Advertisement
Published: October 8th 2010
Thursday 30th September 2010
We arrived at Agia Marina, Leros at 1pm, absolutely dead tired not having slept for about 40 hours and duly ripped off by a taxi driver who charged us 7 euros for about a 500m trip up the hill to Platanos Square. Still, it was all uphill, a wheel on Rags' suitcase has come off so he has to carry it, and we were stuffed. Platanos is a typical Greek island town, with whitewashed houses, narrow cobbled streets, mopeds zipping in and out of narrow alleyways, cars trying to squeeze down roads that look impossibly narrow, cats lurking in every street, small grocery stores, traditional cafes, and elderly men sitting in shaded cafes playing dominoes or backgammon.
From here it was a hot trudge up some 30 steps to the house only to find the key had not been left where arranged. Rags managed to climb over the wall surrounding its courtyard and open the gate from the inside so that we could at least leave the bags whilst looking for a way to get in. The caretaker has said she is away from the island until Saturday we weren't sure how we would manage
it!
This turned into a saga as our phone wouldn't connect to Greek numbers for some reason and an English expat who we met found the two numbers we had not responding. He knew the caretaker of the house and drove his scooter down to the harbour to check if she was meeting the boat but with no joy there. A couple of emails to her and to the owner in the Netherlands finally got a response, the cleaner delivering the key.
This all took 3 hours to happen, we joining 3 expats at a couple of tables in a laneway, next to a cafe, which supplied us with stubbies of Mythos, to wile away the time. Once we got into the house another disappointment, it was dusty, the bathroom dirty, and there were leaves and debris throughout the courtyard. Judy spent some time cleaning the shower recess whilst Rags cleaned & tidied the other rooms. It was finally in a condition where we could at least shower and sleep, another clean tomorrow needed to get it more habitable.
Several hours later we awoke, both of us hungry as we hadn't eaten much during the day. It
was about 7pm but as they don't eat here until late it took a walk to Agia Marina to find a suitable cafe. We chose the 'Special of the Day', Lamb Stifado, a dish cooked with lots of small onions. Somewhere the cook forgot the onions because we were dished up with a couple of very tender neck chops surrounded by lots of boiled potato and nothing else. Jan, one of the yacht members, would have loved it as she was missing her spuds, we found it filled the spot but wouldn't come back for another lot!
Friday 1st October 2010
Another month gone, where do they go to?
Up at just after 7am and we took off for a walk up the steep mountain behind us to see the Byzantine kastro (castle) which overlooks the town of Platanos and houses a church, Madonna of the Castle. A long,steep, winding path took us there, Judy feeling the exertion more than usual (age creeping up or just unwell with the throat virus she'd caught?) It was worth it though, with great views of the other towns nearby as well as the fort itself. The Castle was build at
the 11th century by the Byzantine emperor Alexios Komninos and it was given to the Bishop Christodulos as well with the Castle of Patmos. It was later occupied by the St.John's Knight's and Later on By the Ottomans.Today the Castle of Leros or Pandeli Castle remains the main attraction of the Island of Leros. Proudly located on the Apitiki hill over the city of Platanos Agia Marina and Panteli with a breathtaking view all over the island. Judy was completely blown away by impressiveness of it all after walking around the inside and delcared it the the best fort/castle she has seen, that saying something considering where we have been. She's obviously forgotten about the "Disney" castle we saw in Bavaria in 2002.
After breakfast we spent several more hours cleaning and getting the place as we like it, doing our much needed washing at the same time. Judy was rightfully getting more and more worried about the lack of connectivity we had, no wifi and no phone signal. Leros was where we were going to have a break and she wanted to be able to catch up with her student's work. In the end Rags suggested we look
for other accommodation that had wifi and we made the decision we weren't staying in the house, the lack of promised wifi and phone connectivity being the last straw.
George, one of the British expats, had been very helpful and once again he assisted by steering us to a nearby hotel, the Hotel Elefteria. Here we were shown around by the Danish manager who was most sympathetic to our need of the Net as she was the first in the town to provide wifi to her customers. We had the laptop with us so tested the connection in each room shown. We settled on a room which had a kitchen, fast connection, and was spotlessly clean, for the same price as what we had!
