a few years ago, whilst i was touring Europe..on my motorcycle....No,Avril in tow...she hated bikes....i met some Greeks...who came from the island of Samos...they said that if i was ever over in Greece...i would be welcome to stay at there house....well, a couple of years later,i got a one off job..of delivering a high spec Toyota Landcruiser...to a guy who lived in Izmir..in Turkey...to get there it was a 6 day drive,with 3 ferry crossings,..one of which was from Samos...to Kusadasi...in Turkey....to cut a long story short, i arrived on the door step of these Greeks...who made me very welcome....as my connecting ferry was 2 days away..i had time to relax....the next day, Yannis.....asked me if i,d like to go snorkelling....whil st he went scuba diving...for our lunch...so off we went, we arrived at a little jetty on the far side of the island, he had a small boat....and off we sailed,he anchored just offshore, and then told me just to enjoy myself, and that he,d be gone around 1/2 an hour...so in i went,and it was brilliant, warm clear water,.when he returned he had a net bag that contained 2 Octopus...and about a dozen or more Anemone,s.
when we got back to his house..he prepared lunch,i shied away from the octopus...but was willing to give the anemone,s a try, he told me that to enjoy them at their best,they had to be eated live,...he mixed up some fresh lemon juice with a little olive oil,...spooned a little into the anemone shell, then handed me a chunk of fresh baked bread,and showed me what to do....The taste was awesome....
the next day, we went to a cafe in the village, whilst there, i saw.a newspaper headline, which was on a Reuters newspaper...."local man attacked by Great White"...i asked Yannis what this was about,and he told me that a fisherman,on the island had,been attacked by a Great White, whilst,sitting with his legs dangling over his boat...when i asked him..where this had happened..he laughed...and said...about 2 kms from where i was swimming....and that Great Whites were common in the Med,and in fact they bred,between Turkey and Cyprus....suffice to say..i,ve never been in a sea since.....see pic of the anemone.....,
