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The Sunny Sporades – day 1

Kalimera!

And so another Grecian Odyssey begins – this time two weeks in the Sporades, a group of islands off the east coast of mainland Greece, perhaps most famous for providing the breathtaking backdrop to the film Mama Mia, much of which was filmed on the island of Skopelos (and we shall be paying our due homage to the movie, and the Swedish super-group Abba later on our travels.)

Today, we flew out from Bristol on a surprisingly empty jet (plenty of empty seats), landing on the island of Skaithos some three and a half hours later. Levels of concern did rise a little (a lot in Becky’s case) as everyone else collected their bags and headed off into the sun, whilst we, and one or two other worried souls, were left bag-less as the luggage carousel ground to a stop.

However, our worry was short lived, “oversized” (or, more accurately, mis-shapen) luggage was delivered to a separate door in baggage reclaim, and, a few minutes later we were reunited with our bags. When using hold luggage, we use rucksacks – much easier to negotiate the chaotic, and often, cobbled streets of southern Europe with a bag on your back, than trying to trundle a large suitcase along a busy and bumpy pavement.

We then caught the bus – 5 mins and 3 euros each – into the town/port, were we had a few hours to kill before catching our ferry – a rather sleek looking hydrofoil straight out of a James Bond movie – to our first destination, the island of Alonnisos.

The journey was swift, if a bit “sporty” (aka rough and bumpy) stopping off at a couple of ports on Skopelos before terminating in the calm waters of Patitiri on the island of Alonnisos. It was picturesque and pretty as we climbed a hill (always a hill!) to our accommodation, before heading back into the harbour area to enjoy a delicious Greek meal, before returning “home” and collapsing tired, but happy, into a deep sleep, dreaming of adventures yet to come.

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A Cretan recharge – day 7

The wind and the sun, or fifty shades of blue

We woke a little worried – the forecast had suggested rain (again!) this morning, but on rising, although the sky was peppered with big grey and white clouds, it wasn’t raining (yet) as we headed out, hopeful in shorts, T-shirts and fleeces (but leaving other coats behind) for breakfast. We chose an indoor setting to eat, and were glad we did as we saw umbrellas open against rain that began to fall. But by the time we had finished, so had the showers, and as the day wore on, the clouds got fewer, and the sun got stronger.

It was a day of wind and sun, which meant finding a sheltered spot and lingering, whether drinking coffee, or eating local pastry delicacies for lunch. We did walk some of the walls of the old town, affording a good view across the roof of the city and to the mountains beyond. Heraklion is not pretty, but it has grown on me over the last 48 hours. Everywhere is better when the sun shines, and today the sun shone and when sheltered from the wind it was very warm in the spring sunshine.

Blue is the colour of Greece, and we enjoyed fifty shades of blue, from sea and sky, to the painted woodwork of classic Greek fishing boats.

The sea, blown by the north wind into a small swell, did not entice me in.

A lone olive tree, against and azure blue sky rising from the infinity of the deep blue sea – the epitome of Greece.

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A Cretan recharge – day 6

And the sun shone …

After a couple of days of rain, and cold, we were overjoyed to see the sun shining and the sky blue, and with no definitive plan in mind, we set off to amble around Heraklion. First stop was, of course, coffee; given the city is on the north side of the island, finding a breakfast spot in the sun was not straight forward, but we did and settled down to sup coffee and soak up so sun and warmth.

We then headed through the city and began to stumble on some impressive buildings, like the Cathedral above, before hitting the (old) city walls, turning right, and heading towards the sea, and we began a pleasant stroll along the sea front. Although the sun was warm, there was a stiff breeze blowing in from the north and although we spotted a good, small, swimming beach, I was not to be persuaded to enter the cold looking sea.

