We’ve had the pleasure of many world premieres this week.
Skopelos is very proud of its rembetika music which was established in parts of mainland Greece in the first two years of the 20th century. It uses three main instruments: the bouzouki, the tzouras and the baglamas which cascade up and down in size like the three bears.
Rembetika is basically blues music and has at times been suppressed by the authorities. In 1922 as the Greek army headed back to Greece from Turkey it brought with it large numbers of Greek refugees who had never lived in their home country. They generally ended up living on land that could not support them, or in refugee settlements. It was here that rembetika developed with lyrics centred around themes including poverty, grief, oppression and love. Rembetika was also prominent during the German occupation and the Greek Civil War.
On Saturday night we attended the first rembetika performance of the season of Kostas Kalafatis and Xristos Mitrentzis at Anna’s Restaurant. It was wonderful sitting and eating in a cool courtyard with a packed house and hearing such a strong performance.
Check out http://www.nme.com/awards/video/id/W6uihcepoIE/search/mitrentzis to see and hear them playing another time at Anna’s.
Then there was the succulent premiere of the Yigantes (giant beans) at the Glisteri Taverna. The beans are a feature and delicacy of Skopelos and our lunch beans were the first of the season. The beans are soaked in cold water overnight. Then they are blanched, added to with onion and other specialties and boiled to perfection. After that there follows a spell in the oven prior to presentation and intake.
Skopelos is very proud of its rembetika music which was established in parts of mainland Greece in the first two years of the 20th century. It uses three main instruments: the bouzouki, the tzouras and the baglamas which cascade up and down in size like the three bears.
Rembetika is basically blues music and has at times been suppressed by the authorities. In 1922 as the Greek army headed back to Greece from Turkey it brought with it large numbers of Greek refugees who had never lived in their home country. They generally ended up living on land that could not support them, or in refugee settlements. It was here that rembetika developed with lyrics centred around themes including poverty, grief, oppression and love. Rembetika was also prominent during the German occupation and the Greek Civil War.
On Saturday night we attended the first rembetika performance of the season of Kostas Kalafatis and Xristos Mitrentzis at Anna’s Restaurant. It was wonderful sitting and eating in a cool courtyard with a packed house and hearing such a strong performance.
Check out http://www.nme.com/awards/video/id/W6uihcepoIE/search/mitrentzis to see and hear them playing another time at Anna’s.
Then there was the succulent premiere of the Yigantes (giant beans) at the Glisteri Taverna. The beans are a feature and delicacy of Skopelos and our lunch beans were the first of the season. The beans are soaked in cold water overnight. Then they are blanched, added to with onion and other specialties and boiled to perfection. After that there follows a spell in the oven prior to presentation and intake.
And then there has been the first collection of plums- Skopelos apparently holds the unofficial title of the Plum Island. The ancient Greek word for plums was proummon. That became prūnum in Latin which became prune in English. There are eight different varieties of plum trees growing on Skopelos and they are collected from the middle of June to the middle of September. See the photo of the red plums drying. These are sour-sweet and dried under the sun or in kilns to produce sour prunes.
And finally yesterday I witnessed the construction of the first Glysteri beach shower. Glysteri is the closest beach to town in a peaceful protected cove. Its infrastructure to date has been fairly minimal (one small one person changing shed) as it has relied more on the serene beauty of its natural features. However, the one constant is change and late yesterday afternoon there was a burst of energetic male manufacturing movement and, as the photos attest, the newborn shower was constructed and plumbed.
And finally yesterday I witnessed the construction of the first Glysteri beach shower. Glysteri is the closest beach to town in a peaceful protected cove. Its infrastructure to date has been fairly minimal (one small one person changing shed) as it has relied more on the serene beauty of its natural features. However, the one constant is change and late yesterday afternoon there was a burst of energetic male manufacturing movement and, as the photos attest, the newborn shower was constructed and plumbed.
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