A Hiking Adventure and More – Day 5

Today was our first full day in Ikaria. It was a beautiful sunny day. On our way to breakfast we met a 90 year old man who had come down the hill to tend to his sheep. He comes down the hill twice a day to tend to them. We had the chance to visit with him and asked him what he believed is the secret to a long life. He replied, “The clean air and marriage.” He said if he wasn’t married he would be dead.

 

 

 

 

 

After breakfast we hiked to the top of a mountain to gather greens, fruit, and herbs for dinner. It was a real workout but worth it for the views. We gathered anise, dandelions, oregano, wild onions, lemons, and oranges.

On our way down the mountain, we met Thea’s uncle who let us help him feed his goats. He then invited us to his home. The people of Ikaria are very social and are always ready to entertain. He and his wife quickly began preparing to serve us a snack of fresh bread, goat cheese (that she had made), goat meat, and wine (that he had made). We were very moved by their hospitality. They were both in their eighties and have been together since she was 15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we returned from our hike, we helped Thea prepare lunch. It was a cooking school in Ikarian cooking. They cook using lots of fresh vegetables, olive oil, and vinegar. Thea taught us how to make Tziaki. She says now she doesn’t ever want to find out that we bought it from a store.  Tziaki is made from grated cucumbers, carrot, and garlic and then yogurt, olive oil, and vinegar are added. We have found that the Greek yogurt in Greece is delicious. It is smoother and more flavorful. We had it for breakfast with honey.

After lunch, we ventured to Armenistis to visit a local grocery store and a pharmacy. Their grocery stores are much smaller than ours. I thought it was interesting that they didn’t sell cake mixes or icing. We found out last night that they don’t celebrate birthdays but instead “Name Day”. If you are named after a saint you are celebrated on the day named after that saint. If you aren’t named after a saint then you celebrate on All Saints Day.

Today was a busy day but we learned a lot about their daily routines. A truck came around this morning selling fresh bread that we had for all of our meals. This afternoon another truck came by selling fresh fish that had been caught this morning. Thea purchased some to have for dinner tomorrow.

To cap the night off, we met with a local doctor and his wife.  While Ikarians have similar ailments and chronic diseases as Americans, they occur at a much lower rate.  They prefer to try to treat their sickness and illness with natural remedies as opposed to prescriptions.  The doctor told us the secrets to aging are to laugh often, dance often, fall in love, not to have stress and not to eat too much.

I am looking forward to tomorrow’s adventures.

– Jane Horner

One thought on “A Hiking Adventure and More – Day 5”

  1. This day was filled with all kinds of exposure to the various aspects of the Ikarians lives. The Taziaki sounds delicious. Any chance you can pass on the recipe to those of us not fortunate enough to experience it on Ikaria?

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