Des, May 29 2008

 

Thanks for this link. Was trawling for reports from this fascinating time online and like yourself found nothing other than Joni Mitchell's probably unreliable memoirs. I was there in the mid eighties and heard about this american commune of the disenfranchised, although the only americans I saw there were two middle aged ladies saying how much they had enjoyed 'Evita' and 'Cats' in London.

 

Best Wishes, Des (Scotland)

 

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May 30 2008

 

I look forward to reading to what others have said about Matala when you get time to collect. Even with trappings of modern tourism, it is still a special little beach, worth passing through from what I can see on YouTube etc.

I found out a little more. The hippies were not all kicked out at once, it took a few years. I found a report of one eviction in late 1973. The police would arrive with a priest. The cited objection was these sites were graves and should not be slept in but the squalid lifestyle of the residents were beginning to irritate the locals who felt they were damaging, rather than encouraging tourism. They still kept coming but as you know they now have a designated campsite and cannot sleep in the caves.

Will go back someday to have another look but not the last couple of weeks in July - the heat round there at that time of year is something else.

 

Des

 

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October 2011

 

Took me a while to remember the exact year but it was - fairly sure - three weeks in July and August of 1987. It was hot !

I got a bit tanned for the first and only time in my life. Sadly I lost not just my Matala photos but my entire photo collection in the late 90-s during a housemove.

Still, happy memories. Was it really nearly 25 years ago - doesnt bear thinking about!

 

regards, Des