Original subtitles

(upbeat music)

- In the first series

I began unravelling the story

of this spectacular and historic nation

by travelling from Athens, around the Peloponnese,

and up to the Ionian Islands.

It took in parts of the country

that lots of tourists know well.

But in amongst the popular places were hidden gems,

undiscovered by the holiday masses.

This series I'm back on board my beautiful boat Mia Zoi

and heading to a region of Greece

I haven't spent much time in.

The plan is to skip between the islands,

taking in the sights of the North Aegean.

It will be a journey of discovery,

well I'll be digging deep into the fabric

that makes Greece so unique

and immersing myself in a centuries-old culture

unlike anywhere else on Earth.

In this episode I'm exploring Lesvos,

Greece's third largest island

and consequently has a lot to offer.

It's an island of contrast where history and nature collide.

Wow, how picturesque is this?

Greece's capital for ouzo,

and its most famous person in history was woman, Sappho,

the great lyric poet from antiquity.

And the island's name has become synonymous

with her supposed sexuality.

There are some beautiful petrified forests here,

some great diving, and some of the best

and hottest geothermal springs in all of Europe.

I think that's what I'm needing right now

to recover from a long day,

but I just don't wanna leave this place.

It looks absolutely magnificent.

Our first port of call was at the very north of Lesvos,

barely a dozen kilometres from Turkey,

at the town of Molyvos.

It's instantly recognisable for its magnificent harbour

and red-roofed stone houses.

The town follows a gentle slope

rising to the splendid castle that towers above.

It's a fortress that's been conquered by everyone,

from Achilles and the Byzantines

to the Genoese and Ottomans.

You'll learn more about that shortly.

Walking through the cobbled streets

you'll come across several polygonal stone walls

that are unique to the town.

The shops and taverns have their own character too,

uninfluenced by global athletic fashion

and fast food brands.

Instead you'll find locals selling art and crafts

that are modelled on provincial products

and the history of Lesvos.

The restaurants are similar, highlighting flavours

from regional produce that you'll discover nowhere else.

For me, it's a bit of a step back in time,

like visiting Rhodes, Corfu, or Mykonos 40 years ago.

I don't know how long it'll stay this way

because more and more travellers are discovering it.

Town planners the world take note.

You don't need symmetry and cross-streets at 90 degrees

to create beauty.

There is no symmetry here, and to me,

this is probably one of the most beautiful towns

I've seen in Greece.

Big matzah ball, but I can't see much better.

It's a maze of alleyways that feed down

to the harbour and beaches.

While it might not be the easiest place to have a go,

it's sure a pretty spot to get lost.

(upbeat music)

The architecture is a mismatch

of one civilization after another,

each building on top of, beside, and adding to the previous.

Amazingly, it works.

Like these balconies, added by the Ottomans

to the Genoese stone walls.

Or these single story stone buildings

that, as the population grew,

they built second and third story additions

with that same lightweight, Ottoman influence.

The fabric of these little streets is absolutely divine.

In actual fact, this was voted

the most beautiful street in Europe in 2014.

Around the world, globalisation, planning laws,

and the urban sprawl has created towns and cities

that segregate residential districts

from retail and manufacturing.

It's a breath of fresh air to visit a place

where people live, produce, and sell their wares

under the same roof.

There's a genuine sense of tradition

that makes you want to walk through

and be immersed in the local culture

and maybe buy something that you won't find anywhere else.

Let me tell ya, Helen certainly gave the credit card

a workout in Molyvos.

There are two major fortified towns in Lesvos.

This is second to Mytilenean, Molyvos,

or the ancient name of Mithymna.

It's a picturesque town.

It's absolutely magnificent.

And you'll get a wonderful view of its beautiful red roofs

and blue sea, looking over to Turkey.

If you come up to the castle come up early in the morning.

It opens up at eight o'clock

and it's nice and cool right now.

I'm gonna have a walk through.

(peaceful music)

I've visited countless forts in my travels through Greece.

And I'll be honest with you.

Every time I seen one in the itinerary,

I think to myself, not another bloody castle!

But then I do a little research and check out a few photos

and quickly I get excited.

Although the castle and the town of Molyvos

are completely different, the one thing they have in common

is this place doesn't look anything like it did

when it started 3,000 years ago.

