Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ALL ABOUT OLIVES
With nearly 12 million olive trees on the island, it's no wonder two museums are de-
voted to the endeavour.
In Agia Paraskavi, south of Molyvos, the
Museum of Industrial Olive Oil Produc-
tion
( 22530 32300;
www.piop.gr
;
Agia Paraskavi; admission €3; 10am-6pm Mar-Oct, closed
Tue)
is a handsomely restored oil mill, full of polished equipment and well-signed
displays.
And modestly tucked away in the village of Papados between Mytilini and south-
coast Ploumari, the little
Vrana Olive-Press Museum
( 22510 82007; Papados; admis-
sion €1; 9am-7pm, closed Mon)
showcases old presses and vintage paintings of a by-
gone era. It also occupies a bit Greek literary history; it was built by Nicholas
Vranas, grandfather of Greek Nobel prize winning poet Odysseas Elytis.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Western Lesvos
Western Lesvos was formed by massive, primeval volcanic eruptions that fossilised trees
and all other living things, making it an intriguing site for prehistoric-treasure hunters.
The striking, bare landscape, broken only by craggy boulders and the occasional olive
tree, is dramatically different to that in the rest of Lesvos.
Further to the southwest, however, a grassier landscape emerges, leading to the coastal
village of Skala Eresou, birthplace to one of Greece's most famous lyric poets, Sappho,
dubbed the tenth muse by Plato.
The sensuous, erotic nature of Sappho's surviving poems - and the fact that she taught
and inspired an inner circle of female devotees - has made her into a latter-day lesbian
icon.
Kalloni to Sigri Καλλονή προς Σίγρι
After driving 34km west from Kalloni, stop for a coffee or lunch break in
Andissa
, a
jovial, rustic village of narrow streets kept cool by the two enormous plane trees that
stand over its
plateia
. Listen to the crickets and the banter of old-timers over a Greek
coffee or frappé, while farmers hawk watermelons and oranges from the back of their
pickups.
