Beautiful Kos – Mastihari

On that particular evening the normally stunning sunset had surpassed itself, changing from yellow to orange, tinged with brown, only interrupted by the silhouette of a fishing boat making its way back to the small harbour of Mastihari. With the main spectacle over, we were left with its legacy and the whole taverna was filled with a deep orange glow, whilst we sipped wine and waited for our meal. We asked Soula, who runs the taverna, where her husband, Kostas was. Kostas would usually be around teaching me some highly dubious Greek. Soula told us that he was looking after the pigs, as two of the sows were about to give birth.

We finished our meal, and were about to take a stroll round the harbour when Kostas appeared in a jubilant mood. Without warning tables were pulled together, and bottles of wine, ouzo and Metaxa appeared, and we began wetting the heads of twenty one newly arrived piglets.

We have been invited to birthday and wedding anniversary celebrations there before, but having a party for the piglets was a new experience. The ouzo and wine were flowing freely, and after a suitable length of time, and after much Yamassing, kissing and handshaking we set off for our studio, hoping the obligatory power cut would hold off until we had left the unlit part of the village.

It was the arcing of the overhead power lines that provided intermittent light and stopped us tripping over cats or walking into telegraph poles. We could hear countless mothers calling their children, all of whom appeared to be called Yiannis, and took in the night air which still held a heavy scent of wild thyme.

Sitting on our balcony looking out over the strait between Kos and Kalymnos, we could see the occasional ferry or cruise ship making passage, and we guessed idly at their destinations. We had a nightcap and waited for the distant sound of a local Greek band to die away, wondering if they would ever learn how to speed up the music all at the same time, and we also reflected upon the events of the evening, and whether we would have enjoyed ourselves more had we been in a different location and in different company. The answer to this question was a united……. NO!

Written and sent in by Vic Salisbury