There are several civilizations

layered upon each other here.

So this place is about 700 years old,

but there's stuff underneath it just like the town.

Absolutely magnificent history.

In more recent years, sections of the castle

have been restored and made accessible.

So much of it is in great condition and open to the public.

In the summer months it's actually used for events

like live music and orchestral performances.

Now that would be something special,

sitting inside the stone walls of a centuries old castle,

being serenaded by a string quartet

while taking in the spectacular views.

That's assuming there's food on offer.

I can't go too long without a bite to eat.

Just ask the producer or cameraman!

This castle has connections all the way back

to the Trojan War,

which occurred just around the corner here.

Achilles himself laid siege to what was here.

Not much left of it.

The Byzantines then rebuilt the whole place.

And then the Genoese came through the Gattilusi family

and built a wonderful fortification.

Following the Genoese, the Ottomans came

and modernised the whole fort.

And what you see today is basically Ottoman.

What I'm interested in is going to see

if I can find some of the ruins from Achilles's day.

I'm no archaeologist, but I'll give it a shot.

(mellow music)

And here they are, the last remnants

of what was here at the time of Achilles.

At least that's what they tell me.

Regardless, it's fascinating to see

how the changes in the ruling cultures

and advancements in warfare

impacted the design of the castle,

from the simplicity of mediaeval battlements

to more complicated towers with rifle slits

from the age of gunpowder.

Each period has left its mark.

You could say that this castle tells the story

of Lesvos in one structure.

So the walk up the hill to see yet another fortress

is well worth it, even if it's just for the views.

(mellow string music)

(upbeat music)

When you think of scuba diving,

it generally conjures up images

of coral gardens, shipwrecks, and sharks

in places like The Great Barrier Reef and Southeast Asia.

Here in Greece, there are underwater trenches

equally as inspiring.

You just need to know where to look.

- For 20 million years everything here was just a volcano.

So we'll see some volcanic formations, incredible.

The deepest part will be at 28, 25 metres,

and the shallow part will be 10 metres.

And it's very narrow and tall.

It's amazing.

And the second dive will be

on the other island called

(speaks in foreign language) Mirmigi.

- Mirmigi, yeah? - Yeah.

And this is a very nice rocky reef with, of course,

volcanic formations and over there

we can have a unique view of some tube worms meadow.

It's a meadow full of tube worms.

- [Peter] A meadow of tube worms?

- Yes, yes, yes, and when you go next to them

they'll go inside and it's incredible.

- Hey, I'm looking forward to that one.

Let's go.

- Let's go. - Let's go.

Lesvos is known for its many dive sites,

from wrecks and reefs to caves and sea life.

There's plenty of options.

The area we're exploring today is known

as the Petras Islands, named after the coastal town nearby.

The biggest of the land masses is Agios Georgios

with a fewer smaller islands surrounding it.

From dry land, you may not be aware

that this whole region of Greece

has been shaped by its volcanic history.

Get underwater and you'll soon discover evidence

of that dramatic past.

These massive columns of rock

were formed 20 millions years ago when lava shot out

of the seabed and subsequently cooled,

leaving these impressive pylon-like structures.

I felt as those I was swimming through an ancient,

submerged city and these were the remnant towers.

They surrounded and dwarfed us

as we drifted deeper into the abyss,

making our way to the seafloor.

From what seemed like a giant, sunken metropolis

of high rise buildings to a miniature version,

only this one was alive and thriving.

The seabed at the second dive site

wasn't the desert-like landscape

you often encounter in open water.

Instead, it was covered with thousands of tube worms.

As far as the eye could see stood

the tiny sand and mud structures

that house these fascinating marine invertebrates.

Their feather-like tentacles arise from their heads

and wave in the current, collecting food and oxygen.

At the first sign of danger,

they quickly retract inside the casing.

there are thousands of different varieties of tube worms

found around the world.

They live in some of the most hostile environments

on the planet, including vast depths and volcanic vents.

Compared to that, these guys live a life of luxury.

(upbeat music)

Diving can really drain the energy

out of a whale like myself.

So the perfect remedy is to beach myself somewhere

and just relax.

With so many sandy foreshores,

there's a lot to choose from.

But here in Lesvos, we can go one better.

And so can the thermal baths of Molyvos.

