sweet bravehearts ❤ quiet little landers
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 4 Απριλίου, 2021 Filed under: choses vécues, ikaria, photography, stories, Uncategorized | Tags: blog review, faces, Greece, ikaria, ikaria-in-winter, ikarians, island in the aegean sea, island life, Ικαρία, lifestyle, photography, portraits, stories, up-with-lonely-winter, why-ikaria Σχολιάστε
Hello my dear readers,
today’s article is at the same time a new episode of my «The Who in the Where» set of articles and a new episode of my numerous reviews on what other people have written in their blogs on subjects related to Ikaria.
This time, however, the blog where I am borrowing mat
erial from is a completely new and different thing and I can’t but be very serious about it. The reason is that Women on Ikaria in BetweenMyWorlds pays a well-deserved, respectful homage to eight inconspicuous heroines who have struggled hard to build the foundations of a good life upon the rocky shoulders of our beloved island.
It is obvious to me that Birgit, the author of these eight beautifully illustrated pages, proceeded in her work not as a superficial magazine reporter but as a real friend and respectful mediator. She observed, she listened, she inquired, she listened again and took notes and photos. She let things settle and mutual trust established. Take time, hang about, lay back and listen – that’s the key to unlock the mysteries of the Ikarian character – always cautious, reserved and often mistrusful of strangers. But either by nature or experience, Birgit grasped the spirit, and that’s the amazing thing about her. She’s proven true to the intro statement of her blog:
«I always loved to travel and to sit down with people, listening to their stories. It is in those moments that the beauty of a place and its people is revealed to me… Here, the definition of «listening» got another meaning. Even though I don‘t yet master the Greek language, the island and the Ikarians have sent me on a long and interesting journey. Whenever possible, you can now find me on this remote island, hiking, collecting stories and appreciating precious moments of intense talks and golden silence… Based on my experiences on Ikaria, I paid more attention to the stories around me. In times where our life is charactericed by restlessness, I treasure my chances to sit down with someone for a while. Talking and listening, giving full attention to each other is the most welcome present I can receive and give today.»
Hey, hold it! The topic here is not the blogger. It’s the blog posts! And here I am, presenting to my readers «Women on Ikaria», containing the portraits of eight brave ladies who have trusted our tiny red rock for a better life. I believe that their example is creating new attitudes a
nd positive perspectives, hopefully not only for Ikaria, I also believe, but for the rest of Greece as well.
And, hey people, don’t think they are the only ones!
Believe me, I know!
Thank you Birgit Urban!
Very much looking forward for more!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Stamatoula Vardarou: It takes a village to raise a kid.
«Stamatoula is hurring down the street in Agios Kirikos – a few strands of her thick curls come loose from her hair bun. She is late to open her shop and she knows that her neighbours will start worrying, if she is depassing even the Ikarian definition of beeing late. And she is right. While opening the door of her little shop in the upper main road of Agios Kirikos, Kosta, the owner of the coffee shop next to her, sticks his head out of the door asking her: ‘Where have you been? What happened? You are late!’ Stamatoula is smiling…» [read more…]
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Mandy Dragataki – the woman who is looking after your electricity bill.
«When you leave Ikaria by plane, Mandy might be the last person from the island who is giving you a hand. You can’t miss her: she will be standing at the boarding gate, her long dark hair braided in two strong braids, and with a smile she will check your passport and boarding pass, wishing you a “good flight”. When you see her there, handling the routine work of the ground staff, you might not imagine that her Ikarian story started just four years ago. Nevertheless she has roots on Ikaria, deep roots. Her grandparents are…» [read more…]
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Fotini Paroikou – Living in the Ikarian rhythm.
«Fotini drives her little car quickly over the bumpy dirt road. It is a hot summer day on Ikaria. Some kilometers further down the road, you can enjoy Messakti beach packed with hundreds of people, who are making the most of a typical Greek holiday day with sunbathing, surfing and beach volleyball. But up here, in the area of Pezi, it‘s a completely different story. You don’t meet anybody. Through the dust clouds…» [read more…]
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Marianna Markaki: when living next to the sea is the only option.
«If you want to get to know to Marianna, you better put your swimsuit on, take your swimming goggles and head to the sea somewhere in the area between Agios Kirikos and Therma on the Southern coast of Ikaria. Watch out carefully and if you‘re lucky, you might see a tall, sportive-looking woman with a spear gun, swimming between the rocks trying to…» [read more…]
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Silke Wagner – When love and jam make you stay.
«“Ja, da muscht halt gucke, dass du noch eine Milch holen tust” You may turn your head in surprise, eyes wide open, perplexed to hear a broad German accent while sitting in a coffee shop in Raches on Ikaria. But when this is happening, you are most probably sitting in the coffee shop of the “Women’s cooperative” in the middle of the platia of Christos Raches…» [read more…]
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Miriam Maass – finally taking life into your hands.
«Boofy, the little brown mixed breed dog, is jumping impatiently between the olive nets. He is bored. For hours he already stayed there watching Miriam, his owner, combing down the olives from one tree after the other. He cannot stand it any longer. Nor can he stand the smell of the olives any longer, or does he want to explore the grove once more. He knows this olive grove by heart: It is nearly Christmas time and since the beginning of November he has not only examined every single mound of soil in this grove, but he also got stuck in an endless chain of the same routine: in the morning, Miriam, his beloved owner, drives him from Nas up to Proespera, where she‘s supposed to harvest 117 olive trees by herself…» [read more…]
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Elena Zepou – I hang up my ballet shoes between goats and chicken and I am fine with it.
«Elena bends her body up and down at the ballet bar. She closes her eyes and little by little she gets into the rythm of the music, she put on this morning: «Cesare Pugni – The Esmeralda Variation». This is her moment, this is her ‘time out’ before a busy day starts off. She is testing some steps and after a short time…» [read more…]
. .
Eirini Stathogianni – Τhe woman who is putting Ikaria on your skin.
«Eirini kisses her little daughter good-bye, then she starts the engine of the small white transporter. It is a cold winter afternoon in December on Ikaria, the Northern wind is blowing rain drops against the windscreen. Even though Eirini knows the road by heart, she drives slowly, concentrating on every bend in the road. Winter weather can be very treacherous on Ikaria and the…» [read more…]
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Update: Sunday, September 12, 2021
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NOTES:
a) This article is actually a reblog. All texts and photos © Birgit Urban, all rights reserved. The material presented here has not been downloaded but embedded directly from the source.
b) BetweenMyWorlds does not accept comments but only e-mails. Aligning to the blogger’s preference I won’t accept comments here either. However, if you are on facebook, I think you may be able to add a comment by visiting the links pinned under some of the paragraphs of this article.
c) I take full responsibility 
for the title of my article. The second part of it is a loan after one of my most cherished old articles:
«φree αssoσiation».
Thanks for reading!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐
. .
