No lunch to be had in Sigri we headed off in the direction of  Molivos our intended last stop for the day and hoped we would find something open on the way.

We stumbled on Antissa

Antissa is a traditional mountain village of Lesvos. Almost completely undeveloped, it sits on the side of a mountain. There is a large and beautiful platia (square) with three enormous platanos trees that I imagine make the village a very cool place to come on a hot summer’s day.

It was in this square we had lunch in a very friendly taverna where Grandma did all the cooking, serving and washing up.

  

Finally fed we headed on to Molyvos

Mithymna, or Molyvos as it was called during the Middle Ages, is an amazing town. When you pass through Petra and follow the coastal road you really are unprepared for the dramatic first view you get when you come around that last bend. Luckily there is a place to pull off where you can take it all in; the town is situated on a small mountain topped by the dramatic Castle of Mythymna built by the Byzantines.

These are some stock photos to give an indication of what it would be like in mid season:

   

Ours are more like a dreich day in the Western Highlands so I felt right at home.

     

Although out of season I was certainly taken by Lesvos Island and I think we might contemplate a cruise in the late Summer or perhaps Autumn after visting the North of Greece & Thessaloniki next year ……

Louise has always been a fan right from the start so who knows ?

At this point my adventurous streak kicked in and I convinced Louise & Nicolas to take the “wee road“ along the coast through the hills to Sigri, where we hoped to have some lunch.

Now I should know after the fiasco in Nisiros, earlier in the year, to avoid any sort of off road challenge, but I thought these roads would be OK as this is a tourist destination. Surely?  Eh maybe?  Eh no!

   

After what seems like hours of gut wrenching dirt track and potholes we eventually sited Sigri in the distance.

Just before Sigri is part of the Petrified Forrest

The Petrified Forest was formed 20 million years ago when a volcano exploded in this part of Northern Lesvos covering the entire area with ash and lava. Some of the trunks are 20 meters in length and 3 meters in diameter. The forest goes all the way to the sea and supposedly you can find pieces of petrified wood among the pebbles on the beaches of Sigri.

Aye,  But    We couldn’y find it, perhaps it was scared that day

 

The petrified wood is apparently just off to the right in the pictures above.

Just so as not to miss out on the overall experience here’s a pictutre of the one in the case at the Marina in Mytilini, together with Lily who appears totally underwhelmed by the geological forces at play across the eons of time.

   

Oh Lily you let me down !

Sigri is the land that time forgot, the most remote tourist destination in Greece. The village is a chaotic hodgepodge of summer houses, rent rooms and hotels clustered around a small fishing harbor, a Turkish castle, and the town beach. It looks to have an anchorage but a bit rock strewn would need to look closely at the charts and pilot, very pirturesque though.

  

We tried the free enty to the castle buy yes you guessed it ……..

Next on the agenda was Erresos

The landscape becomes lunar, with bare mountains and strange rock formations. Not much here besides goats, sheep and the world’s largest petrified forest.

 

The road forks and one leads to Sigri while the other leads to Eressos and Skala Eressos which brings in most of the tourist revenue for this part of Lesvos. You drive through the harsh landscape between mountains until you come to a huge green valley with a village at the top, Eressos. At the end of a long, narrow, straight road is Skala Eressos.

         

Our “Winter Photos”

You can see what this place would be like in season , I imagine busy but also happily car free

The birthplace of the poetess Sapho, and a Mecca-in-waiting for International lesbians, not to mention a popular weekend beach destination for the islanders. Skala Eressos has one of the most dramatic beaches in all of Greece and a line of cafes and restaurants on the waterfront,  traditional fish tavernas and alternative style bistro-cafes. Posters advertise shiatsu, yoga, various therapies.  I think in summer it would rival Mykonos and Santorini and probably a lot lot cheaper .

 

A  few stock photos from the summer season as a comparison

Many of the old Monasteries of Lesvos are still in use. Some have become destinations for pilgrimages while others carry on the spiritual tradions of long ago.

 

The approach and monks cells

           

Leimonos Monastery,  built in 1523 is a large cluster of buildings between Kaloni and Filia. It is an important spiritual center on the island with a museum, a library and social services. Overnight stays are possible. They have a festival here celebrating Ag. Ignatious on the second weekend of October.