The afternoon soon passed with us moving our gear, Judy working and Rags typing up the blog. At this stage we intend staying for another week and then perhaps spending a few days on the island of Rhodes before moving to Turkey.
We took the recommendation of the expats and had dinner at the cafe they frequent, seemingly every day, to have a Greek salad with 2 serves of calamari. Together with the
fresh bread and a delicious dip they insisted we have, we were filled to busting point! We'll certainly come back to this one.
Saturday 2nd October 2010
We had a very restless night. It being rather warm and humid, we had the door to the balcony open as we didn't want to ruin the ambience of a small Greek town with the noise of the air conditioning. Unfortunately this allowed an untold number of mosquitoes to enter the room and as we had no insect spray they had a great time keeping us awake. The manageress, Luna, was sympathetic when we told her in the morning, saying this only occurred when it was humid, dropping off some insect spray when she serviced the room.
Most places we go to we explore as soon as we can, this time we intend staying longer and choosing to go to only one or two sites a day. Pandeli Beach on the other side of the island from us was our objective. This seems to be a little more modern area than where we are, the buildings being newer but in the old style, mainly catering for tourists. The
tourist season has finished reflected in closed shops and very few people about. There were a few yachts anchored nearby, these either passing through or perhaps here for the weekend. A large power boat registered in Rockhampton had a group aboard enjoying their morning coffees, a crew member getting the boat ready to go.
On returning to the Platanos Square we continued down to the other harbour at Agia Marina to see if the fishermen were selling fish from their boats. We didn't see any so sat at one of the cafes overlooking the water and concentrated on taking our time drinking coffee whilst absorbing the surroundings. We did well, sitting for over 30 minutes!
A slower than usual trudge up the hill to the hotel followed, as Judy still isn't 100% and is running out of steam quicker than usual. We picked up a couple of cheese pies from Mike's Bakery for lunch before having a lazy afternoon in our room. Snooze, read and work seems to be the pattern we are starting for the afternoons.
Dinner was cooked in our kitchen, Rags making a pasta dish with eggplant, capsicum, onion, tomato & mince.
Sunday, 3rd October 2010
Lakki, about 3kms south of us on the other side of the island was our objective for today and after a good breakfast we were on our way by about 9.30. Pedestrian's aren't well accommodated here and we had to share the road with cars and motorbikes zooming past us!
Lakki, the main port and the former capital, has one of the best harbours in the Aegean and served as an anchorage for the Italian, German, and then British fleets during WW2. It reminded us of a small Albany port!
The past Italian presence is very obvious in the Art Deco style buildings along the shoreline, the town being the remains of a Mussolini vision. Across the bay is a structure which houses a mansion, once his summer home, now part of an asylum.
Just before we reached the town we took a detour to follow a sign to an "Ancient Fort" but after a kilometre or two we gave it away to stop at the Leros Marina. There is no indication of how far we have to walk to arrive at the ancient fort. Here we stopped to admire
the boats, Judy taking details of a Lagoon 38 catamaran for sale at 170K euros. This was the 'baby' amongst the cats there, some over 50ft with all the goodies. We left, talking about the possibilities and dreaming a bit!
The foreshore had the usual coffee and cafe outlets lining it, we passing by to go to the Merikia War Tunnel Museum which had been recommended by our hotel manager. The sign said it was 1000m along the coastal road, so off we went. It was either a stretched 1km or we misjudged it, we almost turning back before seeing the entrance. In the late 1930s, the Italians fortified their naval base by building warehouses and underground arsenals. One of these arsenals has now been converted to a war museum, with artifacts, included guns, helmets, bombs, uniforms and numerous photos. These were collected from around the island and from former soldiers. The history of how the island went from Greek to Italian to German to British rule is shown by the displays and the video. Outside the entrance is a display of military vehicles and a more modern jet fighter. Quite an interesting hour or so was spent there
Lockhead F-104 G Starfighter
this was in the outside area of the tunnel Museum. amongst several groups of locals who seemed to be explaining it to some younger people.
