Police!

Generally speaking, it is not a good thing when the police come looking for you in a foreign country.

On Wednesday, we drove into Mytillini to take care of our laundry; we left our clothes at the local laundry and dry cleaners, then drove up the East coast of Lesvos to Mandamatos, stopping at Moria along the way to investigate the ancient Roman aqueduct. Moria is another small village on the side of the mountain with a maze of narrow streets. We were able to find the aqueduct without too much effort toward the end a narrow road that kept deteriorating from semi paved to cobblestones, and finally dirt and gravel. It is always an experience to go down these paths always hoping there is a way out, or at least a place to turn the car around; the movie ‘Deliverance’ usually comes to mind at these times. But we found the aqueduct took a few photos and then with only one wrong turn into a dead end road, found our way back to the main highway.

The east coast of Lesvos is quite lovely with long stretches of rocky beaches, olive trees and the occasional small resort hotel, lots of sheep and goats, and a few cows. Only eight miles away is the Turkish coast which is constantly watched by the Greek military, we have seen numerous military bases dotted throughout the island from the top of mountains to the seashore, and even in the town of Polichnitos. Just outside of Polichnitos there is a paved landing strip intersecting the road to Mytillini. At times in the past when the tensions have been higher, a fighter jet was stationed in Lesvos.

Mantamados is known for ceramics, and since we arrived about lunch time we parked the car and went looking for something to eat. The tavernas are usually a good place for inexpensive food, it is a gathering place for the local men who sit there for hours drinking coffee, playing backgammon and visiting. Surprisingly, most of these feature modern furniture, nice decorations, plus free internet. The only negative is the smoking which of course is illegal but nonetheless allowed.

We checked out one taverna but their food selection was very limited so we walked across the street to the other taverna where they could make sandwiches.

The free internet code was supplied and we were happy people just waiting for something to eat. Typical of these small towns are the narrow streets, cars parked wherever there is a spot, and the locals sitting on the benches watching the world go by, which is a somewhat limited view in a small town, on a small island in the Aegean Sea.

We initially drove through the town and then returned via the back road; these villages are pretty small so it is easy to be out of the town before realizing there is nothing but open road. As we returned to the center of the village (you can always tell the town center since it has the Greek Orthodox church there) looked for a parking place, but the center was crowded so we drove a bit further and parked on the street behind a parked car. We sat for a minute to make sure other vehicles could pass, and then walked to the taverna. Parking in Greece is pretty simple; you just stop the car get out and walk off; this includes double parking, triple parking, stopping in the middle of a road, or just being creative.

But back to the taverna, our lunch arrived and was pretty tasty although the sandwich was a little more than we expected, on the menu the sandwich was ham and cheese, something else, plus mustard, mayo or whatever you might want for condiments. We explained that we are vegetarians so no ham, no problem. When the sandwich arrived it had a hamburger patty but no ham……..Okay, hamburger patty off the Panini and life is okay.

I decided to use the WC, as the toilet is called here in Greece, so off I went to the small room in the back of the taverna, meanwhile back in the taverna, a policeman walks in and goes directly to Barb (how did he know we were the only foreigners), meanwhile the owner of the place comes looking for me and says our car is blocking the road and it needs to be moved, so out the door I go into the main square which is full of cars and the road as far as the eye can see is backed up with cars. Now I see the problem, a very large truck which needs the entire road to pass, is sitting with our little Panda blocking the path out of town. The policeman is talking to the driver, nervously caressing his 9mm Glock pistol as I make haste to move the cute little orange Panda out of the way. Since the truck is also blocking the police vehicle, I toyed with the idea of making my escape out of town before he could catch me; this of course would have left Barb in a Taverna with about 20 guys, she probably would have ratted me out anyway, so I parked the car in a very wide open spot further away, and headed back to rescue Barb.

Apparently all was forgiven, and there was some laughter, mostly from Barb about my predicament, she of course had not seen the cop and his desire to shoot someone like me for parking like the Greeks do. According to Barb the policemen was very nice to her, (of course) now the orange Panda has another incident on the rap sheet; why could we not get a silver or white car (much easier to remain incognito), but the orange Panda is the only orange car on the island so we are easy to track.