One word of warning, they're very hot.

- I got pins and needles, but I'm not getting out.

Because my mate is here from Holland,

and we're having a bit of a competition

to see who lasts longest.

I think I'm gonna lose.

(laughs)

- I think I'm done.

- (laughs) Yes.

- You're a winner, mate.

You're a winner.

Chloride, sodium, radium, chloric lithium,

ammonium, potassium, these are just some

of the 25 minerals that are in that therapeutic water

that's coming out of the springs below me.

I was in for an hour and a half, 45 degrees,

opened up the pores, and then I came up here

and Levdalia is working my body now that my pores are open.

It's absolutely unbelievable.

I don't know what the word is.

And I've the sea in front of me,

the Aegean Sea in front of me.

It's absolutely fantastic.

I can't even talk right now.

But if you're coming to Lesvos,

you must come to Lesvos, first of all.

Come to Molyvos first, and just get an entry

into this absolutely magnificent island.

Anyway, I'm just going back.

Sorry.

(upbeat music)

The simplicity of the bath house gave it an authentic

and welcoming feel.

It was a relaxed atmosphere,

which made it all the more soothing a place to be.

To complete the picture,

we sat in the cooling waters of the Aegean,

Mother Nature's bath.

I could imagine visitors from centuries ago

doing much the same as we did,

spending an hour or so in the hot baths, getting a massage,

and then enjoying a late afternoon swim

to wash away the day's stress.

Not that there was much of that for me.

About the most stressful thing I had to do

was choosing where to go for dinner that night.

In the end, the sunset was too good to miss

so we just sat at the back of Mia Zoi

and Chef Kyriako cooked up some local seafood.

Not a bad way to end a magic day.

(upbeat music)

Leaving Molyvos, we made our way

to the western tip of the island

and the fishing village of Sigri.

It's a small town with a few taverns and not much else.

Being on the dry side of Lesvos, it's a sparse landscape.

But 20 million years ago it was covered in forest.

Evidence of that time remains today,

slowly being unearthed by Mother Nature,

as well as some inquisitive archaeologists.

One of them is Professor Nikos Zouros,

the director of the Petrified Forest Museum in Sigri.

He's also the president of the Global Geoparks Network.

He's a busy man but somehow found the time

to show me around.

- The idea of creating geoparks,

because this designation didn't exist in the past,

it was born here.

- In Greece? - In Greece,

in Lesvos Island.

- Wow!

Professor, this is unbelievable.

I've never seen, it's a tree!

It's a whole tree!

- Yeah, of course, it's a whole tree.

Let me explain you.

This is a pine tree that is here

due to a big volcanic eruption.

The volcanic eruption took place 20 million years ago.

- [Peter] Wow!

- The volcanic eruption destroyed the forest,

and the material from the volcano

came and covered everything,

all the vegetation at the original site.

That's why we find here trees,

but also the branches, the fruits,

and even the leaves of the trees inside these layers

of pyroclastic material, the volcanic ash.

- It's ash and mud that encapsulated it?

- Absolutely.

It was mud and dust that captured the

tree and due to the circulation of hot water

very rich in silicon dioxide,

we have a process silicification.

This means petrification.

The organic material became inorganic.

The wood became stone.

And that's how we have nowadays these trees

in their original position, keeping their shape,

the external characteristics,

but even, this is more important,

the internal characteristics of the wood,

we can see in the microscope

and we can recognise a variety of trees.

That's how I can come here and show you this tree

and tell you that this was a pine tree.

- [Peter] This is Mother Nature's Medusa.

These trees are so perfectly preserved

that you can even see the details in the bark.

To truly appreciate the colour and dimensions

of what you're looking at,

you really have to come here in person.

- So let me show how violent was the eruption

that destroyed this forest.

Look, here we have a standing tree.

Here we have a volcanic bomb

that came due to the eruption, destroy the branch,

which is now under this huge volcanic bomb.

- So a volcano that's kilometres away

threw this bomb of lava at the,

that's it there-- - Yes!

- And it ripped the branch off?

- Absolutely.

- It's a snapshot in history.

- Yeah, it's like taking a photo

of what happened 20 millions years ago here

and how this forest was created.

And you can see also how beautifully have been preserved.

