Childhood
in Greece – holiday memories
Anavisos
One of the first places we went on holiday as a family was Anavisos,
in the southeast of Attica, about thirty kilometers from Athens. We went there when we my sister and I were
very young children, back in the late sixties to early seventies. Anavisos was fairly rural then.
We stayed in a room, part of a small bungalow
that probably had ten to twelve rooms in total.
There was no way of knowing that it was there, a white bungalow, with gravel
all around, raised flower beds with red and pink pelargoniums and, further on,
land which had been planted with pistachio trees.
Everybody seemed to know everyone, because they
were mostly relatives of the owners or friends so we all spent time
together. Because of my young age, I do
not remember much detail but I do remember the gravel because I fell and hurt
my knee, cutting the skin open, blood everywhere. I still have a mark on my knee from that
fall. And I also remember my dad finding
a scorpion inside his shoe.
In those days, there were many mosquitoes in the
evenings. The doors to the rooms had
netting supported by a wooden frame to stop them from coming in. We never left lights on inside for very long,
at least when the door or shutters were open because they attracted all kinds
of insects. In the night, we used a
‘fidaki’ (little snake), a green spiral insect repellent, supported on a metal
base. We would place it on a small
teracotta plate on the floor and light it with a matchstick. It would burn slowly throughout the night falling
on the plate bit by bit but keeping its original shape, so there would be a
small grey spiral of ashes on it in the morning.
There was a covered porch area all around the
building and all the rooms opened out onto it.
This is where we spent a lot of the time, taking shelter in the shade
after our lunch or in the evening. I
have photographs and old film showing all the family and other visitors around
a big table, talking, eating and drinking.
There are also shots of me blowing out the candles on my birthday cake
and my sister getting constantly between me and the camera.
The area around the house was mostly open
countryside, the type found in Greece, dry brown soil, stones and some trees
here and there, best described by the words of the famous Nobel prize winner
poet George Seferis, “… three rocks, a few burnt pine trees, and a deserted
small church and further away, the same scenery, as if copied, starts
again…”.
The beach was nearby, only a short walk away,
along a dirt track. The area was so
quiet, with hardly any cars going past, even on the main road running alongside
the coast, that we, the children, were allowed to go for walks on our own, to
the local ‘Evga’ to get some ice cream on a stick for two drachmas only. The ‘rocket’ (ice cream in a cone) was a lot
more expensive at three drachmas. In
Greece, Evga was the name for many corner shops selling milk, fresh cream
custard and yoghurt, as well as other basic foodstuffs, like eggs. The name belonged to one of the largest dairy
producers in Greece.
Anavissos was famous for its ‘Alikes’, an area
where they produced salt through the evaporation of sea water in large flat
plains. I am not sure whether the
bungalow or the Alikes are still there. The
area is now built up, with modern blocks of holiday appartments, trendy hotels,
shops, bars and tavernas. It is so close
to Athens that people can pop there for the day for a swim and a lunch or for a
weekend break.
But it is still nice, the beach clean, good food
and lots of distractions for children and teenagers. Sounio with the Ancient Temple is not much
further. And, same as the whole side of that coast of Attica, it claims one of
the best sunsets that you can ever experience.
