We have spent two weeks on the island of Lesvos and it has been glorious. It is unsual for us to spend so much time on an island as we tend to jump about more frequently. However, we chose to explore this island in depth, and it was a good decision.
We arrived at Plomari on the south coast of Lesvos. This is a beautiful small town with ramshackle ruined houses next to full renovated properties. The town grew around the olive oil industry and is surounded by mountains and hillsides full of olive trees, which are still harvested today. Whilst we were there we walked the Olive Trail, a wandering 13km path up and around a mountain with fanastic views in all directions.
The weekend we were in Plomari was the start of lent in Greece, which follows the Greek orthadox calander. This was celebrated by fancy dress street parties on the Sunday and kite flying on "Clean Monday". Unfortunately, we missed the street party as we we off on our walk but saw the locals in all costume and the streamers covering the central square on our return.
We moved west along the south coast to the Gulf of Kalloni. We noticed that the island's foliage changed dramatically as we travelled from east to west. The eastern side was full of lush green trees, both pine and olives, and the western side was totally without trees, just grass and a lot of sheep farming, which we held responsible for the deforestation. There was an abundance of bird life, which is unusal for Greece, and we once again wished we knew more about the different species. We visisted an ancient supporting wall from a temple complex dating back 3000 years. It was weirdly impressive, as let's be honest, it's just a wall, measuring about 5m high and running approx 50m, but it was skillfully faced, and has no mortar or cement holding it together. Imagining the enginnering skill it took to make, and how long it has stood for, was just a little mind blowing.
Our next stop was Sigri at the most western end of the island. Here there was the Natural History Museum of the Pertrified Forest. On the morning of our visit we were the only peple in the Museum and we benifited from a guided tour and a full presentation. We learnt that the fossilised tree trunks had been formed from the volcanic activity of four volcanoes on the western side of the island. This volcanic activity was also the reason why the western half of the island had no surviving trees, as the ground had apparently been left toxic for millions of years, so not the sheep as we had surmmised. We finished our exploration of the town with a quick visit to a highly decorated church and a much longer lunch overlooking our boat in the anchorage.
Having moved as far west as was possible it was time to head back eastward to the other major gulf on Lesvos. The entrance to Gera Gulf was stunning - just so green with tourquise bays. We explored the area with a couple of off-road runs around the coastal paths.
Our final stop was the main town on Lesvos called Mitilini. We stayed there for four nights and enjoyed the bussle of the town. It was a place to get some jobs done, but also to enjoy wandering around the shops in the day and frequenting the bars by night. We walked up to the castle to and met up with some other cruisers, who were wintering in the marina there.
Here we hired a car to explore the parts of the island that we would not be able to reach by boat. The first stop was Saint Ignatios Monastry. The setting was spectacular, with a large central building nestled into the hillside and numerous smaller churches scattered all around. The museum there was full of vestments with superb detailed embroidery and many original documents. There are monks cells all around the courtyard, some dating from the 16th century, and a church in the centre. I was not allowed in the church as it was male only, no women allowed, but Phil went in and took plenty of pictures. We then moved on to Molyvos for lunch and a look in the ruined castle there. Finally, we visited the hot springs on the north coast. This was a small, old, hammam style building, that was very run down, but perfectly functional. We both went in the hot waters first and then into the sea, which was very chilly. Feeling fully invigorated we took the scenic route back to Mitilini.
Mitilini was our last stop in Greece, for what might be, a very long time. Our plans this year mean that we needed to check into Turkey for three months to reset our Schengen clock, to ensure that we have the full three months to get back to the UK around the start of October. It was therefore a rather down beat end to our visit, as we have loved our time in the islands. We were sad to leave, not that we don't like Turkey, but our hearts belong to Greece.
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