The annual rings that show us--

- Hey, the rings!

I can see them there! - the age of this tree.

This tree has an age of 300 years at that time,

and it was stopped, his age was stopped

by the volcanic eruption.

- Let me get a quick snapshot as well.

You stand there so I've got a snapshot of you

of a snapshot 20 millions years later.

Thank you very much.

Professor, let's keep going, eh?

I'm so honoured to be here

for what you and your forefathers have uncovered,

the biggest petrified forest

in the world.

- Yes, indeed.

There's no other forest,

petrified forest, in the world with 60 different species

of trees found in their original place.

(upbeat music)

- To the uninitiated,

everything on the island looks like regular rocks.

But if you gaze closely enough, soon you'll discover

that many of the stones and boulders

are actually the remains of petrified trees,

slowly crumbling away and being washed into the sea.

- Here you can see the successive events,

we can discover the successive events that took place

during the six million years

of the volcanic activity on Lesvos Island.

The lower level is just at the level of the sea.

- I can see the shapes.

They're all trees, parts of trees.

- Yes, yes, these are sequoia trees

in fact. - Wow!

- Huge trees that have been released by the waves.

- That is the first layer.

Is there more layers, is there?

- Yes, yes.

This is the first layer.

60 centimetres higher we have this yellow layer

full of different trees.

All these brown and yellow things are different tree trunks.

- Yeah, I can see one there.

- Yeah, and this--

- And here. - Here.

Then we have a thick layer of pyroclastics

full of volcanic bombs.

- That's a bomb? - You see these red

pieces of rock?

- Yeah.

- And at the top we see another forest.

These yellow thing-- - Just there, yeah.

- is a silicified tree inside this yellowish layer,

which is volcanic ash.

At the top of that we have another layer

full of different pieces, fragments of lava,

and at the top you see a yellow piece--

- I can see it there, yeah. - And then the black piece.

And this is the youngest, the fourth forest in this age.

- So this period from there to there is basically

about six million years?

- It is included in the six million years

that we had the volcanic activity in Lesvos Island

that started 22 millions years ago

and ended 16 million years ago.

- So we don't have to worry about any more volcanoes

on this island?

- No, because they are completely inactive.

- Successive volcanic events over millions of years

shaped the island we see today.

But perhaps the slow forces of climate change

and shifting tectonic plates

have had the greatest impact of all.

No longer do we see forest growing here.

The temperature is too hot,

and there's simply not enough rainfall.

Professor, I just can not believe what I'm seeing here.

The size, it's sequoia, right?

- Yes, it's a giant sequoia.

- This thing is massive.

Tell me what do geologists get out of this

that adds any value to the world?

- It's amazing the amount of information

that this site can offer us.

First of all, we are in front of a sequoia tree,

and it's so big that we generally found it

only in continental areas.

It shows also that the climate conditions

were completely different than those existing nowadays.

This forest, this tree, and the other species found

in the area of the petrified forest

show us that we have a semi-tropical forest

similar of the forest that exist nowadays

in southeastern Asia.

All this information show us the paleogeography,

the climatic conditions, the species that lived

20 millions years ago in the Aegean.

All this information are unique.

This is the only site that we can get

all this kind of information in just one single site.

- Megalonisi is a barren, dry little island,

untouched by man and just a stone's throw from Lesvos.

What fascinates me is that the digging here

has only recently begun.

There are hundreds of these petrified trees

just below the surface, waiting to be discovered.

Wow!

(upbeat music)

This is the Gulf of Kalloni, Aristotle's Lagoon.

Aristotle came here and he did a lot of field work,

which was the basis of biology.

And today we're here sardine fishing.

All morning we've been out there with the sardines,

and we've caught a bounty.

We're gonna take 'em back,

and we're gonna salt them and have them with a bit of ouzo.

That is what they do in Lesvos.

It's an awesome morning.

I'm sorry that you couldn't be here for the fishing,

but it was three o'clock and it was too dark for you.

But you're gonna see some awesome sardines.

What a great place!

I love this place!

Compared to much of the Mediterranean,

the fishing industry here is still thriving.

It might not be the heyday of a century ago,

when the hauls were so big

they were exporting sardines across Europe,

but they manage to catch enough to feed themselves

and keep the local restaurants

and home kitchens well supplied.

