Does the tavern exist?

I got a mail from Alexa in Maryland, she writes: I googled the island, you made it sound beautiful. I saw the harbor and houses, it’s so real. So do Kostas and the tavern exist?

I think I can answer this without giving away any spoilers. The answer is actually both yes and no. The tavern exists, I have spent many evenings there sitting on the patio and looking out over the old harbor. 

Kostas and Agafi is a different story, they are a fiction of my imagination. The inspiration though actually comes from an old couple that I met on another island in Greece. We were staying at their hotel and they had such an interesting dynamic between them, a very philosophical look on life, especially late in the evening when they sat down in the tavern with their ouzo and started to talk to the remaining guests. So when I started to write Unexpected Journeys, I didn’t think that much about it. When Agafi and Kostas started to take shape I suddenly recognized them. So I guess the resemblance were accidental.

Tags: Unexpected JourneysSpetses