We found this driftwood “boat” that I have called “Dignity”. One of my favourite songs – as much for the wonderful lyrics as the tune – is Deacon Blue’s “Dignity” and it was written in Greece (hence the line ‘sipping down raki’)

And then we reached the old fortress and harbour wall, the latter providing shelter from the wind. It is a long, long (too long in Becky’s opinion) harbour wall, and we walked its length in peace and sunshine, the blue sea to one side if us, blue sky above us, and in places along the wall, murals and art work to break the grey concrete facade.

I also read of how Zeus transformed himself into a bull, seduced Europa, and rode with her down to Crete. She bore him three sons, including Minos, who came to rule the island. The lands above Crete were named for her, and that is why Europe is so called.

The mermaid sculpture at the top of this blog post was found halfway along the harbour wall.

Wandering in the sunshine, it was a lovely way to spend the day.

And I’m telling this story
In a faraway sea
Sipping down raki
And reading Maynard Keynes
And I’m thinking about home and all that that means
And a place in the winter for dignity

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A Cretan recharge – day 5

Happy Greeks, and angry Greeks

Almost as soon as our alarm went off this morning I was booted out of bed. Sent to the door of our apartment, my task was to see if it was raining – thankfully it wasn’t. But in the time it took to shower and shave, rain had begun to fall, another damp day beckoned. We were, of course, disappointed, but all the locals we encountered, whilst sad for us, welcomed the rain , knowing the olives need the water, and the punishing summer to come will be eased with full streams and rivers and reservoirs, so they were all happy.

I bought myself a practical “souvenir” – an umbrellas for 5 euros (Becky, had of course, packed one in her luggage before we left the UK) and found ourselves a warm, indoor coffee shop to while away an hour or so. Whilst sipping coffee and looking out on the damp streetscape in front of us, we heard hollering and hooting, which heralded a hundred or so protesters marching down the road.

Worried that there signs may say “Tourists go home” and that their ire be directed at us, we asked some Greeks in the coffee shop what the protest was about. It was the workers protesting against the government, that wages are not keeping up with the cost of living, that they have endured years of pain following the financial crisis of 2008, and bailout from the EU, but now the Greek economy is growing faster than many in the EU, but wages are too low to live on.

And whilst all flights in and out of Greece were cancelled today by an air traffic control strike, and many ferries and trains also didn’t operate, fortunately our onward travel plans – by bus from Rethymno to Heraklion – were unaffected by the strike (OK, we left circa 20 mins late, but I think that that was just due to traffic) and around 3.30 pm we arrived back in Heraklion and made the 10 minute walk to our apartment just before it started raining again.

We headed back out to explore, but our endeavours were a little half-hearted, thwarted by the rain and cold – which stung even more knowing that back home everyone is enjoying something of a heatwave. Even some very pretty trees festooned with spring blossom did little to lift the mood.

A good meal in a wonderfully warm restaurant did raise our spirits, and there was a little more spring in our step as we walked through the streets back to our new apartment, with plans hatched for what the forecast promises to be a warmer and dryer day tomorrow!

Kalispera!

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A Cretan recharge – day 4

Rain!

Last summer we island hopped across Greece for 5 weeks; on one day, we saw a single, small solitary cloud, for about 30 minutes, before it evaporated into the big blue sky. Today, we woke to rain, and it has been cold, grey, miserable and wet all day. There’s not too much to do in Rethmyno on a wet Tuesday in April. We went to the Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete – we (well, Becky in particular) do like an art gallery, and we had earmarked this for a visit regardless of the weather, but it was a bit underwhelming. Entry was only 3 euros pp, but the exhibits were neither inspiring or captivating.

Other than that, there was little to do but sit in cafes, drink coffee and watch the (somewhat bedraggled) world go by, before moving on to another taverna for lunch.

Much of the afternoon was spent either reading or snoozing – not a bad way to spend a day and by evening time the rain had stopped, and the forecast for tomorrow morning does suggest a return of the sun, here’s hoping …

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A Cretan recharge – day 3

Gorge – ous!

