Category Archives: Reflections

Leaving Athens: the end of the trip

Posted on July 1, 2012 by BarryH

I woke up ahead of my alarm going off on Friday with one  of those crystal-clear wakenings which renders the ‘snooze’ button pointless. Written large in the early-morning grogginess was the inescapable message “Going home today”.  That stark message meant … Continue reading →

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Areopoli to Athens: tower houses to tower blocks

Posted on June 30, 2012 by BarryH

Thursday and unfortunately time to leave the Mani.  The staff of the family-run hotel, the ‘Areos Polis’ always very helpful and obliging, had arranged the full range of breakfast for me an hour early so that I could be on … Continue reading →

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Gerolimenas to Areopoli: things new, things familiar, and the Exit Strategy

Posted on June 27, 2012 by BarryH

Tuesday, the setting in motion of the Exit Strategy to get me back to the UK ….  and, a new experience for this trip, I was going back to a place I had been before!  Until today every single place … Continue reading →

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Areopoli: from above the clouds to below ground and time warping

Posted on June 21, 2012 by BarryH

Tuesday, my first full day in Areopoli, was really something.  So was Wednesday!! The Plan-for-the-Day was to walk to the Pyrgos Dhirou caves, one of the major tourist attractions not only of Mani but of Greece outside of Athens.  I … Continue reading →

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Kardamili: bats, belfries, frescoes, gorges …. and on the edge!

Posted on June 17, 2012 by BarryH

Very sober thinking as I set out for my walk on Saturday.  For a start there was a raging argument going on in the coffee shop across the road when I got up, and they weren’t debating England’s 3-2 victory over Sweden … Continue reading →

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Kardamili: musings on the way ahead

Posted on June 10, 2012 by BarryH

Friday evening and the clientele at the Maistros coffee bar next to my apartment, where I regularly get my caffeine fix, erupted into spontaneous cheering and applause.  Greece had equalised against Poland in the 2012 European Cup.  At last something … Continue reading →

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Kardamili: another perspective

Posted on June 9, 2012 by BarryH

I knew that my legs were tired after the last three days walking.  It’s surprising how much it takes out of you walking the bed of a gorge.  The altitude rise is not very dramatic but you can’t get into … Continue reading →

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Meteora: more monasteries, more rocks, more perspectives

Posted on May 16, 2012 by BarryH

The weather forecasts for Meteora on Tuesday had all agreed that it would be grey and wet.  Local opinion also agreed.  As if to thumb the nose at the experts, it wasn’t.  It started off bright and then clouded over … Continue reading →

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The tyranny of buying presents … but things are brightening up

Posted on March 22, 2012 by BarryH

Let’s be brutally honest.  Buying presents isn’t a chore, it’s a nightmare, a tyranny which has us enslaved.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t want to give presents, I actually enjoy giving things which people will enjoy … Continue reading →

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Health, fitness and Welsh Poo Sticks

Posted on March 13, 2012 by BarryH

I’ve been thinking about health and fitness recently.  I long ago concluded that if every time I had some minor ache or pain I stopped exercising I would soon end up doing very little.  Instead I adjust what I do … Continue reading →

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