Lefkas our current home

The island of Levkas is situated just off the mainland west coast in the middle of the Ionian sea. It is so close to the shore that it only just qualifies as an island. It was the Corinthians who cut a canal through sandbanks in 600 BC to separate it from the mainland. Like many places in Europe the land has been fought over continually by the Roman, Turks, French and English until as recently as the mid 1800's.

Today access to the island is via a floating bridge. Levkas town is on the northernmost tip of the island and still very much a Greek town, not a tourist town. A little smaller than Skipton, with a population of just over 20,000 with some English spoken but not by everyone.

It has suffered it's fair share of earthquakes over the years, the last major one in 2000. As a result of earthquakes it has a quaint, if odd archetectual style of brightly painted houses, often topped with wood and corrugated iron to mitigate any more seismic shocks. Its narrow, traffic free lanes and its small size give it a village atmosphere, though the richly decorated Venetian churches packed with fine works of art, add a cosmopolitan touch.

Eating out is simple and cheap, with a plentiful variety of Tavernas. The one shown here is run by the 'New York Greek'.

The supermarkets, fruit and fish markets are plentiful and very good quality. The bakeries here, unlike many places in Europe, bake the delicious array of beautiful breads. Opening hours are somewhat suspect at this time of the year, official opening is about 8am till 1.30 - 2.00 then again from about 4ish till 8ish, but many places seem to close at 2ish and don't open again. If you're a local no doubt you just know these things but as a new comer it gives some frustration until you're used to it. As it gets closer to May and visitors start arriving I guess it'll fall into more the normal opening hours with siesta. Most things we need are within walking or pushbike ride from the Marina.

My Greek is still limited to Yes (Ne), No (Ochi), thankyou (efharisto), hello (yasas), please (parakalor) and of course dio bira!! I have learnt the alphabet in terms of what the letters are called and what their sounds are and can write all the characters, however that's still along way off being able to look at what's written and try and say it :-(

Tune in next month to find out what's it's like working here, so far it's very frustrating but lets hope that improves.

More pictures of our Greek town here