Giannis, good Greek genie

At our arrival in Limnionas, on Sunday, the beach was packed. Then Sunday afternoon we saw it emptying out, people heading home (Athens for most of them). We ended down to only 3 people on Monday morning: Guillaume, myself and… a guy with a dog, chilling: Giannis, that we finaly met a couple days later.

Giannis has a huge tent on the top of the beach and a small post down the beach right next to the water, with armchair and umbrella. The Daupmobile is parked 50m away.

From there, he looks really calm and solitary. Guillaume meets him on Tuesday so to introduce ourselves and to help him since a storm was coming and there’s just the three of us on this big beach.

Giannis has done a lot of different jobs. Now he is a graphic designer for the Greek army, photographer, olive tree field owner, and a lot more… We discovered a nice and fantastic human being, and figured out after a week spent on this beach with him that we were somehow lucky his friends finally hadn’t come, as it gave us the opportunity to meet, exchange thoughts and tips, share privileged moments with a Greek person.

The first time for us since we arrived in Greece not because people are not willing to share but because of language limitation. Yassas, Yassou…Yass’ variations are not enough to communicate. A deep frustation that was revealed with the meeting of Giannis and was yealing discussions after discussions. We spoke a lot and he shared a lot of his knowledge.

For us, he will remain our Greek good genie, and the President of the Limnionas beach.

Armelle : How would you caracterize Greece?

Giannis : Divided in two, big cities, where there is a lot of stress, and the countryside which is more easygoing.

A: A country of contrast?

G: It has become this way. After civil war, Athens was the center of everything. Lots of people moved there for work. Now that it is stressful, this is the opposite trend. Young people are looking for their roots in the countryside.

A: How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

G: Kind, Tender, I wouldn’t say adventurous…lazy (laugh)

A: What make you happy?

G: Good company, holidays

A: What makes you change?

G: The opportunity. Something comes and if I am crazy enough, I do change.

A: What do you like to share?

G: Jokes, everything. I do not think I own anything, if I can help, I do. Experience from travelling especially. More than 80% of the places, I found them while travelling alone.

A: What’s special here in Limnonias?

G: This place has these unique characteristics, even though there is no shade in the morning and no sunset in the evening, which are basically some important aspects: it gives you the energy to wake up early in the morning and give you the time to enjoy and do other activities when the sun passes behind the rocks and it is not too late. If you take the example of Elia (West coast of Greece), other place I like to go, there is shade and you can sleep until 2pm if you want to. You can also enjoy the sand beach until the beautiful sunset, but after you cannot do any other activity, no more light… Here you can really enjoy different activities from morning to evening. It has also an easy access from Athens and the route that brings you here is amazing.

Giannis always looks back when he leaves to enjoy one last time the bay and wonder how incredible it must have been to discover this place, 300 years ago.

A: Your preferred saying or word?

G: « Never regret for your actions ». It is nonsense to say if I would do differently how it would look like? We will never know so it is a waste of time to regret or think about it.

A: You are some kind of a camping expert, lots of material…You said you will try to come with only 3 bags next week-end instead of having the car fully packed…If you would have only one bag, what would be your 5 « must have » in camping?

G: Definitely, a mattress: sleeping is one of the first needs; a knife; a torch; Pepe (his dog), company, someone to « pet » or cuddle; and water.

A: What is the next challenge for you? One big project?

G: To gain again my independance

Giannis takes care of his parents who came back from Samos to Athens fot health reasons, they live in the same flat. It would change completely his way of life, there would have space for something else…

A: What would you do if you had a Daupmobile, first destination?

G: Not Europe. This car brings a safety feeling. I would go East, maybe to China, but not in Beijing: in places where there is still kind of a primitive culture, you know, people you see in National Geographic, still there and original. And why not becoming a photographer for National Geographic (laugh) this would be more than winning loto.

Very nice moments. Thanks a lot, Giannis, we wish you all the best for the future! / Poly aurea stigmi. Ephkaristo para poly, Giannis, o, ti kalytero gia to mellon!