Greece – Kiwis Do Fly

A Little Bit Of Stress Is Good For You

Published on January 24, 2024 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

Greece to Belgium and two countries in between.

We seem to be encountering more mishaps, or stressful moments as we travel these days. I am not sure whether it is all “Post COVID” fallout, or just that we are getting older, but we are finding that travel is not as easy as it used to be. And it is so much more expensive.

We flew from Brisbane to Zurich via Doha with no problems at all. Leaving Germany to get back to Zurich (train ride) was fraught with stress, but we got there on time and made it to our flight to Athens.

To read that story, click here – https://kiwisdofly.blog/2024/01/10/be-careful-what-you-wish-for/

Getting to Leros Island, in the Dodecanese island group, there are 2 options. A 10 hour ferry ride from Piraeus or a flight on a 30 (or so) seater plane 3 or 4 times a week – depending on the weather. We chose the flight and it was perfect, on time, smooth and spectacular views as we flew into Leros. We could recognise the whole island from above and got pretty excited to be coming back.

Our awesome house owner came to pick us up and we fell instantly in-love with the island all over again. We were here at the end of 2019 for 7 weeks doing this same house sit and we loved it. It is so wonderful to see Michael and all the cats again.

Life on the island has not changed a lot. We felt instantly at home and spent many hours walking the tracks and hills, finding new routes and going over old favourites. The scenery is fabulous and the hospitality is still very Greek – ie so welcoming and generous. Chris did a bit of snorkelling and found more WWII relics including a pistol thingie and many bullets.

Sadly all our house sits have to come to an end at some point. The weather had been really nice, around 16-18 degC most day until the last week. The temperature dropped and the wind came up. 5 days out from our departure, we were studying the weather forecast. We had booked the plane to leave on Saturday, the forecast was not looking good. We had 2 nights accomodation in booked in Athens and a flight to Paris booked for Monday.

What are we going to do if the flight is cancelled? Just to put it into perspective, we have been on the island and experienced 4 departures, 2 were cancelled, so that is 50% chance of being cancelled and the weather was not looking good. We found there was a ferry leaving on Thursday night and Sunday night. If out flight was cancelled then we could get the next flight on Tuesday or the ferry on Sunday, but either way we would lose our accommodation and miss the flight to Paris.

Thursday morning we made the decision to leave the island early. We took the overnight ferry on Thursday night and arrived in Athens a day early, but at lease we got there. We had a fabulous extra day in Athens and on Saturday we watched to see if the flight we were supposed to be on went ……..it did not! We made a good call! But how stressful was that for the last few days on Leros?

Athens is a great city, we loved being there and it turned out to be a bonus that we had an extra day. The Parthenon and the Acropolis were breath-taking. The history and ancientness is almost incomprehensible.

Next stop Paris. Then a very easy trip from Charles De Gaulle through the Metro system to meet a BlaBlaCar in the city centre – I think the Arc de Triomphe was right above us! Our driver took us to Chatellerault. Yes! We are going back to the Chateau!

Read our Fairy tail castle story here – https://kiwisdofly.blog/2019/11/15/our-fairy-tale-in-france/

I cant really describe how wonderful it was to be back. We feel very much part of this family after having 3 months here with them in 2019. They have been super busy the last four years and there are many changes and improvements, and the whole estate is looking amazing! We met the current house sitters and had 3 days of wonderful company, food and lots of laughs.

But, again, it is time to move on. Train, Train, bus – all the way to Amsterdam. When we get to Paris we have 90 minutes to get from Montparnasse to Bercy Seine, google says it is a 30 minute journey. Cool, we can make it. Oh no, here comes our friend “travel stress” The train from Chatellerault, on time. Train to from Poitiers to Paris – delayed 45 minutes. Oh crap, we have a good idea how to get from Montparnasse to Bercy, but it will be 11pm and dark. Sitting at the station, tap tap tapping our feet just praying it all works out. The bus from Paris is an overnight bus, leaving at midnight, if we miss this, then what? Tap tap tap….. 45 minutes late becomes 35 minutes late – yes! And once we were on the train, the driver must have put his foot down because we were only 25 minutes late getting in. phew. we did it!

The Metro system in Paris is so easy. The sign posts and information is so clear, we made it to Bercy Sein Bus station in plenty of time.

The bus ride was great, Blablabus this time, really comfortable seats and we both managed to get a bit of sleep.

