A Rewarding Weekend on Kea

I all the time had a prepared excuse for not visiting the island of Kea, often known as Tzia, which lies a handy one-hour ferry experience away from the coast of Lavrio in southeastern Attica: “It’s so shut; we’ll go one other time.” Effectively, the years glided by and that “different time” solely got here one weekend earlier this summer season. Associates and colleagues had all kinds of suggestions that may guarantee my household had a beautiful time, with the record of ideas rising so lengthy we’d want nicely over every week to cowl all of them. So, we whittled it all the way down to dimension and had two completely great days on the Cycladic island that’s closest to Athens.

We began our first day with a swim at Xyla Seashore, on the island’s east coast, which is partially serviced with umbrellas and loungers however nonetheless had loads of room for us to arrange our personal seashore tent. Sykamia and Spathi are additionally attractive, although none provides any providers (you’ll should take every thing you could want with you) and the way in which to the primary is alongside a really bumpy grime observe. Kea is alleged to have greater than 50 seashores, so we didn’t even make a dent. Otzias is really useful for households with younger youngsters, nevertheless it will get very noisy and crowded, and the loungers stretch all the way in which to the water’s edge.

We watched the solar set at Gialiskari, a sandy serviced seashore close to the primary city, Ioulida, with fairly a number of tamarisk bushes offering shade. There’s a bar at one finish that does get a bit loud, however the music eases off later within the afternoon. The seashores at Pisses and at Koundouros, with its crystal waters, are additionally beautiful.

We went to Vourkari for breakfast and, as we strolled across the village, we got here throughout an previous Athenian favourite, the all-day cafe Peek A Bloom, as soon as situated in an arcade on Lekka Avenue within the capital till the area was leased by the neighboring resort. It moved to Kea two years in the past, establishing on the seaside street at Vourkari, overlooking its small harbor. Its espresso comes from Thoughts The Cup – a pleasant roasted Brazilian selection – and is probably the most effective on the island. It additionally serves breakfast, truffles, sandwiches and drinks.

Our stroll round Ioulida, the island’s low-profile capital, in the meantime, concerned an ice-cream cease at Tyrakeion, the place the Mykoniatis brothers make their very own ice cream and cheese, together with a really wealthy, barely salty graviera. Their ice cream is excellent and you’ll inform that it’s home made from its barely runny consistency. We notably favored the rice pudding taste, which is made with good native milk and accommodates a little bit of rice and cinnamon to finish the home made really feel. We additionally discovered Tyrakeion ice cream in different elements of the island and even took some again house (Tel. (+30) 22880.228.53).

Driving alongside the nation street from Ioulida by way of the hinterland to Kato Meria, close to the southwestern coast, we noticed a forest of oak bushes and many tidy grapevines organized in terraces – the lushness of the panorama made us overlook that we have been within the dry Cyclades for a second. However Kea has loads of inexperienced spots and round 60% of its forests and woods are a part of the Natura community of protected areas.

Our vacation spot at Kato Meria was Ta Poularakia, an enthralling roadside kafeneio run by Dinos Vrettos and Eleni Rousounelou. Dinos is a local and grew up in a household of livestock farmers, studying how you can butcher pigs and make sausages in boyhood. A passionate meat-eater, he determined to open a taverna in his village, in an area that had been closed for years.

“What I used to do for friends at house, I now do for the individuals who come right here,” he says.

Dinos has a small farm with 160 sheep and goats, and likewise raises black pigs and white pigs, from which he makes three sorts of scrumptious sausages. His loza – the island’s conventional aged chilly meat – is amongst my prime three favorites in all the Cyclades. Its darkish colour is because of the age of the pig (the older, the darker the meat) and to the seasoning of pepper and wine. It’s smoked with fig, pear, oak and sage, and “wants a chilly northerly wind to dry, a course of that takes 40 days,” he explains.

His different two forms of sausages are one with plenty of spices, wine and contemporary savory, and the opposite a long-aged one which he calls Alladin, with paprika and garlic. Aside from all these chilly meats, we additionally had scrumptious black pig pork chops, very good lamb chops and native cheese. The horiatiki salad, with its juicy tomatoes at room temperature was one other signal that this place pays consideration to element (Tel. (+30) 22880.243.51).

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This text initially appeared in Kathimerini’s month-to-month meals journal, Gastronomos.