Molivos on Lesvos

The SeaHorse Hotel Molivos

The SeaHorse Hotel Molivos

Molivos Castle

Petrified Stump

SL in Petrified Forest

We arrived in Mitilene, the port town and capital of the island of Lesvos, and were met by Peter who gave us our rental car. We have a car for our first day to get our luggage to the Sea Horse Hotel in Molivos, then we switch to a motorcycle/scooter. Turns out we save about E40 on taxi fare that way.

We are not doing our travels with a checklist mentality, but if we were, that checklist would have 10 Greek islands on it: Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Paros, Naxos, Milos, Sifnos, Serafos, Fologandros, and now Lesvos. Although it is still early days,both Sweet Lorraine (SL) and I agree that Molivos, where we are staying, is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been.

The town is situated on a small mountain topped by a dramatic medieval castle, built by the Byzantines . The original castle which this one replaced, was conquered by none other than Achilles during the Trojan war. There are still ancient ruins scattered around the town including impressive polygonal walls and a few giant holes where archaeologists have begun their slow work.

The town of Molyvos itself is built of stone houses and shops which surround the castle and follow the coast to one of the most beautiful harbors in Greece.

The Sea Horse hotel is run by Stella and Dmitri, two of the hardest working people we have met. The hotel itself sits in the harbour with stunning views from every room, and the restaurant is on the dock with fishing boats tied up all around. As you eat dinner, we watch the fishermen in their tiny, brightly coloured boats coming and going. Yesterday's dinner was 3 hours, entertained solely by the boats, the view and the ubiquitous cats.

Next day, we travelled on our scooter to the Petrified Forest about an hour and a half away. It is neither frightened, nor a forest, but the excavated remains of trees that have turned to solid rock. Our scooter was not running well, so we stopped on the way back and had bread, olives and shared a beer in the local taverna while they repaired the bike.

That night we went to the taverna next door where we met VanGellis, a bouszouki player who played until the wee hours of the morning. Sitting with us was George, who plays guitar, bouzouki, and has played all over Greece.

He and I made a pact to get together and jam asap!

Next day – Sometimes you are the hammer, and sometimes you are the nail!

Europe Trip 2012

Greek Guards at Syntagma

The Changing of the Guard

Plaka

Acropolis at Night

The Parthenon

It has come around to that time again, where Sweet Lorraine (SL) and I head off to Europe for a couple of months of adventure, experience and fun.  We hope you come along with us through this little blog. Please feel free to add comments and share with your traveling friends.
It has been a year of BIG changes, some happy, some sad, some  - well, different.
It has been just over 3 months since Lorraine's beautiful sister, Lisa, tragically ended her young life.  In some ways, it seems like yesterday, in some ways it seems years, but mostly, it seems unreal and unbelievable.  Happily, SL's mother, Kathy, now lives in Burlington with Lorraine's sister, Michelle, so we were all able to be together to prop each other up.  Thanks to Sandy, Brian, JB, Geoff, and everyone who helped us tunnel past that mountain. We could never get over it, but we got through it.
We sold our little Hobbithole in Burlington and moved to Grimsby – so far, we think it was a good decision – time will tell.
Our trip this year will include Lesvos, Sifnos, Paris France, various places in Tuscany, Italy, and Corsica.  We will be back on Sept 3.
We left Pearson airport and flew to Athens, where we took the bus to Syntagma Square.  After an afternoon nap we ate in Plaka, an artistic, historic, and cultural area near the Acropolis.  Our hotel had a beautiful view of the Parthenon from its rooftop patio where we enjoyed a nightcap gazing at the floodlit columns on the mountaintop.
Next day we watched the changing of the guard at Syntagma Square.  No disrespect intended to the Greek guards, but I couldn't help being reminded of ostriches in their plumage.  One would have to think they would all come down with shinsplints the way they goosestep on the hard pavement.
We then spent the afternoon a the Benaki museum, awed to be in the presence of art, pottery and jewelry that dated back thousands of years.  The highlight for me was Yoko Ono's jewelery, with a design called “Imagine Peace”.
After spending the day in Athens we headed to the port of Piraeus where we were told that we had out-bound tickets, no no return tickets on the ferry.  We'll let you know how THAT works!
Tomorrow we wake up in Lesvos!