Well our holiday got off to a great start, we were enjoying a drink at the bar after we arrived and the earth shook, literally, yes, there was an earthquake, a 5.6.
It was quite funny really, there were about 6 couples sat there, all talking and I don't think any conversation stopped, we looked at each other but it wasn't until it stopped that we said, was that an earthquake?? It lasted for 10 - 15 seconds and you could actually hear the rumbling and you could see the bar top shaking, but we all just carried on as though nothing happened lol
We went to a little Greek Island called Lesvos (or Lesbos), a place called Petra, which gets it's name from the rock (petra) that stands in the middle of the village.
On top of the rock is a church, Virgin Mary of the Sweet Kisses.
Cobbled street leading up past the rock
View from the top
Some of the cobbled streets in Petra
View from just outside the village
I just missed the sun going down on the last night, but I did get the lovely red sky
The next photos are of our visit to Skala Sikamininas
The little harbour in Skala Sikaminias
This is the place that made the news some time ago, where there was a surge of refugees, do you remember?
There are only 100 people living in this tiny village and they helped save refugees from sinking boats as they tried to make their way across. Sadly the news put tourist off and the village suffered badly as a result. There is not much to see, just a few taverners, a pretty church and a couple of gift shops, but it's totally unspoilt and so tranquil.
We hopped on the land train into Molyvos, it was about 15 minutes or so from where we were staying in Petra
Looking back towards Petra from the land train
Molyvos, possibly the prettiest place we have ever been in Greece
There are beautiful little cobbled streets
Every little house has made the most of the little bit of space they have, making steps and patios pretty with plants and pots
I loved the one below, not much space but wow, it looked beautiful!
And I loved the little windows
And the shutters
We walked up to the castle on the top of the hill, the views were amazing
Unfortunately after trudging up the hill we discovered the castle was closed for maintenance work, so we were unable to go in, we did meet a little donkey though :-)
We walked down to Molyvos harbour via the pretty cobbled streets and enjoyed a well deserved drink.
While we were there the owner of the taverner caught an octopus right there in the harbour, i'd never seen one in real life before
The weather then suddenly changed, it looked like were in for a storm
Lucky for us it passed over with only a few spots of rain and then the sun came out again.
We hired a car for a day to get to Skala Skaminias and just to enjoy the beautiful scenery round about really, but we had heard about a little Turkish Bath so we found that out too and enjoyed an hour alternately dipping in cold and then hot water, supposedly it helps with aches and pains, I can honestly say that it's made no difference whatsoever, lol, but it was something different :-)
The holiday was not without it's problems, as usual I got bitten, whether by mosquitoes or something else I'm not sure but I had quite a lot on my feet and ankles and my foot started to swell up so I had to visit the doctor in Petra. I came away with antibiotics to take for 10 days, antihistamine, take for the same time, 2 lots of cream to apply to the bites and some cream to stop getting bitten again! Mark did have a few bites this time too, but mine seem to get infected, it's no fun. This is one of the reasons we only go away for 7 days at a time now, once I start to get bitten I just want to come home, It stops being a holiday and becomes a battle of the bites!
Lesvos is a beautiful place and it's a shame they have suffered with all the bad publicity that the refugee thing bought on them, on the other hand, the fact that not many people are visiting makes it a great place to go, it's Greece as it used to be in the late 1970's and early 1980's, very laid back and friendly with none of the commercialism.
I know I've shared a lot of photos, I do like keeping a track of things I've seen and places I've been on my blog, It's nice to look back on. I hope that you like seeing them to.
I'll leave you with just one more
Greece is known for it's cats and Lesvos is no different, in fact I think there were more here than I've seen in other places. It's very tempting to feed them, but you can't feed them all, (and Mark tells me off), although I did see evidence that some villagers do put food and water out for them, which is good. We came across a mum with her kitties when we were walking and this one was just to cute to ignore.
Look at that little face!
Seeing how they have to scavenge around for food makes me so sad,
On the last night I did save some of my dinner and we went back to the place where mum and kitties were so we could leave it for them, so I did manage to do my good deed.
It's back to business as usual tomorrow, we caught up on some of the garden work today, everything seems to have shot up and greened up in the short time we were away, but Stevie has looked after my plants well and everything has survived :-) The majority of the holiday washing is done and put away, the rest I will do in the week, just some food shopping to do tomorrow, I feel a salad week is called for after the indulgence of Greek food and more bread than I ever normally eat, I'm guessing the scales won't be kind to me on Wednesday when I weigh in :-( Looks like going back to basics to get back on track.
Until next time,
I hope you all have a great week
-X-
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