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	A Moment in Frikes   Friday 25th November 2005   Above is Rementzo Restaurant on the bay, usually buzzing with business every morning, afternoon and night, 3 or 4 waiters running themselves ragged through 3 table changes and the inexhaustible demands of their patrons and now, concrete with a view. In Winter, all the action is taken inside from Thursday to Sunday, where a stripped back Rementzo does its' best to keep the locals fed and entertained through the cold and lonely nights with homecooked food, local wine and song. There's not a soul around and the wind whistles down the road from Stavros, but once the fruit and vegie man from Lefkada parks his van, the few locals that do live in Frikes during the Winter, come out to do their shopping and then quickly disappear inside their warm homes again. _______________________________________________________ There's no doubt about it, the life has almost been completely sucked from the small bayside village of Frikes. The echoes of Summer are a distant memory and the difference between then and now is enormous. The village sees the sun just a little before it's ready to set again, it's cold, it's damp and it's very, very quiet. Kikis' Mini Market opens up for a few hours each morning and again for a couple of hours in the afternoon every day of the week, but if you're looking to get fed, you better go somewhere else, because Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this village doesn't even have a ghost to keep the night company.     Above, Symposium Restaurant has always been in the flood line of a heavy downpour, and over the past few days of heavy rains and winds, the weather has taken its' toll on this usually picturesque place to dine. The Symposium sisters, Meropi and Olympica will still serve up their special recipes and traditional fare, but not on Mondays to Wednesdays.
	It's no surprise that for some of the locals, this time of year is preferred. They don't need restaurants, or lots of people hanging around the streets, they don't need mopeds revving up the nights or Flotillas docked on the quay, blocking out their view, but if you ask any one of them if they would go back to the old days, the days before tourism discovered Ithaki, they wouldn't hesitate to reply "No". Ithacas' Tourism, no matter how meager compared to some other islands, is what has brought this small island in the Ionian, back to life. It has allowed people, first, second and third generation Ithacans, to return from far away places, to once again make Ithaki their home. They can come with dreams which now have hopes of coming true, they can relax in the security of regular travel options and medical facilities, and they can have the best of both Ithacas, the 'Summer Ithaca', with its' colour and mayhem, and the 'Winter Ithaca', with its' solitude and ordinary life. A moment in Frikes gives you time to reflect, while taking in the crisp views of the mainland as the Superfast crosses the blue horizon. close window to exit this page (C) 2005 hOME ithaca greece _____________________________________________________________________ www.ithacagreece.com