Sand and water

We are all settled in in Vatera, internet access has been a challenge but thanks to our gracious hotelier, we have unlimited access to the hotel internet, we just have to go to the open air restaurant area to use it. So, I am publishing three posts from the previous days. Very quiet here nothing but the waves on the beach for sound. I am also going to try and add slide shows with more photos.

Today was a catch up day after all the hectic travel. We had been searching for a self laundry close to Vatera but according to the locals we would have to travel the 50 km to Mytillini. Mytillini is the main city on the island and has just about everything one would need in the way of clothing stores, hardware stores and grocery stores. After some looking and asking we found the laundry which was not self service but a laundry and dry cleaners, we left our two weeks of laundry and returned several hours later to pick it up. The harbor is busy with ferry and other shipping traffic; it is possible to catch a ferry to Athens, the island of Chios and also Turkey. The ferry to Athens takes about 12 hours but it is less expensive than flying which takes about 40 minutes.

We are getting pretty good at navigating the mountain roads which are fairly good but not always well protected in the way of guard rails. We encountered sheep and goats on the road plus a military convey so the going was a bit slow at times. There are several villages we pass through, lots of stone houses, some very old and a few just constructed. Roads through the villages are narrow and in some areas just enough room for two small cars to pass. From the looks of the locals, they have had a hard life, either raising sheep and goats or working in the olive groves. Lesvos is reputed to have the best producing olive trees in the Mediterranean, and with 11 million trees on the island there is a lot of work to be done. Olives were first grown 3500 years ago on the island so they probably have a few generations of experience working in the groves.

Tomorrow we go in search of the healing hot mineral baths in Polichnitos, these baths have been well known for thousands of years and promise to cure a wide range of ailments, everything from arthritis to illness of the womb. The weather was very nice today sunny and about 68 degrees, the wildflowers are in full bloom but I suspect the ocean is still a little on the cool side.

We did fuel the car today, a cute little Fiat Panda, at one of the local stations. This car is a typical small European vehicle designed to get good mileage, colored a burnt orange, somehow it does not fit the name Panda. The cheapest unleaded fuel was 1.679 Euros per liter which translates into $8.944 per gallon, so if you want to complain about high fuel prices in the US………..