We tend to book our travel destinations a long time in advance – working in education, we both know when our holidays are going to be for two or three years ahead, we have a list of places we’d like to go to and have learned that the cheapest way to book flights is the day they open. So it would have been last May that we booked our flights to Crete. One of the things that attracted us to Crete was the Samaria Gorge, at 16 km, the longest in Europe and a popular, all day hike. We both very much wanted to walk its length before emerging onto the beach and sea. However, we book early with a vague idea of what we want to do, then research at a more leisurely pace as the holiday approaches. This time, this strategy failed us! The Samaria gorge is only open between 1st May and 31st October (for safety reasons – in the other months, too much water flows through it, making it unsafe to traverse.)

However, a bit of googling before we left home revealed a short gorge walk not far from where we were staying in Rethymno, Mili (or Mily) gorge, so named as it is full of abandoned water mills. Finding out how to get there was a little difficult – one option we found was to use the red hop-on-hop-off tourist bus, but this would be 20 euros each, and there wasn’t much else on the route to see that we hadn’t already visited. So we asked at the bus station, and they suggested getting the bus to Chromonastiri, which we decided to do (2 euros each) These buses don’t run often – every three hours or so, and don’t trust google! The times given to us on the sheet at the bus station where correct, google was out by over an hour! Anyway, we found the bus, waited in the glorious sunshine for its arrival, before boarding what was little more than a minibus for the 20 minute journey. We got off before Chromonastiri at bus stop that the hop on hop off bus used – it was pretty obvious this was an entrance to the gorge, and headed down some steps into a beautiful, lush green world.

The walk was lovely, pictures nor words will do it justice. There was a well marked and maintained stoney trail to follow, although we did occasionally divert of the track and scramble down to the waters edge, to marvel at gushing waterfalls and gaze into deep, clear pools.

It was a lovely walk, trending down hill, but there was the odd bit of uphill as you crisscrossed the river. We did spot the odd Croc wearer, but I would recommend trainers as the footwear of choice and a reasonable level of fitness and agility would be needed, but certainly do-able by most, children included. Towards the end of the trail, we came to the Banana Tavern were we had a drink and light lunch in what seemed like a tropical oasis.

We did then make a mistake in navigating our way out of the gorge and ended up taking a very pretty, but unnecessary detour through a field of olive trees and yellow daisies.

Doubling back on ourselves, after an extra 30 mins and a few kilometres, we got back on track to walk back to Rethmyno. The first half of this walk was a pleasant stroll on a very minor road, but as we neared the town, the roads got busier, and much less scenic, until we hit the beach. And that was still not the end of it as the beach is long, and it felt like miles as we walked back to the old town. Beautiful and serene, looking out into the infinity of the ocean, but with aching limbs, by this point we just wanted a sit down, an ice-cream and to get back to our apartment.

Forgive the pun, but it was a gorge-ous walk, a lovely way to spend a Spring day in Rethmyno.

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A Cretan recharge – day 2

Heaven on earth

It was in the late eighties when Belinda Carlise sang the words ” True heaven is a place on earth”

I can only surmise that she had swum in deep, clear, blue waters of the Cretan Sea, and then had a gyros for lunch, because that’s what I did today and it truly was heaven on earth.

After a leisurely, and large, breakfast at our hotel, we ambled from our room, through the streets of Rethmyno before reaching the sea front and following it along in the direction of the old fort, stopping occasionally to admire the clarity of the water, look across the bay to snow capped mountains in the distance, whilst applying sun tan cream to protect against the warm fire of its rays. I was on simultaneously on the lookout for a good place to swim, whilst also telling myself the water did look a bit chilly and perhaps it was still to soon to swim when we spied some heads bobbing in the water. Being a Sunday, many locals were out and about enjoying their day off, and we had stumbled upon their favoured bathing spot, off some rocks. It wasn’t long before I joined them in the water, although that first plunge was breathtakingly “fresh”. But a minute or two of vigorous and energetic breaststroke and I became acclimatised to the water temperature, and enjoyed bobbing about in the deep blue. The water was deep, clear and wonderful, a perfect swimming spot and, when I’d had enough, I climbed out of the water and, like an iguana, baked dry on the rocks.

