Traveling from Meteora to Delphi through another World Heritage Site -- Hosios Loukas

This article is for fellow independent travelers facing the same popular logistic problem ... how does one get from Meteora to Delphi using public transport? While we had the chance to take trains and buses the whole way, we found an alternate way at Livadeia to spend some money to pack a third UNESCO World Heritage Site, the 1000-year-old monastery of Hosios Loukas, to break a long half-day of travel.



Here I assume most readers would agree that the cliff-top monasteries of Meteora is a definite must-see for any first-time visitor to mainland Greece, and so is the archeological site of the Delphic Oracle. In fact many tour operators and taxi drivers from Athens make their living doing just that -- whisking tourists for a whirlwind tour of the two sites in 2 or 3 days at a premium price. For cheap backpackers though the easiest way is to travel to Meteora, back-track to Athens again, then start another trip to Delphi. This essentially wastes close to a whole day’s valuable sightseeing time on the road.



A smarter way is to travel from Meteora to Livadeia/Lamia and transfer to buses towards Delphi. Our original plan was to take Train IC47 from Kalampaka to Livadeia (06:33-09:51), take the quick connecting bus to the town centre (1 Euro, less than 10 minutes), then walk three blocks over to the bus station for next bus to Delphi (same bus that starts from Athens, departing Livadeia at 09:30, 12:30, 15:00, 17:30, 19:30, 22:00 at the time of writing). And we followed this plan leading up to the last step at Livadeia town centre, and then ... we came up with something more interesting.



Prior to our trip we had heard about this ancient monastery of Hosios Loukas, a gem surviving from the Dark Ages and called one of the finest pieces of Byzantine architecture in Greece, a short distance from Livadeia. No means of public transportation exists apparently, which meant that for us the only way to visit was by taxi. So this is what we explained to our young taxi driver: a trip from Livadeia to Hosios Loukas, stop for an hour or so to allow us time for a good visit, then head off to Delphi.



The road from Livadeia to Delphi measures around 40km. Hosios Loukas is on a branch road off the town of Distomo, adding another 20km or so both ways. For this total distance of 60km, plus the cost of the driver needing to make it back to Livadeia perhaps without passengers, cost 70 Euros. As a taxi trip we thought the price was quite reasonable, though we have to compare it to the 7 Euros per person bus fare from Livadeia to Delphi. So essentially the two of us would be paying 56 extra Euros for a trip to Hosios Loukas, with the added benefit of not having to sit and wait 2.5 hours for the next bus and thus getting to Delphi quicker for a half day’s sightseeing. Expensive? Definitely. But weighing the virtue of an extra destination and the longer sightseeing time at Delphi, we wasted no time jumping into the taxi.



Our driver was actually quite surprised at our mention of Hosios Loukas, which we thought was a good sign of how off-the-beaten-track this place was. After a 20 minute drive through hills after hills of olive groves, we arrived at the mysterious Byzantine monastery with no tour buses in sight, and of course none of the loud, flag-waving guides and tourists that plague any major sight in Athens. On this gloriously sunny Friday in late June, we ran into no more than 10 visitors in the entire complex.



At the heart of Hosios Loukas are two ornate medieval churches, both of which are considered among the most influential architectural pieces of their era. Relics of the 10th Century saint to whom the monastery was dedicated are still housed within the Katholikon church today, and a millennium’s erosion on the remaining frescoes and dazzling mosaics only adds to the air of sanctity and serenity. This was my favorite of the numerous monasteries and churches we came across in Greece.



My favorite area of the monastery was also easiest to miss, a hallowed crypt sitting underneath the main Katholikon originally serving the purpose of venerating the relics of the saint, back in the age of miracles and ritualistic healing. Today parts of the sacred stone altar remains, and the archaic, Middle Ages frescoes have been recently restored to its former glory after centuries of deterioration. The Hosios Loukas is already extremely quiet and off-the-beaten-path as far as World Heritage Sites go, but the crypt was so peaceful that we had it all to ourselves during our visit.



More than a thousand years after its founding, the monastery remains an object of pilgrimage to the Orthodox faithful, who continue to pay homage to the lavishly decorated casket on February 5 and May 3. To me this is the real attraction of sites such as Hosios Loukas -- not as a museum of medieval architecture and artwork, but as a living continuum of an ancient religious practice in this part of the world.