After walking at least 7kms we felt justified in stopping for lunch, this being harder to do than expected as most of the cafes didn't serve meals, they survive on the sale of coffees and beer. Nick's Tucka Shop provided swordfish and chips, the almost compulsory moussaka, and a couple of Diet Cokes to make our meal, Rags not having his usual beer as we had a walk ahead of us and his drinking companions were no longer with us. A refreshing, complimentary dish of fruit and jelly completed our meal.
The 2 or 3km walk home didn't seem as far, Rags leading on a "shortcut" explained to us by Luna, our hotel manageress, which actually worked! Just as well, Judy's knees were starting to give way. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, reading, uni work, and checking out places to stay at Rhodes, our next destination. We had a very friendly email from our home exchange contact in Turkey, this reinforcing our choice to return to that country after 8 years.
As we had eaten a full meal at
In the tunnels
The War Museum opened in 2005 and it is housed in a tunnel built by the Italians during the Second World War. lunchtime we had decided to have the leftover pasta from last night with a tomato & capsicum salad. The latter had to be missed, no shops were open on a Sunday afternoon! As 'the cupboard was bare', we supplemented the leftovers with a packet of savoury biscuits covered in the peanut paste Cathy had given us after the river cruise. With white wine it was almost a gourmet meal!
Monday 4th October 2010
Today we traveled to the town of Blefouti, the furthest north the local bus goes. As there were only 3 buses scheduled to do that run for the day we took the second one leaving the square at 10.30 and we'll have to catch the return one at 1.30pm or have to walk the 8-9kms back. Our real objective when we left town was Partheni but as this consisted of a tavern outside the airport gate and a marina hardstand, we passed it before we knew it, because we expected a small township.
Blefouti consisted of a cafe on the pebble beachfront. It did have a road leading further north which we duly followed, this eventually reaching a headland where there were the
remains of WW2 fortifications as well as several herds of goats. We were amused/amazed at the actions of the owner of the goats who, after filling some troughs from a well, commenced a yell followed by a goat bleat. From a long way away we heard the answering bleat and then the bells of a large herd appeared over a hill and started running towards us. We spent some time, with goats surrounding us, trying to get some reasonable photos.
From the headland we looked over the water, seeing islands in all directions, certainly an amazing view!
After a coffee at the cafe we walked the kilometre or so back to Partheni, passing an army barracks where we were told in no uncertain way not to take photos. Don't know what of, there were a few buildings and a several vehicles and tanks under cover.
At the tavern we met a Dutch guy, Adrian, who sails the area during the summer season and was now getting his boat ready on the hard stand for winter. Interesting chap, surprised us when he told us he was 70y.o., gives us something to aim at!
Lunch of octopus salad
Photo 13
Leros was the battle field of a huge offensive in 1943 when the German forces tried to recapture the island from the Italian, British and Greek forces. The island was heavily bombarded for more than 6weeks.until it was finally occupied by the German forces . The film 'the Guns of Navarone' was probably inspired by the battle of Leros, this is why the fictional island was namled Keros. and moussaka was quickly prepared by the owner who had been drinking with Adrian, so that we could hail the bus down in about 40 minutes time.
This we achieved , returning to our hotel and spending the afternoon, in what is becoming a pattern, reading, snoozing, doing uni work, and blogging.
Dinner was in the room to eat/drink down our supplies. After the meal we had almost finished all the food and making big inroads into the grog!
Tuesday 5th October 2010
Today we headed for the most southerly town of Leros, Xerokambos. We caught the 9.30 bus and just over 15 mins later we were there. In front of us was a large bay, surrounded by high hills which dropped steeply into a deep blue sea, the only exceptions being where there was a little bit of reef and here the water was a sparkling green. Very picturesque.
The town itself was not very large, strung along the waterline of the bay and up the side of a mountain. It is built within the ruins of an ancient acropolis, which dates back to 2,500 BC. Today, the old ruins of its walls
and the remains of a large, early Christian basilica can be seen. Also, among the ruins is a small, picturesque church.
