What I miss about ΙΘΑΚΗ...

all photos by stavros "delas" dellaportas copyright 2002 - 2011 all rights reserved.


location: ΙΘΑΚΗ
time: PAST
suggested song:  David Bowie - Starman

What I miss about Iqakh...

ΓΡΑΦΕΙ:  Η KATE RAFTOPOULOS

What I miss about Iqakh is not the kajeneia and the plateieV, nor the ‘in-stekia’ or the “clubs”, it is not the gossip or the  nea, but something that I consider to be far more above...

What I miss about Iqakh is the smell of the FRESH SEA AIR, no matter where you are on the island, that smell is with you, whether you are standing at the limani or the top of Anwgh.

What I miss about Iqakh is the SILENCE. There are very few places on the island where you are not in total silence. This is not appreciated when you live there permanently, but you learn to appreciate it very quickly when you leave. No trains, no planes, no road noises, just total and utter silence.

What I miss about Iqakh is the sound of the BIRDS CHIRPING early in the morning. Gorgeous little sparrows and robins waking you in the early morning hours while the sun is rising summoning the start of another day.

What I miss about Iqakh is the SMELL OF THE EARTH after the prwtobrocia... A smell so earthy and woody it makes you fall in-love with nature all over again. You just want to walk in the small forests and woods and be lost in nature’s aromas and nests. Which brings me to my next point...

What I miss about Iqakh is WALKING IN ITS NATURE, not just its off-track roads, but serious bush-tracks like the walk from Kalamo to Exwgh or Anwgh to Kioni. These monopatia, left by our great-great ancestors which very few people know and love and even fewer walk on. These are the great roads, these are the un-spoiled roads, and these are the roads worth keeping and preserving not ruining, bulldozing and cementing...

What I miss about Iqakh is WAKING EARLY IN THE MORNING and cycling the roads when nobody else is on them. You feel as though you are alone and invincible. Just you and the road, you can go anywhere you please, every corner another view and every view another picture.

What I miss about Iqakh is the SIGHT OF VATHY as you come over the peak at Kaqara. That breathtaking view that even the ‘trendies’ with no appreciation of natural beauty will stop and stare at, trying to figure out if it is real.

What I miss about Iqakh is simply SITTING IN THE SUN. Emptying my mind, focusing on nothing, listening to the silence and letting the sun warm the skin. There is no better therapy than this, come on...?

What I miss about Iqakh is HIRING A SMALL BOAT AND EXPLORING THE SEA, - blessed be the day when I own one (!). For every beach is as good as the next, but true magic lies in the ones un-accessible by car. Secret beaches, some only a single metre long, just enough to fit a towel. These beaches are where I’d love to live, away from civilians and ‘prepei’. Alone with nature, as intended originally, un-spoiled beauty and sea as clean as glass. And once I have found that beach...

What I miss about Iqakh is SITTING ON A BEACH AT NIGHT and GAZING AT THE STARS. Wishing for one to fall, working out the constellations - or rather becoming utterly confused by them - talking with loved ones, appreciating how small we really are in this great universe, giving thanks to where we are.  On nights when the moon blesses us with her presence, no further words are needed, just sheer admiration and utter respect for something so beautiful, so magical and so mystical, you almost fall asleep while staring at her.

What I miss about Iqakh is TAKING ADVANTAGE OF LIVING ON ITHAKI. There are very few people that take advantage of the island for what it is, a picturesque island, un-spoilt and un-touched by time. A place where wealth and job-status do not matter. A place where a little car is all you need to see breath-taking views, un-spoiled terrain, smell the fresh air, swim in the turquoise sea or simply sit in the sun and empty the brain. People who do not take advantage of this and who choose to moan daily about monotony and boredom and lack of income do not deserve to live on such an island.

These people CHOOSE TO BE BORED, and have lost the reason why they should cherish every second life gives them on that amazing island, that fairy-tale paradise always on my mind and forever in my heart, that place I choose to call my home, That is what I miss about Iqakh.

 By: Katerina Rautopoulou.


all photos by stavros "delas" dellaportas copyright 2002 - 2011 all rights reserved.