Our trusty taxi driver waited in the shades for more than an hour for us and asked whether we liked the monastery. I thought he still couldn’t quite understand what we enjoyed so much about Hosios Loukas enough to pay him to make this long trip. It would take another 30 minute’s drive to our final destination of Delphi, arriving just past 13:00 for lunch ahead of an afternoon of sightseeing in the museum and the archaeological sites. So that’s our alternate suggestion for fellow travelers journeying between Meteora and Delphi. It’s a little expensive if you’re a party of 2 or less, but the detour is excellent and the timing works great -- there’s definitely enough time left in the afternoon to see all of Delphi, especially in the long daylight hours of Greece’s summer.

Hiking Among Meteora's Cliff-top Monasteries

We’re normally not hikers. But if you have to fly 11,000 km just to arrive in Greece, you wouldn’t want to rush through one of the world’s most spectacular sights on a day-trip either. While we certainly won’t claim to be physically fit, we did our best to enjoy panoramic views of Meteora on a couple of easy hikes.



Many first-time visitors to Greece may not have heard of Meteora, but most would have seen dramatic photos on tour brochures of ancient monasteries perched, impossibly it would seem, at the top of gigantic rock pedestals. Sacred to Greek Orthodox faithfuls since the medieval ages and still hailed in the 21st Century as one of the world’s Top 10 Most Precarious Buildings, Meteora is now a featured highlight on most Greece mainland tours. So the key for us wasn’t so much getting there, but how best to avoid the multi-national armies of tourists.



For independent travelers like ourselves two means of direct transportation exist between Athens and Meteora -- OSE train number 884 from Larissa Station or KTEL bus from the terminal on Liossion Street. Either choice would take about 5 hours in the best of conditions. Despite all the horror stories about the punctuality of Greek transportation, we never came across any delays throughout the whole trip and arrived at Kalampaka, the village underneath the towering rock cliffs and monasteries, around lunchtime.



Restaurants reviews can be found further down in this article, but the great thing about arriving in the midday is an opportunity for an easy afternoon hike, starting from the monasteries at the top and ending at the village in time for dinner. The area is deservedly popular to hikers with plentiful and mostly well-marked trails, two of which we found to be extremely useful for even casual sightseers with a moderate degree of fitness.



An Eastern trail connects from the St. Stephen monastery at the top, offering spectacular views of the monasteries of St. Stephen and Holy Trinity, hiking down the deep chasm to the bottom of Holy Trinity, then snaking down the valley among gigantic rock pillars and lush greenery into the town of Kalampaka. Oh ... and once in town the trail leads to the 1000-year-old Byzantine church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary. This is as spectacular a half-day hike as any I’ve been on.



We started the Eastern trail at about 14:00 in the afternoon. A short taxi trip took us up from the town square to the Holy Monastery of St. Stephen at the top of the rocks, swerving through numerous hairpin curves up a narrow mountain road while honking through flocks of unattended sheep. Each corner could spell disaster for an unfamiliar out-of-town driver, but local cabbies here negotiated the curves with admirable skill.



Within 10 minutes we were dropped off in front of St. Stephen, the monastery directly overlooking the town of Kalampaka above a sheer vertical cliff of 300m -- from here it’s not difficult to appreciate the monasteries’ collective claim as one of the world’s most precarious buildings. Although most of the exterior of the monastery was rebuilt relatively recently after much was bombed and destroyed by Axis forces during the Second World War, various frescoes and treasures are still intact and are well-maintained by an order of nuns still residing inside.



A short 15 minute walk from St. Stephen along the same plateau took us to an even more precarious sight -- a crude wire-and-pulley system with a single-person cable car hanging hazardously above a vertical chasm of a few hundred metres. The other end of the cable led to the Holy Trinity monastery, famed for its appearance in a James Bond movie and resting at the top of a rock pillar high above the plains.



Trails are generally well-marked with highly visible Greek signages such as this one. Here the trail quickly dropped in elevation and snaked down to the bottom of Holy Trinity. The only non-aerial path to the monastery would start right here, cleft out of sheer vertical rocks and circling up the pillar towards the monastery. We did not go up as we arrived on the monastery’s rest day.



The rest of the trail traveled through the deep valley towards Kalampaka, with bizarre rock formations and even more impressive cliff-side engravings along the way. The entire route from St Stephen to Kalampaka town would take about 1.5 hours of leisurely walking on a downhill trail, which I estimated to be perhaps 4 km long, plus sightseeing time in the two monasteries and the Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary at the edge of town (allow another 2 hours or so).