Today's catch made the early start all the more worth it.

I had to admit, when I woke up at 3 a.m.

to board this little fishing vessel,

I was a little sceptical.

But once the morning coffee kicked in

and I could see plenty of fish coming aboard,

it became quite exciting.

Mind you, it's a tough life doing this everyday.

They're just taking the sardines out of the net,

and they're putting them into fresh water,

just to take the salt water out of them and clean them up.

So you could see that was a clean solution of fresh water.

When they finish you'll see all the gunk coming out.

And they'll put 'em into these foam boxes, ready for market.

By fresh water I mean clean salt water.

It's fresh because it comes straight from the sea.

Amongst other things, Lesvos is known for ouzo and sardines.

So it's only fitting

that the pairing of the two originated here.

It's quite common to sit in a tavern,

sipping on an ouzo while munching on salted

or barbecued sardines.

They go well together.

Perhaps too well on occasion.

(mellow music)

The Gulf of Kolloni has provided a rich harvest

of sardines for centuries.

It became known as the sardine capital of Greece,

and locals would claim the best tasting fish came from here.

To tell you the truth, they all taste much the same

wherever you go, delicious.

A bit of salt and pepper, some garlic,

and a drizzle of olive oil is just about all you need

before roasting these bad boys.

Once cooked, add a squeeze of lemon and some parsley

and you've got the perfect entree or snack.

Not only is it tasty, but healthy too!

From Sigri we travelled south along the west coast to Eresos.

This was the setting

for Lawrence Durrell's play named Sappho.

And you'll see plenty of monuments commemorating her life

all over the place.

She's without a doubt the island's most famous person

and considered one of antiquity's greatest poets.

A groundbreaker for her time,

way back in the sixth century BC,

Seppho wrote about the beauty

of women and their relationships.

The island's name became synonymous

with her supposed sexuality.

Her work is considered extraordinary

and has influenced writers throughout history.

To learn more about this great woman,

I met with local photographer and writer,

Tzeli Hadjidimitriou, and we spent the morning talking

about Eresos and Sappho.

Tzeli, I came to Eresos because I understand

it's a very significant town.

What's special about Eresos?

- Well, Eresos has the best energy,

the most strange and precious energy

from the whole island of Lesvos.

And it attracts lots of people here.

- Where does the energy come from?

I can feel a bit myself.

I love the green water.

I walked through the town.

What is it that brings this energy, you think?

- Well we are trying to figure it out,

but we don't know.

Maybe it's the same energy that inspired Sappho.

- Right.

- In the ancient years.

We're really trying to understand

what attracts people so many times.

Actually, I can say that this is a pilgrimage.

Especially women come here every year

in a kind of pilgrimage,

searching the, let's say, the traces of Sappho

or something that connects.

- Wow.

I'd like to understand more about her.

- To tell you the truth, if you want to find,

discover Sappho, it's better to look around,

to look at this wonderful landscape that didn't change

since her time, to look at the light, the water,

and you will be inspired

and you will discover Sappho and you will understand

her poetry, her amazing words, her poems.

- Well let's finish our drinks and go and do that.

- Okay, that's good. - Thank you.

(speaks in foreign language)

Unfortunately, the majority of Sappho's work has been lost.

She's most remembered for her poem, "Ode to Aphrodite",

possibly because of how revealing it is.

But like many great works,

scholars still debate the context to this very day.

In the poem she praised Aphrodite, the goddess of love,

for the attention of another woman.

To me, the final paragraph is the most powerful.

"Come again to me!

"Oh now, release me!

"End the great pang!

"And all my heart desireth now fulfilment!

"Fulfil, oh Aphrodite!

"Fight by my shoulder!"

These emotive and poignant words

inspire imagination and passion

and have done so for over 2,000 years.

Here on the island, it's expressed through art, writing,

and the way many of the locals conduct their lives.

It's a place that oozes creativity and a sense of freedom.

You know what's amazing?

It's almost like it's hidden.

You see her hidden.

It's almost like in history

they've hidden her away. - Exactly.

- You know? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And you can only have one point of view

in order to discover Sappho. - Exactly.

- It's not the easiest thing in the world.

And if we consider that all her poems,

they were destroyed in the Alexandria--

- Fire. - Fire.