Our friends were there at 0630 to pick us up and oh what a fabulous weekend we had. There was still some snow in Holland, which made everything look so beautiful. We did some sight-seeing, saw clogs being made, saw loads of windmills – even went inside one! Saw a frozen lake, watched Mama Mia (well the girls did, the boys went to the brewery!) and ate a lot of wonderful food! So the motto of the weekend was “I am so full – or am I just still full” Again, so wonderful to see friends we have not seen in 4 years.

But yes, it is time to move on again! This time down to Brussels to meet the plane to London. Denis drove us all the way from Holland which was over and above, but we appreciated it so much. A rainy day in Brussels, a few beers and of course frits (French fries) and that is it, our 90 days here in Europe is done and dusted.

Fun Fact

French Fries actually originate in Belgium. Yes its a fact! During WWI, American soldiers stationed in Belgium discovered these fried potatos. But because most people in the southern part of Belgium spoke French, they ended up calling these little slices of heaven “French Fries”

Thank you for reading our story!

Is This The Caribbean Or The Mediterranean?

Published on October 1, 2022 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

One of the most fun things about travelling is trying new cuisine.

We have a Kiwi friend Kim, who has lived here on Vieques for nearly two decades. He comes for coffee fairly regularly and I could just about guarantee that every time, we end up talking about food. Some of the conversation is about what we miss from home and remembering the things we had as kids – Back in the Day. But more often than not its about the cuisine we have sampled with our travels around the world. If you were to sit outside our window during these conversations you would hear a lot of groaning and sighing as we all reminisce about the flavours we have tried and loved over the years. Thai food is up there, with their distinct pungent flavours, right alongside the amazing bread and cheese of France! But lately Souvlaki and Feta cheese has been on our minds and a plan was hatched.

To read more about our food experiences – check out the link below https://kiwisdofly.blog/2020/01/25/when-in-rome/

So here we are, in the middle of the Caribbean and we managed to pull off the best Greek dinner! What made it even more spectacular was that we found enough of the right ingredients to make it work.

Sarah found feta cheese for a Greek inspired couscous/chick pea salad, with the fresh flavours of cucumber and lemon. Kim found real Greek yoghurt to make enough Tzatziki to last the rest of the month. Betsy even found filo pastry and made the most amazing filo cones with Greek style custard and cream filling and orange zest – yes oranges!

There are no Greek style pita bread here on the island so we made our own, with great success I might add! Add some home made hummus and babaganoush made with zucchini’s (only had to visit 2 stores to get those) and sliced aubergine – BOOM!

Pork marinated in oregano, lemon and olive oil was our souvlaki, char-grilled perfectly and served on a bed of red onions.

We dressed in white or blue for the occasion-a huge success, our Greek friends would be proud!.

If you have read any of my other stories you will have already heard me say that it is the people we meet while travelling that make this adventure so special. The meeting of cultures, beliefs, traditions and outlooks. We had this around the table last night, American, Irish, Cuban, Puerto Rican and of course us Kiwis (which actually outnumbered the rest) fascinating conversations, hilarious stories. Life time friends have been made here and our lives are so much richer for it. It will be hard to leave in a few weeks, but sadly, that is part of the deal.

So much fun! Who would ever think we could pull off a full on Greek meal on this tiny island of Vieques in the middle of the Caribbean!

Note: Not plates were harmed / broken in the making of this story!

Greece Is The Word

Published on February 10, 2020February 22, 2020 by kiwisdofly25 Comments

Sitting here at Athens airport waiting on the flight to Rome, I am filled with conflicting emotion. We have really fallen for Greece, both the islands of Leros and Crete, our two wonderful islands in the sun with the most friendly people. But we can’t be too sad because we are off to another adventure, with new people, food and paces to explore.

Crete has been a lot of fun! We have to remember that it is winter here so it can be a bit slower than it is in the summer months, though the weather is still very agreeable. We had sunshine most days and the island looked so wonderful and bright, temps got up to 19° C so very pleasant indeed.

We flew into Chania and stayed for 5 nights. We had a room right on the water-front, the location was amazing with a little deck looking out to sea. The evenings were a bit cool to sit out there for long, but we did our best!

