The people who forget to die.

In the furthest reaches of the Aegean archipelago is the Island of Ikaria, where it's 9,000 inhabitants live on average, 10 years longer than their European neighbours. Known as one of the 'Blue Zones,' which are areas around the world, characterised by it's inhabitants longevity, (on the list is Italy, Japan and even Loma Linda 60 miles east of  Los Angeles), 1 in 3 Ikarians' live into their 90s. Compared to the rest of Europe, Ikaria has a third less heart disease, much less cancer and almost no cases of dementia. I devoured this information watching Jon Snow's #Howtoliveto100 on Channel 4 - give it a watch it's utterly illuminating! 

As Mediterranean food is my love language, I fell in love with the cerulean blues of Ikaria, the clambering vine yards and plant based diet of it's inhabitants. It inspired my research into Ikarian recipes and it's famous 'Ikaria longevity salad' which has been on my dinner table two nights in a row so far! 

Ikaria Longevity Salad - Feeds 4  

Ingredients 

2 sweet potatoes 

1 bag of rocket (arugala) 

Feta cheese 

Olive oil 

Salt 

Olives 

Method 

1. Peel and chop the sweet potato, add to cold water and boil until soft. 

2. In a salad bowl add washed rocket, the cooked sweet potato, several generous glugs of olive oil and crumble feta cheese in, (or vegan cheese alternative). Add salt to taste and olives. 

I've served this salad with crusty bread, falafel and roasted vegetables and it was a BIG hit! 

On the theme of devouring all things Greek, I've already dipped into my holiday read, which is Elif Shafak's The Island of Missing Trees. I'm only 50 pages in but already I'm so impressed and think this is going to be one of my all time favourite reads. Set in both London and Cyprus, the story is carried by the voices of 16 year old Ada, a second generation Cypriot and a fig tree...Yes you heard right, one of the narrators is a fig tree ficus carica. In only the first few chapters, Elif has managed to infuse her story with intrigue, tenderness and she writes in a way that is both sumptuous but not verbose, she's utterly disarming. 

As for my week, well it's the build up to our much anticipated trip to Morocco which I am so, so excited about being as it's our first trip abroad, both as parents and since covid. I've been running errands, packing (which is a mammoth task trying to remember nappies and 300 outfit changes in case of puke/pee/poo/all manner of muck kids manage to attract) and doing personal husbandry like epilating and fake tanning! Amongst this busyness has of course been opportunities for outfits, so here's what I've been up to. 

Here's my well loved recycled outfit (with an Ozzie dog cameo) I wore out thrifting and to visit baby group in the church! I'm wearing a thrifted boho top, Vinted bought suede vintage waistcoat, £3 Topshop thrifted jeans and boots my husband bought me last Christmas. The necklace is a blog favourite, which hubby bought back from a work trip to Ghana. 

I found this absolutely gorgeous velvet folk dress from a charity shop in Cirencester when I visited for my sister's birthday. She bought it me behind my back and I've been dithering about what to do with it since! It's a little bit snug for me and as I'm breast feeding I can't imagine wearing it any time soon so I've made the decision to sell it on my Vinted page. You can find my Vinted page by looking for the link in the bio of my Instagram page @hippietrailvintage 

I'm also selling this Asos western style dress which I wore to see a Dolly Parton tribute act. I love it, but again its not something I'm going to very often and my self inflicted rule of wear it or lose it is being enforced! 

Lastly I've found this Urban Outfitters hat and Miss Selfridges Stevie Nicks style dress that I'll photograph properly when I wear it to Auntie Lola's cocktail party in Morocco, which all being well, I'm hopefully going to soon! 

Until next week! 

Lots of love 

Soph x