We are on Ikaria for the first time at the end of October. It is wonderfully warm, the pine forests are still spring green, only the needles on the ground form a rust-red autumnal contrast. Many trees and bushes bear fruit and shine in warm yellow and red. Bright red hibiscus blooms in the gardens, interspersed with beautiful myrtle with dark blue fruits. In the Randiforest we are impressed by how this tree changes its “clothes”, it is the rare Andraclas.
A fire department for Ikaria
We meet the fire truck. On a Sunday trip to Theoktisti Monastery we meet the fire engine of the Oberneuland/Bremen volunteer fire department. This is a hit! It came to Ikaria brand new through a fundraiser a few days ago. A local fireman comes up the mountain on a moped and enthusiastically explains that he started his fire brigade training on this model 20 years ago.
Practical help from Bremen: A discarded fire truck from the Bremen fire department gets a new job on the island of Ikaria.He has to cover more than 3,000 kilometers from Oberneuland to get there. Radio Bremen accompanies the journey. A tour of the island is made by car, accompanied by a camera team and reporters.
May there never be a fire on Ikaria, but if there is, help will be available quickly.
The south wind enchants us:
After a thunderstorm, the wind turns to the south and a very warm wind blows over the sea, the Scirocco or Sirokos in Greek. We are sitting on the beautiful veranda of Villa Dimitri, protected by white round walls, the whirl of the sea from the small bay below us sounds like a symphony, the wind forms water cascades over the surface and causes the white crests of foam to rise further out and over the water dance as he pleases. The clouds move quickly, but always release the sun and when it sets over the sea, its colors are imprinted on the clouds and create shapes that stimulate our imagination for hours. What a spectacle and the air is so warm.
Time for conversations
It’s off-season and therefore time for repairs, and the olive harvest is coming up. The trees on the streets are being cut back, new electricity pylons are being erected in the impassable terrain, the beach is being cleaned up, houses are being repaired. With all this work, which starts early, because the days are getting shorter and it’s dark at 6 p.m., there’s always time for a conversation on Ikaria! We remember two examples:
A hotelier tells us:
I have never thought anything of our government. They are all corrupt. Now those who are responsible for the misery should suddenly correct everything? They are exactly the same as before. I have worries. There are fewer guests. Many people no longer want and can pay the full price. What should I do if the guests come and say I’ll pay 10 EUR less. That’s no longer worth it for me. I have to have repairs done, water is getting into the walls. How am I supposed to pay for this? We are being ruined. Ms. Merkel is too hard on the Greeks. It’s not the government that has to bear the burden, it’s us! The burden is too great! We need more time. I know that the government has a lot of debt and that is true. But does that mean an entire country has to go through austerity?
Such statements from the hotelier, so specific, almost in tears, are something completely different from newspaper reports. There were no accusations or critical comments about us personally. We were valued. Despite the difficult situation, the conversation was very cordial.
In the tavern
We are being pressed by Mrs. Merkel. But you Germans are being pressed in the same way. You also suffer pressure, different from us, but also unpleasant. We have no reason to speak ill of the Germans, who have contributed nothing to the situation!
Each national cuisine serves the truth prepared differently.
(Stanislaw Jerzy Lec)
…that’s why traveling and getting to know each other is so important
Written by Andreas Lesser and Kirsten Grimm, Bremen DE