A country house kitchen

Greek people love to maintain their parents' and forebearers' village houses as summer homes. This is where they go on holiday in the summer, for Easter, to entertain friends, but not usually for Christmas, as the houses are found in remote areas and may not have adequate heating.

This is the kitchen of a family friend's village house in Vathi, the second-to-last village you come across on your way to the beautiful beach of Elafonisi. The rough walls have been whitewashed. As there are not enough cupboards, pots and pans have been hung up over a plastic tablecloth hung up on the wall. An old ceramic urn has been topped with a sprig of thyme to stop creepy crawlers form entering it. Everything has an air of old-worldliness, like a Beatrix Potter illustration; any minute you expect Mrs Rabbit to come into the photo wearing her checkered blue and white apron.