Greek Islands - Chios

Oh forget storm Dennis we're off to SUNY kiosk now on ITV it's the last in the series of the Greek islands with Julia Bradbury [Music] the Greek islands with Julia Bradbury brought to you by tui tours every year three million of us head to the Greek islands for our holidays and it's easy to see why this is Greece and look at that I have a strong affinity with the islands my mom is Greek but I've only holidayed here I've never really explored beyond the tourist trail until now every step of this journey has been a surprise they say no one Greek island is like another and so far this trip is proving it there's nobody here but now I'm nearing the end of my travels and I'm going well and truly off the beaten track I am going native to the island some say is Greece's best-kept secret this is a voyage of discovery and I'm taking you with me [Music] [Music] this island holds a lot of promise for me chaos is just 30 minutes from Turkey in that direction on a ferry and like so many of the Greek islands even though it's not particularly well known its history is tumultuous and colorful it's an island of myth and mystery some people claim that Christopher Columbus was born here others speak of heõs as the birthplace of Homer whatever the truth this rustic and rural Island doesn't register on many tourist maps [Music] and around a hundred and forty miles from mainland Greece heõs is one of the most undiscovered and unspoiled of all the Greek islands it's a significant place for me because this is where my ancestors are from and for this leg of my journey I've got very special travel companion meet my mamamoo Krissi Bradbury although her family name was Stefan arcus Chios is where her side of the family are from I grew up hearing stories at this remote island far far away and now now we're actually here we finally made it the kiosk mamamoo we finally made to take a guest rooms and it's a huge adventure but every time I come to grips it's an adventure it's strange being here because this island is a part of us it's a part of our family absolutely we stopped here on the way from I think it was Santorini so I was with you yes you were tiny you were I got tiny or non-existent this way I have been here hi V you happen just for an hour or two not long and that's the only time you've only time I've ever been yeah gosh what the venture this island is such a big part of our lives and yet we know so little about it so we're going to explore it together and we're starting with the product heõs is most famous for my sneaker heõs is called the mastic island an ancient aromatic resin that is the engine of the island's economy the world's only commercial producer of mastic it's exported to over 50 countries and it's using everything from food to medicine its story begins with an evergreen tree lilius and maria from the mastic Growers Association have brought us to the only place in the world where the mastic a tree flourishes as Russia must see her actually the SAP is the SAP of the tree and actually the reaction of the tree in order to avoid infections from insects from fungus from bacteria so when we make the incisions the tree automatically produce mastiha-- in order to cover the wound so the SAP comes out and that's what you that's what's hard we don't use the x-ray in here it's not very common to use mastiha-- because 85 90 % of the annual production has been exported mainly for pharmaceutical production so we treat it like diamonds we'll keep it you sell it this rare resin is known as the tears of heals and the microclimate of southern heals with its dry barren soil is just perfect for this tree so can I taste this yes but it's very soft and maybe you'll need a dentist after that I'll risk it I'm gonna have it there I'm trying to describe this it's a slightly it's a slightly minty flavor what is he throwing on the ground it is calcium carbonate and we use it in order to keep mustika clean when it drops down to the surface of the tree how much must occur will you harvest of one tree and how often can you harvest one tree the average quantity let's say it's almost 150 to 200 grams but through the ages there he and growers choose very productive varieties yes and this is the only varieties that now produces mass bigger otherwise trees that you are able to find in the Mediterranean region produces only let's say one gram per year so that's such a difference of mass am asking a tree here in chaos producing 150 maybe 300 grams and then one gram somewhere else in the world so they are it's the magic of horses and how this plant has been cultivated over the years exactly so you have them an awful opulence on it the mastic tree has been grafted into the life of the Islanders since ancient times today some four and a half thousand people who live here are involved in its production and most of them live in what are known as the mastic villages it's apparently