Sunday, April 4, 2021
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Picture Calendar 2017! 😎
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 12 Ιανουαρίου, 2017 Filed under: choses vécues, festivals, flying, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: adventure, aegean, calendar, flickr, Greece, hiking, hiking trails, icaria, ikaria, ikaria-in-winter, island in the aegean sea, χειμώνας, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, layers, merominia, my-friends, OPS Ikarias, photography, things to know, up-with-lonely-winter, winter 8 Σχόλια
Dear readers,
in Ikaria almost every village, community or association makes a picture calendar for the new year to raise money for various causes
and needs. Competition is tough so these calendars are getting better and better in both concept and context every year. Take for example this one by the Ikarian Radio Station on the subject of mushrooms. (By the way, do you remember my post about Ikarian mushrooms?)
Anyway, I am not a village, that’s obvious! And my purpose is not to raise money either. I am one of the co-founders and co-administrators of a small photo community about Ikaria on Flickr and there we have the same tradition as on the island itself: every year we produce a Picture Calendar! The idea behind it is not money of course. All I want is to present some pictures which, besides their quality, are worth to be seen by anyone who is interested in our small stripe of land. They are pictures typical of the corresponding months and/or typical of what goes on in Ikaria during these months.
This year too I made a Calendar for the group, but as I said in the forenote, this time the choice of photos would not be mine. They would be either the viewers’ choice through Flickr 
or merely at random through
The only bit of choosing I did was to pick a photo as a sample from the first rows of both websites. The reason was that as we scroll down the pages, the pictures tend to be less and less relevant to the topic, that is «Flickr + location + month».
I hope you will enjoy this. The larger pictures on the left direct to Flickr. The smaller pictures on the right direct to Google. Click and watch our Ikarian monthly panorama!
Happy New Year!
🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁
Magical things are patient
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 4 Ιανουαρίου, 2017 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, festivals, flying, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: agrimi, art, blog review, dreams, enviro-lore, girls, good-conspiracy, Greece, icaria, ikaria, ikarian-enigma, inspirational, island in the aegean sea, ικαρία, modeling, modeling-for-nature, motivational, my-photos, nature, witchcraft 4 Σχόλια~
“The universe is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.”~
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~
Dear readers,
you are certainly familiar with the aforementioned quote. It’s usually credited to W.B.Yeats, however, that’s not true. The famous sentence was written by someone who was amazed when he saw for the first time through a magnifying lens the astonishing details of a beautiful wild flower! Therefore, let my blog article be for you today that magnifying lens. Through it you will be able to see some tiny beautiful details and short elusive flashes in the monotonous everyday life of our island. I’m talking about the small, rare and hidden picture instead of the big one -the one which tourism lately has turned into cliché. Let’s save ourselves from that by putting out some powerful subjective worldviews! As my friend Nana whose article I am copying here, says, this is about a…
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«A parallel reality: a collection of special moments recorded through the years and stored in our blogs and Flickr streams, from surreal alienation to oddity, from encounters with animals to performances and improvised rituals, from riddles and witchcraft to extravagance, provocation or simple pleasurable moments and postcard-like snapshots, that’s my way to celebrate Dodecaemeron, the Greek 12 festal days of Christmas and New Year, when earth and skies merge, as they say, and daily toilers like us should stop and rest and say to themselves…»
~
~~p.s. A friend asked why these pictures aren’t uploaded to Flickr. One answer is that many of them would create unwanted activity. The main reason, however, is aesthetic. As I’m saying in a comment under my snapshot of Nana’s post on Flickr, first and foremost this thing should be seen a whole.
~
~
Wind-bound in Nicaria, circa 1740
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 29 Νοεμβρίου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, ikaria, stories, travel | Tags: Aegean Sea, anthropology, Charles Perry, environment, Greece, history, ikaria, ikarians, island in the aegean sea, island life, χαμένο-χωριό, Κάβο Πάπας, ικαρία, Kavo Papas, landscape, legends, lost-village, Mavri, my-work, pirates, script, stories, storm, tales, travel 17 Σχόλια
I don’t expect this long article to become too popular. It’s just that several modern-day Ikarians show a lot of interest in knowing as much as they can about the more recent history of the island and they are usually very disappointed. Compared with other islands of the Aegean Sea, there is so little to say about Ikaria! No glorious battles, no illustrious rulers, no forts and fleets, no trading towns, no towers, cathedrals and famous monasteries; only mossy stonewalls and old thrifty houses scattered in the ravines, the valleys and the forests in the hills.
Neverthelss, there were some short descriptions of the life in the island during the Obscurity («Αφάνεια») as we like to call in Ikaria the first hard centuries of the Ottoman occupation. These were written by the very few European travelers who touched at our rough, inhospitable shores, often by chance or accident. In Pr A.J. Papalas’ book «Ancient Icaria» I found a reference to one of these documents, which, although brief and trivial, capticated my imagination. It is by Charles Perry, a wealthy medical doctor from England who travelled in the Levant from 1739 to 1742. After visiting Egypt, Perry sailed from Alexandria to Athens. On his way across the Aegean he visited and described the islands of Cos and Patmos. But after that island, as he was heading for Mykonos, his ship was caught in a storm and was forced to drop anchor in Ikaria.
I liked Perry’s account. Reading his one and a half page about his accidental visit to Ikaria, I felt the genuine puzzlement of a man of the Century of Lights for the unwelcoming, extremely mountainous environment of the island and his also genuine astonishment (and contempt) for the attitude and the way of life of its inhabitants. But, most of all, I liked his account for a more personal reason: through the eyes of the good old British doctor, I saw some places of western Ikaria which I know very well, such as Karkinagri, Agios Isidoros and Langada, looking as uncanny and wild, as if we were talking about a remote, unfriendly rock in the middle of the South Pacific!
and write a similar story, this time not from the side of an enlightened European physician, probably wearing a powdered wig, but from the side of the «wretched, almost naked and savage» Ikarians!😌
«We spent three days in Patmos, not disagreeably; and the fourth in the morning we set sail for Myconos; but the wind, which was otherwise pretty favorable, grew slack, next to a calm; so that it was with much-ado, with what wind we had, and the help of our oars, that we reached the west end of Nicaria in two days. We much lamented our hard fate, that we should thus long want a wind at such a favourable (for it) crisis of the year, it being near the Autumnal Equinox.
However, that night, about an hour after sunset, even whilst we were reproaching the malice of our stars, a fine gale sprang up. We failed not to embrace it immediately, and we went driving on, Jehu-like, with our sails full of wind and our hearts full of joy: But alas! How frail and transitory are human hopes and happiness, especially upon the sea? Within an hour after, the wind turned against us, and blew a storm; so that we were forced to change our course, and to seek shelter under a rock at the west end of Nicaria, which we did not attain, however, without much difficulty and danger.»
«Here we lay wind-bound four nights, and above three days; during which irksome interval we amused ourselves in the best manner we could with fishing: But after we had spent two days without other recreation than fishing, that sport grew dull and tedious; and whilst we were looking out for some sport and divertissement, kind Providence (of its grace and favour) sent us the glad tidings that about a mile off, on the side of a high rocky mountain, there was a spring of excellent water, which was resorted to by great number of partridges. Upon this intelligence, (which we got the third day of our detention there) we immediately got ready arms and ammunition of all sorts, as well for the belly as the barrel -such as bread, butter, cheese, salt, pepper, wine, glasses, etc. We marched on directly, (flushed with the hopes of new game) with uncommon ardour, or rather avidity; and we were well recompensed our pains; for we passed that day very agreeably.
