Greece? How did Greece get into it?

If you've been paying close attention to this blog (hi Mom! And Beth!) then you know that Greece was not originally on our itinerary. It wasn't even on our list of likely options for the 10 days for which we didn't have firm plans: we had thought about Spain or Norway for that period. But when it came time to decide, the weather across most of Europe was crummy, and after a couple of weeks in the chilly (though excellent) Outer Hebrides we thought some warmth would be nice. So, Greece. 

Juliet did some quick internet research and discovered the island of Alonnisos. It's much less visited than most of the Greek Islands (because it's a bit harder to get to);  it is in a marine sanctuary; and it is largely forested, which is quite unusual. 

So from Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides we flew to Edinburgh, then Heathrow, then Athens, then Skiathos, then took a ferry to Alonnisos, and there we were! 

The marine sanctuary was a big attraction to us, and even though we didn't see monk seals (quite rare, but they have a bit of a stronghold here) we saw Eleanoras Falcons and dolphins and lots of great undersea life. 

We got really lucky with our accommodations, a family-run place called Milia Bay Hotel. We really liked all of the people who worked there...can't believe we didn't get a photo of any of them. Just super, super nice people and if you are looking for a Greek island to visit you should try this place. Ask us for more information.

Night falls on Patitiri, the largest town on Alonnisos.

Dinner at a restaurant in Votsi. 

The weather was hot hot hot so we spent most mid-afternoons in the water, for snorkeling or scuba. But I did get out for a couple of good bike rides over the steep hills in the middle of the island. Here I'm on the hill above the tiny harbor town of Gerakis.

Goats! They are really entertaining to watch, and sometimes you see them way up in the middle of a cliff face and wonder "how the hell did they get there? And how are they getting down?"

Hand-drawn well water for thirsty goats. By far the main source of income and employment on the island is tourism, and many people come for a few months in summer to work in the hotels and shops. But there are still some year-round islanders who keep goats, harvest olives, fish, and so on.

Everyone in the friendly family that ran the excellent Milia Bay Hotel was pleased and a bit amused by how much time we spent doing various sports: sea kayaking, snorkeling, swimming, scuba, biking, running, hiking. We did spend a couple of hot mid-day periods reading in our air-conditioned room but mostly we were out and about. We were on this fairly small island for 10 very active days and even so there are interesting things we didn't get a chance to do. 

Juliet at a sea cave.

Good food! Our favorite dish was calamari with chick peas and some awesome sauce that we couldn't deconstruct, but it was also nice to just get good salads. 

The photo is a bit of a cliche, but we did spend a lot of tine snorkeling.

A friendly kitty in the old town. Greece is famous for its cats and we did indeed see a lot of them. There is an active group on Alonnisos that, among other good animal-related deeds, brings a vet over occasionally to spay the stray cats. 

 This is in the "old town," where most of the people of the island lived for hundreds of years: coastal areas were dangerous because of the depredations of pirates and slave traders. This was the main town on the island until an earthquake in 1965 destroyed many houses, and the government provided subsidized housing down in the port of Patitiri, a few km away. In the past 15 years the old town has been rebuilt and revived as a draw for tourists: restaurants, art galleries, shops. Some of the streets are so touristy that you hate to love them, but they are just so charming it's ridiculous.

"Grilled woops" and "grilled nackrols" made us laugh, but the scorpion fish was good, and the special one night --- calamari with chick peas and sauce --- may have been the best thing we've eaten during this entire vacation.

People mostly hunkered down and stayed cool in the afternoon, and didn't come out for dinner until quite late. Very pleasant to eat outdoors on a warm evening. 

Most of the island's business is from tourism but there are still goat-herds and there is still small-scale fishing.

Dressed for scuba. We thought we'd go once or twice but ended up going for 7 dives, including some rather deep ones. 

The diving didn't have the bright colors and incredible species diversity of the South Pacific but we got to see ancient amphorae, undersea caves, big groupers, huge schools of fish, giant clams...some really nice dives. The photo above is from a dive in which we saw more fish at one time than I have ever seen in my life, just massive schools of them in every direction.

I had some nice chats with this guy, who runs a concession stand at the infrequently visited port of Gerakis at the far north end of the island. I biked up there a couple of times (and we drove once) and each time I had a lemonade and a glass of iced tea and some conversation. The guy worked on a cargo ship for 20 years but eventually came home to Gerakis, where I'm guessing he sells $30 worth of drinks per day while he hangs out and chats with some of the town's few other residents. And he's very happy. Just a very friendly guy.

Here's Juliet "helping" a fisherman with his lobster net. They catch lobster with nets instead of pots, for reasons I didn't quite understand even though the guy tried to explain it: According to him, fishing with lobster pots is too easy: you go out once a day for a couple of hours and haul them in, and you get a lot of them, so you end up overfishing the lobster. But fishing with the net is hard: you're out for a whole day and you have to repair the net and even so you don't catch as many lobster. This is better because it stops you from over-fishing.  Well, OK, but why not just use fewer lobster pots and have the best of both worlds, a fast and easy job that gives you the same number of lobster that you get in a hard day with the net? We didn't actually press him on this but it still puzzles me. 
This guy, too, was very friendly, and happy to spend a few minutes chatting with us and discussing the daily life of a small-scale fisherman. 

Overall it was a great 10 days. Our biggest regret: not getting a photo with the family that runs the Milia Bay Hotel. By the end they almost seemed like family and we enjoyed chatting with them every day.