Lesvos combines mountainous beauty, picturesque villages with plane trees, age-old professions, culinary tradition and a natural environment that astonishes, especially in September when temperatures drop but the sunsets remain unchanged.

1 | THE ISLAND’S TRADITIONAL, AGE-OLD CAFES

“Vanilla”, a thick white sticky paste that is actually made of mastic resin, not vanilla, and served as a spoonful immersed in a tall glass of ice-cold water, is a vintage treat mostly associated with visits to grandma houses and cafes in bygone eras. Vanilla, commonly referred to as ypovrihio, is not commonly served at cafes these days – unless you are on Lesvos. The island is full of traditional cafes that safeguard the threatened vanilla tradition. Old cooking pots and utensils, bottles, frames, clocks, coat hangers, wall menus with prices, religious icons, diaries, posters and signs displaying old proverbs of wisdom adorn the walls of perennial cafes, museum-like places that remain functional.

If the café walls could talk, they would have plenty to relay in terms of plenty of gossip, wise thoughts, concerns and philosophies expressed over the years by customers relaxed while enjoying their ouzo, morning coffee, card games and backgammon. These social groups are open. Passersby are welcome to join in.

2 | ITS OUZO AND SALTED SARDINES

A large proportion of the ouzo produced at the island’s 17 distilleries remains on Lesvos. Plenty of ouzo, the renowned aniseed spirit whose tradition and know-how is said to have been brought over to Greece by Anatolian Greeks, is consumed on the island. Drinkers usually have their favorite brands. It is not uncommon to see various bottle brands at the one table of friends. Experienced ouzo drinkers – there are plenty on Lesvos – can distinguish the finer differences between one distillery’s produce to another. Ouzo is typically accompanied by salted sardines as a meze dish.

The island’s Kalloni gulf, blessed with rich biodiversity, is renowned throughout Greece for its meaty and juicy sardines. Whether grilled on the barbecue or salted, as prepared at cafes, or placed in tupperware and salted in layers, as is common at households, they are delicious. Besides sardines, expect to see other traditional ouzo-accompanying meze dishes brought to your table, including ladotyri, a hard cheese matured and preserved in olive oil, local olives and giouzlemedes, small pie pieces filled with myzithra cheese and herbs.

5 | TO VIEW WORK BY PICASSO, CHAGALL, MATISSE AND OTHERS

Stratis Eleftheriadis, best known as Tériade, a major publisher and art collector who published work by some of the finest artists of the 20^th century, was Greek, and, more specifically, hailed from Lesvos. Eleftheriaidis left Greece in 1915 to study law in Paris but, not before long, abandoned his studies to focus on his era’s artistic developments, initially as an art critic for magazines and newspapers. He supported emerging artists of his period, earning their trust, and ended up collaborating with the likes of Bonnard, Matisse, Picasso, Miró and other legendary artists.

Eleftheriaidis published numerous books with illustrations by major artists. Later on, Eleftheriaidis returned to homeland Lesvos and contributed works from his personal collection to a new museum, the Tériade Museum, in the island’s Varia region. Launched in 1979, its collection includes work by Picasso, Chagall, Matisse and other significant artists, Greek and French. Eleftheriadis is credited for having discovered, supported and promoted Greek folk painter Theophilos Hatzimihail, from Varia, who suffered hardship, even ridicule for his work, during his time, but is nowadays highly regarded.  A museum dedicated to this early 20^th century artist’s work is located just meters away from the Tériade Museum. His work is divided into two themes, one focused on nature and man, the other depicting scenes from Greek mythology, history and religion.