Greece – Amorgos
I arrive in Katapola. It’s always the same moment. I step off the ferry and immediately feel the salt in the air, the sun on my skin, and that distinctive scent of the port. Katapola is the main port of Amorgos. There are two ways to reach Aegiali – you either disembark directly there, or you take the only road that runs across the island from Katapola. You can try to get a taxi, hope for a lift, or arrange transport from one of the small hotels. Because everything here is rather small and intimate. There may be one or two slightly larger places, but they still fit the scale of the island.
Most of the time, I choose a scooter. I like that moment at the port when I rent it and head straight towards Aegiali.
Most of the time, I choose a scooter. I like that moment at the port when I rent it and head straight towards Aegiali.
As you enter the village, on the right-hand side you begin to see places where you can have breakfast with a view of the sea or dinner at sunset. The menu is simple and very Greek – from club sandwiches, through tzatziki and Greek salad, to octopus, baked fish and moussaka. In one of the side streets, you’ll find truly excellent seafood. Small fried fish, sardines, crispy, served with a yogurt sauce with garlic and dill. Everything is prepared on the spot, following the same recipes for years. Very little changes here.
The first time I came to Aegiali was over twenty years ago. And what strikes me every single time is precisely that sense of continuity. A few places for coffee, a few for a drink, but nothing excessive. This is not an island of clubs or loud nightlife. Instead, there are narrow streets climbing up the hillside, white houses and the intense turquoise of the sea. Espresso, ice cream, a small grocery shop with watermelons, a few rental places and a diving club. Not just any diving club – this is where Emilia Biała, a world-class freediver, shows up from time to time. This is also the island where The Big Blue was filmed.
From Aegiali, you can turn right towards Lefkada. The road winds through narrow, twisting streets, and along the way you pass a small Orthodox chapel tucked somewhere into the rock. Eventually, you reach a small square with wooden tables and chairs painted in a deep shade of blue, somewhere between blue and turquoise. The whole scene looks like a postcard. A few people sit quietly, someone is drinking coffee, someone else water, another person is enjoying a dessert. Next to it, there is a small local shop where you can find everything: vegetables, flour, basic products, but also completely random things like flashlights or small household items.
I leave the scooter and start walking without any particular direction. Usually in flip-flops, and sometimes completely barefoot. I like to feel the heat of the stones under my feet, their texture and temperature. In moments like these, I truly slow down.
The streets are quiet. Cats lie in the shade – young, calm, well-kept. They look like they belong here, as if they know exactly how to live alongside people. Curtains move gently in the windows, light reflects off the white walls, and the air shimmers slightly in the heat.
This is the luxury I choose. Space. Stillness. A day without excess..
There is a moment when I look at the sea and try to hold on to it. The water moves gently, light reflecting in every small wave, while the hot air creates a subtle vibration in front of my eyes. I narrow my gaze and think I will remember this for a long time. I have seen this view many times, perhaps dozens of times, and yet each time it leaves exactly the same impression on me.
And then I return home and realize there are simply too many of these images. I cannot recall just one. They all blend together.
I particularly enjoy the mornings in Aegiali. I leave the hotel and walk straight onto the path that runs along the sea. The breakfast terrace is almost at the water’s edge. The sun is already strong, and the bay looks almost unreal.
Breakfast is simple. Yogurt, fruit, nuts, honey. And unfortunately, things that do not belong here – low-quality cold cuts or cheese pretending to be something it is not. The rule is simple: eat local. Tomatoes, olives, feta, olive oil. That always works. The olives are excellent – in many versions, with chili, oregano, in oil or plain. In this climate, you don’t need anything more.
In the heat, you tend to eat less, but after a day spent swimming, walking or riding a scooter, your appetite comes back stronger.
Greece has a way of remaining unchanged.
There is also a place in Lefkada that I like to return to. Driving from Aegiali, I pass a small campsite and start climbing uphill. The asphalt is so hot that in some places it becomes soft. Along the way, I pass the Aegialis Hotel, one of the more luxurious spots on this part of the island. At the top, I leave the scooter near an old pharmacy and walk down towards a taverna.
It is usually empty. I order a few simple dishes, a bottle of water and a small carafe of chilled white wine. The wine is usually good – light, fitting the temperature and the place. Occasionally, you get retsina – resinous, very distinctive, not for everyone. It is better to stick with classic white wine.
I don’t really need alcohol, but in these surroundings, a single glass can slightly loosen your perspective and shift the way you look at everything around you.
Aegiali is full of details. Simple, raw, perfectly belonging to this place. If you moved them to Warsaw or Paris, they would look out of place. Here, they feel natural. Pieces of wood shaped by the sea, stones, shells – everything marked by time and nature.
Sometimes I collect those stones and take them with me. At home, I place them on a shelf or simply hold them in my hand. They have no real function, and yet they mean something. Perhaps they are just a reminder that there are places where everything is exactly as it should be.
For me, spices give Greek cuisine its flavour and its heart, and this blend is the essence of the island spirit.
One of the inspirations from this journey became a spice blend I created from carefully selected ingredients — simple, clean, and deeply rooted in Mediterranean character.
Blue of Amorgos.
In Greece, cooking is rarely about strict recipes. It is more about feeling, balance, and what you have at hand. Olive oil, herbs, sea salt, lemon — sometimes just a touch of spices that have travelled between the islands for centuries.
Every home does it differently.
Every table tells its own story.
This blend was created in exactly the same spirit.
When I was looking for a name, I returned to the images from Amorgos.
Light. Sea. Silence.
And then it appeared on its own.
Blue of Amorgos.
A blend that, for me, captures the essence of this place — in its simplest and most honest form.
Whenever I want to return there, I reach for it.
I cook something simple — vegetables, baked fish, sometimes just warm olive oil and bread.
I add the spices, and that’s enough. They also work beautifully with grilled meat, Greek salad, or tzatziki.
And for a moment, I am there again.
On Amorgos.
Scent — sea air, wild oregano, sun-warmed lemon
Sound — the steady sound of waves breaking against the rocks, distant goat bells
Book — Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
Taste — grilled fish, olive oil, lemon, fresh herbs
Colour — deep blue and white
Music — “Ouverture” — Eric Serra (from The Big Blue)
Movie — The Big Blue, 1988