The mountain (though in general very steep) admits a sort of level in that place; and the spring of water issues out of a rock, in a very convenient and delightful spot, where nature or chance has formed a sort of grot, large enough to receive and accommodate a dozen or 15 persons. This natural grot (if we may so call it) is covered over, and secured against the weather, by a large flat stone of about 24 feet in diameter: This rests upon and is supported by other stones on all sides, except to the eastward; where, being open, it presents to view a sort of alcove. Here we passed the whole day (which but for that retreat would have been tedious) very agreeably -reclining upon the bed of our grot, with the water trilling along close by us, whilst our partisans upon the hunt for partridges, wild goats, and the like, of which they brought us in good store.»
«There are some few inhabitants on this island, but those almost naked and savage, seldom seeing or conversing with any of the human species, except those of their own isle. The second day after we put in there, we sent out some of the mariners a shooting for us, who pursuing their game to the north side of the mountain, met with some of the natives. These were so affrighted at sight of strangers, that they fled from them with precipitation; but our people calling after them, and telling them they had brought them bread and corn, they at last prevailed on them to stop, and come to a party with them. These poor wretches, being at length persuaded of our good intentions, came to see us aboard our vessel, and afterwards brought us good store of grapes and meat. We were really at a loss to guess where they found those things; for the whole island, so far as we could see of it, is the most miserable, barren rock that ever was seen.
The 4th day, towards noon, the wind changing in our favour, we set sail for Myconos, which is 40 miles distant from the westernmost point of Nicaria. This (as it is to be supposed) is a run of about 7 hours, with a good brisk gale…»
Pages 484-486 from Charles Perry’s book, «A View of the Levant», which I have arbitrarily named «Wind bound in Nicaria», can be found in Google books
Modern books about the history of Ikaria:
Comments on this article are very welcome!
Ελενη
😌
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I’m back & sea turtles! •·.·´¯`·.·•. •·.·´¯`·.·•☀
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 22 Οκτωβρίου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: beach, caretta-caretta, eleni-in-ikaria, environment, funny, ikaria, ikaria-in-winter, island in the aegean sea, χελωνάκια, ικαρία, loggerhead sea turtles, my life, nature, October, photography, preservation, sea turtles, stories 9 Σχόλια
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Two days ago and I’m back in Ikaria and I am taking part in my own cleansing ritual as always 
early in the morning and after that I put something on and lie on the sand and I am tired and I drowse off and although it was cold earlier, now the sun rises higher and I wake up from the heat, and I think I’m dreaming 
‘cause next to my waist, and my left thigh small black creatures emerge from the sand hot babes and they look as if made of rubber and they are six or seven (maybe there were more while I was asleep) and they crawl and paddle towards the sea – because they are newly born baby sea turtles!!! 
😊 😍
And I jump on my feet and one more baby crawls out of the sand from the spot where I had laid my head and I’m trying to reach my camera while I’n also trying to keep my pareo around my waist and the camera drops on the sand and I am wasting time to clean it and I think that I’m screaming -from 
impatience, excitement and joy…
😖 😆 😄
And I open the lid of the lens and I finally take three good shots!!!
📷 😤
Bravo, chelonakia!
Bravo, baby sea-turtles!
Thanks for the short crazy moment
I felt you were my own little brats!!!
👶
.
Now in case some of you thought I am some kind of animal enchanter ☺ – according to latest records, loggerhead sea turtles are not uncommon in the eastern Aegean islands, including Ikaria, and that in spite the fact that we don’t have many appropriate sandy beaches. Several friends have seen nests and even witnessed mothers laying eggs.
But I think I was the first person on the island that baby 
sea turtles hatched and crawled out of the sand right under my body!
Ikaria 22/10/2016
Windbag of Aeolus
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 17 Οκτωβρίου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, flying, ikaria, stories, Uncategorized | Tags: aegean, atheras, disaster, documentary, empty-landscapes, environment, Greece, greeks-in-crisis, ikaria, island in the aegean sea, Αυτόνομη Συσπείρωση Πολιτών Ικαρίας, ανεμογεννήτριες, ηλεκτρισμός, ικαρία, landscape, Ledeen Doctrine, preservation, wasteland, wild capitalism, wind power, wind turbines 1 σχόλιο.
«Windbag of Aeolus»
«Ο Ασκός του Αιόλου»
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About the documentary, in short
You cannot conceive the beauty or the ugliness of this world when you are observing it from a distance. You have to approach, dive into its depths and explore… It is only then that awareness and objectiveness are acquired.
Green growth was introduced to Greece round the early ‘80s, when E.U. directives applied to Greek Government energy policy led to the installation of the first wind farm. Since then the number of wind farms has been increasing at an immense rate. The incentive for this investigation was the observation of wind turbines being inconsiderately dispersed across invaluable regions of the mainland and the islands of Greece, in the name of clean, “green energy”.
The main objective of this documentary is to shed light on the environmental, financial and social consequences of this policy and the aftermath of the so-called “high priority” investments supported by huge subsidies.
Why?
While following this objective numerous questions were raised. Is this energy policy the essence of green growth and if so, could this be considered a truly sustainable form development?
When examining the environmental aspects, one could wonder about the following:
- Which are the spatial criteria for selection of areas of installation?
- Under what kind of environmental assessment sites like forests, conservation areas, sites near traditional settlements or historic sites are approved as suitable?
- Why are those environmental assessments carried out mostly by private companies and not by scientists, and how are their results validated?
- Which are, if there are any, the obligations of the wind farm owners considering the removal of the turbines and the restoration of the environment and who sees that it is actually carried out?
- In other words, is this really a strategy or a predatory way of harnessing renewable energy sources? Could green energy under these circumstances ever be actually “green”?
Such an obvious lack of strategic planning raises more questions considering the financial aspects of the matter.
- Whom do these “strategic investments” really serve?
- Under what legislation is the constitutionally defined meaning of sustainability being annulled, when permits are being issued inconsiderately and subsidies are given out to one-person companies and affiliates of the same key companies in the energy field?
- Why isn’t there any consideration whatsoever of the actual energy needs of the country?
- Why aren’t those companies fined when they are not meeting their dept to land owners?
- Or, why is the ownership status scouted?
Risks & Challenges
Τhe strength, support and motivation for this 16-month journey of searching, filming and visiting the farthest corners of Greece came from the people of this land, people who have been conveniently silenced. This raises the biggest question of all:
- Why are all the above taking place while communities around Greece are provided with no official information at all?
- Why are the views of Municipalities totally disregarded in decision making? Why are their arguments, protests, petitions passed by?
- Is this really where the birthplace of Democracy ended up to?
