Page 64 - MYCONIAN COLLECTION MAG 2021
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discover|local people







                                                                                                                                                           The “Paga” in Gialos

                                                                                                                                                           IF THERE IS ONE HABIT that’s hard to break, it’s the street market that local fishermen hold every morning in the area of
                                                                                                                                                           Gialos. As long as you get there early enough to enjoy the “paga” display, the fresh fish and “baksevanika” – fresh vegetables
                                                                                                                                                           sold in crates by local producers straight from their own gardens, their “baxedes”. By the time the visitors wake up from a night
                                                                                                                                                           of hard partying everything will have disappeared and the stands will be shiny and clean. Everything here happens early in the
                                                                                                                                                           morning. If you are looking to find authentic Mykonos, you just have to sacrifice some hours of sleep and get to the “entrance”
                                                                                                                                                           to the town. There, you will easily discern who the “morning people” of the land are, who don’t change habits easily. Gialos
                                                                                                                                                           was once the heart of the area, but to this day tradition is still alive and kicking here. Even if one cannot enjoy local products,
                                                                                                                                                           they can discover gastronomical treasures such as courgette flowers, purple amaranth (a type of green), brown-eyed Mykonos
                                                                                                                                                           beans (black-eyed peas), plums, and aromatic plants such as oregano, thyme, fennel, spearmint, sage and marjoram.






































                                                            LIVING OFF THE LAND
                              "We are no business. We are a home", says Nikos Zougalenis about Rizes Folklore Farmstead, and it's a Mykonos home open to all.





                    Nikos Zouganelis

                    “WHAT VISITORS SEE is our life, lived as close as possible   Nothing is “frozen in time” because nothing is for show and
                    to my memories of older generations”, says Nikos Zouganelis,   everything is tended to following traditional methods. You
                    who grew up in a traditional Mykonos farmstead. His father,   can also see folklore artists working the loom, painting icons,
                    Giannis, kept sheep and cultivated the land while his mother   creating traditional “tsampouna” bagpipes… When you visit,
                    tended to the household and made cheese. Nikos felt an   you are a guest.  “We want to show visitors they are loved
                    urge to honor this authentic way of life by creating a fully   and tended to; to treat them, make friends with them – then,
                    functional farmstead that taps into the “rizes” [roots] of the   if they want, they can participate in this life, and understand
                    land and traditional folk life. Rizes Folklore Farmstead was   how things were before technology”, explains Nikos. And
                    the result. “We are no business. We are a home – expanded to   indeed, you can help milk a cow, gather eggs, join him at the
                    welcome visitors, but still a home”. Visiting Rizes, you start to   garden patch… More than anything, though, this family want
                                                                                                                                                                                                     LOCAL PRODUCTS
                    understand this way of life, with the wood oven, cheese dairy,   you to join them at the table, breaking bread and living a purer               Discover simple gastronomical treasures such as fresh eggs, courgette flowers, purple amaranth (a type of green), brown-eyed Mykonos
                    cows, chicken coop, wine press, vegetable patches, donkeys…   life for a few hours. www.rizesmykonos.com                                                 beans (black-eyed peas) and aromatic plants such as oregano, thyme, fennel, spearmint, sage and marjoram.




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