It has taken a long time for me to pick up from where I left off writing up about this trip. There are several reasons for that. I had travelled to Athens and then on to Patras with my daughter as we had just been accepted as volunteers – myself with FoodKind and my daughter…
Well of course when beloved author and friend Peter Barber and the beautiful Alex put out an invitation to their book launch in Pefki – of course I was going to go. I would fit it into my itinerary by hook or by crook! Yesterday I caught the bus from Liosion Bus Station just outside…
I left Manchester on a typically grey and dark, dank day. Apart from its two football teams, it’s what the city is known for. That’s why cotton weaving mills were once so prevalent in the area – perfect humid and damp conditions. Shortly after boarding the Aegean Airline Airbus A320, we taxied out onto the…
So, this year’s solo trip didn’t start as I’d hoped. After setting my alarm for 0315 and making sure that my lift to the airport was also awake, I arrived at Manchester Airport shortly after 0400 – an ungodly hour to be functioning on all cylinders. The day before there had already been broadcasts on…
On most mornings we were woken by the sound of the gentle, yet slightly irregular rhythm of the lapping waves. Now in our beachfront room, we would open the bright blue painted shutters to the startling sunlight causing us to shelter our fragile morning eyes. Ladies in wide-brimmed hats are already taking an early morning…
Early mornings on Pserimos are glorious. The beach is quiet and you can go for breakfast in any taverna without a fuss or a wait. Without the hordes, you can go for a pleasant early morning swim or sit and absorb the essence of the island. Around 2000 visitors will arrive here daily in high…
This isn’t my first trip to Pserimos. Like many others, I once sailed in on a day trip from Kos or Kalymnos. From my recollection, I came in on a boat from Kos well over twenty years ago. It wasn’t one of the large pirate ships that I’d seen along the marina in Kos town…
The final destination of our trip will be Pserimos. To get there from Lipsi will require an overnight stay on Kalymnos – Pothia the port town in fact. The first time that I visited Kalymnos (over 20 years ago) was a short stay in Pothia whilst waiting for a boat to Astypalea. The weather had…
Our 8 days and nights on Lipsi have gone by so quickly. Towards the end of our stay, we decided to re-visit Platis Gialos Beach this time travelling by taxi where we were able to enjoy it without the trauma of hire car incidents! This really is a special beach. It is almost away from…
Before we arrived on Lipsi we had already decided that we were going to book the boat trip on the Rena. Casting my mind back to my last visit to Lipsi in 2004, I have a vague recollection of doing a similar boat trip however, I know that it definitely didn’t call into Arki. Maybe…
The heat continued to hover around the 40 degree mark and I was getting ‘beach fever’ at not being able to stray very far. Don’t get me wrong, there are better predicaments to be in but I’m just not very good at laying on a beach all day. Although Lipsi is small and most places…
During our first few days on Lipsi, we were able to venture out in the evenings once the temperatures had dropped (by at least a few degrees!). I attempted to retrace my steps from 2004 by finding places that matched up with the small clutch of photographs I had from that trip. It was like…
I usually blog as I go along. That’s very easy to do whilst travelling solo and quite an indulgence. However, as I’m on holiday with my nearest and dearest, I try to take a few handwritten notes instead. Looking at my notebook, there aren’t many entries for the first four days of our stay on…