Anyway, I'm still hoping that somewhere in the world,

in a hidden monastery,

the poems of Sappho will be discovered

because there were the monks

that there were copying her poems.

So maybe somewhere they are, and they are hidden

from the Christians.

- She wrote 10,000 lines.

- Yeah, she wrote, there were 10 books,

and now we have only some fragments of her poems.

- That's sad.

They'll find it, someone will find it.

- Yes, that's your new project.

- You bet, you bet, you bet.

Tzeli's fervour for Sappho is clearly apparent

in the way she talks about her.

Her in-depth knowledge was articulated

in the most colourful way.

I love meeting people like Tzeli

who are so passionate about a subject.

It goes to show how great an impact

Sappho is still having today.

(upbeat music)

Now if you'd ever asked me would I ever consider

the joy of bird watching,

the response would be immediate and almost predictable,

a deep belly laugh.

But meeting Eleni in the wetlands of Alykes

has changed that forever.

So I'm speaking very quietly because already I've scared

a number of birds many, many times,

purely because of the way I move and my size.

Thankfully I've got Eleni here to guide me in some way.

Eleni, I'm looking at the number of flamingos here.

That bunch there, how many do you think are there?

- 400.

- 400, how many here just generally in Alykes?

- Generally today around 1,000.

- About 1,000? - Mhmm.

- That's amazing.

I'm just watching those guys there.

They're beautiful birds.

Tell me something.

Where are they coming from?

How much time do they spend here?

- They spend many months around here.

They are born in Turkey,

but we have seen birds coming here

that were born in other parts of the Mediterranean Sea

like France and Spain and Italy

or Algeria and Morocco.

But most of them, they come from Turkey.

- Such a beautiful bird.

How close can we get?

This is about as close as we can get, isn't it?

- Yes, yes.

- And what's amazing is the road's only 200 metres away.

Anybody can do this bird watching.

And I haven't, I'm not a bird watcher,

you know, I'm not a bird watcher,

but I think I've found a new hobby

because they're beautiful.

- They are, they are.

- They are beautiful to watch them,

the black and the pink and the whites,

it's absolutely magnificent.

I wanna get closer.

Can we go closer?

- Yeah, we can, we can try.

We can try. - Okay, let's go, let's go.

So the first lesson for bird watching

is that walking tippy toe is not only ridiculous,

but the immediate signal that you are an amateur.

That gaggle you hear in the background

is the flamingos laughing at me.

The protected sentry of Alykes

covers around 3.5 thousand acres.

Seasonal flighting attracts various migratory birds

to the wetlands from vast distances.

They come here to rest, feast, and nest

before returning to their normal homes.

It's an important habitat that's under threat

from a changing climate and localised human impact.

For now, though, vast numbers of flamingos

and other birds too come here on an annual pilgrimage.

It's a sight to behold and not something you'd imagine

coming across in Greece.

Sure, you'd expect to see vast herds of goats

or be stopped on a mountain road by a mob of sheep,

but a flock of flamingos?

You know what?

I think they're still laughing at me,

but now they're in chorus.

(birds squawking)

To be a good bird watcher you don't wear white t-shirts.

- Yeah. - Look like a fool

in my lucky cap today.

- You need to be not so visible.

(birds squawking) (inspirational music)

- The long and the short of it is

you don't need to have an expert like Eleni with you,

although it certainly helps.

Anyone with a set of binoculars

can come out here and do this.

It's an experience that you'll never forget.

But please respect these wonderful creatures

by keeping a distance of at least 200 metres

and leave the place the way you found out.

Oh, and don't wear white.

(inspirational music)

Next stop was at the southern end of the island,

the town of Plomari.

It's the second largest settlement

in Lesvos and home to about 3,000 people.

Here you'll see distinct remnants

of century old stacks and buildings

that remind us of what an industrial powerhouse it once was.

In the past it was known for supplying much of the Aegean

with olive oil and all its byproducts like soap.

Today it's a tourism hub,

and more importantly, Greece's capital for ouzo production.

It's a big claim to fame

but something the island certainly lives up to.

I specifically time my visit to coincide with Ouzo Fest.

Much like Germany's Oktoberfest,

Ouzo Fest is a weekend of festivity

that brings all the distillers together

to celebrate Greece's world-renowned anise flavoured spirit.