As a production team we decided 16 months ago to open the windbag of green growth in Greece and separate the lies from the truth. We did so being fully aware of the risks involved and while knowing well enough the power of the key players in the energy field in Greece…
—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—⊥—
Ο «Ασκός του Αιόλου» με λίγα λόγια
Δεν μπορείς να συλλάβεις την ομορφιά ή την ασχήμια αυτού του κόσμου όταν τον παρατηρείς από μακριά. Πρέπει να τον πλησιάσεις, να βουτήξεις μέσα και να τον εξερευνήσεις… Μόνο τότε αποκτάς πλήρη συναίσθηση και αντικειμενικότητα. Ο όρος και η πρακτική εφαρμογή της πράσινης ανάπτυξης εμφανίστηκαν στην Ελλάδα τη δεκαετία του ’80, όταν η ενεργειακή πολιτική των Ελληνικών κυβερνήσεων, καθοδηγούμενη από τις Ευρωπαϊκές οδηγίες, συναίνεσε στη δημιουργία του πρώτου αιολικό πάρκου. Από τότε ο αριθμός τους αυξάνεται με φρενήρη ρυθμό. Η παρουσία πολυάριθμων ανεμογεννητριών που αλόγιστα φυτεύονται στο όνομα της «πράσινης ενέργειας» σε ανεκτίμητες περιοχές της ηπειρωτικής και νησιωτικής Ελλάδας, αποτέλεσε το έναυσμα της έρευνάς μας. Ο κύριος στόχος του ντοκιμαντέρ είναι να φέρει στην επιφάνεια τις πραγματικές περιβαλλοντικές, οικονομικές και κοινωνικές συνέπειες της εφαρμογής αυτής της πολιτικής και τις «παρενέργειες» τον αποκαλούμενων «στρατηγικών επενδύσεων» που επιδοτούνται αδρά.
Γιατί;
Ακολουθώντας το στόχο αυτό γεννήθηκαν πολυάριθμα ερωτήματα. Αυτή είναι τελικά η ουσία της πράσινης ανάπτυξης και αν ναι, υπό ποία έννοια χαρακτηρίζονται βιώσιμες οι εφαρμογές τέτοιων πρακτικών; Σε ότι αφορά το περιβάλλον ορισμένα μόνο από τα βασικά ερωτήματα που προκύπτουν είναι τα εξής:
- Ποια είναι επιτέλους τα χωροταξικά κριτήρια επιλογής των περιοχών εγκατάστασης;
- Τι είδους και πόσης αξιοπιστίας περιβαλλοντικές μελέτες «επιστημονικά» συναινούν στην επιλογή δασών, προστατευόμενων περιοχών NATURA, σημείων σε απόσταση αναπνοής από παραδοσιακούς οικισμούς και κατοικημένες περιοχές ή ιστορικούς χώρους, ως περιοχών κατάλληλων για εγκατάσταση;
- Γιατί αυτές οι περιβαλλοντικές μελέτες, που συνοδεύουν τις αιτήσεις αδειοδότησης, πραγματοποιούνται κυρίως από ιδιωτικές εταιρείες και όχι από το άρτια καταρτισμένο επιστημονικό προσωπικό των Πανεπιστημίων της χώρας και με ποιον τρόπο ή από ποιο φορέα ελέγχεται η αξιοπιστία των αποτελεσμάτων τους;
- Ποιες είναι οι υποχρεώσεις των ιδιοκτητών αιολικών πάρκων σε σχέση με την απομάκρυνση των ανεμογεννητριών μετά το τέλος της λειτουργικής περιόδου τους και την αποκατάσταση του περιβάλλοντος;
- Ποιος ελέγχει ότι εργασίες αποκατάστασης όντως πραγματοποιούνται;
- Με άλλα λόγια, είναι αυτό στρατηγική και σχέδιο ανάπτυξης, ή απλά ένας ληστρικός τρόπος εκμετάλλευση κοινωνικών αγαθών όπως ο αέρας, το νερό και ο ήλιος;
- Πως θα μπορούσε ποτέ η “πράσινη ενέργεια” να είναι υπό αυτές τις συνθήκες πραγματικά «πράσινη»;
Η προφανέστατη έλλειψη στρατηγικού σχεδιασμού λοιπόν, δεν μπορούσε παρά να γεννήσει ακόμα περισσότερα ερωτήματα, ειδικά σε σχέση με το οικονομικό καθεστώς που επικρατεί στις «επενδύσεις» αυτές.
- Ποιόν εξυπηρετούν στην πραγματικότητα αυτές οι «στρατηγικές επενδύσεις»;
- Υπό ποια νομοθεσία καταργείται στην ουσία η συνταγματικά κατοχυρωμένη έννοια της βιωσιμότητας με την αδιάκριτη έγκριση αδειών και την συνεχή παροχή επιδοτήσεων σε εταιρείες του ενός ατόμου, ή σε θυγατρικές των ίδιων βασικών παικτών στον τομέα της ενέργειας, εγχώριων και ξένων;
- Γιατί παραβλέπονται και αποτελούν δευτερεύον κριτήριο οι πραγματικές ενεργειακές ανάγκες της χώρας;
- Υπάρχει κάποιος μηχανισμός προστασίας των ιδιοκτητών γης όταν δεν λαμβάνουν τα συμφωνηθέντα από τις εταιρείες για την ενοικίαση της γης τους;
- ‘Η, για ποιόν ακριβώς λόγο το ιδιοκτησιακό καθεστώς περιοχών απαξιώνεται και αλλάζει εν μια νυκτί;
Προκλήσεις
Η δύναμη για αυτό το 16μηνο ταξίδι μας προήλθε από τους ανθρώπους της χώρας αυτής που αποτέλεσαν και το ισχυρότερο κίνητρο, γιατί έχουν πολύ βολικά και επιμελέστατα αποσιωπηθεί. Και αυτή ακριβώς η παράμετρος γεννά το μεγαλύτερο ερώτημα από όλα:
- Γιατί όλα τα παραπάνω συμβαίνουν ενώ οι Δήμοι και οι τοπικές κοινωνίες δεν λαμβάνουν απολύτως κανενός είδους επίσημη πληροφόρηση;
- Γιατί οι απόψεις των Δημοτικών Συμβουλίων απαξιώνονται και παραβλέπονται κατά την λήψη των αποφάσεων;
- Γιατί οι διαμαρτυρίες, οι φωνές των ανθρώπων αυτών αποσιωπούνται;
- Εδώ κατέληξε τελικά η γενέτειρα της Δημοκρατίας;
Ως ομάδα παραγωγής αποφασίσαμε πριν 16 μήνες να ανοίξουμε τον Ασκό της πράσινης ανάπτυξης στην Ελλάδα και να ξεχωρίσουμε τα ψέματα από την αλήθεια. Το κάναμε έχοντας πλήρη συναίσθηση των κινδύνων που ελλοχεύουν και γνωρίζοντας πολύ καλά τη δύναμη των μεγάλων παικτών στον τομέα της ενέργειας στη χώρα…
source
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.Thursday December 1, 2016 - 10:37pm (EEST)
His island of freedom
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 20 Σεπτεμβρίου, 2016 Filed under: exploring, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel | Tags: adventure, aegean, blog review, communism, explorers, food, freedom, Greece, hiking, history, ikaria, ikarians, island in the aegean sea, island life, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, lifestyle, peaceful island, stories, travel 7 Σχόλια
Hello readers! 🙂
how long has it been since I last wrote a blog review properly speaking – that is, to review something written by someone I don’t know? I think the last one was about Jackie Fox, the Ikarian/American who posted a whole series of wonderful articles about her life in Ikaria during the year 2012-13. Jackie published on WordPress so it was easy for me to spot her and connect to her blog articles. The same goes with my present blogger. He is in WordPress where he keeps a blog which he calls: «Dorken at large – Outings in search of personal freedom». I like him so here I am, hard-working, cool blogger Eleni, I am blogging about his doings in Ikaria!
