TINOS WITH VIRGINIE MUYS

After many years working around the world in the creative industry, Virginie Muys settled with her family on Tinos and opened TAXIDI with her husband Manthos Kaloumenos.

Please tell us a bit about yourself and your family and the decision to choose Tinos.

We used to live in Paris.

When I was pregnant we took the sudden decision to go to my husband's roots between the island of Tinos where he born and spent his childhood and Athens where he used to live.

Tinos is the place we love. We wanted to offer our daughter the childhood and memories he got from being a kid there, we believe that the first years of your life define many aspects of your personality.

Tinos is a place that reflects many aspect of our values.

Tinos is also a place rooted in art, culture, artisanal, food and a variety of elements. It has always been an island rich in cultural exchange, famous sculptors and painters, such as Nikolaos Gysis, Yannoulis Chalepas and Nikiforos Lytras were all born here.

We'd love to know more about TAXIDI.

Taxidi is located in the centre of Chora Tinos and is many things; a shop, a café, a gallery, and a workshop. In short, a place for people of all ages, for beauty, art and passion to meet.

Our goal is to revitalise the rich tradition of arts and crafts across Greece by creating a space where exchange in its various forms is possible.

We imagined a space where people could learn and absorb: to slow down and discover, listen, connect, and share.

Do you have some favourite local spots you could recommend?

Head to Thalassaki - it is still one of the best restaurant's. A local, historical place of the island.

When you go there you should just take a lot of starters and enjoy the flavour and freshness of the products from their own garden.

Beach will be always the closest to Kardiani Village. Those beaches are where my husband grew up and I love to imagine him walking down from Kardiani village by foot with his grandmother for a morning swim.

It’s more than beaches, it’s roots for us and our daughter.

I also love Lychnaftia for the poetry and the beauty of it with this field of flowers in spring and the donkey on the beach.

But Tinos is a big island and it will be difficult to name all the places you could see, and all the places I love.

That’s the beauty of Tinos, you never know all the secrets.