Happy Chairs

Tiropoulos cafe.

 "The Happy Chairs".

 We used to call this cafeteria the 'orange chairs' so our visitors could easily find this K approved cafeteria with its orange director-style chairs.  Then the owner changed the colour and none of my visitors could find the place.  Time once again for a change.  These  chairs are a medley of bright colours  to lift your spirits and draw you into the cafe. You could sit here for hours pleasantly chatting with your friends. 

 Tiropoulos cafe is one of the older on the waterfront.  You can tell by the easy give-and-take with the locals. If you've had a few drinks and feel a bit peckish there is a souvlaki place right next door, though the cafe serves waffles, toasted sandwiches and mezes. Water taxi boats for Galatas leave right across the road and waiting for the arrival of guests on the hydrofoil is a pleasure, watching the world go by with a beer or a coffee.

The owner who actually works in his own cafe. 

Ice cream. A favourite thing in our favourite place

Lemonade from our 'Lemon Forest' just over the water near Galatas. 

 This area used to be well known all over Greece for its 'forest' of lemon and citrus fruit.  Donkeys would take you from the shore up through the forest to the little taverna at the top where the family would squeeze you a lemon drink from their own lemons fresh from the surrounding trees.  English travel writer and novelist  Patrick Leigh-Fermor lived near here before the war in an old watermill with his Romanian lover where he read, wrote about his travels and she painted.  

We held one of our daughter's engagment party up here, away from the madding crowd where we could have music blasting away as is the greek custom and with plenty of room for dancing.  They made us lamb 'bogana' which is a speciality of this region.  A leg (or leg-s) of young lamb is slow cooked in a large baking dish with lots of garlic, bay leaf, potatoes, olive oil and lemon juice of course.  The whole dish is completely covered, usually with a lid which is sealed with bread dough or greaseproof paper and silver foil.  The result is so tender the meat just drops off the bone and it is truly scrumptious.  

 The family who owned the taverna grew old and are now all gone.  The taverna has long closed down. The lemon trees are still there but their fruit is no longer worth picking.  The money they get for the harvest is just not enough.  There has been an attempt to bring the place back to life and this fresh lemon drink is a start.

On the back of this advertisment is written:

"If something in this area is well known throughout Greece it is the Lemonodasos (Lemon Forest).  A hillside planted with lemon and orange trees and many watermills.  Travel its paths and enjoy with us a fresh Lemondasos juice."