As I always do, I will let him speak on his own. But before that, just let me say only two things: a) Dorken comes from Izmir, a city geographically and historically associated with our islands. It’s so close and so big that in some winter nights when the clouds are low I can see the glow of the lights of his city in the east! b) Some Turks like Dorken, also like a lot of people who come from the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, incarnate the legendary Oriental Oral Narrator – in simpler words, they know how to tell a story and capture the listener!
Go Dorken, speak about my island – your island of freedom! 😊
As always in my blog reviews, if you click on the pictures you see in this article you will be directed to the full posts in the source. There you will find more photos with a few words for each. As you will see, I have borrowed some quotes from Dorken’s posts. Goes without saying that I am solely responsible for my choices.
Dorken’s Ikaria : Foreword
«…but then, there was another island. One that was somehow magical, and for no special reason. One that I picked for myself, my fantasy island, my island. When I told the name, very few people would have heard of it, even though it was so close to where we lived. In my child’s mind, I would be the king of my island and my own civilization. I would declare my independence lying on the floor of my bedroom, lost in the map. It was years later, when I started reading about it, I was surprised to see that my island was of the same mindset, that it had actually declared its independence in 1912, had its own flag, its own anthem, even if it had lasted for only five months. Yes, that was definitely my island…»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 1 – Arrival
«Getting to Ikaria is no easy task, I’ll tell you. Despite being one of the largest of the Aegean islands, it seems to be somehow left out of the grid. Although it is clearly visible from the Turkish coast, it is easier to get to Mykonos or Santorini then Ikaria. Well, I hope it will stay that way…»
«The entertaining bit of the trip though was to overhear (ok, not overhear, simply listen, yes I like lis-tening to others’ conversations, shush!) twenty something Istanbulites discussing which beach clubs they should go to in Samos. I’m not going to get into details, but I will tell you this much: some of the Turks really have the wrong idea about the Greek islands. They get on the boat to Samos or Chios thinking they will find the same boom boom – fuck me – boom beach clubs they go to in Cesme or Bodrum, and then they are heavily disappointed. Aegean islands, perhaps with the excep-tion of Mykonos and Santorini, is about peace and tranquillity, and very very good ouzo…»
«.So here I am, sitting on my wooden throne on the beach, adoring my kingdom. I just had the most delicious grilled squid and am on my third glass of white wine. Stars are shining, there’s a gentle Greek tune coming from the back, and the sound of the waves from the front. There’s a brave woman going for a swim. Life is good. So far, I love my kingdom.»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 2 – Agios Kirykos
«Mornings of any Aegean trip has the same theme: wake up (preferably not too late), instead of jumping under the shower, jump into the sea, sit at a café, have a bite, have a coffee, and another coffee and another one. Why should today be any different?»
«Ag. Kirykos is a nice island town (town – village – town? whatever), but nothing spectacular. Nice cafés by the coast to enjoy your book. Few pebble beaches around – not very comfy, but the sea is much warmer than in the nearby islands of Samos and Chios. Nice people. Yeah, that’s it. Summary of the day: swim, have coffee, read book, walk around, have more coffee, plan the next day, have another dip in the sea, and another coffee – yeah that’s really it.»
«Although Greece gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1827, East Aegean Islands still remained part of the empire. In July 1912, the Ikarians said that they had enough with that and revolted under the leadership of a chap named Ioannis Malahias. The Ottomans had their own prob-lems like World War I, so as a result, Free State of Ikaria was declared an independent country on July 17th. Of course, it wasn’t the easiest of times. And with no dowry, no money, no family background, Ikarians had to be glad to be annexed by Greece only five months later in November. To this day, Ikarians are extremely proud of those five months and all around the island, you can see more Free State flags than Greek ones. The flag has a dark blue background with a white cross in the middle – basically Swiss flag turned blue. 🙂 »
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 3 – Chalares Canyon, Nas, Armenistis
«To get from the south to the north of the island, you have to go up and down the high mountains that run like the spine of Ikaria. The view on both sides is simply breath-taking. One has to be care-ful enjoying the view while driving in Ikaria though. The roads are all very narrow – at some points to the degree that two cars cannot pass at the same time. On one side of the road, there are rocks and on the other side, cliffs several hundred meters high and more rocks at the bottom. Not to worry, you are more likely to come across a goat than a car while driving on the island anyway.»
«I arrived at Nas, at the northwest end of the island towards ten o’clock. Nas is a very small village with a few hotels and restaurants that took the healthy-trendy line. Everything here is organic, healthy, super food and stuff. It’s not difficult to imagine people doing yoga on the beach at sun-rise, which I’m sure they do.»
«Ikaria has an unbelievable amount of well-marked and well-kept walking trails – one might say bet-ter marked and kept than the roads themselves. The one I was going to try today was starting at Nas and following the river along the Chalares Canyon. As the trails are never ending, I decided to walk as long as I found reasonable, then return back either using the same route or some alternative path.»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 4 – Evdilos, Kampos and around
«The northerly autumn winds begun caressing Ikaria this morning. The sun is still strong, but you know that it is not going to last long. Colors of the season started showing themselves on the trees at higher altitudes. It is the best time of the Aegean.»
«The roads gently ascend the hills passing by farms and vineyards. After a few dead ends, I seem to have found my way. In any case, if you get really lost lost, just walk down till you meet the sea, not that hard.»
«As the altitude increased, bushes and olive trees left the scene to pine forest. At the end, I reached my destination point: Theoktistis Monastery. It is really a small monastery this one, but sitting on top of the mountain, the view is well worth the climb. There is a small church at the very entrance with your typical Greek icons and what not. As you climb a bit more though, you come across an-other tiny church which drops your jaw. Imagine that there’s this big rock on the ground, then they built block walls on it, and then using what mythical creature god knows, they placed a gigantic rock on top of it all to serve as a roof. Walking around the church, you realize that the roof bit is ac-tually a massive rock cantilevering out of the mountain. They just built a block wall in between the two rocks. Okay, now it makes sense. It’s a tiny tiny church by the way, the door is barely a meter high or so, you really need to bend down to get in.»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 5 – Manganitis
«The south coast of Ikaria is rugged, harsh, so rocky that in most places depriving the trees of the least bit of soil to hang on to. This makes it very difficult for humans to settle, but it is a playground for the goats. These steep hills also shelter some of the most beautiful, tiny, isolated beaches you can find on the island, of which, Seychelles Beach has unequivocal reputation.»