Apart from the ouzo, they also serve the local food

that should accompany it.

Plus, of course, no festival is complete

without a bit of traditional music.

(sings in foreign language)

The music was blaring, souvlaki cooking,

and the ouzo was flowing.

It was a great atmosphere that brought together locals

and tourists from across the globe.

The producer tasked me

with tasting every different ouzo on offer.

With my odyssey and pride in mind, I accepted.

Something tells me I wasn't the only one

taking on the challenge.

There were plenty of rosy-cheeked and glassy-eyed folks

laughing, eating, and dancing amongst the crowd.

It was going to be a long night,

and yoga wasn't looking good for the morning.

How much ouzo of the world production of ouzo

is made in Lesvos?

- Over 60%.

- 60%? - Yeah.

- Wow, so majority of ouzo comes out of this island?

- Yeah.

- Wow, so it must be good.

- We have the oldest companies in Greece,

and it is the number one capital because of the anise seeds.

- Is the anise seed special here, is it?

- Yes, it is. - Why is that?

- It's because of the microclimate of the region

and also from the seeds that they're still the old seeds

that we used to put inside the ouzo.

- We are working together now fifth and sixth generation,

officially since 1860.

The company belongs 100% to the family.

We are three families that we own the company now.

- You are the fifth generation?

- I am the sixth generation.

We do not do it just as a profession.

We love it.

We have an advantage of because of the succession

of the generations, too many knowledge

and experience has accumulated

so this comes directly to the next generation.

This gives us a great advantage.

- Family business has to be better, hasn't it?

- We have been experimenting and distilling and producing

for one and a half century now so--

- Wow, that's awesome.

- Thank you, sir.

- I think I've been to like five stands so far,

and I've got to try and stand straight.

(speaks in foreign language)

- And also be careful.

That's ouzo, it needs food inside.

So just as--

- I just a gyro so I just had a top gyro, man.

I was hungry.

I was hangry, man.

- Cheers, welcome to Lesvos.

Welcome to Greece.

- Thank you. - Have a nice time.

Enjoy your staying.

- I will.

- Ouzo, the best message for ouzo

is the company, the companionship,

and so let yourself relax, just

(speaks in foreign language).

And some small dishes with salted fish.

- Excellent, I will.

Thank you.

Very nice, very nice.

- Thank you. - Now this is like my sixth

or seventh ouzo tonight

so I'm getting a bit wobbly here now.

(upbeat music)

So do you wanna hear the verdict?

Which is the best ouzo in Greece and possibly the world?

Let me start by saying the gyros was awesome

and I've never tried so many different ouzos,

each distiller had up to five varieties.

However, there can only be one winner,

and that was the atmosphere.

From 8 p.m. into the early hours of the morning,

people were coming and going.

Singles, couples, entire families

with 90 year old grandparents and newborns.

There were kids everywhere,

and it was ouzo, souvlaki, salted fish, and more ouzo

that brought them here.

(upbeat music)

If you're thinking about Greece,

one of the first four or five things

that comes to your mind is ouzo.

Lesvos is the capital of ouzo in Greece,

and we've come to the biggest distillery in the world

just to see how ouzo is made.

Legend has it that back in the 14th century,

monks in Mount Athos were making tsipouro,

Greece's Rocket Fuel, and flavoured some with anise.

And from that arose ouzo.

So you could almost say that it's a form of holy water.

It rose to prominence in the 19th century,

just after the war of independence.

It was as though the country needed an actual beverage

to call its own or maybe to celebrate the occasion,

but it was the demise in popularity of absinthe

early in the 20th century that saw ouzo become popular

in other parts of the world.

An expert on the subject is Marqussa Tsachaki,

the master distiller here at Plomari Ouzo.

- So these are the main seeds

that we use in the distillation.

Anise seed is the most important one,

is the one that we are cultivating in our fields here

in Lesvos, in Lisvori.

This is fennel, this is star anise, cinnamon, nutmeg,

and the salt of south Kalloni.

Many people are asking how the recipes original,

why we use seeds like star anise or cinnamon

that they are coming from the far east.

We should not forget that Plomari was a very big port,

and it was just in the road of spices

from the far east to Europe.

- But principally, the anise seed and salt is local?

