The image shown above is copied from the Wikipedia Commons under the Creative Commons license.
Avlonari is a beautiful village located in the eastern part of the Aegean island of Euboea, Greece. I visited this village many times in the 1960s and early 1970s and I have such fond memories from those visits that shaped my life and character.
Please take a moment to locate the three areas shown in the image below before continuing to read.
In the above image I marked three areas of interest.
The first (1) points to a drinking well that was still operational in the 1960s and 1970s. When I visited Avlonari, my mom’s uncle, Barba Giórgis (Uncle George), would give me his work donkey, Malámo, to ride. I would pretend to be a cowboy as I rode Malámo, and at the end of the day, I would bring him to this drinking well for a drink. Ahhhhh, life was simple and great.”
The second arrow (2) points to the location of a HUGE Aspro Vasiliko (Άσπρο Βασιλικό) fig tree, which stood next to my Uncle Hercules and Aunt Katina’s house. It was there that I ate my first fig. I would climb this enormous tree, perch myself on a branch, and just eat and eat and eat figs. That tree was never watered, pruned, or fertilized, yet it was massive! Unfortunately, it was removed to make way for a driveway. I often wonder—could I go back and get a cutting from that tree?
The third area (3) marks the location of Bárba Giórgis’ (Bárba means ‘uncle’ in Greek) farm. I would go there every day to help him water whatever he was growing. Bárba Giórgis was such a kind person, always having something nice to say to me. He would use proverbs to teach me lessons, and he referred to me as ‘Βαγγελάτσι μου,’ which loosely translates to ‘young Vaggeli,’ with Vaggeli being the diminutive of my Greek first name.
I spent so many summers there and I don’t remember one instance where someone yelled or scalded for any of the stupid things I did there. Perhaps that is why I just love Avlonari.
I usually stayed at the house of Uncle Heraclis (Hercules) and Aunt Katina, or Uncle Pavlis and Aunt Athená. Uncle Heraclis was a retired civil servant from the national electric company, while Uncle Pavlis was the village butcher. Many times, I would help him butcher animals.
The Facebook page ‘AVLONARI, Such a Lovely Place‘ exists, and you might want to consider following it, especially for the pictures they share.
Long live Avlonari!