«Here’s another interesting note about Ikaria: After the Greek Civil War of 1946-1949 between the nationalists and the communists, the Greek government used Ikaria as an exile location for the de-feated commies. Some 13,000 people affiliated with the Greek Communist Party, KKE, were sent to the island. Considering the current population of Ikaria is just 8,500, you can well imagine the impact of this relocation on the island’s political demographics. And which party do you think wins all the elections on the island today? Yes, you guessed it right :). Even today, the island is referred to by many Greeks as the Red Rock. It is funny though, Ikarians are also very devout Orthodox Christians. Nowhere else have I seen communism and religion going so much hand in hand, but then again, Ikaria is not just any place.»
«…the highlight of the whole day, perhaps the trip, was the tiny, beautiful, under-stated Manganitis village. With houses overlooking the vast blueness that is the Aegean and the cutest little harbour, this fishing village offers the real isolated Greek island beauty in one’s imagination. And the deli-cious Ikarian ratatouille cooked from vegetables grown by the owner of the taverna himself in his backyard, accompanied by a glass of Mythos… for some people, there is heaven, eden, paradise to go to; for the likes of me, there is Manganitis.»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 6 – Departure
«Today, I will have a few beers and enjoy my book until the Dodekanisos Seaways hydrofoil takes me to Pythagoreio in Samos, from where I will board the boat back to Kusadasi. I have one and a half hours between the two boats, I hope the connection will be less dramatic than the last one.»
«I have to express my gratitude to the amazing island of Ikaria, for treating me like the king that I am and allowing me to reign over it for six long days – much longer than many mighty nations tried to do. It would be unwise though to outstay my welcome, for I know that the spirit of Ikaria is all about freedom. I will surely miss this red little rock of mine and who knows, perhaps one day…»
«Autumn winds increased their strength over Ikaria today. Gone are the long, warm days of the summer. Whether you like it or not, change is on its way. Things are about to get different, and different we will have to embrace.»
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Come again Dorken! Maybe your ancestors and my ancestors were related! Maybe they were friends!
Let’s be friends too! 😊
👩 Eleni
September 20, 2016
The Who in The Where (2)
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 7 Αυγούστου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, festivals, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel | Tags: anthropology, anti-mykonos, eyes, eyes and smiles, faces, flickr, flickr-photos, frugality, Greece, Greeks, greeks-in-crisis, ikaria, ikaria-in-winter, ikarians, instagram, island in the aegean sea, πρόσωπα, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, lifestyle, local identity, my-beta-island, my-friends, my-idea, my-neighbors, people in landscape, portraits 9 Σχόλια____
«…συνηθισμένοι εις τον θεληματικόν κόπον μιας ησύχου ζωής, ανυπόδουλοι, εξ αρχής της κατοικήσεως των εις εκείνα τα υψηλά βουνά – έχουν ευτυχείς μακρά από την πολυτέλειαν και κακοήθειαν των διεφθαρμένων πολιτειών, ανδρείοι ως ελεύθεροι, φιλόξενοι ως Έλληνες…»
(παλιο ανωνυμο)
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Hello readers!
There is no need to say much about this kind of post. I think I said more than enough in my first, very enthousiastic «The Who in The Where» 4 years ago. The focus again is on people, our people or the people who visit Ikaria but who somehow seem to have always belonged there. Or is it that our mysterious but so peaceful island has always belonged to them? I don’t know… I only know that I am missing it. I hope that as usual I will return in winter. Meanwhile, go ahead and look through my choice of new pictures of beautiful, meaningful human figures and faces from the summer months as well as the winter in Ikaria. Some of them I know, some others I don’t but I am proud of them all! These people are my next of kin. And though I writing this in a grey overheated city while wearing an uncomfortable formal suit, my heart is with them! I hope you like them too!
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All images open directly on the bloggers’ or photographers’ own spaces and it goes without saying that they are copyrighted. Special thanks to © angeloska, © Ορειβατικός Σύλλογος Ικαρίας and © egotoagrimi
More material in Flickr can be easily found if you type: «Ikaria + portrait», «Ikaria + face», «Ikaria + girl», «Ikaria + boy» etc.
Closing this let me add that there are more shots but that’s not «The Who in The Where» – that’s …
«Only Few in Only Few Places»! 😀
Bye, bye! Got to work now! 😛
Cross blogging 1: Nana’s WP media
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 18 Ιουνίου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, hiking, ikaria, photography, stories | Tags: adventure, aegean, agrimi, blog review, dreams, enviro-lore, environment, girls, Greece, hiking, ikaria, inspirational, island in the aegean sea, island life, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, motivational, my-friends, nana's-wild-photo, stories 7 Σχόλια
Happy Summer, my friends!
It’s not the right time of the year to post long accounts. In the summer people usually browse magazines and look at pictures. So this article is about pictures, pictures of a special kind, older or newer attachements to my friend Nana’s blog posts, that may have passed unnoticed. The same as her blog as a whole, these pictures are not touristic neither do they aim to giving information about the island. All I may say about them is that they are thrilling and they have provided inspiration to a lot of viewers, and if I may say, a bit of motivation as well, and that not only concerning Ikaria but for all similar places of the world gifted with an exciting outdoors and a culture of freedom. Before I write a full blog review, I’ll stop and just say: it’s not pictures from my beloved Flickr that I look at when I am homesick for Ikaria. I look at these pictures. And when I have time, I click on the links and I also read the articles some of which go back to several years ago.
I encourage you to take the ride. It’s a wild ride, as wild and natural as our island. Sometimes the concept does not make sense, sometimes it does, sometimes there’s humor or doubt, puzzlement, even bewilderment. There is art and fun and yes, in some of them a visitor can find some tourist information too.
But this is not the point. The point is a strong, desicive and creative girl living and rambling in Ikaria and what she thinks about it all. Take a look yourselves and say if I am wrong.
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Someone just asked. Yes, of course there will be a second part and maybe more to come. Nana to agrimi’s media library from Ikaria is big!.
