(this article appeared in the April 1, 2001 edition of The State newspaper, Columbia, SC)
GREECE IS THE WORD
By JAN COLLINS Special to The State
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Most Americans visiting Greece fly to Athens,
check out the Parthenon
and perhaps the temple ruins at Delphi,
and then tour the dazzling Greek islands.
There is a sun-dappled, achingly lovely portion
of northern Greece,
however, that Americans haven't yet discovered. A
three-pronged
peninsula called Chalkidiki that is thrust into
the northern part of the Aegean Sea, it is as
charming as the
better-known islands, minus the throngs of
American tourists.
Better still, a Columbia couple have built a
whitewashed
Mediterranean-style home on the central peninsula
of Sithonia on
a hill atop the village of Sarti, and are now
operating
Sarti-Vista, a dandy guest house with the six
comfortable units
that adjoin the house.
Residents of Columbia since 1977, Isidore and
Chichi Melekos
(he is Greek-born; she is American) now live six months a year in
South Carolina and six months (May through
October) in Greece.
My husband, Rosewood Elementary School Principal
Ted Wachter,
and I visited the Melekoses, former Rosewood
School parents, for
a week in June. We're already plotting our
return.
In Sarti
Sarti, a traditional fishing and farming village
about 100 miles
southeast of the ancient city of Thessaloniki,
could be reached
only by boat until the 1960s, when good roads
were built.
Electricity and other amenities followed, but it
wasn't until
the 1980s that German and Eastern European
tourists discovered
the area's wide sandy beaches, pristine
turquoise-hued bays, and
excellent tavernas, where one can order calamari,
octopus,
shrimp, or the catch of the day, along with the
traditional
Greek souvlaki and gyro. There is also a wide
variety of beef,
lamb, pork, chicken, pasta, and pizza dishes.
Isidore Melekos inherited some land in the hills
above Sarti
from his late father in the mid-1990s. The
Columbia couple
painstakingly built their house over the next few
years, and are
still putting finishing touches on the
landscaping. The property
features a large grove of venerable olive trees,
which the
couple has harvested each November.
Each comfortable SartiVista unit has a private
entrance, private
bath with shower, kitchenette, queen-size bed
(three units also
have an additional single bed), and private
balcony or patio
looking down on the blue, blue Aegean and
beautiful Mt. Athos
across the bay. This mountain rises steeply from
the sea to a
height of 6,670 feet. The peninsula on which it
sits is home to
20 monasteries, some built as early as the 10th
century and
still inhabited by monks.
Visitors - especially stressed-out,
we-really-needed-a-vacation
visitors - soon get to love the laid-back
Mediterranean
lifestyle. Breakfast, which is served to all
guests, is not
until midmorning (why becomes clear later), and
might consist of
omelettes, juice and coffee, and scrumptious
Greek bread, or
perhaps some wonderful Greek yogurt and fresh
fruit.
Then it's off to one of the area's lovely
beaches, where
catamarans can be rented or one can swim and
snorkel in the
astonishingly clear waters. Or, you might like to
go
sea-kayaking in one of the Melekos' well-equipped
kayaks.
They'll give you a basic lesson and tell you the
best places to
explore, including some fabulous rock formations
and private
sandy beaches and caves that can be reached only
from the sea.
You might shop in the town's small grocery stores
for fresh
produce, cheese, meat or fish, and cook your own
lunch
(accompanied by retsina, the ubiquitous Greek
white wine), or
try one of Sarti's many small restaurants and
tavernas. Siestas
are usually taken from 4 until 6 or 7 p.m., and
then it's time
for shopping for trinkets in town, where scarlet
bougainvillea
seem to spill from every window box. Or perhaps
you'd prefer a
walk on the beach.
Dinner in Greece isn't taken until at least 9
p.m., and often
continues until midnight or later (with more
retsina and ouzo, a
popular Greek liqueur). Greek music and sometimes
dancing are
often an accompaniment. And that's why breakfast
the next day
isn't until mid-morning.
Cars can be rented in town for a reasonable
price, and it's a
good idea to have one. It's less than a
five-minute drive into
Sarti and its beach, but there are other
spectacular beaches
(including a beach for nude bathers) in the area.
Excursions on the area's winding roads present
glorious views of
the wooded, wild countryside and the clear blue
sea, and lead to
several other interesting villages and towns that
can be
explored. There are also ancient Greek ruins
nearby worth
visiting.
A half-day boat trip that takes you near the
shores of Mt. Athos
is also not to be missed. The thousand-year-old
monasteries are
architectural wonders to behold, and the
three-hour round trip
ride is a perfect way to enjoy the sparkling sea.
(Women are not
allowed on Mt. Athos, and men wanting to make a
religious
pilgrimage must have special, hard-to-get visas
to visit. But
the boats take you close enough for a good view.)
For the adventurous, there are mule rides to the
nearby
mountains, and there is also a casino in the
village of
Marmaras, a one-hour drive from Sarti.
Menu to order
We were sold on Sarti on our first full evening
there, when our
friends took us to one of their favorite seaside
tavernas at the
end of a quiet dirt road.
We were sitting at the water's edge, sipping
retsina, when Vaso,
the young waitress, came to take our order.
"What's on the menu
tonight?" Isidore asked the woman in Greek.
"I'm not sure yet,"
she replied. "My father is still
fishing." With that, she
whipped out her cell phone and told her dad that
hungry patrons
were waiting.
A few minutes later, the boat chugged into the
cove. Beaching
his boat, Vaso's father jumped out, carrying a
basket of his
fresh catch. He invited us into the kitchen to
choose our fish,
which the cook promptly seasoned, grilled, and
brought to our
table. That serendipitous experience gave a new
meaning to the
term "fresh fish." And, yes, it was
divine.
It helps to have a native Greek speaker cut
through red tape for
you (in the village, more Greeks speak German
than English), and
Isidore does this with aplomb. Plus, he and
Chichi are very
interesting people who enjoy getting to know
their guests and
showing them around.
Upon leaving Sarti, you can fly from Thessaloniki
to Athens,
then home or, if you like, on to the Greek
islands.
Alternatively, it's just a short flight from
Thessaloniki (an
attractive, interesting city in its own right) to
exotic and
wonderful Istanbul, Turkey. But that's another
story.
Jan K. Collins is a writer and editor based in
Columbia.