Freya & Us

We enjoyed our anchorage in Meloyi so much we stayed another night. A very lazy day on board going ashore for a walk around the bay and surrounding hills in the afternoon and another fantastic full moon later. The following morning, after a long early morning swim, we moved around the corner to Skala Patmos and moored stern-to on the quay - 2nd attempt as the anchor didn't dig in first time. We love Patmos. It's very touristy but definitely one of the most beautiful Greek islands and so well looked after and clean - they even have recycling in the correct bins!

We took a taxi up to the Chora and spent most of the day just wandering, starting with coffee and possibly the best view in Greece. We didn't go in the monastery this time but walked through the narrow streets enjoying views around every corner and the wonderful colours of bougainvillea. I think most of the houses are now holiday homes and so it isn't 'real' but, again, it's so pretty, well kept and clean. Finally, we wound our way down the rough cobbled paths to town. That evening we enjoyed a lovely meal in a 'proper' restaurant ie not a taverna, delicious but not cheap.

The island is tiny but we felt we weren't doing it justice staying in Skala Patmos and so we hired a car for the day. Within an hour we were at the end of the island! There was spectacular scenery everywhere and we found beautiful coves for a swim (not Paul, obviously!), had lunch in a small taverna, found a huge rock on the beach where we climbed, literally, to a hermits cave and visited the supermarket to stock up.

We had one final day on Patmos to relax before moving on - it didn't quite turn out like that! We'd read that Patmos had an acropolis and although there wasn't very much remaining given our like of piles of old stones it had to be worth a visit. We weren't very sure where it was other than it had to be up a hill. After walking up a hill in town we were pleasantly surprised to find a sign pointing up. We soon ran out of town but the path, although rough, was ok. It got a bit more obscure as we climbed but we felt we were going in the right direction until we noticed old walls above us and no obvious way up. We weren't going to be deterred and so clambered/climbed until we were on top and a little concerned how we would get down again! There really wasn't much left apart from a few walls that must've been part of the base but it was interesting and the views amazing. Needless to say there was a small church up there, beautifully maintained, but the path to it seemed to go off for miles in the wrong direction. There had to be another way down - without ropes! After walking around the top we could see a path way below us and had to result to clambering down, partly on our bottoms. On safely reaching the bottom none the worse for wear apart from scratched legs we headed for the beach for a cooling swim before a much deserved ice-cream and then a glass of wine.

Lipsoi next. We headed for the beautiful bay of Katsadia (aka Kouloura). The sea was an amazing blue and so still and peaceful. There were quite a few boats anchored but there's plenty of room and so all was fine except that it was so quiet and peaceful that we could hear every noise from the other boats as it travelled over water - very annoying! In the morning we headed around the corner to Lipsoi town and the quay where we moored stern to. We've been before, a bit later in October and it's been really empty but not now! The boats poured in until the quay was full. We weren't expecting this!

After that first night, most of the boats left so it's now more like we remembered it, which is just as well. We are having a few peaceful days here, taking some gentle strolls and long coffees as Lorraine's back has decided to play up a little. Tonight the plan is to head into the village to one of our favourite restaurants in the Aegean, called "Manoli's Tastes", but if the drizzle continues we might delay that until tomorrow.