Ικαρία & Φούρνοι: μια εξερεύνηση
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 24 Μαρτίου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, hiking, holidays, ikaria, pleasure, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: adventure, aegean, explorers, good-book, Greece, greek-entries, guide, guidebook, holidays, ikaria, island in the aegean sea, ταξιδιωτικός οδηγός, διακοπές, ελληνικά-entries, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, my-friends, my-photos, tourism, tourist-promoter, what-ot-takes, why-ikaria 8 Σχόλια
Γεια σας αναγνωστες 🙂
Σημερα γραφω με χαρα στα Ελληνικα γιατι το θεμα μου ειναι Ελληνικο και μαλιστα αφορα ενα καλο βιβλιο για την Ικαρια! Μπορει να πειτε πως κανονικα δεν θα ‘πρεπε να γραψω αφου ειμαι τοσο παθιασμενη, οντας ολοσωμο κι ολοψυχο το μπλογκ μου αφιερωμενο σ’ αυτο το νησι, αρα η κριτικη μου δεν θα ειναι αντικειμενικη. Ομως εγω οταν χρειαζεται ξερω να συγκρατω το παθος μου. Εξαλλου εχω αλητεψει ταξιδεψει αρκετα και ξερω καλα οτι η Ικαρια δεν ειναι το κεντρο του κοσμου καθως επισης εχει και παρα πολλα μειονεκτηματα. Ετσι νομιζω οτι θα τα καταφερω να γραψω μια νηφαλια κριτικη. Θα βοηθουσε επισης αν σας ελεγα οτι οχι μονο δεν εχω μετοχες στον εκδοτικο οικο που βγαζει το βιβλιο αλλα ουτε καν γνωριζω τη συγγραφεα. Καποτε μονο διαβασα μερικα γραπτα και ειδα φωτογραφιες της και μου φανηκε πως ηταν καλο παιδι. Ετσι απλα.
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Οταν λοιπον εκανε την πρωτη ερευνα για το βιβλιο, μου εγραψε και μου ζητησε φωτογραφιες για την εκδοση. Τοτε ηταν που ειχα ζησει πανω απο 1/2 χρονο στην Ικαρια και μου ειχε κανει μεγαλη εντυπωση που δεν υπηρχε σχεδον καθολου εγκυρο δημοσιευμενο υλικο για τον τοπο που ζουσα. Τοσο που γνωστοι και φιλοι, συνεργατες στη δουλεια, ξεροντας τον χαρακτηρα μου, νομιζαν οτι ειχα κατοικησει σε καποια χιππικη βραχονησιδα με σπηλιες! 😮 Ετσι της εδωσα φωτογραφιες με χαρα και ανακουφιση, νιωθοντας απο ενστικτο οτι η Αλεξια θα εγραφε απλα και τιμια, με διασταυρωμενα στοιχεια και καλη επιλογη θεματων, και ιδιως χωρις κουφιες εμπορικες καλολογιες. Πραγματι, τωρα που κρατησα στα χερια μου το αντιτυπο που μου χάρισε, βλεπω πως ειχα δικιο. Αυτος ο ταξιωτικος οδηγος ειναι τοσο αμεσος κι απλος που εκτος απο «Εξερευνηση», θα μπορουσε να εχει τιτλο: «Ικαρια και Φουρνοι: Εξ επαφης»!
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Το καλο πραγμα αργει να γινει. Μεχρι να εκδοθει σωστα το βιβλιο της Αλεξιας γνωρισε μεγαλες περιπετειες. Απο κοινους γνωστους εμαθα οτι αντι να της ανατεθει η αποστολη απο καποιο αφεντικο, εκεινη ηταν που πηγε και χτυπησε «μεγαλες πορτες» ζητώντας την αναθεση η οποια της δοθηκε μεν, ομως η εκδοση, αν και με τρανταχτη υπογραφη γνωστων εκδοσεων του χωρου, πηγε κακην κακως στη διανομη, δεν έφτασε στα ραφια και τελικα εξαφανιστηκε. 😮
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Ομως η Αλεξια επεμεινε. Σε συννενοηση με την Καριωτικη παρεα του ηλεκτρονικου περιοδικου ikariamag τμηματα του βιβλιου εμφανιστηκαν στο «Ο,τι χρειαζεστε για το νησι» οπου φαινεται πως ειχαν μεγαλη επισκεψιμοτητα, ελεγχθηκαν απο τους αναγνωστες και αναγνωριστηκε η εγκυροτητα τους. Ετσι ψηθηκε η ιδεα για μια νεα ενημερωμενη εκδοση η οποια βγηκε τελικα το Δεκεμβρη του 2015 απο τις Εκδοσεις «Ελευθερες Πτησεις» που συνδεονται με το περιο
δικο και άρα το θεωρω απιθανο η εκδοση να εξαφανιστει κι αυτη απο τα ραφια. 😉 🙂
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Εκτος απο τ
α βιβλιοπωλεια, το «Ικαρια & Φουρνοι: μια εξερευνηση» θα βρειτε σιγουρα στο ηλεκτρονικο καταστημα ikariastore. Εχει 370 σελιδες και κοστιζει 15.00€. Παρακατω θα σας εξηγησω γιατι αξιζει να το αγορασετε. Πρωτα ομως ας δουμε τι γραφει στην εισαγωγη η ίδια η Αλεξια για το βιβλιο της:
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«Το παραδέχομαι, δεν την είχα συμπαθήσει όταν την είχα πρωτοδεί την Ικαρία. Ούτε που την ένοιξε βέβαια αυτήν. Δεν με είχε ανάγκη βλέπεις, ούτε εμένα ούτε κανέναν. Ωστόσο δεν κατόρθωσε να με ξεφορτωθεί τόσο εύκολα. Καθώς περνούσαν τα χρόνια, κάπως τα ΄φερε η ζωή κι επέστρεψα, αυτή τη φορά κάτω από τελείως διαφορετικές συνηθήκες. Η Νίκη κι ο Βασίλης με πήγανε παντού, με φρόντισαν, μου έμαθαν ικαριώτικο, με βοήθησαν να μην αισθάνομαι ενοχές που δεν βιάζομαι, με πήγανε στη ντίσκο στις 5 το πρωί και μάντεψε: τελικά τη λάτρεψα την Ικαρία!..»