there are twenty-four mastic villages all over the island all of those villages are reliant and thrive off the mastic trade yes there's a loss isn't it it it a lot as you walk through the streets you feel as if you're in another time and place I mean just how quiet it is yeah Shh cut pretty this is look at that oh it's beautiful life goes on the way it has for hundreds of years whilst the mint oil in the mastic fields the women work hard in the village sorting it near water so we're sitting with the ladies cleaning the mastic but what annoys me is that my mum always says the reason she didn't teach me Greek is that she doesn't speak Greek very well and yet we sit down here with the lovely ladies and her Greek is amazing I get by okay you get by I'd like to be able to get by Oh at this day the massacre has been harvested from the trees and as you can see when it arrives into the village it's got quite a lot of debris still during the winter time ladies gather around on the square and they do this talking I'm drinking [Laughter] the most famous of the mastic villages is pier even where buildings are covered in black and white square feet or a centuries-old technique where geometric patterns are etched into concrete now I thought there were tiles yes it looks like tiles but it's painted in concrete it's plaster and the concrete for energy I like that the level of detail in the design was a sign of the wealth of the owner of the house and mastic has certainly brought a lot of privilege and prosperity to the island over the years no wonder they say it's like diamonds so we've seen the trees the SAP the mastic a ladies and let's go see what they turn it all into apparently mastic has over a hundred and fifty different uses thought to be the world's first chewing gum it's long been a culinary staple in Turkey and the Middle East and it's commonly used in beauty care and cosmetics Madalena is going to show us the many faces of mastic okay face creams yes I'm loving that whitening an anti-wrinkle super sheet mask I'm taking one of those it's really hydrating yeah spicy garlic bread doggy chocolate dark chocolate I mean I can see past her over there a toothpaste over there there are the traditional mustika products yes you know there are the county's yeah we call it submarine because you take like a spoon of that yeah you put it in a glass yeah and you add some water the submarine is a classic Greek dessert so-called because it's submerged in the water Wow okay I'm you try it because this is this is what you used to do yes when you were little so this was the equivalent of a lollipop yes but it was like the traditional dessert when someone arrived at your home and you would like to treat him something you haven't baked god forbid that anybody should arrive in your house in Greece and you don't offer them something unacceptable unacceptable yes take me back to my childhood sitting in funny old parlors with all these Greek women sitting around and mmm that's lovely oh this is gonna sound wrong but imagine if you could eat toothpaste but but lovely minty herb be sort of toothpaste it's really nice I'm good for you the submarine isn't the only tradition we're going to sink our teeth into the medieval town of Mester beckons and we'll need to get our dancing shoes on [Music] [Applause] I've reached the final destination of my Greek Odyssey the little-known island of Chios home to my ancestral past my mum and I have traveled to the south of the island to the mastic region for a glimpse of the real Greece heõs is one of the few Greek islands that's been untouched by mass tourism so this Islands culture and traditions are as pure and as unchanged as it gets and I've been told that if I want to find the Trujillo's the medieval village of Mester is the place to head for local hotel yeah anna has offered to show us around town why is mr. famous because it's not just for its beauty its Castille village clothes from outside no cars I like it was hammering years ago built to protect itself from foreign invaders and pirate attacks Mester with its impenetrable stone walls and maze of cobbled streets feel suspended in time so it's lovely and cool ana in these passages isn't it no please I know that I am David from outside ah so it's five degrees cooler yes how many people live here now in winter less than 300 tiny yeah but in summer we are plenty so who lives here still mostly old people the ODI ice grease is among the top countries in terms of life expectancy perhaps due to the Mediterranean diet and the warm sunny climate my AI is a hundred and two the neighboring island of Korea is one of the five designated places in the world where people live the longest a Blue Zone Mary Ann thay is 92 and still going strong Mary anthe is going to sing us a song about my speaker a lot of great women like Mary Ann said dress in black it's a custom here for widows in mourning to wear black not