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!