The Western trail is a little longer than the Eastern trail, and would easily consume a whole day taking into account the four magnificent monasteries awaiting the curious hiker. The path starts at the Great Meteoron monastery at the top, passing the Varlaam monastery and then the Roussanou monastery in relatively short distances, then follows the main road brushing past St. Nicholas Anapafsas monastery. A trail then travels along the plain towards the village of Kastraki for a total length of about 6 km.



So the next day we took the short KTEL bus ride (2 buses per day at 09:00 and 13:00) from Kalampaka town to the grandest piece of architecture in Meteora and the main site of pilgrimage for Orthodox worshipers, the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron. We were both in our hiking shorts and had to borrow long pants and skirts (free of charge) from the monastery to properly cover our legs.



With Great Meteoron being at the highest elevation, its viewpoint offers a good bird's eye view of the hiking route, most of which would follow the winding main road towards St Nicholas Anapafsas. This is also an excellent place for photos of Varlaam and Roussanou.



A short 500m walk along the main road leads to the neighboring monastery of Varlaam, then another 1.5 km walk past a sharp turn leads to the Roussanou, now operated as a nunnery. Each establishment charged nominal fees (2 Euros or so) for letting visitors in on the monastic lifestyle atop these formerly inaccessible natural citadels.



After Roussanou the road takes even more sharp turns (stay on the side of the mountain and watch out for the large tour buses around the turns!) and continues for another 2.5 km to the bottom of St. Nicholas Anapafsas. But a couple hundred metres before Anapafsas, there is a foot path leading towards the village of Kastraki to the south.



It would take another 1.5 km walk back to the centre of Kastraki village, where infrequent buses (or taxis) are available to carry the weary hiker back to the town of Kalampaka. Or for the not-so-weary, there are plenty of smaller monasteries and ruins along the rocks just to the east of the village to be visited. It's also possible to walk back to Kalampaka along the main road, which would be another 4 km or so.



One hidden gem we came across in Kalampaka -- Friday is market day, when a sizable morning market springs up stretching from the Town Hall Square for a few blocks in the direction of the rocks.



This is not a souvenir market in the Athens definition, but a genuine market organized by and for the locals. No tacky ouzo shot glasses, just wholesome local veggies, honey and other fresh produce, and cheap clothing and other necessities brought in from neighboring countries in Eastern Europe. This is also a great place to pick up some fruits and bakery items for the day's hike.


RESTAURANT REVIEWS

Though we didn't come across any spectacular restaurants, a couple of places did serve us decent meals at reasonable prices.

Food Review: TAVERNA PANELLINION
Address: Pl. Dimarhiou (Town Hall Square), Kalampaka
Hours: 11:00 – 21:00 (unconfirmed; based on experience)
Website/Map: N/A
Directions: Head to the Town Hall Square (not to be confused with the Riga Fereou square) where the Tourist Information Centre is located. Panellinion is on the Square just across from the Info Centre.


This was our first lunch after settling down in Kalampaka, and Panellinion was conveniently located right on the square. Prices were still reasonable considering its central location. The pictured Briam, an oven-roasted vegetable casserole with succulent zucchinis and potatoes swimming in tomatoes and olive oil, was quite good.



My wife had the ubiquitous Moussaka, generously layered with eggplants and meat and smothered with bechamel as usual. The food at this place was not bad, and we would have returned had we not found a comparable place with slightly cheaper prices, as reviewed below.

Bill for Two Persons

Briam	Euro 7
Moussaka	Euro 8
TOTAL	Euro 15 (CAD$24)

Food Review: ARCHONTARIKI
Address: Pl. Riga Fereou (central square), Kalampaka
Hours: 11:00 – 21:00 (unconfirmed; based on experience)
Website/Map: Official Site
Directions: From the Town Hall Square (Tourist Info Centre), walk east for a block and you'll be at the Riga Fereou square. Archontariki is on the west side of the square.


This place became our dinner spot for a couple of nights, mainly due its relatively cheap prices. Yes the food was unadventurous, but this is rural Kalampaka after all -- we came to Kalampaka for adventures of a different kind.



A plate of the homey Horta Vrasta cost 3.7 Euros, an eggplant salad (ie. bread spread) cost 3 euros, while a very large portion of Greek salad cost 5.5 Euros. We happily settled for such reasonable prices in the midst of a tourist town.



I wouldn't have ordered calamari in mountainous Central Greece, but I guess these are all flash-frozen on fishing boats nowadays in most places. Having no high expectations, this actually turned out better than I expected for 6.5 Euros.



