The casual lifestyle of Ikaria can be experienced through out the Island where the daily grind of the modern world has never reached the shores of Ikaria. Shops are typically left unattended and customers indulge in self service leaving monies due in baskets which serve as cash registers. The island is perfect for those that want to kick back and chill and truly experience a hip laid back spot.
Made famous by Icarus who’s father, Daedalus attempted to escape from his exile where he and his son were imprisoned at the hands of King Minos, the king for whom he had built the Labyrinth to imprison the Minotaur (half man, half bull). Daedalus fashioned two pairs of wings out of wax and feathers for himself and his son. Before they took off from the island, Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, nor too close to the sea. Icarus soared through the sky, but in the process he came too close to the sun, which melted the wax, so Icarus fell into the sea near Ikaria, an island southwest of Samos.
According to website “Greeka” The permanent inhabitants of Ikaria are approaching the record of longevity and attract the interest of the global scientific community. In fact, a group of American scientists of various specialties (dieticians, geneticists, doctors, biologists) traveled to Ikaria recently to study why the inhabitants of this beautiful Aegean island live till their 90 or 100 years.
The leader of the group believes that this is due to the qualitative daily life and the diet of the inhabitants. “On Ikaria, people follow a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and fish, while most of the residents are farmers, which means that they exercise daily”, he says. He also stresses that of great importance is the rare honey of the island, the habit to drink tea and the daily siesta.
