In a cluster of Greek islands at the southeast edge of Europe, the deserted places tell a vibrant and varied history that Jennifer Barclay has been discovering, mostly on foot, since moving there a decade ago. Wandering in a rich landscape, she has explored ghost villages and hidden settlements, cave-houses in a volcanic caldera, the crumbling villa of a Fascist dictator and the humble dwellings of displaced Muslim fishermen. For her book Wild Abandon, she found beauty in the old ways, and wonderful stories of those who left for the other side of the world, and those who stayed.
On one of her walking trips to these islands, in a mountain village in north Karpathos, she found a community still clinging to the old ways in a rugged and dramatic environment. An invitation to stay longer was something she couldn’t refuse, and led to a once-in-a-lifetime experience as she dropped everything and returned with her dog and tent to a remote bay. Taverna by the Sea is an enchanting, funny, poignant travel memoir about answering the call of adventure and taking on the challenge of running a Greek beach taverna: of pink dawns over the olive grove, swimming in moonlight, hearing only the waves, and feasting on pungent cheese, olive oil, local honey and warm figs.
Jennifer will take you on a journey through some of the wild and abandoned places of the Dodecanese, and to a year in north Karpathos.
This joint event has been organised by the Cheshire and North Wales committee and Bradt.
Speaker information
Jennifer Barclay is the author of Meeting Mr Kim, Falling in Honey, An Octopus in my Ouzo and Wild Abandon. Covering travel and food, her books have been published in the UK, US and Australia, and have been translated into Bulgarian, Latvian, Polish and Turkish. Jennifer’s articles have featured in publications including The Guardian, The Times, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday You magazine, Metro, and more, while she has both eaten noodles on Korean television and discussed kimchi with comedian Sandi Toksvig on BBC Radio 4. After stints in Canada and France, she has lived in Greece since 2011.