Our favorite dish was these lamb chops. My wife does not like the gamey taste of lamb, and I don't remember exactly why we decided to order this dish. But these turned out to be some of the most enjoyable lamb chops she ever had -- succulent and juicy despite the charred appearance, and not a hint of gameyness in the lamb. Oh and it cost only 8.5 Euros.



What's better than some delectable honey and yogurt to sooth the body after a day of sun-drenched hikes? Overall the dishes were enjoyable if uninspired, about which I can't really complain at these prices.

Typical Bill for Two Persons

Grilled Lamb Chops	Euro 8.5
Fried Calamari	Euro 6.5
Eggplant Salad	Euro 3
Yogurt with Honey	Euro 4
Mythos Beer	Euro 3
Bread	Euro 0.8
TOTAL	Euro 25.8 (CAD$41.3)

ACCOMMODATION

Hotel Review: HOTEL REX (Kalampaka)
Address: Patriarhou Dimitriou 11A, Kalampaka
Price: Euro 50 for double room with private shower/toilet
Website/Map: http://www.hotelrex.gr/portal/index.asp
How To Book: Through official site
Directions: Start from the Tourist Info Centre at Town Hall Square. Hotel Rex is just half a block west on Patriarhou Dimitriou street.


We wanted a room with a view of the rocks at a reasonable price, at walkable distance from the train station, the bus station, and the squares. This was it.

It's a little far (15 minutes walk) from the train station, but it's quite close to the bus station for a bus ride to the Great Meteoron monastery. The Town Hall Square (and thus the Tourist Info Centre) is just around the corner. The hotel faces the giant rock face to the north of Kalampaka (not pictured), as well as the rocks on which the St. Stephen monastery sit (pictured). We spent hours just gazing at the rocks on our patio.



The hotel calls itself 3 stars, which I thought was a little on the generous side. The room and the bathroom were very clean however and it was good value for 50 Euros.

Athens - Our Neighbourhood Ouzeri and a 150-Year-Old Taverna

I must admit that I have a fondness for small, informal eateries serving the home country’s authentic peasant grub. In Greece this translates to the establishment of the Ouzeria, which is to Athens roughly what the Izakaya is to Tokyo, minus the loud salarymen in black suits. The ouzo flows, the little plates pile up, and the clientele often get increasingly rowdy as the evening goes on. We also couldn’t avoid the ubiquitous Tavernes, and decided to try out one of Athens’s oldest. Both places are located right in central Athens, for readers who intend on slotting them into their sightseeing itineraries.



Food Review: KAFENEIO EVIS
Address: 19 N. Apostoli Street (corner of Evis Street), Athens
Hours: 17:00 – 22:00 (unconfirmed; based on experience)
Website/Map: N/A
Directions: Start from Monastiraki Square and walk west on Ermou. Turn right on N. Apostoli. Two little blocks later it will be on the right hand side at the street corner.


We came back to this place again and again during our time in Athens. It was that good.

I first heard about Kafeneio Evis from Matt Barrett’s Athens Guide, and ended up stumbling upon the place just a couple blocks from our hotel. Yes it was a convenient, authentic watering hole for our stay, but that’s not the purpose of this review. The truth was, the food here was among the best of our 17-day trip.



This is an Ouzeri that doesn’t call itself an Ouzeri, but where every table orders a few shots of Ouzo. There are only about 4 tables inside, and perhaps 4 more outside in good weather. Despite its tiny size, we always found a free table here in late June as it seemed to be relatively unknown to tourists (never heard a word of English spoken at any of the other tables). Most of the clientele seemed to be local, including this little kitten that kept the diners company every evening (and kept meowing for some squid).



Here’s a sign … of either an excellent eatery or a total rip-off. There’s no menu posted anywhere, either on the table or on the walls. The waitress comes to you with her scribbling of seasonal offerings, but the scribbling has no pricing information either. On this particular day the menu included:
- Tomato and Rocket Salad
- Hummus
- Lebanese Cheese Salad
- Armenian Omelette
- Taboule
- Baked codfish
- Grilled Prawns, and more



You’ll find out the prices at the end of the meal, but everything comes in the form of small, inexpensive Mezedhes plates which quickly adds up to a full meal after 5 or 6 dishes to share. Expect a cheap 15 Euros per person for a full meal … before your indulgence of Ouzo of course.



Among our favorites was the grilled squid, slightly charred to perfection and simply drizzled with olive oil. We’ve had grilled squid more times than we can count on this long trip, but none compared to the combination of tenderness and slight crispiness of these squid tentacles here.



