continue towards the north towards Kastellorizo – or Megyisti. An island that lays about three miles away from the Turkish town of Kaş. There, you can go swimming with turtles and ask yourself where in the world Zeus has sent you to. Or Poseidon. An old harbour on the way northwest from Levant. And the local alcohol supplier to the Turkish sailors, the priest and the two feuding families of the island are a story for a different time. With a couple of words – nothing has changed since the movie “Mediterraneo”. 

Then we go to the west; if you are looking for Cyclades – Kithnos and Kea. But for us, as lovers of the Dodecanese, we depart towards Kos and Kalymnos. Kos is touristy – we cannot deny that. And on Kalymnos, you will find people from all nationalities that have found shelter on these wild surfaces. People that during the day climb up the hills with the goats, and in the evenings relax in the local pubs with compresses cooling their wounds from all the climbing. On Kalymnos, there is no vanity. If it is a wedding – it is a wedding. The fact that the bride’s grandma has fainted out of excitement during the ceremony, the celebration has halted, but then, she awakens and with that news, the celebration continues into the early hours. 

Even more to the west/ southwest, on the other side of Crete, you can find the magical Kythira and its little brother – Antikythera. Follow us for a separate text on those two. 

And north from Kythira are the Ionian Kefalonia and Kerkira – a wonderful destination to reach by water. Kefalonia with its beautiful beaches, its cosy towns and harbours, and the only surviving village after the earthquake – Fiskardo - with its old buildings and crowds of tourists. And Kerkira – more commonly known as Corfu. Pretentious, but wonderful at the same time. Each Easter there is totally worth it – the town is full of joy and music. People are throwing thousands of urns that break on the old streets. There is brass bands everywhere, and behind them in the café’s – people, people…

To wrap things up we travel back to the memory of Crete and Kreta in an evening around Christmas at Fagotto jazz bar. When it is dark, windy and rainy outside, the sea in the old Venetian harbour is boiling up and covering the street around the coast, drags chairs and tables from the coastal restaurants. And we are sitting inside there, where it is warm and dry in the bar, in one of the narrow streets of the old town and listen to Alboran trio with Balkan Air. 
August 2019
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