Greek Flora

We had the fauna in the last post, so here's the flora, with love from Greece...

Pomegranate

Oleander

Not sure of this one!

Cockscomb

Amorgos

Wild strawberry

Lupin

Orchid

Bougainvillea

All Greek Creatures Great And Small

Some of my favourites snapped on Evia....

Friendly horse

Noble steads

There were cats everywhere!

Haughty feline

Cute kitten

This pup loved the beach!

Tortoise spotted in the Styra Valley 

Curious sheep

Basking lizard

Beautiful butterfly - I was so thrilled I caught her (on camera)

Greek To Me....

Back to warmer climes for a while, with a bit more about my holiday in Greece last Autumn.

The island of Evia is a walkers’ paradise, little known outside of Greece. Old stone paths connect quaint villages tucked away on the slopes of the mountains.  There are ancient ruins, old Roman marble quarries, tiny little hill top churches and beautiful, deserted beaches to be explored. After a hard day of hiking, it was back to our hotel in Karystos, where traditional tavernas along the harbour front vied for our custom, serving up delicious salads, fresh fish and moussaka.

We hiked below the peaks of Mount Ochi to Castello Rosso, a Fort of the 4th Crusade....

Castello Rosso seen from the aqueduct

View on the way up

Castello Rosso - read more about it here

View from Castello Rosso 

Little church

We climbed Mt Kliosi, to the ruins of the ancient Acropolis of Styra...

The evergreen valley of Styra

The ancient gate of Armenians' Castle - read more about it here

Top of the hill of St Nicolas

St Nicolas Church

View on the descent

We hiked higher up on the slopes of Mt Ochi, one of the sacred mountains in Greek mythology, where Olympic Zeus supposedly wedded goddess Hera.

View of the Mediterranean from Mount Ochi

Marble columns - abandoned at the end of the Roman Empire

Karystos harbour at sunset

Karystos harbour - twinkling lights of tavernas at twilight (say that three times fast!)

10 Things I learnt In Greece...

α. Evia, the second largest Greek island, is not on the mass tourism radar, so getting there involves a bit of journey.... an early flight to Athens, a fairly white-knuckled taxi ride to Rafina port, then a ferry to Marmari, followed by another white-knuckled taxi ride to our base in Karystos.

β. Greek taxi drivers have a rather cavalier attitude to a) speed restrictions, b) overtaking into oncoming traffic, and c) the luggage limitations imposed by the size of their car boots.

That's our luggage precariously balanced in the back of an Athens taxi

γ. Eating Greek salad in Greece may sound like a culinary cliche... but I have never tasted any salad that good before! Ditto thick, creamy Greek yogurt drizzled with dark, natural honey... delicious!

δ. It's worth being up early enough to catch the sunrise, when you're greeted with this.....

ε. And Greek sunsets are not bad either.....

ς. It's also worth a long, hot hike, along a steep path to get to a deserted beach like this....

ζ. I don't always see things in black and white. In Greece, things are often blue and white though....

 Karystos Church

η. I have a bit of a fascination for dilapidation....

θ. Chivalry is far from dead - point in case, my darling husband building a make-shift bridge so that I did not have to get my feet wet crossing a stream...

ι.  'Aquaholic' is a fabulous name for a boat!