Meis – or Kastelorizo in Greek – is a small Greek island, approximately 2km off the Turkish coast. There are boats there daily from Kaş. “Meis” is Turkish for eye, while “Kaş” means eyebrow.
I board a very comfortable slouchy-beanbag-chair-covered boat full of tourists and ex-pats, most like me doing their regular three-monthly visa run to this tiny Greek island. There are little over 400 residents, some hotels, pensions, cafes, restaurants and a couple of shops. Apparently people are subsidised by the Greek government for living on the island – holding the frontier.
It ‘s nice to be back in Greece for a brief time – attempting to remember the Greek I spent a painful 3.5 months trying to memorize (it’s almost all gone!), seeing the Greek style of houses and change in culture, and ordering a Greek coffee – Enna Ellinika cafe parakalo.
Four hours later I return to Kaş and to Turkey. The following day I’m back up the mountain at the Rainbow.
The Turkish word for “eye” is “göz”, and “meis” does not sound like it could be Turkish at all. I just asked someone and it seems to be Greek, too.
It doesn’t seem to be Greek or Turkish, but if you ask any of the Turkish people around there, they will tell you it means “eye”. I’m not sure what language though – maybe an old language?
Next time that you’ll pass through Greece, try to visit an island at Cyclades, like Naxos, Santorini, Ios. I am sure that you will love it!
Meis comes from “megisti” which means “the biggest” in Greek. The island Meis is the biggest island among others around it. That “meis” means “eye” in Turkish is a myth (town myth they say) that Turkish people made up.