«Μετά δεν ήθελε και πολύ. Ξαναπήγα και ξαναπήγα και ξαναπήγα, γνώρισα κι άλλους φανταστικούς ανθρώπους και τελικά έγραψα ένα βιβλίο. Ο στόχος τώρα -όπως και τότε- παραμένει ο ίδιος: ν’ απολαύσετε και να αγαπήσετε αυτόν τον τόπο γι’ αυτό που είναι και όχι γιατί σας το προτείνω εγώ. Κάθε τόπος άλλωστε είναι σαν ένας ξεχωριστός άνθρωπος. Με τα χρόνια φτιάχνει την προσωπικότητά του, ζώντας τις δικές του μοναδικές εμπειρίες, κάτω από διαφορετικές επιδράσεις. Κάπως έτσι γράφεται τελικά η ιστορία του, όποια κι αν είναι αυτή…»
«Ανοίγοντας το βήμα για να φτάσεις στα πιο απομονωμένα σημεία, χάνεσαι μέσα σε ανήλιαγα αρχαία δάση, διασχίζεις ορμητικούς λουλουδιασμένους ποταμούς, βουτάς μέσα σε χρυσαφένιες παραλίες, διψάς μέσα στην πέτρα και τη σκόνη, ξαποσταίνεις σε καταπράσινα προστατευτικά δέντρα. Μέσα σ’ αυτόν τον ταξιδιωτικό οδηγό θα βρεις τον τρόπο να φτάσεις στα πιο κρυφά σημεία της Ικαρίας και των Φούρνων, θα γνωρίσεις ηλιοκαμένους ανθρώπους που κατέχουν το μυστικό της μακροζωίας και θα ανακαλύψεις γιατί ο Ίκαρος διάλεξε να πέσει ακριβώς εκεί…»
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Κι εγω τωρα σας λεω να το παρετε γιατι:
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- Η Αλεξια εφαρμοζει πιστα τους βασικους κανονες του καλου ταξιδιωτικου βιβλιου. Χωρις να θεωρει τιποτα σαν δεδομενο ή αυτονοητο, γίνεται σύντροφος του ταξιδιωτη και τον καθοδηγει να κινηθει στο νησι και εφοσον θελει, να ξετρυπωσει κρυμενα περασματα σε μυστηριωδεις πραγματικοτητες που η Ικαρια διαθετει αφθονες, πιο πολλες απο καθε αλλο Ελληνικο νησί. 🙄 😉
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- Εχει ξεκαθαρισει σε ποιους απευθυνεται. Η Ικαρια της Αλεξιας δεν ειναι για ταξιδιωτες μαθημενους στα ευκολα. Ξερει που ειναι ολα τα αγκαθια, τα βραχια, οι αποτομες στροφες κι οι γκρεμοι, ενω θεματα περιβαλλοντος, τοπικης οικονομιας, τροπου ζωης και κοινωνικων συνθηκων ειναι σε πρωτο πλανο σε ολα τα κεφαλαια του βιβλιου, διχως ωστοσο περιττους εγκυκλοπαιδισμους. Σ’ αυτα τα θεματα εμεις οι γυναικες ειμαστε πιο πρακτικες απ’ τους αντρες. 😉 🙂.
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- Αν και ολοφανερα δεμενη με τον τοπο, εχει το θαρρος της αποψης και της επιλογης των θεματων. Μετα τη θαυμασια εισαγωγη για τη γεωγραφια, την ιστορια, την κουλτουρα, την αρχιτεκτονικη και τις παραδοσεις, διαιρει το βιβλιο σε οκτω διαδρομές στις οποιες μας παει βημα-βημα, δινει τα highlights, καποια αφηνει απεξω, εννοειται, ευτυχως, δεν ειναι εγκυκλοπαιδεια ουτε χρυσος οδηγος! 🙄.
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- Οι χαρτες! Οι χαρτες! Οι χαρτες!
Οι φωτογραφιες! Οι φωτογραφιες!
Οι πρακτικες πληροφοριες και τα μικρα, πολυ χρησιμα, τιπς 😎
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- Δεν γινοταν να λειπουν οι αναφορες στις χτυπητες ιδιαιτεροτητες μας. Τα πανηγυρια ⭐ οι «γκρουβαλοι» 😎 η διαφορετικη αισθηση του χρονου 😳 το οχι/ναι καμπινγκ 🙄 η μακροζωια 😉 – για ολα αυτα (και αλλα που δεν τα ξερετε) η Αλεξια καταθετει την αποψη της θαρρετα, γλαφυρα και με χιουμορ 😀 αλλα δεν παραλειπει κιολας να καταγγειλει τα πολλα σκουπιδια, τα παρατημενα αυτοκινητα, την συχνη ελλειψη αρχιτεκτονικης καλαισθησιας και την αδιαφορια για το περιβαλλον οπως π.χ. στο θεμα της υπερβοσκησης που ερημοποιει τα βουνα του νησιου. 😦
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- Μιας και μιλησα για βουνα, σε καθε κεφαλαιο του βιβλιου γινονται πολλες αναφορες στην πεζοπορια: ειτε για το πολυ απλο, δηλαδη για να φτασει κανεις σε μια απομονωμενη παραλια [«καβατζα» 😀 ] ειτε για μεγαλυτερες διαδρομες οπως π.χ. το Φαραγγι της Χαλαρης ή τον Γυρο του Δασους του Ραντη. Ομως δεν επεκτεινεται πολυ και κανει καλα. Η πεζοπορια/ορειβασια στην Ικαρια ειναι ξεχωριστο, πολυ μεγαλο κεφαλαιο που γι’ αυτο θα αξιζε να γραφτει εξειδικευμενος ταξιδιωτικος οδηγος. 🙄
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- Τελος, ηθελα να πω οτι δεν εχω δει καλυτερο καταλογο δωματιων, ξενοδοχειων, εστιατοριων, μπαρ κτλ. Βρισκονται μετα απο καθε κεφαλαιο στο τελος καθε διαδρομης και απορησα που τα ξερει, γιατι στην Ικαρια ουτε τα μισα κομοντιτις δεν βρισκονται στον κεντρικο δρομο αλλα ειναι κρυμμενα σε μακρινες πλαγιες και ραχουλες! Μαλιστα η Αλεξια δηλωνει οτι για αυτη τη ξεχωρη δουλεια δεν ζητησε κι ουτε πηρε δεκαρα. Φυσικα την πιστευω! Κι εσεις να ακολουθησετε τις συμβουλες της γιατι ειναι γυναικα μερακλου προφανως.
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- Προσωπικά εγω διαβασα το βιβλιο της με περιεργεια αλλα κυριως με μεγαλη ανακουφιση. Η περιεργεια μου ικανοποιηθηκε με το παραπανω γιατι εμαθα πολλα πραγματα που δεν ηξερα. Πιο πολυ ομως ενιωσα ανακουφιση γιατι εχουμε ενα καλο τουριστικο τυφλοσουρτη επιτελους! Να μη χρειαζεται καθε φορα που συνανταμε ενα ξενο να του κανουμε σεμιναριο, αλλα να του λεμε:
-Αγορασε αυτο το βιβλιο, ειναι καλο, το διαβαζουμε κι εμεις οι Καριωτες. Διαβασε το κι ελα μετα, οποτε θες, να τα πουμε με πιο πολλες λεπτομερειες! 😀..
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Αυτα απο μενα τη Λενη και γεια σας, χαρα σας. 🙂
πηγ
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Σημ: Η Αλεξια δεν ειναι απο την Ικαρια ή τους Φουρνους. Γεννηθηκε και μεγαλωσε στην Αθηνα, σπουδασε στο τμημα ΕΜΜΕ του Πανεπιστημιου Αθηνων και λιγο αργοτερα βρεθηκε για μεταπτυχιακα στην Αγγλια και την Ολλανδια. Εργαστηκε στο χωρο της δημοσιογραφιας, της επικοινωνιας και της εκπαιδευσης και απο το 2014 εχει μεταναστευσει στη Μεση Ανατολη. Λατρευει τα εξερευνητικα ταξιδια, ενω η συγγραφη αποτελει γι’ αυτην καταφυγιο. Το «Ικαρια & Φουρνοι: μια εξερευνηση» ειναι το πρωτο της βιβλιο και το πιο αγαπημενο της δημιουργημα στη μεχρι τωρα ζωη της. Το mail της ειναι: alexia.palesti@gmail.com
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Ικαρια, 24 Μαρτιου 2016
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