But    Aye you’ve guessed it

The first necessity in the morning for the French or at Least Nicolas is a stop for “cafe” and it can’t just be anywhere it has to have “ambience et animation”. We managed to convince a desperate Nicolas to drive until we reached Kaloni; it was only 09:30!!

The main town, which you have to go through to get to Skala Kaloni if you are coming from Mytilini is the crossroads for the western and northern villages of the island. Kaloni is the regional capital and has a great deal of commercial and cultural activity.

  

We found a nice wee cafe that was up to Nicolas’s requirements, lol

Next up via a quick drive down to Scala Kaloni (Skala derives from landing place for boats, but think harbour of the town or even beach)

And apparently a visit to Skala Kaloni is not complete unless you have met their one legged pelican who spends his time wandering among the sun beds on the beach or relaxing in the shade. Like several villages in Lesvos, Skala Kaloni has adopted a pelican or perhaps it is the Pelican who has adopted Skala Kaloni. They come from North Africa and some of them decide that instead of making the long journey back, to take the easy life in Lesvos where fish is plentiful and food is cheap, much like many of the tourists who decide to make their home on the island do.

Yes you’ve guessed it

But   he wisnae there, lol,

We spent the next couple of weeks settling in, finding our feet, and of course trips to the vet and pet shops to get Lily sorted out with vaccinations, pet passport, litter tray, toys and all the paraphernalia required for our new crew. I’ll do a separate blog of her later.

Nicolas, as usual, goes back to France for the winter so we decided to hire a car for the three of us to visit the rest of the island before he went home and the weather was still relatively good.

“The lush, green island of Lesvos, or Mytilini as it is also called, is like no other Greek island and perhaps no other place in the world. It is the third largest of the islands in Greece behind Crete and Evia. Virtually unaffected by the mass tourism that has turned other islands into amusement parks, Lesvos is the perfect place to visit for people who want to experience the real Greece”

The above is plagiarised from an online guide introduction to Lesbos, he continues ……

“For the Greek Island traveller who is worried about not having enough to do, Lesvos is the perfect destination with amazing food, beautiful beaches, pine and hardwood forests, rivers and over a million olive trees”

I am sure that in season the narrative is true. Unfortunately however, in November, it is shut.

Being used to the wild expanses of the West Coast of Scotland with little but sheep for company it certainly didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the trip, and in many ways, despite closed amenities, having the place to yourself added to the experience.

We had earmarked a sort of clockwise exploration visiting Kalloni, through Parakila and Agra, stopping at Eressos and Sigri (for the Petrified Forrest), Antissa and finaly Molyvos before returning to Mytilini

If you follow the map our planned route was NW from Mytilini skirting the top of the first big lagoon, Kolpos Yeras, (our 1st landfall) and the second bigger one, the Gulf of Kalloni before turning SW etc.

It is a big island as you can see from the relative scale of the nearby Turkish mainland and the Greece insert , so you would probably, no definitely, need more than a day, perhaps a week or two, to do it justice. Maybe we will do, Siga Siga as the saying goes.

The end of the planning and “Nicolas farewell meal” on Camira. We were not hiring the car until the Friday so the rum was OK, and any event might have helped, as “Jaques Laffitte” wants to drive.

Mytilini Castle

In the interim we visited Mytilini Castle on foot. It’s not far – an easy walk around the main harbour from the Marina.

The castle located on the north side of Mytilini and overlooks the city is one of the largest in the Eastern Mediterranean. Its foundations were laid during the time of Justinian on the ruins of an even older fortification which can still be seen in sections of the walls. It has been used and rebuilt by the Romans, Byzantines, Venetians and the Turks and is now used in the summer for cultural events. There is a Roman or Byzantine reservoir with a 4,000 cubic meter capacity. There are also underground tunnels which cover a large area beneath the castle and the hill.

But : It shuts down in Sept and doesn’t open until April ……. ah well maybe later.

Today is independance day in Mytilini and no alien spaceships in sight. However there were a few fighter aircraft performing spectacular and loud low flying demonstations across the bay.

We headed down to see the goings on and parades. These parades were to honour the liberation of the island in 1912 from the Turks by Admiral Koundouriotis and his fleet, after which the island was united with the rest of Greece.

Its great to see the pride they have. 

   

The harbourside is jam packed and all available advantage points are taken

including sitting “wi yer heid” in a phone booth.

However once it was over it was over the streets were deserted and everyone dissapeared

 

and a happy independance day to you

Independance day night time views of Mytilini