The Perfect Portrait!

HELLAS: A Portrait of Greece.  By Nicholas Gage.

"It all started with the land. The red uncompromising soil was sown with stones, but it brought forth the gods, the heroes, the philosophers, the literature, the architecture and the art. Jason's harvest of armed soldiers, grown in a day from dragon's teeth, seems no more than miraculous.  Yet when you walk among the stones of Greece and experience that combination of light and water and earth that is the Greek landscape, it all becomes inevitable.  No other land could have produced such a people, and this land could have produced nothing else."

With  such a captivating opening paragraph, you'll find it difficult to put this book down.  I happened upon it for the first time a number of years ago when I was on a caique sailing trip in the Aegean.  It was in the make-shift 'library' on the boat.  Casually picking it up and reading the first paragraph, I was instantly hooked!  Finding a a quiet spot under the awning on the afterdeck, I crawled away from my 'fun-loving, sun-worshipping' chums and spent a delightfully absorbing and totally anti-social couple of hours alone devouring the book from cover to cover.

It is the perfect introduction to Greece.  Beautifully written, you can just see the picture in your mind's eye of everything that Nic Gage is describing or writing about.

Returning to his native Greece after many years of living in America, he shares his love of the country with the reader as he travels to parts of the land rarely seen by tourists.  He writes with complete honesty, touching on both the merits and foibles of his fellow-countrymen.  The narrative covers the topics of history, language, culture, and the customs and traditions of the Greeks.  He also writes about their politics and religion.

He travels on the mainland and in the islands.  He describes the people; what they talk about, what they eat, what they drink, and how they pass their time.  All the time the tone is warm, engaging and highly personal.  It is told with affection and fierce pride.

To be able to recreate the smells, the sounds, the tastes and the colours of a country so vividly that it jumps off the page; to capture the essence and the character of the place in a few phrases is the aim of every travel writer.  Nicholas Gage has succeeded admirably.

Flora Lewis writing in the New York Times said, "Hellas is a delight; informative but also full of Greek sunshine and temperament." 

Read the book.  I doubt you'll disagree with that sentiment!

[Crit by Stuart]

MY FAVOURITE TRAVEL GUIDES

Whenever travelling in the islands I am never without my latest edition of GREEK ISLAND HOPPING by Frewin Poffley.  It is by far the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to island travelling.  And there is a website too for updating info.  Indispensable!

My other favourite guide for Greece and the islands is the ROUGH GUIDE.  They have various editions for the different regions of Greece.  I have used it for years and am now used to the style and format.  It has always given me the info I need.

Then, I love the DORLING KINDERSLEY guides.  Just amazing!  I can page through them for hours!  I have the Island edition as well as the Athens and Mainland edition.  They must have taken ages compiling them.  They are of the highest quality.  Lovely glossy pages with clear print.  And the illustrations and diagrams are stunning.  They bring Greece alive in front of your eyes as you turn the pages.

Now . . . . if you are going to do Athens in a big way, the Dorling Kindersley EYEWITNESS TOP 10 TRAVEL GUIDE TO ATHENS is a must!  It will tell you more about Athens than you ever imagined you knew.  It has just everything, superbly set out.  It is also a handy size to carry around and includes great maps as well.  It will make you turn that  3-day stop-over in Athens into a fortnight's stay!

[Pic below is of me seeking out the shade after a day of schlepping around.  No  travel guidebook needed here...  Am on the lovely island of Lipsi.  Only 16 sq km. in area.  Difficult to get lost here! ]