Exploration of the untouched Greek island of Ikaria
There are no signs for the hot source, but I find it on the menu and we drive to the end of the paved road. With a view of the sea, a stone bench that someone has devoted to her parents is “with gratitude and love as deep as the Aegean”. My father died recently and the words go home. I am glad that my mother connected me to this little adventure.
We go down to the abandoned bay of Agia Kyriaki Thermal Springs. There are old fishing huts with stone slide roofs and closed huts. On a non -marked path we find a rock basin in which hot water gently bubbling out of the sand and mixing with the sea into a perfect temperature. I was immersed in the healing mineral bath and look at juniper trees and the blue sky, as it was pulled off from waves and cicadas in lesions and cicadas.
Ikaria in the eastern Aegean – named after Icarus, the Greek mythological figure, which flew too close to the sun – is known for its forests, sources and wine, communist tendencies and durability. The population of around 8,000 inhabitants is over 255 km² over dozens of scattered villages, with only a few dedicated to tourism, and it is only really busy in July and August. We arrive from Kos in mid -June (ferries also connect Samos and Athens with the port of Evdilos) in the port of Agios Kirykos and drive to the northeast to Faros, which has a mile beach without a single hotel. The house that we rented for our first days, Lighthouse Lodge, is perfectly next to a café bar and two Tavern die hot source, which is a few kilometers away.
While mom reads in front of the house in the shade of a tamarisk tree on the beach, I walk around the mastical and thyme cloak to the Drakano Tower, with remains of fastenings from the fourth century BC. The high summit of Samos and the Fourni Islands is the only characteristics in a blue surface – the space and the light are fascinating.
A few Greek families with young children linger to dark on the beach of Faros. In the Grigoris Taverna we eat grilled sardines and food SoufikoSummer vegetables that are slowly cooked in olive oil and drink Ikarian red wine. Then we fall asleep in the sound of the waves.
The next day we explore the north of the Cape and swim in the clear turquoise water from Iero Bay near the cave, where Dionysos was born.
After Monokampi, a pretty village in the interior of Agios Kirykos, and our basis for the following two nights, they have to be negotiated across the ailas mountain covered by forest, which extends over the entire length of the island in a 40 km long comb and increases to more than 1,000 meters. Our route at Zickzag a dizzying slope up, cypresses are out of the tangle of the trees.
We are too late and I call George, owner of Moraitika Farmhouse, to say that we are somewhere on the mountain. “Ten kilometers in Ikaria are nowhere else like 10 km!” He laughs. When we arrive, George shows himself around the farm of his great -grandmother, who has been lovingly restored for over 15 years. Three houses are now tourist accommodations, while the oldest from the 14th century is like a museum to ancient Ikar life, with a large fireplace for smoking meat, a built -in oven and a secret back door from pirate raids. A forest of Arbutus (strawberry tree), oak, olive and Ivy grew over the once cultivated terraces and the footpath that his grandmother used to go across the mountain.
In the evening on the terrace, while the sun descends over the sea, we eat local cheese with a biological dry white wine, Begleri – everything picked up because we are a long journey from a Taverna. Eleonora’s falcons storm, an owl and there are tiny, bright lights of fireflies.
Birds sing out their hearts in the cool morning. We go through Monokampis village square, dominated by a huge aircraft tree, and follow Agia Sofia, a hidden chapel that was built into a rocky spur. Mum points to the hook leaf and walnut trees, and we pick mulberries and plums.
The next day we descend to the coast and continue to the west, stop in Karavostamo to make a swimming and fresh spinach cake out of the bakery. Then we continue and look for a place where you can stay overnight for the next nights. We stop over an impressive beach in Gialiskari, but there is the music blow from a bar, so we continue.
After lunch with a courtyard fritters, Herby meatballs and homemade cheesecake with a view of the sea, we believe that we found our place
At NAS we move into a tavern. After a lunch with a courtyard ferrats, Herby meatballs and homemade cheesecake with a sea view, we believe that we could have found our place. We continue until we spy on a lush river canyon and a sparkling bay and soon find spaces in the Artemis Studio.
Steps lead the rock down to the bamboo mouth, where swallows and downproof flies dash. The other bank is dominated by the walls of an old harbor and a destroyed sanctuary for the worship of artemis, protector of nature and wild animals. The water flows out of the deep, pine-covered Halari gorge, which extends several kilometers in the interior and leads paths into different directions. The river bed with pink-flowering oleander and small waterfalls fills up with wild camper in midsummer. At the moment there is quiet.
We quickly fall in love with NAS. Mama swims in the freshwater lagoon with the frogs; I swim in the sea that is cold enough to tingle my skin. When the sun goes down in the ocean, we sit down on Artemis peaceful terrace for baked aubergine with Kathoura cheese and red peppers and roast goats in olive oil and wine. The Taverna is run by Thanasis, a musician who offers tours through the organic farm of his family, and Anna, who has a ceramic studio and a shop in which we choose time for pretty jewelry.
After a breakfast with fresh juice, eggs and Ikarian in the nearby Reiki café, we go to our next stop in the village of Agios Polykarpos. We spend the night in the Monopati Eco Stay, which has studios made of stone, wood and bamboo, with large windows that frame a wonderful view of the blue sky, the canyon and the forest.
The owner says we will find his 87-year-old mother in the garden. Sufle and Sprightly Popi, which are hidden against the sun, dilute their basil plants and rays on us. It shows us terraces full of potatoes, sweet potatoes, aubergines and tomatoes. The next day she chooses apricots, shows me how to make Basilicum Pesto with walnuts and sunflower core, and tries to teach me to dance IcarioticoWith a deep laugh when I confuse the steps.
Her philosophy is: good food, good thoughts and exercises outdoors. Every morning she looks at the magic of nature and feels gratitude. “We only have one life – we have to make the best of it.”
Mom and I feel the feeling when we say goodbye. We made the best of our two weeks of discovery in Ikaria. We not only revive and inspired by the extensive landscapes and time, but also inspired and inspired by the extensive landscapes and time, with valuable memories last for a lifetime.
Lighthouse LodgeFaros, from £ 105 per night (sleeps 4at least three nights); Moraitika farmhouseMonokampi, from £ 55 per house (sleeps 2-4); Artemis StudioNAS, from £ 40 per studio (sleep 2); Monopati Eco StayAgios Polykarpos, from £ 80 per studio (Sleeps 4-6at least three nights)