Lapwing

Ο road of Aplotaria at Chios - like its counterpart Ermou in Mytilene - is the classic shopping street of the city.

It's worth the walk - since it is now done sidewalk - along with its side streets and to enjoy the buildings and the beautiful houses of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century and to think. The old sense of the bazaar may have disappeared and the location of the old shops may have been occupied by modern consumer goods stores, but in some places, however, there remain some oases of old times that mainly sell the famous sweets of Chios. There are four shops that stand out, the sweets Koraki Marinou, his grocery store Heavy, the pastry shop Augustaki and the ouzo gas station Apalarina.

The famous George Varias is, as far as I know, the producer of most pickles in Greece. The pickles that you will meet in his small shop does not fit the human mind. From the classics, such as cucumbers, cauliflower, peppers, kritama and artichokes, to the less common ones such as eggplants, garlic, onions, carrots and cabbage to the most rare ones such as persimmons, sweet potatoes, asparagus, courgettes, chestnuts, chestnuts, quince , figs, cans and tangerines.

The gas station of the well-known distillery Apalarina is located in a lane of Aplotaria and is a historic hangout of the city of Chios. Not that you can find all kinds of spirits, ouzo in many versions - I like the tin bottle especially for fishermen -, mastic, liqueur, brandy, flower water and rose water, but why on the marble counter at the back of the store you meet the small Parliament of the island, as all the typical types of the market gather, where everyone comes with their meze, drinks together and comments on its news of the day.

In another lane of Aplotaria, on Psychari Street, is the Augustaki confectionery which for half a century has been sweetening the Chians. From 1998 the business passed into the hands of the Moniodis brothers who worked years ago in the laboratory and since then they retain the title. The reputation of their sweets has crossed the borders of the island, so there are not a few visitors who do not leave Chios if they do not get the red packaging - a trademark of the patisserie boxes - with the characteristic sweets, the traditional almond bobbins and honey, or with gum, The tangerines, the macaroons and the buns, most made by the goldsmith Anna Moniodi.