Here, we met the same Swiss chap we met yesterday, he with his wife today, and he came to see the church. We walked in the opposite direction, following the road alongside the bay, it petering out into a rough dirt road, until we came to some old war fortifications which had been used as a shelter for goats. The views from hear were stunning and we marveled at the fact that we were the only ones around to enjoy them, this being one advantage of traveling off-season.
From here we returned to the bay and began the ascent to the ancient acropolis and church. Some old gents, drinking coffee on a verandah (a common sight) directed us to the path which wound its way up the side of the hill to the fort.
Just below the summit we met the Swiss chap and his wife coming down. They asked if we had gone to the little temple on our way out. When we said we hadn't seen it but had walked much further than where
The church of Panagia Kavouradena
This church was built in a crevice of seaside rocks.
According to local legend, a fisherman saw an Icon of the Virgin among the rocks and was cured from a bite he had on his hand.
During the night, he dreamt about a woman who told him to return the icon to the place he found it.
A small church was built there.. it was meant to be, we realised that the gate we stopped at with a sign asking you to close it to prevent the goats from eating the trees was where it was. He went on about it saying it was a sight not to be missed.
On viewing the church and after taking several photos of it and the views from it, we set off down the hill, we returning the way we came as this was much shorter than the roadway the others took.
With 45 mins before the bus was due to leave we retraced our path along the coast to the chapel. This only took about 10 mins at a brisk pace and it was worth it. The building was set at the foot of a stone cliff built around a jutting boulder, right on the water's edge. If we had more time it was the sort of place you could just sit and take in the beauty of the surroundings. The interior was nothing as special as we were led to believe but the setting made up for it!
We raced off back to the bus, if we missed this one the
next wouldn't be for another couple of hours. It was in sight when we rounded the last corner but as we still had 15 minutes there was no panic. Less so when we got there, the bus driver chatting with 2 others, they with beers, he with a thimble of Greek coffee and a glass of water. The Swiss couple were there too, they about to order their lunch and sit around until the next bus came. In some ways we should have done the same as whilst talking to the lady taking orders we realised she was Bavarian and that this was the cafe recommended to us by the George, the expat. Maybe we'll return later in the week.
On our return we shopped for supplies at the supermarket and had lunch in our freshly made-up room. At 2pm the town closes until 5pm for an afternoon siesta, so "when in Rome do as the Romans do".
Dinner was on the rooftop of the hotel, Tony, the manager, was cooking as they had a cycling group of 3 Dutchies staying and dinner was part of their deal. We had rabbit stifado, a pork dish and Greek
salad. The salad was ok, the other two dishes came piled with chips but the main ingredients were obviously out of the freezer and not warmed properly. Definitely not the best meal we've had and not worth the price. When asked what we thought of the meal and Judy told him it could be hotter, Tony made no comment or apology.
Wednesday 6th October 2010
When we awoke at 5.30 we could hear roosters crowing all around town, a nice sound but it was a little early. We dozed until about 8am, had breakfast and set off for a walk by about 9.30. We walked the zig-zag road up to the set of 6 windmills on the hill under the fort from where we had great views of the town and a lot of the island. From here we continued along the road under the fort, Judy fascinated by it and taking many photos from different angles. On stopping at the little temple near it we looked down on Agia Marina and plotted our way down to it.
From here we followed the shoreline as much as we could towards Alinda, reaching it at about 12.30.
Looking back at the fort in the distance, and considering we walked behind it for some way, we must have walked close on 10kms. Judy checked the timetable and found there was a bus at 1.45pm, deciding that was what we would get home on.
Lunch was Rags' choice today, a fixed menu, consisting of a Greek salad, a plate of fried cheeseballs, bread, then a meat platter of shishkebabs and chops, with a carafe of wine, fruit plus ouzo, 24 euros for two. This served under an umbrella right on the edge of the water. Better value and tastier than last night even if there was too much meat in Judy's opinion. She now has next choice of venue.
