A Nude Man on the Beach

Being used to European travelling, museums, tickets, lines and souvenirs, I knew that my trip to Lefkada would be different. There would be no tickets, no lines, and no schedule. Just me and the white KIA rental car I had booked two weeks ahead of time.
Landing in Patra, the drive to Lefkada took approximately four hours. Three very long hours especially since I was unaware of the unwritten driving rules of Greece. Passing the bridge that connects the island to the mainland, I knew instantly that this place was going to be exactly what it promised to be “ the Caribbean of Greece”. Not that I would know what the Caribbean looks like, but I was sure that this was the closest I would get to it. Arriving during sundown, the soft light made the view of the Ionian Sea, even more spectacular.
My first night on the island was full of surprises. At the age of 25, I thought I knew the taste of fish. Being experimental by nature, I thought I knew the taste of almost everything. But I was wrong. Fresh fish taste like nothing I had ever tried. Homemade wine gives you a pleasant haziness that makes the water by the small restaurants glisten. And for the first time in all of my travels the simple people of Lefkada, made me feel like a guest and not a visitor. Going back to the hotel room that night (bringing jam from the restaurant owner’s wife to the hotel owner wife) I felt a sense of safety and containment I never felt before.
The next day started early, the KIA and I had investigated more than half of the island by 2 p.m. and I have already gathered fresh flowers with which I unsuccessfully tried to decorate my hair.
The afternoon found me at the beach of Egremni . It took me 15 minutes to climb down the mountain and get there. The wiggly wooden steps terrified me and made me wonder if the risk was worth taking. But my toes finally hit the sand at 5 pm in early May when the sun was getting softer and illuminated the beach with that bright orange color, whose sweetness you can almost taste.
The vast beach reminded me of a deserted island commercial I had seen years ago. I could have easily been a castaway there, at the end of the world. No sign of civilization to be seen only sun, emerald green water, golden sand…and the nude man at the other end of that beach.
Confused as I was to see another on the beach, the nude man wondered further away and just like that, the nude man and I were in agreement. We would share paradise.