7'/4/13
Happy 4th of July! ! I can't believe it's here already!
We're leaving the island of Sifnos where we spent the last 3 nights. It was fun but pricey and we realized we really miss our boehemian life on Milos. Camping on deserted beaches and exploring the rugged and scenic coast. We will park the bikes for a few days and rent a jeep to get us in to the undeveloped west side of the island which we only saw from the boat on our day cruise. From there we will hike in and explore the coast on foot. I want to camp in the collapsed cave we swam to from the boat. Camping on that little beach with the waves rolling throuh the cave while watching the stars through the open ceiling. It will be the perfect ending to our three weeks in the cyclades. What a trip!! We really fell in love with Greece!
Next it's back to Athens. We connected with a fellow bike trekker with a sailboat and if it works out we may go sailing around Greece for awhile. We're pretty excited about it.
7/9/13
Just leaving Athens on a ferry to egine island. We arrived 5 hours ago from Milos and took one last bike trip around the city. It was quiet and beautiful in the early morning sun.
WHAT A TIME ON WE HAD ON MILOS! !! We have eased into this totaly free existance. Camping on secluded beaches at night and exploring the island by day. Its beauty reveals itself over time and there were many treasures to discover. We did hike in and camp inside Sikia cave and being there at night alone under the stars was a surreal experience. The next morning we hiked back out and drove to some beautiful beaches we had camped near two nights before. We had a bit of a scare climbing over a bluff on some slippery rock. Ildi got caught behind me on a slope with a dropoff onto bolders below. She couldn't go back and I couldn't get down to her. There's nothing worse than that feeling of helplessness I felt watching her struggle and seeing that dropoff below her. I finally managed to anchor my upper body and lower my feet to her and she was able to climb out over me. Lessons learned we had an even greater appreciation for life that day and I will be more cautious about situations we get ourselves into.
We also went hiked back to Kleptos caves which we saw from the boat. We lost the trail and weren't sure if we could find it so it was doubly thrilling to pop up over a ridge and gaze down on this amazing place.It's an area of colorful rock formations and sea caves that were used by pirates in ancient times.. After the tour boats left we had the whole area to ourselves. I swam through the caves and explored tighter areas where even the small boats cannot go. Viewing from inside these areas the light from the opening shines thru the crystal clear water, creating the most intense blue I've ever seen. The contrast between the white sculpted rock and the blue water was stunning!
It was tough to leave but getting late so we hiked back to the car(on the trail this time )drove back to our our secluded beach (caught a spectacular sunset on the way) and had a great dinner with a beautiful swiss couple we had met camping on the next beach. They are retired teachers and traveling in a neat conversion van. We will try to visit them in Switzerland if we can.
Next day we rushed to pack the painniers and get the car back by ten am., didn't make it, so we extended the rental till 4 and continued exploring the beaches and hiking the white rock coast. We returned the car (late again) and grabbed our bikes for some more touring before our ferry to Athens at ten pm. We laid out our mats and got some much needed sleep on the boat before our 5 am arrival in Athens.
11/13
Our transition from bikers to sailers
What a crazy two days. We were originaly on our way to the peloponnese to continue our bike trek. We decided to stop in egina on our way to meet Alberto, who we met through a web portal for bike trekkers. We only planned to meet him briefly for now but as things worked out he had his boat in the water and , long story short, we are now on an open ended sailing adventure around Greece and possibly up into Croatia and France. After landing in Egina we set about finding Alberto.We asked a local about shipyards and he led us with his car across the island to where they were. We found out he had just left so it was another ride back to point a to try to find him. We finally connected in another marina and after a great conversation we decided to just sleep on the boat and head out the following morning. So yesterday we set out at 8 am for the first leg of our trip. It was a beautiful morning with strong winds and we made good time getting to our first stop. I got some time in at the tiller steering the boat and maintaining a heading, which proved useful later in the day. After calm period the winds kicked up to a force 7 (I think it's about 50 mph.). So with Alberto trimming the sails and navigating and Ildi in the back (slightly terrified)
I found myself at the tiller crashing through the waves at 7 knots while the boat tilted 45 degrees in the wind. I was standing sidways and struggleing a bit to hold the tiller all the way back to keep our bearing The cold ocean water was slashing in my face and l was having the time of my life.
Then the rope broke.
