We may not be sailing at the moment, but we made the most of our week’s hire car and this week we take you for a drive to a couple of interesting and beautiful spots and drove along some very dodgy roads that had been hit badly in the storms due to rock falls and water damage.
Galataki is a monastery full of nuns!
On our way to the nearby monastery, Galataki Monastery of Saint Nicholas, (built in 1576) which is just along the coast road on the south side of Limni, we traversed a road that proved to be quite nerve wracking for both driver and passenger. The edges were literally crumbling as sheer cliffs had collapsed in places and the other side was strewn with small and medium sized rocks that had rolled down from the hills above.
Baz did a great job of driving though, and we managed to find enough space on the roadside to pull over when an occasional car drove by. Eventually we reached Galataki.
It is perched on a cliff overlooking the beautiful bay of Limni with marvellous views of mainland Greece opposite. It was a pity that the days was cloudy and misty, but we still appreciated watching the little fishing boats in the bay.
As it was Sunday, we didn’t like to intrude upon the nuns. Yes, it’s a monastery inhabited by nuns, so for “monastery” you could more accurately read “nunnery” or “convent”! Anyhow, the gardens and the little church on the premises were very pretty and we were glad we’d taken the hairy road there. Of course, we still had to get back …
We arrived at Limni and the lady in our SatNav got all confused and kept directing us to a road that had no way out. In the end we ditched her and found our own way back to the main road. It was a bit longer but we knew it was workable.
Impressive hot springs
Another trip took us to the very impressive hot springs at Edipsos, or Loutra Edipsou whichever you prefer to call the location. I like how the Greeks have a variety of ways of spelling each place name. You can check into a hotel and have a hot spring experience there. Or you can do what we did. Go to the beach and access the springs that pour out into the sea.
The hot springs are incredible! I braved the cold weather and rolled up my jeans and paddled, wishing I had thought to bring bathers as the several natural pools were filled with hot salty water. I noticed there were even hooks to hang clothes attached to the nearby harbour wall! From there we walked to the other end of the bay where hot water was spilling over the top of massive colourful deposit formations – like huge rounded stalactite walls, in red, white and orange hues. We were dwarfed by these walls and stood at the bottom, feet in the sand washed by the sea waves, reaching out and catching hot salty droplets as they tumbled down towards us. Truly amazing.
We then climbed to the top of the wall and tracked the spring water back to one of its outlets. This poured out from the rock and was captured in a deep emerald green pool. From there we headed to another little cove where the water bubbled out on the beach, way too hot to touch!
Stash of sea glass
While Baz got some amazing footage for this week’s video, I discovered this bay was an absolute delight for sea glass collectors and darted around picking up as much glass as I could. Of course I could have spent the rest of the day with my eyes riveted to the pebbles seeking out beach glass, but it was time to go and I took my stash of glass goodies to the car, sporting a massive grin on my face.
Nikos is our magic helper in Greece
He brought us a bag of electrical tools that we can use on A B Sea, one being the oscillating saw that Baz particularly wanted, so we can get access to the keel bolts.
We shouted Nikos lunch at a countryside taverna after visiting some pretty magnificent waterfalls in the hills close to our boat yard winter home. That was such a magical place that we’ll bring you footage in another video. But for now, we’re eating our way through more of the delicious tangerine/chocolate truffly balls and cumquat jam that Nikos’s wife Kalliope made for us.
We are two very fortunate sailors.
If you’d like to see the video that accompanies this blog, just click here.
