Other places I've been, part two

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Paxos is an island in the Ionian Sea, just south of Corfu and within easy viewing of the Greek mainland. If you look at the map you'll see a long island snaking alongside the Greek coast. That's Corfu. To the south are the much smaller islands of Paxos and Antipaxos. I'm trying to include a link for you to view Paxos in relation to Italy, but each time I link it seems to cancel the other photo out. Perhaps when I publish it the link will allow you to pan out a bit.

It was apparently a port of call in the Oddysey and the plentiful olive trees once supplied oil for the lamps of Venice. Paxos is a small island with no airport and it's where my friend Fiona has been living with her husband and their daughter for almost ten years and where they run their businesses. Like myself Fiona is an artist, and she's lucky to run a shop/gallery where she can showcase her work. Hubbie Bartolo, meanwhile, runs Caffe Italiano, the best cafe in the world (with the exception of the one I'm going to start in Japan one day!).


Above and below are some scenes of my friends' places of work. Fiona's shop Pythia is an ode to colour as you can see. This is Pythia a few years back. Each year they redecorate in time for the new season since the Mediterranean winter plays havoc with the paintwork. Pythia is a wonderful place to spent time, always colourful and smelling of incense. It's especially pleasant on a balmy Med evening when tourists are flip-flopping around town. Town is perhaps too generous a term - Gaios is the 'capital' of Paxos, but it's a tiny village, of course.

Caffe Italiano, meanwhile, is the natural port of call for all the Italian visitors to get great coffee, plus where young Tallies, who turn up on an overnight ferry from Italy without having booked anywhere to stay during the Ferragosto*, come grizzling when they find out everywhere's booked. Luckily Uncle Bart often knows someone who can help.


Boh, that's the wrong Caffe Italiano!


Ah, ecco lo, with a few Scots littering the place. (I'd bar that one with the tattoo, mind.)

But I'll let Bart tell you himself:



Paxos seems to attact older Brits and all types of Italian visitors as well as Greek tourists. Unlike many Greek islands it's not for a nightclubbing crowd. While it's sparsely populated during the winter, like most Mediterranean islands, the population explodes during summer. The island could sink under the weight of Italian during the Ferragosto and there are always huge yachts to be spotted in the harbour. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I've spent some of the best times of my life here, the combination of the beautiful scenery plus friends and new friends.



This scenic view was taken from a hilltop next to the small town of Loggos. Impossible to see properly - just to the right of the white yacht - but Spiro's bar is a regular watering hole. It's a romantic spot after dark as you sit outside loking at the stars and harbour curling round like a croissant.

I love islands and being cut-off from the mainland, whether it's mainland Europe, Greece or Japan. Of course, being somewhere like Paxos or Miyajima is a different story from being on marooned on an island nation. There's something about getting on a boat to reach a destination that appeals to the imagination. And of course, it can make for a feeling of isloation too.

Too much time has passed since I set foot on Paxos. Maybe this year I'll go back.