The first thing we did every morning after breakfast was to walk along Pera Panda. It's a 2.5 kilometre walk by the sea, embracing the pine woods that are situated across the bay.
The views are fantastic.
All along the walk, sandwiched between the rocks, are tiny, tiny sandy bays, with steps leading down, where I presume people swim in the summer. The locals call them skoules
This one has a single umbrella and changing cabin
Each bay has a name - this one is called Monia. The plaques helpfully provide a drawing of the bay
Plenty of benches to sit and admire the views.
This one is called
Monia Mikri, Small Monia, as opposed to simply Monia that we saw earlier
Reading in between admiring the view.
I didn't have a book with me, but I sat here for a while and absorbed the beauty around me: on my right the mainland
and on the left Galaxidi
During one of our walks we entered the pine wood - luscious green vegetation, something we miss in the summer when everything dries up
the whole of the forest floor is covered with wild flowers, particularly poppies at this time of year
it was enchanting
reminiscent of a Monet painting.
Looking closer
After a while we came upon, what else in Greece? a little church
and a windmill which is now a bar
Lots of other species of wild flower too,
These look like miniature bluebells
The windmill was as far as we could go so we retraced our steps
and continued on our way
until we reached the figure of a woman and her two children, gazing at the sea and waving goodbye
It's a memorial to the Wife of the Seafarer.
The pine trees are fresh and healthy
looking closer
Right after the sculpture, a small island
On the forest floor are some plants that I can't place - flower blubs, I think. I wonder what this place will look like in a few weeks' time
On the other side of the road some more blue flowers
We soon arrived at much larger beach - this is where most people come to swim, the locals told us
rather than this much larger beach which is at the end of the walk
which is also where the pine wood ends and the olives begin.
On our last day, on the way back from our walk, we came across this swimmer
change of stroke.
As we turned the corner, Galaxidi would come into view
one last look at the pine wood and the wild flowers on the ground
more poppies
a misshapen pine trunk, beaten into this shape by the winds
and back to Galaxidi.
A delightful quiet before the crowds of Easter!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. Talking of Easter, this will be my first one in Greece for quite a long time - looking forward to it, and looking forward to a quieter, calmer Athens.
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