Category Archives: Hiking

Nisyros: rambling through history

Posted on October 7, 2021 by BarryH

A week of trekking around Nisyros.  So much to see.  So many familiar places to revisit.  Such a warm welcome from so many people. What impressed us first when we arrived on a day trip from Tilos in 2001, and … Continue reading →

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From the Hot Rock to The Hot Spot

Posted on September 19, 2021 by BarryH

After three weeks on the Hot Rock, I took advantage of a new ferry service and travelled to Nisyros for a week.  I have done this for a number of years but it has been hampered by the fact that … Continue reading →

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In the groove

Posted on September 12, 2021 by BarryH

On the Hot Rock for just over two weeks and getting into the swing of things. Walking in the mountains every day, increasingly long distances, increasingly strenuous, interspersing occasional easier days to allow recovery before the next big hit.  My … Continue reading →

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At last !!

Posted on August 29, 2021 by BarryH

After three failed attempts to return to Symi this year, I have finally made it. A cancelled flight in May because of the pandemic was followed by another at the beginning and then another at the end of June.  I … Continue reading →

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Rambling through the grey and rising above it …… occasionally

Posted on February 8, 2021 by BarryH

I’ve written before on the psychology of time, about which I read initially in Thomas Mann’s book ‘The Magic Mountain’ when I was in the 6th form and more recently in Claudia Hammond’s ‘Time Warped’, published 2012, exactly 100 years … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Weather, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Greece, Symi: Remains of the past and a hidden valley

Posted on December 29, 2020 by BarryH

There are parts of Symi which are rarely seen but which at one time were hubs of activity.  I have long taken an interest on going ‘off-piste’, wandering around away from marked footpaths. In recent years I have taken an … Continue reading →

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Rising above the grey

Posted on December 5, 2020 by BarryH

Rather than ushering in the Mediterranean to the UK, climate change is bringing increasing greyness interspersed with ‘extreme weather events’.  Gradual descent into winter in November used to be marked by a week of hard frosts, sometimes with temperatures lower … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Health and humour, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Weather, Winter | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Locked-down in Wales

Posted on November 4, 2020 by BarryH

Since I arrived home from Greece in early September there have been various shades of lockdown.  It would be more pleasant and safer to have stayed on Symi but unfortunately not to be.  I would have been tempted to stay … Continue reading →

Posted in Autumn, Grey Britain, Grumpy Old Men, Health and humour, Hiking, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Pontypool, Reflections, Wales, Weather | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Greece, Symi: there ……. and back!’

Posted on September 14, 2020 by BarryH

Despite a few nervous twitches as the UK government had Greece on the ‘watch list’ for potentially banning all except ‘essential travel’ I made it safely back to Symi, via Athens and Rhodes. Great to be there again.  Some things … Continue reading →

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Virtual Symi: Summer solstice and Covid optimism

Posted on June 22, 2020 by BarryH

Summer solstice, 21 June, and for the last 10 years I have been in Greece to celebrate it.  With the sun at its highest, at the zenith (13.00 with adjustment for summer time) I’ve made a point of taking a … Continue reading →

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