One of my most vivid memories from my first trip to Greece in 1977, in the obligatory Kombi van, was free camping on a beach along the north of the Peloponnese between Patras and Athens. There was another Aussie couple there in a van. It didn’t take us long to meet the locals or the family at the local restaurant. “Stay, eat, use our shower” they said.
We stayed far longer than the one night we intended. Brothers and a sister ran the restaurant. She was up at dawn, preparing the food, cooking the lunch, then prepping for dinner which she also cooked. She went to bed around 9pm. Her brothers, by contrast, rose at 11am, in time to charismatically serve in the restaurant. A snooze after lunch, they served dinner with flair, then had a few drinks. “We will pick you up to take you to the bouzoukia (nightclub)” they offered. “We will collect you at 1am!”. No wonder they slept most of the morning.
However, they, their sister and all the locals were so welcoming. Finally, over ouzo one afternoon, we said we had to move on. The Pappous (elder) of the village demurred “but I was going to give you a party next week!”. We did leave to see more of Greece, but the warm memory remains.
I returned other times, notably to Thessaloniki and Crete with international food writers, and four of us stayed on in Chania, drove all over the island and also visited the incredible archaeological site of Knossos.
My late partner, John, had a degree in Classics from Cambridge University and lived and breathed ancient history so after we met in 2007, it wasn’t long before he had me off visiting more Greek archeological sites. And of course, that meant we ate the food and drank the wine. I am very good at avoiding tourist restaurants.
Fast forward to 2010 and by what turned out to be lucky happenstance, at short notice, my actor son Blair (with me below) agreed to be my co-host on a TV series and Lyndey & Blair’s Taste of Greece was created. We were on the road trip of a lifetime with John, off the beaten track in the Peloponnese, cooking, laughing, visiting ancient sites, avoiding bureaucracy and becoming true friends with amazing Greek characters.
Blair had previously only been to Corfu. However, he had links with Greece, having starred in Greek Philosophy plays, The Philosophy of Freedom in 2005 and The Philosophy of Love in 2006, both at the Sydney Greek Festival. And he could dance the Zeibekiko. It just seemed so right to be going together. And so it was. Blair was a joy on the road, enthusiastic, hard-working and uncomplaining over the long, arduous hours of shooting. Best of all he took a shine to the history and archaeology of this ancient land, asking John questions and lapping up the knowledge. He was my perfect foil.
In Blair’s own words “Travelling and shooting a television program with your mother is a little out of the ordinary! Put it this way. With my mother there is never a dull moment. The beauty of a mother son relationship on camera is that you can’t fake it, or replicate it, all the complexities have been built up over 29 years.”
Blair was a food-seeking missile, open to everything (as he had been taught from childhood) – though not, hilariously, the offal soup I made him try in the Athens meat market. Not even garlic vinegar and chilli flakes could make that work for him. He loved the thick authentic yoghurt at Stani Patisserie and the real tzatziki and feta in Corinth. Saganaki, stuffed vegetables, seafood, slow-cooked lamb and goat and incredible pork. It was all on the menu. In Kalamata he was thrilled to buy real Kalamata olives and try loukoumades. And chips with everything! He declared extra virgin olive oil, lots of garlic and lemon as the “holy trinity” of Greek food. We used this to simply cook flying squid on the beach in Vivari.
Greek may be a cuisine a little forgotten in the modern world but with its true seasonality and vibrant flavours it is one well worth rediscovering. It is affordable and accessible without expensive exotica like truffles or caviar. It also largely avoids issues with allergies and dietary requirements. Moreover leading Greek winemakers are using modern wine making techniques with indigenous varieties to create world class, original wine. And then there is ouzo which always comes with mezethes.
On our road trip we avoided the over-popular and crowded islands. Rather Athens, Nafplio, Monemvasia, Kalamata and Olympia formed a loop through the Peloponnese full of beautiful scenery, incredible characters, ancient sites you could actually walk amongst and authentic food and wine.
How could I not love Greece? Blair sadly died from Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, three days after diagnosis, in 2011 before the TV series went to air. He was 29. It became important to go back there and in 2012 John and I took my daughter Lucy, her then boyfriend Toby (now husband) and some friends back to retrace some of our steps. People we had met when filming greeted us like old friends. Greece did not disappoint and just made us love her more.
After that, when I was off hosting Mediterranean cruises or culinary tours to Puglia (Italy), Japan and Morocco, John would gather some friends and do his own archeological tours to Greece. We visited friends in Crete and just loved the elegant Venetian city of Nafplio. We would return to the Palamidi Fortress where Blair ran up the 999 steps in a very quick 17 minutes (which meant his cameraman did too!).
So Greece has a very special place in my heart. It is where I feel closest to Blair. Some years after he died, John and I had our footage re-edited into a six part series Greece with my Son with more Blair, more of the archaeology he explained so well and less cooking, which continues to be streamed globally. With our original TV series being shown around the world in English speaking countries (as well as being dubbed into Russian and Mandarin for Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Malaysia & China), I often get lovely emails from people saying that we have rekindled their interest in Greece and that they are going to visit. And they are sorry for my loss.
But it doesn’t end there. Before Covid I was planning to host my own culinary and cultural tour to Greece, retracing our steps, to share with viewers and newcomers alike. Then at the same time as Covid shutting Australia down, John was diagnosed with incurable, inoperable, stage 4 non-smokers lung cancer. During the 11 months I was caring for him, we would reminisce about Greece and talk about returning to Nafplio when the world opened up and he was well again. We planned how we could host one of our famous parties there. It lifted his spirits. Sadly John too, died in 2021. In 2022, I returned to the Peloponnese with friends and we left a little bit of John there. So he too is in my heart, inextricably linked with Greece.
Filming in Greece with Blair and John was one of the great joys of my life. Now I want to share this wonderful country, history, archeology, spirit, characters, food, wine, its waterways and glorious scenery so that others may come to see inside the real Greece and come to love it too. Finally in May 2026 I am able to share my culinary and cultural tour of the Peloponnese with others. My Greek Odyssey will be a tour of joy and love, an insider’s view of what this ancient land can offer. Maybe you too can fall in love with Greece?
Travel File
A Greek Food Odyssey with Lyndey Milan and Insight Vacations
5 – 17 May 2026 13 days/12 nights from Athens to Athens
$11,695 per person twin share. Single Supplement $1750
Small group maximum 13 people.
All guests receive a complimentary signed copy of Lyndey & Blair’s Taste of Greece cookbook.