And whilst sat soaking up the sun, not more than 10 metres from our spot, a beautiful white egret flew in, landed, poked around in some rock pools, before flying off again. A wonderful sight.

Perhaps inspired by the hungry bird, we, too, then set off to seek out our lunch, taking a long, slow amble around the headland at the base of the ancient fortress, enjoying the sight of flowers in bloom – one of the pleasures of heading south at this time of year is that everything is a month or two on from the UK, Spring has truly sprung, everywhere is green and flowers punctuate the landscape with their vibrant colours. We found a street grill and ordered a couple of gyros – the perfect lunchtime snack.

After lunch we walked along the seafront in the other direction, and this is where the town’s big hotels front the sea, and the sun beds and umbrellas were spouting up all along the long expanse of beach, getting ready for the season to come, and the visit of many, many tourists making Crete their summer holiday destination.

Today, Rethymno delivered, a day of heaven on earth. Pretty streets, delicious food and a swimming spot to rival any other. That ancient Geek medicine is working its magic and all my woes and cares, aches and pains are being washed away in the deep blue sea and bleached dry in the warm Mediterranean sunshine. I’ve always believed in Belinda, true heaven is a place on earth, and today I glimpsed it.

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A Cretan recharge – Day 1

Kalimera

Winter is a tough season – the days are short, the nights are dark and long, and the thermometer rarely rises above single digits. But with Spring (just about) upon us, bluer skies and warmer weather of southern Europe beckon, and we were up well before the larks to head to the airport for our first adventure of 2025, a week in Crete.

We soared over the magnificent snowy alps before landing, some four hours later, at Heraklion airport on Greece’s largest island of Crete.

We hopped on a local bus (euro 1.20 each) to take us the 10 minutes from the airport to Heraklion town, from where we were to catch another bus/coach to Rethymno – home for the next 5 days. Now, I must confess, on first impression of Crete, via Heraklion, we weren’t blown away by the beauty, charm and character of a typical Greek island, but I suspect that was just because we saw the utilitarian, practical parts of the island. We return for a few days to Heraklion at the end of our trip, so will report back then.

Having whizzed through the airport faster than expected, at the bus station we did ask if we could catch an earlier bus than the one we had booked, but unfortunately it was full, so we had an hour or so to wait until our bus. Hungry, and a little tired (we’d been up since 2.30 am) we decided to grab something to eat at the bus station. Now, in the UK, bus station food would be over priced and underwhelming. Not here in Greece. We went to the station cafe, the menu was all in Greek – actually a good sign that there was no English translation – with a combination of pointing and Google translate, we came away with two plates: roasted mixed vegatables and potatoes for six euros, and 3 big, delicious meatballs and rice for seven euros. Both meals were generous in size, “home cooked” and delicious. We’ve even earmarked the possibility of returning to the bus station cafe for a meal when we return to Heraklion – something you’d never dream of doing back home.

We took the bus (1 hr 30 mins, 9 euros each) to Rethmyno – I’d love to be able to tell you of the magnificent mountain scenery swooping down to the blue sea, but I soon feel asleep! We arrived in Rethmyno and found our hotel – a gem, I’m sure I’ll write more of that later – and set off into the evening sun. We wandered the streets, enjoyed a beer looking out over the harbour, before enjoying a fantastic Greek meal, albeit indoors as the evening temperature makes sitting outside a little chilly.

We both (and me, in particular) need some time to relax and recharge, and a week in Greece in early April is just what Dr Hap-pea-travels prescribed.

Yamas!

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Festive Funchal fun – day 5

The sun shone

We woke today to blue skies, but our few days on the island has taught us that the weather can be fickle, and the weather “now” can be different from the weather an hour later. But today the sun stayed out all day and we enjoyed a warm day, stripping to T-shirts when sat in the sun.