- Yes, they are from Lesvos.

But I think it's better to see them in the distillation.

- Let's do that now.

- Okay. - Fantastic.

In days gone by, ouzo distilling was a backyard operation.

People would have stills in their farmhouse

and make their own.

Or there would be someone in town

that kept the locals in supply.

This factory takes that to a whole new level.

- Here is where everything happens.

We have 18 olympics.

Olympic is the distillation pot.

So we have 18 small distillation pot

because the olympic, the distillation pot,

is part of the process.

It's part of the recipe.

And it's really important to keep,

when our volumes were growing,

to keep the recipe the same as it was.

It's original, it's traditional recipe.

So we didn't make bigger olympics,

but we were just adding another one

and another one in our distillery.

So here in Ouzo Plomari we are 100% distilled

and double distilled.

So what is happening, really, in distillation,

once the distillate starts running,

we separate the distillate in three parts,

the head, the heart, and the tail.

The heart is the part that we keep.

So we have our first distillations.

It lasts nine hours.

We get the heart, and this heart we put it again

in the olympic with other seeds and spices of the recipe,

and we redistill it.

- To be honest, I lost Marqussa

on the head, heart, and tail bit

but kept nodding so she wouldn't think

I was the slow intellectual midget that I am.

Mind you, I feared the tasting of ouzo again.

The night before filled my bloodstream with so much,

I was all ouzoed out.

I've gotta tell you, I'm an ouzo fan,

and I've tasted ouzo.

I've been drinking it all my life

so if I was tasting it now, I wouldn't be Greek, you know?

But what I do wanna taste is what you've created.

You're a scientist and you've created a new recipe

that I've heard of.

It's a version of mastiha.

Can I try that?

- Yes, of course.

(speaks in foreign language)

- Awesome.

(speaks in foreign language)

- So this is the first dry mastiha.

Traditionally, mastiha in Greece was produced as a liqueur,

which is very high in sugar.

And this is the very first spirit drink of mastiha.

Try it and tell me how--

- Ah, that is absolutely,

I love mastiha, but it's a very sweet and sugary thing.

And it's a nice little cure,

but this is a spirit?

- Yes, this is a spirit. - Fantastic.

- It smells very nice of mastiha.

- And you're the originator of this?

- Yes.

(speaks in foreign language)

- Thank you very much.

- You're welcome.

- This is awesome.

You've gotta try it.

That's awesome.

That is so different.

It's a spirit, isn't it?

- Yes, it is a spirit.

- That's fantastic.

- It contains much, much less sugar than the usual,

the traditional recipe, which is about 400, 300 grammes--

- Of sugar?

- Of sugar per litre.

(laughs)

- With Ouzo Fest over, it was time to leave Plomari.

We weighed anchor and left the pretty port,

trekking northeast towards Mitilini, the capital of Lesvos.

Along the way, captain suggested a stop for a swim.

He knows almost every inch of Greece's coastline,

and once again, he nailed it.

Another awesome beach.

How he remembers all these places, I have no idea.

We're in the south of Lesvos, and there are two gulfs here.

We're in the smaller of the two, the Gulf of Gera.

And behind me is the beautiful beach of Agios Ermogenis,

considered one of the best beaches in all of Lesvos.

I don't know how they can say that

because there are so many beautiful beaches here,

but I'm looking at that water,

and I just wanna jump in.

I'm gonna do that right now.

(upbeat music)

(water splashes)

No two beaches in Greece are ever the same.

They've each got their own quirks and points of interest.

Some have fine white sand while others are pebbled.

There's long, open expanses of seashore

and then you'll find tiny alcoves

flanked by towering cliffs.

The one thing they all have in common

is the warm, clear water.

In the next episode of "My Greek Odyssey",

I'm making my way to the capital, Mitilini.

It's quite the contrast to the rest of Lesvos,

with loads of people and the noise and excitement

that come with it.

From there I'm headed south,

where I'll briefly visit the remote island of Psara,

before making my way to Chios, the birthplace of Homer.

But before leaving, there's still plenty of time

to enjoy this beautiful little beach.

We may even grab some lunch at the tavern.

Nah, I better not

because then we might end up spending the night here.

Hmm, that actually doesn't sound like a bad idea.

(upbeat music)

(air swooshing)