Morning with Nikos: How a fisherman taught me to drink coffee without rushing

Hello, my dears!

Today I want to tell you about a man who has become a symbol of the Greek morning for me. This is Nikos, a fisherman with a face like a sea route map and a laugh that can drown out the noise of the waves.

We met on the pier in Paralia Katerinis. I was rushing to photograph the sunrise, and he, seeing my takeaway coffee, said: "Koritsis, coffee is not running. It's talking to yourself." And he sat me down on an old box, took a tiny cup of "elliniko" from his pocket and poured me "proper" coffee - thick, with foam, like a cloud.

As the sun rose, he told me how he had been reading the sea for 40 years: "Sometimes it is golden, sometimes angry - but always honest. Like coffee." And I thought: we so rarely give ourselves time to hear the silence between sips...

Now I have a ritual: every morning - 10 minutes without a phone, just coffee and a look at the horizon. Will you try it?

*PS Nikos sends you his regards and advice: "Don't drink coffee standing up. The sea can wait."