Category Archives: Mountains

Symi: going off-piste

Posted on October 2, 2013 by BarryH

The top of Vigla, the highest mountain on Symi, is always a little disappointing. There is a whole array of telecommunication masts on the adjoining peak, with a road for their construction and maintenance bulldozed on the south side. A … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged abandoned village, Aegean Sea, crags, goat paths, Greece, hiking, limestone crags, off-piste, Pedi Bay, rocks, rocky gullies, swimming, Symi, Symi harbour, treks, Vigla | Leave a comment

Greece: more high speed island hopping

Posted on September 28, 2013 by BarryH

Now that inter-island travel is both more rapid and more reliable it’s a viable option to hop from island to island for brief visits and sometimes when moving on it’s possible to make connexions without an overnight stay where there … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged archaeology, Crusader castle, ferries, footpaths, Greece, Greek Islands, hiking, Kalymnos, Kos, minarets, mosaics, Nisyros, Profitis Ilias Kalymnos, rock partridges, Symi, treks | Leave a comment

Nisyros: last glance before moving on

Posted on September 25, 2013 by BarryH

Many people ask which is my favourite island, which one out of the many I like and revisit I prefer the most. I’ve come to the conclusion that the answer is Nisyros. Nisyros is a volcano, far less well known … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged frescoes, Greece, lava, monasteries, Nikia, Nisyros, pumice caves, sea daffodils, sulphur fumaroles, Volcano, volcano island | 1 Comment

Nisyros: probably the most dramatic walk in the Aegean

Posted on September 22, 2013 by BarryH

I kid you not, this walk/trek/hike takes some beating. But it’s not a Sunday afternoon stroll in the park. Some short sections are loose scree, route-finding can be difficult, it’s sustained, and it’s wiltingly hot in summer. However, it’s a … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged footpaths, fumaroles, Greece, hiking, history, lava, lava bubbles, lava pinnacles, Nisyros, seismic activity, seismic fissures, sulphur, trekking, Volcano, walks | 3 Comments

Nisyros: Dragon Coast

Posted on September 9, 2013 by BarryH

The paper tablecloth in Irinis restaurant in the old square had a map of the island. Sipping my wine and waiting the few minutes before my fresh goats cheese, tomato and cucumber starter arrived, I glanced at it idly. Annotated … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged Coast, dragon caves, Dragon Coast, dragons, goat fences, Greece, lava, Nisyros | Leave a comment

Nisyros: cue volcano …. ACTION

Posted on September 7, 2013 by BarryH

Let’s face it! What do we expect from a volcano? Right! Some action!! Most would happily forego an eruption and spewing lava but a bit of gurgling and hissing does the trick. The Greek island of Nisyros is a volcano … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged Greece, Nisyros, Polyvotis crater, Stephanos crater, sulphur, volcanic caldera, volcanic craters, Volcano | 2 Comments

Nisyros: the Lost World, a trip into history

Posted on September 4, 2013 by BarryH

In most places the evidence of the every-day long-ago past has been wiped away or crumbled into the ground. Large, grand structures like Stonehenge remain but the places where the majority of people lived has long gone evidenced only by … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains | Tagged caldera, Emborios, footpaths, Greece, history, horseshoe bats, kalderimi, Mandraki, Nisyros, stone houses, Volcano | 4 Comments

Nisyros: on the lava trail

Posted on August 29, 2013 by BarryH

Nisyros is a volcano, classed as ‘potentially active’, and it is therefore not surprising that its rocks are entirely volcanic in origin. Perhaps most dramatic are the lavas. After a couple of days re-acclimatising to the heat I put together … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged agricultural terraces, caldera, caldera rim, Emborios, footpaths, Greece, hiking, holly oak, lava, lava bubble, lava pinnacle, lava pinnacles, lava trail, Medieval fortress, Nikia, Nisyros, Oros Diavatis, Parletia, Stephanos crater, trekking, Volcano | Leave a comment

Brecon Beacons: waterfalls and pleasures revisited.

Posted on August 16, 2013 by BarryH

For over two weeks now I’ve been non-stop busy in the garden. The physically most demanding job has been cutting hedges because some of them are 15-20 feet high. That means erecting, dismantling (English is sometimes very strange, why not … Continue reading →

Posted in Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Wales | Tagged adventure, aqua tramping, brecon beacons, brecon beacons national park, courgettes, fasolakia, french beans, gardening, Glossop, greek dishes, Hayfield, Hepste, litigation, Mellte, Nedd Fechan, Peak District, Pontypool Folly Tower, potatoes, Sgwd Isaf Clun-Gwyn, Sgwd Pannwr, Sgwd yr Eira, trig point, waterfall country, waterfalls | Leave a comment

Tilos: images, looking back.

Posted on August 9, 2013 by BarryH

I’m back home now and trying to sort out my garden and come to terms with the vagaries of British weather. The vegetables would have shrivelled and died if a friend hadn’t watered them for me in the heat and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Greece, Landscape, Mountains, Nature | Tagged castles, cliffs, courgettes, drought, flotsam and jetsam, french beans, frescoes, gardening, Greece, Megalo Horio, Mikro Horio, mountain spring, mountains, nature, Nisyros, potatoes, rain, St Christopher, Symi, Tilos | Leave a comment