Itisallgreek2me

The "Italian Road" - Pothia to Vathys, Kalymnos

Up bright and early this morning in time to see the sunrise before heading downstairs for breakfast then on the road by 0730 hours.  Initially, I had to make my way across town to somewhere near the Archaeological Museum building to find the beginning of the “Italian Road” – a stone pathway built by the Italians at the beginning of the 20th Century and until 1967, the only road between Pothia and Vathys.  I was talking to a Greek man today in Rina who told me he used to walk the path to go to school, however, these days with a coastal road and motorised transport, it is only a crazy Kiwi like me and keen hikers who are likely to walk the old pathway.  Today, I saw no one from beginning to end – the entire walk all to myself with not so much as a goat to keep me company.  I had been told goat numbers are high here on the island of Kalymnos, however, they must all have been hanging out elsewhere today. 

A couple of things worth mentioning about the “Italian Road”.   Firstly, someone has kindly painted red dots and arrows on stones etc at various places along the way, always a good feeling to be reassured you are still on the right track.  Secondly, anyone walking the path needs to keep an eye out for generous sized spiders who like to weave their webs across the path, I am sure to upset hot and weary travellers – necessitating a small diversion or the breaking of the web. 

According to what I have read, the “Italian Road” is 4.25 kilometres long, however, the need to get to the start from wherever you are staying and the walk to Vathys and Rina once you complete the descent, all requires a reasonable level of fitness and appropriate footwear, sunhat or cap, water bottle and so on.  

On completing the descent and arriving in the fertile valley, the first sign of life I saw was someone’s enclosed goats and chickens.  With the day moving along towards late morning I wanted to reach Rina, the small picturesque harbour which serves at Vathys’ port and therefore, decided not to walk further up the valley to the villages of Platanos, Metochi and Stimenia.  Vathys itself has a scattering of houses – some rather nice and most with plantings of citrus trees, olives and vines.  White washed stone walls surround many of these properties.  In Greece, Kalymnos is known for the affluence of much of the population.  Apparently, Kalymnos is the wealthiest island in the Dodecanese and one of the wealthiest Greek islands. 

On reaching Rina with it’s fjord like bay, I took my place at Taverna Galini on the harbour, ordered a well deserved cold beer,  removed shoes and socks and put my feet up.  With a temperature today I believe of around 30 degrees C, I was feeling the heat.  After a while I had a wee look around then returned to Galini for lunch before catching the 1430 hours bus back to Pothia, incidently, from which I viewed numerous goats grazing on these lower slopes.  I am a little tired, however, very satisfied with my efforts of today – walking in the mountains of Greece, for me, is like heaven.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 2nd, 2010 at 5:18 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.