Chania has an old Venetian port and a walled city. The old town was so cute with its narrow streets and wonky buildings. But the most amazing thing we found was the mountains behind. We met a lovely lady in Leros who said, don’t forget to look behind you when you are in Chania, the mountains are amazing. She didn’t tell us that they would be covered in snow and be quite so spectacular, she wanted that to be a surprise, and a surprise it was! You could be forgiven to think you were somewhere like Switzerland, the sight caught our breath every time we looked behind us! You felt like you could almost reach out and touch them!

We did a lot of walking in Chania, but that is easy, everything is in walking distance. And if it is not then the bus system is very efficient. Though we did always seem to be the last people on the bus! Again, a lot of English is spoken so that makes a huge difference.

We took a bus out to Souda Bay one afternoon and then walked the 2 km to the war graves cemetery. During the battle of Crete in 1941, 1000’s of brave New Zealand, Australian and British soldiers were killed. It was a very emotional place, we both felt bewildered when we saw the shear number of silver fern gravestones. Of the 1527 graves, 446 were New Zealanders, that is almost a third. This is the biggest war cemetery we have seen. We were there until twilight, it was very moving.

Leaving the cemetery we found a small local restaurant, not so much English here! We were shown the food which had been cooked and chose what we wanted, delicious beef with tomato sauce. Such friendly, hospitable people. That is a big part of what we love about Greece, the people!! Just amazing.

We took a trip out to Maleme which was the location of a huge battle during the war. The air strip there was a target to control and the battle went for days. We walked through the olive groves and came to the German war cemetery, we were glad to pay respect to these fallen soldiers too, they also had heavy losses.

A trip out to Galatas, Where New Zealand soldiers made a stand and held the Germans off while the Allies could escape. So well the kiwis were thought of, that the locals named a street after them! We have read so many stories of bravery by our boys. It is so important to remember the sacrifices these family’s made for us to live in the world we live today.

One particular story really touched me, of a soldier from the Maori Battalion. After 7 days of fighting near Souda Bay, they were exhausted and hungry, the Germans were approaching from the west. As they made contact, Private Aupouri ran out from his defence position wielding a Bren gun like a Taiaha (Traditional Maori spear) And did the Haka! (Traditional Maori war dance) at this they all rose up, NZ and Australian, yelling defiantly and charged as one. The Germans fled, overwhelmed by the ferocity of the attack! For 1000m they pushed them back through the olive grove to open ground then withdrew back to their defence position at “42nd street” This temporarily delayed the advance and allowed 1000’s of Allies more time to get across the White mountain range to the evacuation point on the south of the island. Very sad to note that Aupouri survived the charge but was later killed in Egypt.

I am certain there are many many more stories of tremendous bravery, on all sides, stories that will never be told, very sad.

Did you know …. The Greeks have been Mariners for around 6000 years! Unbelievable!

Heraklion was a great surprise, what a lovely city! Big modern city but very much still village like. Many narrow streets with cobble paths but also lots of open spaces, squares and parks. There is a great atmosphere, so many cafes and restaurants and lots of people socialising, and believe it or not, usually drinking coffee day and night! They love iced coffee or frappe as they call it. Heraklion also has a Venetian harbour with a harbour wall which stretches out 2.5kms, which we did walk one afternoon. There are many monuments and historical buildings.

There doesn’t seem to be as many buildings in bad repair as in Chania, maybe just more re-building done. There are a lot of derelict buildings in Chania. We also noticed that in Leros and read that a lot of the houses that were destroyed during the war were never re-built.

The archaeological museum in Heraklion and the Knossos palace are worth a visit. The Minoan people of around 2500 – 1600BC were believed to be the first great civilisation of Europe, a really advanced race and it is not really known what happened to them. They have found so much evidence of their existence which is fascinating. Mythology and history do overlap a bit and in the museum there is a family tree of the God Zeus. The ruins of Knossos Palace is incredible, the work that has been done from the late 1800’s through to today, to uncover all the artifices and foundations of this amazing settlement is incredible. There is a theory that around 1600BC, a massive earthquake shook the island of Santorini which caused a tsunami which was large enough to wipe out all the Minoan cities throughout the region, but this is not proven. It is even suggested that this civilisation was in fact Plato’s Atlantis……

227 of the 6000 Greek islands are inhabited! Google says “a truly unique phenomenon!”
We have been to two!

We found Greece to be The land of wonderful clear air, beautiful friendly people and deliciously fresh food! We look forward to coming back!

