September-October, 2023: Germany and Greece (quick recap)

 September and October, 2023: We returned to Europe...

 

1. Conference in Cologne, Germany

David's first international conference since 2009 (he technically retired in 2012), giving both an invited presentation and a new research presentation. 

The conference went well for him, but it felt "odd" for him. And a LOT of work! Very tiring. Not sure he wants to do any others.

Meanwhile, Michelle "played" in (and enjoyed!) Cologne.

Cologne's justifiably famous cathedral

Unfortunately, it seemed everyone at the conference has respiratory infections. A couple days after the end of the conference, David came down with a bad cold (it wasn't COVID... we tested 2x).

 

Dinner at a favourite winery ("weingut") in Boppard on the Rhine River

2. Bike & Boat trip on the Mosel River (7 nights)

In addition to a few days relaxing in towns on the Rhine River, we did a "bike & boat" trip (our 3rd) along the Mosel River. Joining us were our past cruising buddies (they sold their boat "Carousel" in 2021) David and Gillian.

David's cold didn't stop him from riding, (Didn't stop him from coughing a lot either. But it improved after a couple of days.)

The Mosel Bike & Boat route: Koblenz to Saarburg

Our ship: MS Olympia

Lots of riding through vineyards

Wine Wine Wine along the Mosel (even in vending machines... with ID)

The riding was 95% FLAT! (Michelle, Gillian and Carousel-David...)

Beilstein (where we visited in 2017)

Roman Porta Nigra inTrier (a lovely small city)

Trier is the birthplace of Karl Marx (here he's giving instructions to "Walk")

Gillian, Michelle & Carousel-David watching the boats dock in Saarburg (our last stop)

The bike riding was very easy and pleasant. E-bikes (which 3 of us had... Michelle had a normal bike) certainly not required. We had good weather for all but the last day (with rain waiting until we were finished biking).

We've now done 3 Bike & Boats (all by S&E Tours, booked through Eurocycle/Rad&Reisen). ALL were good, but we think we enjoy the "Inn-to-Inn" bike rides better (greater diversity overall, different/local dining options, etc) and it is time for a break from B&Bs....

Our last morning, we caught a very early train the Frankfurt Airport, for a flight to Greece....

 

3. More biking: Inn-to-Inn bike trip in the Dodecanese, Greece (13 nights)

We returned for our 3rd trip, organized by Omega Biking. As usual, we started in Kalavarda on Rhodes Island (where we stayed the 1st night and picked up our bikes). Then to Rhodes Town (1 night), Nisyros (2 nights), Mastichari (3 nights), Skala, Patmos (4 nights) and back to Rhodes Town (2 nights).

The Dodecanese

2023 Bike trip in the Dodecanese (solid red lines=biking; dashed red lines=ferries)

We enjoyed our 2022 bike trip in the Dodecanese so much, we decided to return. This time we added the islands of Nisyros (a volcano island) and Patmos, along with a return to Mastichari on Kos.

Nisyros was tough riding (up then down into the volcano and return), but the small town of Mandraki lovely. Kos was good. Patmos was spectacular (we want to return).

Looking down at the crater on Nisyros

Mandraki (Nisyros) central square

 

Short stopover/ferry transfer at Pothia harbour (Kalymnos): a lively non-touristy city

 

Our beach for swimming on Patmos

View down towards Skala (Patmos)

Patmos

View up to Chora and its monastery (Patmos)

An easy ride down from Chora

Lunch time in Grikos, 2/3rds through our day's biking/sightseeing (Patmos)

Skala, the port of Patmos

Greece was good food, good wine, with some nice biking and spectacular views. As it was October, there were no large crowds (except in Patmos, where cruise ships visit for 4 hours -- easy to avoid the crowds as we knew the ship schedules). We didn't do as much biking as our previous trips, but we got enough exercise and enjoyed ourselves. 

A return to Greece is definitely in the cards.

For more photos of our 2023 Greece biking, click here

Athens, then back home

 

View south from Mount Lycabettus

Leaving Tinos, we caught a ferry to Rafina (Fast Ferries Theologos P).  Arriving Rafina at 530pm, we had booked a Welcome Pickups taxi to take us to our hotel in Athens. A little pricey, but it got us into our room by 630pm and out for dinner (the alternative would have been the KTEL bus, and we wouldn't have made it to our hotel until 7:30-8:30pm).

Athens' busyness was a bit of a shock. After 4 weeks on various quiet islands, we weren't really ready for crowds and noise. For many, however, Athens is a pretty interesting place (and is even for us at times, but then it seems to become just too much).

First day, we opted to walk up Mount Lycabettus, the highest point in central Athens (277m). It was our first visit and the slog was well worth it: great views!

At Mount Lycabettus

The second day, we again opted to do some walking where we've not been before: Philopapou Hill, directly across from the Acropolis. Lots of good paths for walking, including past "Socrate's Prison" (rumoured but not likely).

Mt. Lycabettus (from Philopapou Hill)

 

 

 

 

Last selfie, with Acropolis behind (from Philopapou)

Mt. Lycabettus and Acropolis (from Philopapou)

 

We had planned (and paid for) three nights in Athens, but had to change our plans due to a general strike called for November 9th, the day of our 6:55am flight. First indications were that all public transport, including taxis, would be shut down, and we would not be able to get to the airport. So, we booked a night out at the Sofitel at the airport ($$$) and checked out of our hotel in Athens at about 5 pm (no refund) and took the bus out to the airport. It kinda ruined our last-night plans, but it ensured all went smoothly the next morning.  (As it turned out, we might have been able to get a legal taxi/car service at 4 am, but we didn't get this updated information until after we made the changes.) Strikes in Greece are quite common (our leaving day in 2019 also had a bus/metro, but not taxi, strike).

