Tag Archives: Greece

Canadian Rockies and Greek Islands: looking back, looking forward

Posted on March 9, 2016 by BarryH

So far 2016 has had its share of setbacks. A minor viral infection in January which kept me indoors in Banff for two day and impaired activities for the rest of the stay. A skiing accident resulting in a dislocated … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Nature, Photography, Reflections, Spring, Wildlife, Winter | Tagged Banff, Bow River, Bow River Falls, Canada, canadian rockies, Forty Mile Creek, Greece, Lappatoniou Castle, Snow and ice, squirrel, Symi, thermal springs, Vermilion Lakes | 2 Comments

Banff, Canadian Rockies: snow fabulous, snow fool like an old fool

Posted on February 8, 2016 by BarryH

I learnt years ago from white-water and sea kayaking that the most likely time to capsize, become a cropper, was on the flat bit of river after the difficult rapid or waterfall or in the shallows after getting through the … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, Landscape, Mountains, Photography, Uncategorized, Winter | Tagged AC joint separation, Canada, canadian rockies, dislocated shoulder, feague, Greece, Horologicon, Lake Louise, lost words, Mark Forsythe, mountains, photography, Sea kayaking, skiing, snow, Sunshine Ski Area, Sunshine Village, uhtceare, white water kayaking | 2 Comments

Kalymnos: peace and tranquillity at the end of summer

Posted on December 14, 2015 by BarryH

I finished my summer in Greece with a short stay on Kalymnos. Its population of 16,000, making it the third most populous island in the Dodecanese group after Rhodes and Kos, is considerably increased in the summer by tourists. However, … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, new technology, Photography | Tagged autumn crocus, broadband, castles, Emborios, flowers, Greece, hiking, Hora, Kalymnos, Kastri, nature, photography, rock climbing, Symi | Leave a comment

Greece by bus

Posted on November 26, 2015 by BarryH

After years of hopping around the Greek islands I decided in 2012 that it was time to take a look at the mainland. By bus. Interest sparked by reading ‘The Mani’ by WW2 hero Patrick Leigh Fermor, made the wild, … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Reflections, Wildlife | Tagged books, Greece, Greece by bus, Meteora, photography, The Mani, travel by bus, writing | 5 Comments

Nisyros: Pirates of the Aegean and soft rock

Posted on October 31, 2015 by BarryH

Once upon a time the people of the small fishing village of Palloi on Nisyros, so it is said, got fed up with being raided by the Pirates of the Aegean, upped sticks and moved from their harbour-side homes to … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography, Wildlife | Tagged Emborios, Greece, hiking, history, Landscape, lava, Mediterranean shag, Nisyros, Palloi, photography, Pirates of the Aegean, pumice, sea daffodils, underground church | 3 Comments

Nisyros: Heritage Island

Posted on October 23, 2015 by BarryH

When I was young, summer holidays were a week at my grandparents’ in a small mining village in rural Carmarthenshire. I took every opportunity to escape the boredom of sitting around the house and walk the mile or so up … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Monmouthshire, Mountains, Photography, Wales | Tagged barrel-arched building, Greece, heritage, history, Karpathos, Nifios, Nisyros, Olymbos, photography, Rural Carmarthenshire, Siones, St Fagan's National History Museum, subterranean church, Symi, thermal springs, Tilos, windmills | 5 Comments

Nisyros: rocking round the rim

Posted on October 5, 2015 by BarryH

People don’t visit Nisyros for the beaches. There are beaches, very pleasant for a swim after a trek in the mountains, but not of the best. People visit Nisyros drawn by the allure of ‘The Volcano’, by which they mean … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Mountains, Photography | Tagged Agios Stavros monastery, Breccia, caldera, Emborios, Greece, hiking, hochlakos mosaic, kalderimi, lava, lava bubbles, lava pinnacles, lava sculpture, Nikia, Nisyros, Paleocastro, Parleta, photography, Stephanos crater, trekking, volcanic conglomerate, Volcano | 2 Comments

Nisyros: waiting for it to blow

Posted on September 14, 2015 by BarryH

It is more accurate to describe Nisyros as a volcano than as ‘volcanic’. Lots of bits of countries are ‘volcanic in that they are have areas of either lava (cooled magma) or igneous rock (rock modified by super-heating) … like … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Nature, Photography | Tagged active volcano, eruptions, fumaroles, Greece, hiking, Hippocrates, Kos, monitoring, Nisyros, photography, Polyvotis Craters, Stephanos crater, sulphur crystals, thermal springs, Volcano, Yialli | 7 Comments

Nisyros: giving in to addiction

Posted on September 4, 2015 by BarryH

Some places are addictive. Nisyros is one of them. My wife and I visited the island first on a day trip by high speed cat from nearby Tilos in 2001. Along with the herd we took the bus to The … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, History, Landscape, Mountains, Photography | Tagged Alexandros crater, barrel-arched houses, fumaroles, Greece, hiking, kalderimi, Kato Laki, lava bubble, lava plug, Nisyros, Paleocastro, photography, Polyvotis crater, sulphur, Volcano | Leave a comment

Symi and the Glamorgan coast: compare and contrast

Posted on August 23, 2015 by BarryH

We were taught in school to prepare for exam questions of the type ‘Compare and contrast’ …. ‘The Hundred Years War and the Blitzkrieg’, ‘The East Coast of England and a South Sea Atoll’, ‘the character of Jane Austen’s Emma … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Hiking, Landscape, Photography, Wales | Tagged cliffs, Glamorgan Heritage Coast, Greece, hiking, limestone, Macross, Monksnash, Nisyros, photography, Plough and Harrow, rock pools, Severn Estuary, Symi, tidal range, Wales, wave-cut platforms | 2 Comments