On our return we caught up with the expats in their usual haunt in the alleyway and over a couple of Mythos we compared what we had been doing over the last two days. After our wine and ouzos for lunch the Mythos ensured that we had a sound 'nanny nap', not waking up until 5pm. The rest of the evening was spent in the usual way, with dinner being pieces of spinach pie plus pizza we had
bought from the bakery this morning. We learned very quickly that if you don't buy from the bakery first thing in the morning there is nothing left by lunchtime as they only cook a certain amount to avoid waste.
Thursday 7th October 2010
Another 5.30 wake-up only this time it was to an overcast sky with the chance of some rain, so much for our plans of going for a swim! Instead, we walked down to Agia Marina to have a coffee and to 'people watch'. Here we met Gerald again, an Englishman on holiday here, and spent an hour or so watching and talking.
As Judy still isn't her normal self we returned to our room for her to have a short rest before lunch. We're both getting a little 'toey' as we do when we stay in one place for some days, we will see whether or not we can last until Monday! Judy being able to download 50 or so uni assignments due tomorrow night may have a strong influence on us staying, if the weather improves it would seal it.
Lunch was in the laneway with the Brit expats, we sharing
a salad and calamari dish. We spent the best part of 2 hours here, chatting away and watching the world go by. The cafe owner must now consider us as 'regulars' as he gave a good discount on the total of our drinks and lunch.
The rest of the day was spent in our room, reading, blogging, uni work and snoozing, etc. Judy has a lot of her students' assignments already downloaded and marked, if they all come in by tomorrow morning we may be on our way!
Friday 8th October 2010
Last night was very windy, this, together with someone working above us until after 1am didn't make for a good night's sleep. We were up and about by about 8am and after some breakfast considered moving on. After changing out minds several times we decided to stay for another day, jokingly saying it may be more.
Judy had quite a few assignments come in so it was after 11am before we set off on our daily jaunt.
Today we decided to continue round the coast past where we had lunch the other day at Alinda, to the end of the road at Panagies.
On the way we stopped at a War Memorial we had passed before, most of the graves were of British and other Allied soldiers who died when the Germans moved on the Greek islands about November 1943. It was rather moving and sad to see headstone after headstone with the ages of the dead in their early 20s. What a waste!
Just before we reached the end of the road a couple of young guys on scooters buzzed in rather closely then turned and came back with their faces covered. They thought they were very smart, Rags calling them "xxxxxxxx" as they passed. They stopped just up the road and looked back, for a moment Rags thought they were going to remonstrate but luckily (for him probably) they continued on.
Near the end of the road was the usual chapel, while at the end was a block of holiday flats with a cafe overlooking a little bay. As it was in the lee of the land the strong wind which was still blowing didn't affect us and it made for a pleasant spot. We didn't stay here however, returning to the beachside cafe next to the one we
View of the castle from Platanos Square
We walked up here a couple of times. You can't say we didn't get any exercise! went to a couple of days ago. Here, sitting in the shade on a pebble beach by the water's edge we had a lunch of tzadziki and bread, stuffed capsicum, stuffed tomato, beef cooked in tomato, and chips. The obligatory carafe of local red was consumed as we reminded each other on how good life was.
We had just over 15 mins to get several hundred metres down the road so that we could catch the bus passing through taking us into town. As we got up to pay, the lady came out with 2 plates of complimentary dessert, a sort of sago pudding. We paid her, scoffed down the dessert, and caught the bus by the skin of our teeth, thereby avoiding the long walk back with traffic zipping by a little too closely for comfort.
The afternoon was spent working on the marking of uni assignments and researching places to stay on Rhodes, we making a 'firm' decision to go there tomorrow. We expect there to be touts at the harbour when we get there tomorrow but we have been caught before. We also want to be near the Old Town, have cooking facilities, and have
Lakki Foreshore
The streets are wide and lined with Eucalypt and Pine trees a reliable wifi connection. By doing the research at least we'll have something to fall back on if there are no touts, and we'll be informed on price and availability.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.541s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 29; qc: 138; dbt: 0.2147s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.6mb
Lyn
non-member comment
Wish i was there
Love the lifestyle. Yes life is good and you are making the most of it. Glad you decided not to stay in the first house. View looks so gorgeous. You are certainly making the most of it, walking off all those lovely lazy lunches.