Walking on the path to Agios Mamas
Route: Plakes Vlychou- path-Ag. Mamas to Hydra with the sunrise.
We set off at 6 am, Eleni, Stephanos, Thalia, Evemar, from the house in Ano Hydra. We got cheese pies from the bakery, next to the Pirate, which was just closing and we got coffee from another cafe on the beach that had just opened. Stavros was waiting for us with the water taxi. By dawn we could see the sunrise over the sea.
The Plakes Vlichou area was a beach with “villas” built too close to the sea to be legal and a tavern. The sea was calm. We walked along the creek as we were told and we started heading upwards. The trail was gravel, narrow, very thinly marked, uphill, in the beginning there were pine trees and then the landscape became dry. We started the readings of texts and the placing of photos of the community’s friends, marking the route with color and often Thalia wrote some songs on the rocks and sometimes she sang them. From time to time we made small stops and talked to people.
People were going uphill on mules, others on foot, they liked that we marked the path, they read the songs we wrote with curiosity, they were asking us. They passed by on mules, often dogs followed. Others came on foot, mostly foreigners. We walked a lot. All this delayed us. We arrived at the point where you can see the sea from both sides, it was incredibly beautiful and we continued the route among burnt trees (pines). We learned that the fire started from the garbage twice until even the large pine tree next to the church was burned. When we arrived, everything was fascinating. At the highest point there was a small chapel, the people, the animals, the rocks, the sea. Two monks from the nearby Monastery of Prophet Elias and a priest chanted inside the small chapel. Afterwards they came out and the priest blessed the animals. They shared bread and mastic with us and then a meal followed with fish, octopus, salads, meat, pies, pastries, etc. all of them were very tasty. They were very glad that we got there. The church was very old. Everything here was made by them. The tents, the water tank, the power generator, they carried these things last night. Another Hydra, the one of sharing was here. The return was very difficult…
We thank Ms. Christina, Mr. Manolis from Geitoniko tavern, Mr. Panagiotis, Ms. Yulia and everyone that came to Agios Mamas.
During the route texts were read: Bird, Silence of leonard Cohen, La felicita Negri-Hardt Il comune oltre il private e il publico, “when the rappers shout the cause”, and the texts sent by Giorgos Tzirtzilakis of Bruce Chatwin, The paths of the songs, Maria Stefanopoulou, Song Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi, Zafos Xagoraris Democratic Republic of Vietnam HoChiMinh, s, Lydia Mattheus etc. The action was part of the Eleventh Plateau by Out of the Box Intermedia.
Participants: Thalia Niniou, Eleni Tzirtzilaki , Stefanos Chandelis, Evemar Lopes.
