Greece - Korina Miller [506]
Lemoni kai Prasino Piperi ( 22510 42678; cnr Pavlou Kountourioti & Hristougennon 1944; mains €10-15; 7pm-1am) The poshest place in town, this upstairs restaurant has great waterfront views and even better food, especially the Italian dishes. Try the simple yet exquisite tomato and mozzarella salad and tagliatelle amatriciana (spicy tomato and bacon sauce) or tagliatelle alfredo (cream cheese and parmesan sauce with garlic) with salmon.
Drinking
Mytilini’s loud waterfront cafes are inevitably busy, though the best watering holes are found in the backstreets.
Mousiko Kafenio (cnr Mitropoleos & Vernardaki; 7.30am-2am) Even if the stairs are no longer strong enough to allow you to sit upstairs in this old student favourite, the eclectic paintings, mirrors and well-worn wooden fixtures foster a relaxed, arty vibe, making it one of the most fun places in town.
To Navagio ( 22510 21310; Arhipelagous 23) A popular cafe-bar on Plateia Sapphou with comfy couches, perfect for a leisurely backgammon game and coffee.
Briki (cnr Hiou & Mitrelia; 8am-3am) This cool new hole-in-the-wall bar plays jazz, funk and ambient sounds, and has occasional art exhibits.
Heavy Bar ( 6945605383; cnr Mitrelia & Ladadika; 9pm-3am) Rock on! Mytilini’s long-haired hard-rock bar is probably the only place on Lesvos where you’ll find someone wearing a jean jacket in high summer. The elevated video screen means you can not only hear, but also see Axl Rose, Angus Young and Co.
Shopping
Lesvos Shop ( 22510 26088; Pavlou Kountourioti 33) This waterfront shop near the Hotel Sappho sells local natural products, from ouzos, olive oil and soap, to jams, handmade ceramics, wine and cheese. Proceeds benefit the municipality.
North Aegean Shop ( 22510 26918; Pavlou Kountourioti 21) Next to Paradosiaka Bougatsa Mytilinis, the shop sells traditional products like Greek sweets, with unusual varieties involving watermelon, olive and nuts.
Getting There & Away
Mytilini’s local bus station (Pavlou Kountourioti), near Plateia Sapphou, serves in-town destinations and nearby Loutra, Skala Loutron and Tahiarhis. All other buses depart from the long-distance bus station ( 22510 28873; El Venizelou) near Agias Irinis Park.
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SOUTH OF MYTILINI
The small, olive-groved peninsula south of Mytilini has several unique attractions. Following the coast road 7km south, opposite the airport, you’ll find a long pebble beach hosting the decadent beach bar, Kohilia ( 6978773203; 8am-3am). Pulsating with house and techno music, and frequented by swimsuited students lounging on colourful couches and four-poster beds, Kohilia is a chilled-out hang-out on summer days that doubles as a night bar.
Somewhat more edifying is Skala Loutron, a fishing village 8km southwest of Mytilini on the Gulf of Yera. Here the Hellenic Culture Centre ( 22510 91660, in Athens 210 523 8149; www.hcc.edu.gr; 2-week courses €650) conducts intensive summer Greek-language courses in a century-old olive-oil factory near the harbour, now restored as the Hotel Zaira ( 22510 91188; www.hotel-zaira.com; Skala Loutron; s/d €45/60), distinguished by lofty wood beams, nice stonework and home-cooked Greek food. Nonstudents can stay, too.
Also in Skala Loutron, the new Museum of the Memorial of the Refugees of 1922 ( 22510 91086; admission free; 5-8pm) commemorates Anatolia’s lost Greek culture, abruptly ended after 2000 years by the Greek-Turkish population exchanges of 1923. The museum features the photographs, documents, handmade clothes and silverwork of the refugees, plus large wall maps showing over 2000 villages formerly populated by Greeks – and the places in Greece where the refugees were resettled. The museum will be gladly opened outside of normal hours if you ask around.
Some 9km south, the peninsula wraps around to the popular sand-and-pebble Agios Ermogenis Beach and Haramida Beach. The eastern stretch of the latter, Niseli Beach, is secluded under a bluff and separated by a headland from the main beach. There’s free camping provided by the municipality, with toilets and