https://youtu.be/9RagcPXgBp0
I was born in 1986 here on the island. Growing up on Poros was absolutely fantastic! I wouldn’t change anything about my childhood. As soon as I finished classes at school (usually at 2pm) I would go home to fetch the ball and go play football with my friends. Together with my brother Alex we would go fishing (our dad taught us how to fish). The best time was when we would go with Alex just in front of the taverna while dad was working and whenever we caught a fish we would ask him what it was. You know what was the nicest thing about growing up here? We felt free. You cannot have this freedom living in the city like Athens.
I went to high school on Poros and then in 2003 I got into the Civil and Marine Engineering School in Patra. I finished studying in 2009 with very good grades. Straight after that I went to the army for 1 year to do my military service. It was a very good experience for me actually. I learned many things. Apart doing the general duty in the army I was also working in the kitchen. I was helping with cooking, tasting food, experimenting and serving the soldiers. Since I always used to help in our family taverna, I thought I could use that experience. I enjoyed it very much.
When I finished studying, engineering was not in a good state here in Greece due to the crisis. I thought for a long time what can I do with my life. There was of course our family business, the taverna on Poros, but even though I loved it very much, I wanted to try something different. I thought I should try find work for what I had studied. So I decided to try abroad. I went to Sweden for 1 year. Finding work there turned out to be very difficult, especially because they required being fluent in Swedish. It meant I would need at least 2-3 years before I could work in my field in Sweden. During that year there I worked in a very nice restaurant, a champagne bar actually. In the beginning I was cleaning the dishes, but after a short while I got promoted to a waiter position. And after a few more months I became a sommelier. I was responsible for wine and champagne tasting. Since that time it has become my passion. I’ve been doing seminars on wine and champagne for quite some time now (I managed to receive formal certifications for it) and I really enjoy it.