But the best dish in my opinion were these wild harvested prawns locally caught off Mediterranean waters. How do I know they’re not farmed in Thailand? To me there’s just something special in the Mediterranean waters that gives prawns, mantis shrimps, sea urchins and other shellfish a distinctive, highly concentrated flavor. And the Greeks add no thick sauces or heavy spices to detract from the natural freshness of the seafood. Just perfect grilling and sprinkling with herbs and olive oil to accentuate these firm, intensely flavorful prawn meat and shells. I’ve never had grilled prawns this good after leaving Athens.



Middle Eastern influences seems to stand out in this little Ouzeri with a variety of offerings such as this Taboule. Fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley. This was as good any Taboule I’ve had in the Middle East.



Excellent, fresh salads and Hummus complement the grilled seafood. We visited Kafeneio Evis a few times and typically averaged less than 30 Euros of food and drinks for two people.



It wouldn’t be an Ouzeri without some Ouzo would it? Ouzos are as cheap as 3 Euros a glass, depending on what you order. With its finger-licking fares and reasonable prices, AND being just 5 minutes walk from the Monastiraki Square, it’s a miracle that this gem of an Ouzeri could stay out of the tourist path for so long. If you’re looking for an informal and authentic dinner after a visit to the nearby Ancient Agora, simply drop by Evis street and look out for this little corner eatery. And fresh prawns may even be in season ... if Poseidon smiles upon you.

Typical Bill for Two Persons

Grilled Prawns	Euro 10
Grilled Squid Tentacles	Euro 4.5
Hummus	Euro 3
Taboule	Euro 3.5
Bread	Euro 2
Ouzo	Euro 3
TOTAL	Euro 26 (CAD$41.6)

Food Review: TAVERNA O DAMIGOS
Address: Basement floor, Kidathinaion 41, Plaka, Athens
Hours: Around 12:00 – 22:00 (unconfirmed; based on experience)
Website/Map: Official Site
Directions: Walk along Kidathinaion street in the Plaka and ask for the Brettos bar (everyone knows where it is). Damigos is just to the left of Brettos, down the steep flight of stairs into the basement.


I’ve visited many century-old restaurants through my travels. Some survived this long by adapting to the times, and then there are those gutsy (and/or good) enough not to care.

The second category would describe Damigos, a 150-year-old institution in the Plaka and one of the oldest eateries in Athens. For a century and a half, generations of fans have scrambled down an extremely steep flight of stairs into a stuffy basement filled with fishy odors, small greasy tables and featuring a 2,000-year-old archeological artifact. An ancient Roman column is featured smack dab in the middle of the dining hall, still supporting all the weight of all the modern shops and establishments above after 2000 years.



And the decor is only slightly less antiquated, with walls graced by photos of past visits by various dignitaries I’m too young to recognize. I mean, I certainly wouldn’t claim to remember the Shah of Iran ... even if I did. There’s something humorously haphazard about the place that makes it very Greek, and to its fans, it’s all good.



But to become a fan you must first endure the unbearably stagnant air on hot summer days, the strong odors of its dishes, and the extreme greasiness of its greatest offering, the Bakaliaros, or deep fried codfish. Walk towards the back and you’ll see a couple of old wooden wine barrels with a curtain of stringed-up garlic hanging from the ceiling. You know you’re in garlic heaven, or hell, depending on your fondness of strong traditional flavors.



This is a husband-and-wife operation, with the owner serving the clients while the wife cooks inside a small, glass-enclosed kitchen. Don’t expect a quick meal -- just watch the lady dip your fresh order of Bakaliaros in batter and slowly fry the chunks to a golden crisp. The grilled octopus to start the meal was decent if not too impressive, but better value was the house red which came from its own vineyard, according to the owner.



This is what fans come for -- fist-sized chunks of succulently deep fried codfish accompanied by an extremely thick and strong puree of fresh garlic and potatoes. The warm waters of Greece has no codfish off its coast of course -- it’s all imported from the frigid waters of Norway and thawed here. Considering all this transportation it’s quite amazing that the meat ended up not tasting fishy at all, and was extremely juicy and firm. Be careful of bones, even though the bones are quite large and are easily separable from the meat. And yes, each piece drips with a horrendous amount of excess oil, but this is precisely what fans of Damigos have grown to love all these years.

If you’re not on a diet, or have a particular aversion to garlic, or strong fishy odors, or oily food, or steep stairs ... well you really shouldn’t come to this place if you can’t adapt to traditional Greek food. But if you’re curious about food and happen to be passing through Plaka district on your way down from the Acropolis, this is about as traditional as it gets in the heart of Athens’ tourist district.

