Continuing to explore the islands of the dodecanese and eastern aegean ones !
Knotty Girl
Tanya/Roberto
Mon 27 Jun 2022 11:58
| 37:25.8N 25:24.5E After disembarking Anne & Pierre in Kos, Roberto and I had couple of days on our own which we spent at our rhythm on the tiny Dodecanese island of Pserimos where we anchored in the beautiful bay of Vathy surrounded by rocks of all shapes & forms. We then moored in front of the traditional fishing village of Panteli in Leros. From there we attempted the ascension of the Saint John medieval castle - yet when we arrived in front of the caste entrance after a 40 minutes steep walk, we found it… closed :( - yet the view from there was magic ! Including on a number of mills - one of them transformed in a restaurant with a breathtaking view. The next day we anchored in a paradise bay in the North of Leros called Nisis Archangelos - the perfect bay to swim - like in the caribbean islands ! We also ate at the only VERY local family owned restaurant of the island which had more cats than people for dinner that evening :) We then embarked in Leros Roberto’s brother Paolo and his wife Marina, as well as one of Marina’s sons Francesco and his girlfriend Alice. The first day, we had a nice 20 knots sailing to the simple and authentic Dodecanese Lipsi island, were we anchored in "Koubra Bay”. We then went to Patmos marina. Patmos has a significant religious history. We visited the very impressive Monastery of Saint John in the cute “chora” village, which looks like a Byzantine castle and which built like a fortress. We also visited the Cave of the Apocalypse where John had a vision and took a VERY expensive aperitif on the main square of the chora. We anchored in beautiful bays, like the one of Makronisos on the island of Akri and like Kampi and Marmaro on the island of Fournoi where we had relaxing swims. We spent two days (one day we rented a car) in the beautiful island of Samos - found a place in the bustling Pythagorio harbour. Samos is indeed the father of mathematics, Pythagoras and of the astronomer Aristarchus and the philosopher Epicurus. It is also the mythical birthplace of Hera and home to the largest temple in Greece (according to Herodotus) at the seaside settlement of Heraion, dedicated exclusively to the goddess of marriage and women which we went to visit to find out that the site closes at 3.30 pm ! This island is interestingly very green and it grows wine which we of course tasted ! We had lunch at colourful coastal resort of Kokkari and walked to see the Potami waterfalls - actually only Francesco was brave enough to swim through the narrow canyon to see the falls - the rest of us chickened out :( On one crossing we had at some point 37 knots - which impressed the young adults onboard, yet not Marina who was able to continue to read her book as if we had 7 knots :) We ended our trip with this gang in Ikaria were we enjoyed the natural warm sources in Ag. Thermon and a nice dinner on the beach in Kritikos - again on Ag. Thermon. After a rapid crossing - we are today in Mykonos since tomorrow we welcome one of Tanya’s nieces, Ainhoa onboard.      |