This is the final post of a two-month journey that took me from Istanbul to Athens via the Sea of Marmara, the Turkish Aegean coast, several Greek islands and the Peloponnese. It was not planned in any conventional sense. It started with my aunt Janet, who wanted to visit Constantinople. It ended, as these things sometimes do, somewhere else entirely.
Nea Kios is an eight-kilometre taxi ride from Nafplio sitting at the tip of the Argolic Gulf. But with any place beginning with Nea, there is always a back story. This one leads to a small museum that few people know exists, a square full of quiet symbolism, and a story about what happens when an entire community is forced to start again somewhere new.
Sunday on Bozcaada began with church bells drifting across the rooftop terrace — the first sign that the island’s tiny Greek Orthodox community still gathers here. From there we explored the vast Ottoman castle, uncovered myths of Tenes, climbed to the windmills and ended the day with a ten-wine tasting. A perfect blend of history, stories and island wandering.
Trying to leave Marmara Adası and reach Çanakkale turns into a lesson in uncertain ferry schedules, guesswork and how travel really works in this part of Turkey.
The morning we left Istanbul it was throwing it down. The heat had dropped a little, but the feeling was now one of a steaming sauna. Last night, before returning to our hotel, we had commandeered a taxi driver to pick us up from our hotel this morning – no time for the inclusive breakfast,…
An 8 week trip – Istanbul to Athens itinerary following a real route across the Aegean by ferry and bus, with practical detail and key stops along the way.
I awoke this morning with a sense of anxiety as it dawned upon me that I only had one more day in Kavala. I had a mental list of things that I wanted to see and do and just didn’t have the appetite to do it all in a rush. If I’m going to visit…
