By SHAN ZHOU
Published: July 15, 2008
BEIJING—People world wide usually come to Greece with a hope to experience romantic fairy-tales and amazing natural beauty. To many people, thousand years of history deposited on pillars in the Acropolis, sunset in Oia, and expensive meals on Santorini’s cliffs with a fantastic view of Aegean Sea are indispensable components in their journey. However, after one month’s travelling around Greece, I would say, those are not the true essence of travelling. Sigri, a small fishing village lying on the eastern part of Lesvos Island, has jumped into my heart becoming the first choice of getting the true experience of Greece.
Like the experience of falling love, I am attracted by Sigri’s true features the most. The sunset in the Sunset Restaurant in Sigri, with local residents drinking and talking in nearby bar, with dogs and cats running around, was a real sunset enchased in daily life. I enjoyed this silent scene much more than the crowded and commercial sunset in Oia, where the natural beauty has been utilized and transferred too much to cater for the needs of tourists. Sigri is a place where I would like to stop my pace and spend more time to experience a totally different lifestyle. It has rich sightseeing resources; however, its existence is not only for tourists.
Perhaps Sigri is not a good place for travel agents to earn money quickly, but it is an ideal choice for travelers who are searching for the serenity of mind. Here, you could see little trace left by visitors or even you could hardly distinguish visitors and residents. To some extent, Sigri tries to set forth the truth that everyone here is just passing travelers on the earth. Yes, you have to admit that we are all travelers.
Residents that I saw in Sigri usually give top priority to enjoying their life. A large number of them are previous visitors who fell in love with Sigri and then decided to stay here for a longer time. They know exactly the attractions of Sigri and try to preserve them and share with more visitors. Thus local environment, culture and life have been preserved very well under this ideology. Maybe “Sustainable tourism” is vague words to you, however, I am sure when you come here, you could definitely understand the words from Sigri: “love me little, love me long”.
Published: July 15, 2008
BEIJING—People world wide usually come to Greece with a hope to experience romantic fairy-tales and amazing natural beauty. To many people, thousand years of history deposited on pillars in the Acropolis, sunset in Oia, and expensive meals on Santorini’s cliffs with a fantastic view of Aegean Sea are indispensable components in their journey. However, after one month’s travelling around Greece, I would say, those are not the true essence of travelling. Sigri, a small fishing village lying on the eastern part of Lesvos Island, has jumped into my heart becoming the first choice of getting the true experience of Greece.
Like the experience of falling love, I am attracted by Sigri’s true features the most. The sunset in the Sunset Restaurant in Sigri, with local residents drinking and talking in nearby bar, with dogs and cats running around, was a real sunset enchased in daily life. I enjoyed this silent scene much more than the crowded and commercial sunset in Oia, where the natural beauty has been utilized and transferred too much to cater for the needs of tourists. Sigri is a place where I would like to stop my pace and spend more time to experience a totally different lifestyle. It has rich sightseeing resources; however, its existence is not only for tourists.
Perhaps Sigri is not a good place for travel agents to earn money quickly, but it is an ideal choice for travelers who are searching for the serenity of mind. Here, you could see little trace left by visitors or even you could hardly distinguish visitors and residents. To some extent, Sigri tries to set forth the truth that everyone here is just passing travelers on the earth. Yes, you have to admit that we are all travelers.
Residents that I saw in Sigri usually give top priority to enjoying their life. A large number of them are previous visitors who fell in love with Sigri and then decided to stay here for a longer time. They know exactly the attractions of Sigri and try to preserve them and share with more visitors. Thus local environment, culture and life have been preserved very well under this ideology. Maybe “Sustainable tourism” is vague words to you, however, I am sure when you come here, you could definitely understand the words from Sigri: “love me little, love me long”.