After a leisurely start, and more of “God’s bread” for breakfast, we caught the bus up to the Botanical gardens (different from Monte Palace we visited on Tuesday) – 10 minutes and 1.95 euros each on a yellow bus (numbers 29, 30, 31 & 31A all take you there) and then enjoyed a pleasant couple of hours enjoying the grounds, the view, and a drink in the sunshine in the cafe.

We headed back down the hill (again by bus, after yesterday’s hike, we were in no rush for any more downhill walks), had lunch and headed to the waterfront. The temperature was probably in the low twenties, the sun strong and warm and seeing one or two others in the sea, I knew I had to take a dip too. The water was not too cold – I’d say it was warmer than the med off Nerja in October? – and it was a definite delight to take a dip in December. The beach was nothing special – big grey/black pebbles and rocks that were a little difficult to walk on – but it shelved swiftly and one was soon in deepish water.

After warming on the rocks for a while after my dip, we headed further up the beach to “yellow building” that we had seen in many pictures of Funchal. It was an early fort built to defend the port and it made an interesting diversion for twenty minutes to explore it.

Then home for a quick recharge, before back out after dark to eat and a last look at the Christamas lights and market. The Christmas market – busy all week – was heaving, it being Friday night the locals were out in force and we found ourselves watching a local band playing songs – most of which we didn’t know – and having a wonderful, festive fun time in Funchal.

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Festive Funchal fun – day 4

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned …

Today we headed into the hills mountains, booking a trip to Pico de Aieiro and beyond. The day had dawned with blue skies over Funchal and we were confident of a good day’s hiking as our transport collected us shortly befor 9am to take us to Pico de Aieiro , 1,800m above sea -level (that’s 300m higher than Ben Nevis) but as the mini-bus climbed ever higher, the cloud began to envelope us, and a light rain began to fall. As we de-bussed and donned our snoods, gloves and rain jackets (at 5 degress, it was cold as well as damp) Becky was not a happy Hector, wondering why we were choosing to walk in the rain.

The original plan was to hike along PR1 from Pico de Aieiro to Pico Ruivo but due to forest fires earlier in the year, much of that route is closed. However, you could do the first 1.2km as an “out and back” route, taking in the iconic “Stairway to heaven” – photos of which are awash online, of towering peaks knifing through the cloud base and reaching into an azure blue sky, or shots of green clad cliff-sides plunging deep into the valley below. But I must have lived the life of a sinner. As I climbed the stairway to heaven, no brilliant light and awe-inspiring majestic views for me, only swirling grey clouds obscuring all that lay in front, above, below or behind, heaven was not welcoming me today! We turned round, and headed back from whence we came, and as we did so the clouds began to part, the sun began to shine in all its splendour; those that had taken the path later than me must have led more righteous lives as heaven revealed itself to them.

With most of PR1 closed, our guide has arranged for us to follow PR3 down from the hill, a 7km hike across varied terrain and views. The weather continued to change throughout the day, at times we needed to strip off our layers and walk bathed in sunshine, at other times the puffa jackets were worn.

From this point, most of the hike was downhill, but that doesn’t mean it was easy – both underfoot and on the knees. For the final two or three kms, the trail tracked alongside a river canyon, the sound of rushing water providing a dramatic soundtrack to our descent and the pools, swirls and waterfalls added (even more) visual interest. At then end of the trail, five hours after he had dropped us off, our guide picked us up in the minibus for the thirty minute transit back to Funchal. It was a fun, but tough, day, a proper hike that demanded more than typical tourist attire or fitness, and it felt an accomplishment to have achieved what we did.

Back in town, we went straight to a local cafe to order some coffee and cakes. Portuguese/Madieran pastries are as good as any I have had elsewhere. The only decisions we had to make was what cakes to choose, and whether to eat inside or outside. On both counts we made the right decision.

Shortly after tucking in to these tasty treats, the heavens opened. A good job we had chosen to eat indoors. We ordered another coffee and watched the world outside try and shelter the best they could from a sudden sub-tropical downpour. A dramatic end to a dramatic day!