It was holding the front sail and without it the sail started fluttering wildly. This caused the rope attached to it to whip around the deck like a bullwhip. The force was enough to knock you over. We needed to roll up the sail so of course the mechanisim chose that moment to jam up. We needed someone to go up front past the bullwhip to free it so I bravely volunteered to man the tiller at the back of the boat freeing up Alberto to go play dodge the rope. He managed to free it and attach a new rope and soon we were back on our way. We ended the day ancored in a calm protected harbor . Alberto's friend had done the trip also and we had a nice dinner on his boat.We did learn from our mishap however, and we decided it would be a good idea for me to learn how to manage the boat alone. Which is something I've wanted to do for a long time.
My sailing lessons begin!
7/14/13
We had to cut our sailing adventure a little early and we are back on a ferry from athens bound for the peloponnese. While sailing has always been a dream and we were very excited about doing it in the end we just couldn't transition from from our current fast paced and unrestrained lifestyle to the slower pace and restrictions of life on a boat. We really connected with Alberto and we will keep in touch. I would like to do some more sailing in the future when I am better prepared. I learned a lot and would be much more confident handling the the boat. And we both learned a lot about life on a boat. The last night we spent in Hakida , which brought us full circle as this is where we spent our first night in Greece. It was really strange to return. The place is the same but we have been changed by all the experiences we've had and the people we've met. It seems so long ago we watched from the shore with hundreds of others as the bridge opened (only once per day) and the parade of boats passed thru. This time we were part of the parade watching the crowds watching us.. After passing thru we docked next to the local promenade. It's a row of restaurants next to the dock where people gather and walk around. It was cool sipping beer and people watching from the boat. This morning we had to pack and assemble and load the bikes and I helped Alberto fix the sail winder which had broken the previous day. This required climbing the mast to free the rig. I figured it was my turn to volunteer so after a quick lesson in tying and using safty knots., I donned the safety harness and climbed on up. At the top, with knees a-knocking as the wave action sent the mast to and fro, I held on tight and attached the rope and slid the rig down. Alberto was like a mother hen shouting instructions and was pretty relived when I made it back down safely. I think he was more nervous about the whole affair than I was.
It was sad to leave Alberto. We both really bonded with him in such a short time. With the bikes finally packed we said our goodbyes and headed out to our bus to Athens.
7/17/13
We missed our ferry stop and ended up on poros island. Kind of an upscale tourist place overlooking an endless row of luxury yachts. It was late and we couldn't find a room so we went to the nearest beach which was small and commercial. Ildi asked at a restaurant and they graciously offered to let us sleep on their beach chairs. It was ok but not ideal and in the middle of the night we had to get up and set up the tent. We were both cranky and had a spat which in the morning turned into a full scale blowout.
This lifestyle isn't all beaches and green and pressures do mount. So we ended up spending the day talking things over and trying to understand how these pressures affect each of us. It was good to air things out
So we took a ferry in the morning across to the mainland and got a hotel to get some sleep and relax. Next day we were ready for some hard pedaling in the oppressive heat up the coast and then overland to Napflio.
Another story about the generosity of the Greeks.
We stopped at a place and bought soda and tomatoes and asked to use one of her tables. When she saw us making our own salad she came out with plates, silverware and napkins. A little later we were pedaling up a long hill in the heat and two guys in a van stopped, gave us cold sodas and wished us a good journey. It warms your heart.
We didn't make good time in the hills and heat and at 6:30 we were only at epdavros with 30 k to go. Although tired, we decided to push on because we knew Napflios would be beautiful and we wanted to stay there. It was a lot o uphill at first though and we found ourselves in the mountains getting late and out of steam with 25 k still to go.and to top it off rain clouds were moving in. Luckily from there it started to level off and at the next town we learned it was mostly downhill from there on so with 20 k to go we pushed on. At dusk we put on our reflector vests and lights but soon it was dark and the drizzle turned to light rain. With 5 k to go I was just thinking about how the first rain brings up the oil in the road and was thinking how this must be worse in Greece where it rarely rains, and debating weather to stop and check the road surface when my bike suddenly whips out from under me and sends me to the pavement. Turns out the surface was like ice. It created o lot of commotion in the road with people stopping and a nice Bulgarian girl helped us by translating and giving us a ride. We flagged down a truck who took the bikes and we got dropped off in town. I got away with some scrapes and a sore shoulder. Lessons learned; we need better front tires and use only rear brakes in poor conditions or ideally just stop.
Napflios was built by the Venetians and has the feel of an Italian town. It's really beautiful with a large castle on the hill above and another in the sea. We climbed the 999 stepes to the castle to look around. The panoramic views were fantastic. We spent two nights there.
View from the castle above Naflios
