This Town Is Not for Tourists (Travelers Will Love It)

Read more about Greece in International Living Postcards--your daily escape

Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007
Mytilini, Lesbos

Most foreign tourists on mainstream package holidays stay in the north of Lesbos. Either in castle-crowned Molyvos or the beach resort of Petra. A 3-mile promenade links the two.

They typify what's now all too often the Greek island experience. By that, I mean overpriced tavernas serving pizza and fries, the dreaded "Traditional Greek Nights," and a slew of rubbishy souvenir shops. And, of course, cappuccinos instead of sludgy, Greek coffee.

With its cobbled lanes and Genoese castle, Molyvos is undeniably pretty. Alternatively known as Mithymna, it's authentically ancient, too. However, wandering along with the tourist throngs, it felt like the real Lesbos had gone into hiding.

As in Petra (and also the lesbian hangout of Skala Eressos), your Greek phrase book can be safely left in the suitcase. Thankful it was only a day trip, I couldn't wait to escape Molyvos and return to Mytilini.

Don't be put off by travel guides that discourage you from staying in the island's capital. "A big, messy and noisy port," says one.

Being perverse, I loved it. Mytilini is home to around 30,000 people (a third of the island's population) and also the University of the Aegean. It's a city. Of course there'll be noise.

Car horns honk, motorbikes roar, traffic cops blow whistles like demented budgerigars. Students risk serious eardrum damage from the music bars around the Southern Harbor. It doesn't bother the old boys who while away their days and evenings in backstreet kafenions. So why should it bother you?

There are tavli (backgammon) games and pool hall/Internet cafés. Another castle. Tiny Byzantine churches where locals pop in and out all day to say a prayer. African refugees camped out beside where the ferries dock. Cats and dogs everywhere. Posters urging you to join the local Communist Party. Tavernas where menus are solely in Greek and you'll have to venture into the kitchen to forage for something that takes your fancy. The smell of fish, diesel, and ouzo.

No place--at least that I could find--that has anything resembling breakfast. Spurning Hotel Erato's poor 5 euro offering, I hit the street. I'd forgotten that a real Greek breakfast is generally coffee and a cigarette before calling into a bakery. (Then more coffee, more cigarettes.) So no complaints from me.

Linking Mytilini's southern and northern harbors, the main shopping street is Ermou. It's named after Hermes, the god of commerce. Particularly at the north end, the old Turkish part of town, surrounding lanes are a grimy warren of everything wonderful. You'll come across dusty carpet shops, icon sellers, and junk stores whose weird offerings include everything from wind-up gramophones to china dolls with no arms or legs.

I stayed in Mytilini a day longer than expected. Due to gale-force winds, the evening ferry to Chios island lay stranded in harbor back in Piraeus. Never rely on Greek travel plans going smoothly.

Steenie Harvey
Roving Europe Editor, International Living

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Steenie Harvey will speak at:

- The Ultimate Event, Oct. 24-27, Panama City, Panama
- Global Business Opportunities Workshop, Nov. 12-14, Denver, Colo.