Not Friends, Family

July 1, 2022

Sofia Karakosta and her daughter Magda hugging a girl at the Meteora Garden campsite near Kalambaka — Guests here are family, says Sofia. Her father ran it that way from the day he opened in 1983.

Day forty-five, Greece. The Meteora Garden campsite is a quiet place, and I am using it to go on learning how to trust things. In the daytime the cicadas work in the grass. At night a kind of ceremony settles over the garden while the outlines of the Meteora rocks stand against what is left of the sky.

“A lot has changed these last few years,” says Sofia Karakosta, who runs the place with her daughter Magda. Covid in particular altered how people are with each other. Friends fell out. Families split.

“It isn't clever,” says Magda. “It only costs you strength.”

They were able to open again after the pause. The family keeps the pitches, the pool and the bar, and they like the company of travellers who stay a night or a week or longer. Grandfather Aristedis opened the site in 1983.

“We learned from my father not to treat guests as friends, but as family,” Sofia says.

That is exactly what it feels like. I work at the laptop and small kindnesses keep arriving next to it. Kittens sleep on the sofa. The children play under the trees and now and then tug at my attention to see what happens.

I have not been at home anywhere in a long time. I am careful about the word. But it is the right one.

Tree-lined lane at the Meteora Garden campsite with a caravan and a dark van with an awning — By day the cicadas work the grass, otherwise it is quiet under the trees.

Pool at the Meteora Garden campsite at dusk, trees reflected in the blue water — At night a kind of solemnity settles over the garden.

Girl hanging a “Family Rules” sign with a wooden heart on a branch, a blue evil-eye charm beside it — Guests here count as family, the way the grandfather always had it.

Icon corner at Meteora Garden with an icon of Saint Jerome, censers and saints' pictures on a wooden wall — Saints hang close together at the Karakostas'.

Old wall telephone with rotary dial and receiver on a wooden wall at Meteora Garden, a bell beside it — Opened in 1983, and some things on the wall are older.

Valve radio, alarm clock, brass oil lamp and candle holders on a shelf at Meteora Garden — I work on my laptop, and on the shelf beside me time stands a little still.

Seeburg jukebox in front of the colourful bar at Meteora Garden, bottles on shelves, framed photos on the wall — The family looks after the pitches, the pool and the bar, and the bar has a jukebox.

Girl peering over an antique Singer sewing machine at Meteora Garden campsite in Greece — The children here like to test what happens if they look at me long enough.