This is our Island in the Sun

Published on January 8, 2020January 16, 2020 by kiwisdofly24 Comments

Well not quite! This is Leros Island in the Dodecanese group of Greece Islands and it is winter! January and the temperatures are around 11-15 daytime dropping to the lowest so far of 7 at night, so not really too bad. A lot of rain though and very windy. We watch from our house the 7 wind turbines as they turn and think of all the electricity they are producing for this tiny island. 54 km/sq, 15 km long and only 1.5 km across at the narrowest point with only 8000 permanent residents. It is about a third of the size of Vieques, where we house sat for 5 months in 2017. We seem to be attracted to islands! This is our 4^th island housesit!

Like sitting on top of the world! My beautiful daughter Leigh-Ann came to visit

The terrain is very hilly, though if you Google Leros you will be told that it is a relatively flat island perfect for cycling and walking! Hmmm, we get a different view, but, the highest point is only 320m. I am thinking that because it is so small, makes it very steep to get up to those high points.

The island is steeped in history, from the ruins of the temple of the Goddess Artemis, which dates back to 3rd-4th c BC to WWII bunkers and war remnants everywhere we go. We are very lucky to have a car so have taken full advantage to orientate ourselves with the island and are now getting out on foot to explore even more. I am so taken with the little chapels everywhere, they are immaculately kept and are all open and inviting. There is an opportunity to light a candle which brings a lovely feeling of peace. Quite often we are finding that at each site of these lovely chapels, there are also some WWII bunkers or tunnels. Even just along some of the roads we see evidence of the second most bombed Greek island after Crete.

So hiking around the many peaks of Leros is really interesting. Something to see on every corner. And the scenery is stunning. Though it is winter and we have had a few hearty storms and overcast days, we have also had a few days of stunning blue sky and Leros just comes alive! It is very green in places, but we find this is from the weed Oxalis which is everywhere, and very barren in others. Some of the hills look like they are from the moon or the desert, so rocky and very harsh. Perfect for the 1000’s of goats, each with a bell!, I love hearing the goats everywhere, to me its the sound of Greece. From most of the peaks you can see every corner of the island, 360° views, therefore, seeing all coasts at the same time.

You can see the whole island from some points

The stunning Castle of Panagia in the East, seems to overlook the whole island. At night she is lit up and almost looks to be floating above Platanos. I believe it is not clear when the castle was first built but there are indications that she existed in 1087. You can walk the 365 steps through the winding streets and onto the hill to get to her. On the way you pass the lovely Prophet Elias Church. The vista is breath taking! The castle was used by the Italians as barracks and a lookout post during WWII. We have been up a couple of times, the view from the top is quite incredible, but unfortunately with it being winter, it is closed to go inside.

Castle of Panagia and traditional windmills

Right opposite the castle are the traditional windmills. They are so picturesque and you will find them on a lot of google searches of Leros and also souvenirs. Many around the island have been restored and some are now guest houses, but were used primarily to grind grain. It is hard to find information on some of these things, its as if it is just here…. No explanation or reason….it just is.

The Church Agios Isidoros is another Leros icon. She is pretty special! She has her own island and you have to get your timing right to get out to her. The path is very slippery and the waves crash over it most of the time. Again, so picturesque! And especially stunning when the sun comes out. We can see her from our “home” in Gourna Bay.

There are a few museums on the island which we would love to see but again they are closed as it is winter. This is a common theme on the Greek Islands. This goes with the many restaurants as well, a lot will only be open in summer.

Leronians are so friendly! We are so lucky that most people speak a good amount of English, we did think we were in for a tough time with Greek as the local language, but not so. Everyone here has a Hello or “Kalimera” and big smiles, nothing is too much trouble. We are slowly getting used to the “Mediterranean” thing when eating out, being fed more and more food, extra food besides what you have ordered if you have ordered any, that you don’t have to pay for! Its incredible, we can go to the café at the bottom of the drive and buy a beer and get a platter of food, then get a couple of wines and get another platter of food, then finish with an oyzo and get more food, without paying for one bite. We go in for a sundowner and come out fully stuffed thinking “well that was dinner” We feel a little embarrassed but on talking to others, it is just the way of things in Greece. The people are just so hospitable. And you always get a cake or biscuit with a coffee, it is so lovely.

Such a lovely place! Great people, great food, we kinda like this little island in the sun!

Λέρος, ευχαριστούμε που μας έχεις

Leros, thank you for having us