just for one day but often for the rest of their lives [Applause] tell me about this one what did you understand that she doesn't want her daughter to work in ya mustika fields yeah it was just too hard can you ask what EMC how our offerings about the ladies meet every day every day nothing man [Music] the people of Mester young and old regularly get together to sing and dance nothing has a more powerful presence in greek culture than traditional dance especially on the islands dance is an expression of their cultural identity and it's passed down from generation to generation there are more than 10,000 traditional dances around the country and every island has its own variation [Applause] we've been invited to join in one of the most popular dances of the island this cierto now it's time for me and my 2 left feet to have a go the dancers link hands to form a chain or a circle headed by a leader who I'm trying to follow [Music] it's not as easy as it looks beautiful [Music] I've lost it again traditional dancing has always been my Achilles heel get it now I feel Greek how you feeling this is going like dancing my cousin with the Sheep I don't think I'm a natural [Music] tell me why you need to be fit to do this Creek dancing thing oh I'm out of breath how are you doing mamamoo well I'm fine but who wants to do another night of dancing and I can't do it another heart attack let's don't kill her oh okay so Polly [Applause] now I'm feeling connected with the culture of Chios there's one last place we have to explore we're heading north to the town of rondavels it's also known as hamara palace because the legendary Greek writer Homer was believed to have been born here the writer of The Odyssey old Homer is one of the most famous poets in the world and as a solitary Rock perched above from the hardest Beach where he supposedly sat and composed his work it's been dubbed homers seemed we're here right amongst the pines how lovely I tell her why don't we turn little seats there you how's that comfy now you've heard of a Greek tragedy Greek comedy anyone I know it's very slippery as well get yourself in there's a way to sit you put foot there we probably did wear a skirt and he probably did wear sandals like this and he would sit here lecturer oh I don't know communicating his words of love and wisdom about Pride and it's incredible isn't it it's so beautiful it is I never got to the end of Homer's Odyssey but I've nearly reached the end of mine our final stop is a personal one we're here in veranda of this is where it all began it all began so Antony and RAF Anthony and Arrieta my mother's grandparents my great-grandparents were born and raised here in the late 19th century Anthony was a sailor and he married Arrieta in from Dallas in 1910 the year before they fled the Turkish occupation and emigrated to South Wales where my mother was born 26 years later records state that when the couple married they were gifted a house and a farm in a place called meso vani somewhere here in ROM Davos so from the pictures you've seen this is it yes it's a hefty old chunk of property mama look at the size of it it's huge it's definitely a fixer-upper isn't this definitely affects our opponent so as far as we know this house was left - huh - your grandmother look this is you look at your chubby little feet I've asked a chubby happy baby she looks happy yeah you're not lovely so what do you think of the hat um [Music] well I've got a vivid imagination and I consume what it was like because it's a very beautiful house you know a very large house in those days [Music] well it hasn't been lived in for a very very long time has it burnt look at it from here imagine living in that wonderful all my travels I've been trying to learn a bit of Greek to try and impress my mum and I think now is the moment mamamoo f caressed oh yeah it is l Anika category mu ma / F&E yet this eras s mass Ln occur in a mere fiscal Rosa La Jolla saga saga saga she said I love you you try Thank You Yaya Thank You papa I'm feeling much more Greek it's been a lovely adventure of them it's been a great adventure finding my ancestral home is a fitting finale to my Greek voyage I've learned so much about the islands their culture their history and my own I do Greek islands Roxanna you Lisa and before I do I think I better book myself some Greek lessons [Music] sir Tom and the other coaches will be in their big red chairs for the final round of blind auditions and the voice UK tomorrow night at 8:30 and still to come tonight it's a case of religion and murder and the last in the series of Grantchester at night next we're back to Coronation Street the Greek islands with Julia Bradbury brought to you by torito's

Channel: George Katsigiorgis

Views: 121,521

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Id: i9xGDdZNIDk

Length: 23min 1sec (1381 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 15 2020