Bill for Two Persons

Greek Salad	Euro 4
Fish Roe Salad	Euro 3
Grilled Octopus	Euro 8
Bakaliaros	Euro 9
Bread	Euro 2
Beer	Euro 2.5
House Red 1/4 Litre	Euro 2
TOTAL	Euro 30.5 (CAD$48.8)

Visiting the Poet-Sandalmaker of Athens

"The lesser hermit harbors within a forest; the great hermit harbors within the city."
-- my translation of an ancient Chinese quote

A bit of random trivia about me ... my father once majored in literature in college, and I like to think that I've inherited half of those genes. So when I first heard about an internationally famous poet disguised as an obscure sandalmaker in the alleys of Psirri in Athens, I was instantly intrigued.

Perhaps disguise isn't quite the correct word -- it can be argued that Stavros Melissinos was first and foremost a sandalmaker after all. Born the son of an Athenian sandalmaker, he took over his father's old shop below the Acropolis fifty years ago and has become a local legend since. The Beatles are said to have visited four times, followed by scores of Hollywood stars and European nobility. He has become so legendary in his own country that the priestesses at the lighting of the Olympic flame in 2004 all wore his classic handmade sandals. But his main claim to fame isn't the material comfort endowed by his craftsmanship, but his free-spirited poetry:

Apollo's horses, in a splendid dawn ascending
Breathe their flames and another night is ending
Praised be the sun ripening the grapes with his light
For the grapes yield wine putting our pains to flight



According to local legend, when asked why he chose to carry on his family's sandalmaking business when he could have easily sold his label to foreign investors and retired rich, he answered:

"A writer who does nothing but write is like the moon which gives off some light, but it’s borrowed, taken from the sun. A writer needs first hand experience, which only working in an other field can give him. Otherwise he is writing what he has read in other books."

Now THAT is wisdom and insight! This is a true hermit in the purest sense -- there's no need to live in seclusion to be set apart from the world, when true hermitry becomes a state of mind. When I visited Athens this summer, I told myself I must pay a visit to his shop, even though he was said to have retired several years ago. Besides ... Athens in late June was steaming hot and I was in desperate need for a pair of sandals.



And this is the place -- very similar to how I imagined it to be -- a chaotic artist studio right in the inner-city of Athens, flanked by graffitied walls in a working class neighborhood. Stavros the Poet had retired a few years back and has been succeeded by his son Pantelis, a artist and playwright in his own right.



Pantelis was just custom-fitting another customer's sandals as we walked in, a cigarette in one hand and a cordovan's hammer in the other. When asked by an unassuming customer if his father is the artist, he snapped back with a "No I am the artist," and somewhat annoyed. His English was perfectly American, polished from his younger years of studying and working in New York. Within the course of the short conversation, his hands flew around the anvil and finished another sandal, which he casually tossed aside into a pile.



According to the store pamphlets, Pantelis majored in painting at Parsons School of Design prior to returning to Athens to follow in his father's footsteps. Colorful murals decorate sections of the store walls not already covered up by a curtain of hanging sandals. There were 27 styles at the time of our visit, many named after the celebrities who chose the particular style. John Lennon, for instance, lent his name to Number 16, a classic style which I found a little too feminine on my skinny feet.



Which one looks better? After trying on a few pairs I really liked the minimalist style at the bottom of the picture, interestingly named after Jeremy Irons. Reasonably priced (by Western Europe standard) at 27 Euros, they actually cost more than twice the amount charged on the other side of Monastiraki Square. But all customers know that they are paying not only for the sandals, but the privilege of being fitted by the skilled hands of a Melissinos.

Well, up to this point my pair of Jeremy Irons has stood up very well in a tough two week trial through the cobblestone streets of Mykonos, Santorini, Symi and Rhodes. So if you're lacking a pair of practical sandals for your upcoming trip to the Greek islands, or perhaps just looking for a cool souvenir for lounging on the beach back home, drop by Melissinos for a pair of sandals, then walk up the street into the heart of Psyrri and discover your own favorite Ouzeri. I know I found mine, and I'll post the food photos in the next post.


MELISSINOS ART
Address: Aghias Theklas 2, Psyrri, Athens
Website: http://www.melissinos-art.com
Directions: Exit Monastiraki metro station, cross Ermou Street and turn left. You should be heading west. Turn right at the second street (Aghias Theklas) and you should see the store sign and banner of Melissinos Art.