Last night for feeding the cats

Flights back to Vancouver (via Frankfurt) all went well, though we didn't get much sleep (noisy kids). Arrived to a sunny afternoon in Vancouver and an easy drive home to Whistler.

 

A truly great trip. (Can't wait to return....)

Tinos... perfect for hikers!

 

Hiking trails on Tinos (from "Tinos Trails" app)

We decided to spend a week on Tinos. We'd read that even in Summer Tinos wasn't overrun with tourists (are you detecting a theme yet?) and that it had well-organized hiking trails. As it turned out, both are true (at least, for early November).

Being early November, many restaurants and hotels were shutting down for the season. Fortunately, we had a great little studio ("Acanthus Houses") near the port and main town (referred to by tourists as "Tinos town" but known as "Chora" to locals). Chora was larger than we expected, but still relatively small.

Chora (Tinos Town) waterfront

 

There were many hiking trails to choose from, all reasonably well described by an app devoted to hiking on Tinos called "Tinos Trails". We made good use of this helpful app. Some required transportation to the trailhead -- fortunately the local bus system worked very well for us (the scheduled times were accurate and dependable).

Trail markers, sign posts, and even maps were regularly present on all the main trails

We did 4 hikes over the 6 days we were on Tinos, plus walks around Chora as well as to the lovely beach at Kionia (2km out of town; 21°C sea temp was just warm enough for a swim). Most hikes were 2.5-3 hours (excluding breaks or bus transport), and most took us to multiple villages up in the mountains.

On the way up from Kionia; village of Ktinados in the distance

Approaching Ktinados

Ktinados

Looking down at Chora (from below Ktinados)

All over Tinos, we came across Tinos Dovecotes. These were used for breeding of doves (for food), and became a symbol of prosperity and prestige on Tinos. Apparently, there are over 900 of them on Tinos.

Tinian dovecote

Hiking near Steni and Falatados

Looking up at Exombourgo (site of a ruined castle)

Some beach time at Kionia

Hiking near Pyrgos (the marble capital...)

Hiking down from Pyrgos to Panormos

Long, hot slog up from beach at Rochari to village of Platia above Pyrgos (mostly rock stairs,  reminding us of trekking in Nepal)

Catching the bus in Pyrgos back to Chora

Chora on Tinos is the site of Ieros Naos Evangelistrias, a major pilgrimage site. The nun Pelagia, who became Agia Pelagia (Saint Pelagia), was from Tinos and had her visions of Panagia Evangelistria,  which led to the discovery of an ancient icon of the annunciation.

Chora: Ieros Naos Evangelistrias

Saint Pelagia of Tinos

As secular as we are, we felt it appropriate to make our own pilgrimage to the place of our boat's namesake, Agia Pelagia.*

Sadly, the week went by too quickly, and it was time to start our trek home. First, taking a ferry to Rafina and then taxi to visit Athens for a few days.

* There is another "Saint Pelagia" (of Antioch), but our Pelagia (the boat) is named after Agia Pelagia of Tinos.

Syros... again!

 

Walking behind Ano Syros, looking down at Ermoupoli

We first visited Syros in 2019, and had to return. Ermoupoli is one of the most beautiful seaside towns (small city?) we've seen in Greece.

See our 2019 post about Syros: https://sailing-pelagia.blogspot.com/2019/11/ermoupolis-and-syros-island-our.html?m=0 

 

We took an overnight Blue Star ferry from Rhodes to Syros, arriving Syros at 3:50am. True to her word, Jessica at Ostria Suites was there waiting for us to check us in. (Greek hospitality: another reason we love Greece!)

 

We did some walks on Syros, and timed our stay there to coincide with Greece's big national holiday "Όχι (Ohi) Day". We were in Rhodes for the 2019 holiday Όχι Day, so we were wondering what it would be like in Syros. Syros extended their celebrations over two days. The main parade in Ermoupoli's beautiful Miaouli Square was similar to that in Rhodes, except at the end: we were treated to a show of Greek dances by locals in their traditional costumes. So many different costumes from a relatively small island! Quite something. (Dancing was not a feature in celebrations in Rhodes.)

 

The parade in Miaouli Square: local traditional costumes of Syros

Dancers after parade ended

 A brief video of dancers...

 

 

Our walks included up to Ano Syros (oldest settlement on Syros; Roman Catholic as opposed to Greek Orthodox of rest of Syros; on hill behind Ermoupoli), around the hills behind Ano Syros and Ermoupoli, and over on the west coast of Syros at Kini.

Looking up to Ano Syros from Ermoupoli

Narrow walkways of Ano Syros

Looking down on Ermoupoli from Ano Syros

Kini (Syros)

Michelle on the trail to Delphini Beach (from Kini)

Delphini Beach, looking South towards Kini

Waiting for the bus in Kini, Michelle makes another feline friend (one of a thousand on this trip)

 

We only spent 4 days on Syros. It seemed too short. It's a beautiful place and essentially untouched by mass tourism. Shhhh, don't tell anyone!

 

Our next stop was new-to-us Tinos, only 30 minutes away by ferry.