Palionisos

Today we took another rest day and hiked to Palionisos. We hiked up the rutted dirt road which switches back up into the hills above Skalia, past the beekeepers and burnt out buildings

and to the church with the giant white crucifix. From there, we took the trail down towards Palionisos, stopping to look north at Leiros and the swarms of strange grasshopper like insects

After a short downhill walk, we rounded a bend and saw the small port town of Palionisos before us

and continued downwards. Amazingly, despite its diminutitve size, the paths that wend through walls and peoples backyards are a bit maze like and confusing, but we made it to the beach where we had lunch

and looked out over the stunning water

I took some pictures after moving some brightly colored plastic bags and miscellaneous detritus off the beach. A strong wind out of the south was washing all kinds of nasty things ashore, including a dead sea bird of some kind and a very weathered carrot.

Right before lunch, a man name Nikolas came down to the beach and greeted us. He told us that Palionisos is a popular port in the summer, with as many as 70 boats in the natural harbor at a time. He used to be a sponge fisherman and speaks six languages. After a little small talk he invited us up to his taverna ("Paradise") and gave us instructions on how to get through the labyrinth of walls.
We finished lunch, took some pictures and then walked up to his Taverna. Nikolas showed us his photo albums from his sponge fishing days and told us that there were only six inhabitants of Palionisos (including himself!). He talked about how he used to have to run up the trail (the same one that we had descended) at 4 in the morning to get to Panormos, where he would get a taxi into Pothia for school. Personally, I think I would have either moved or stopped going to school. Included in the memorabilia was a postcard from Stephanie Zimbalist (from remington steele) who had apparantly visted at some point. It was laminated. Nikolas was a very friendly guy, but he seemed a little depressed about his situation. He told stories as if they were sales pitches he had given so many times that he had forgotten what he was selling. He wasn't actually selling anything except cold drinks and sponges, the latter of which Mark and Amy bought one of.

We said goodbye and started walked back up the hill. As we got to the top, a cloud bank rolled in and I got some nice light over the hills below us

photo by mark
We continued on down the hill to skalia

and had dinner at Drosia by the harbor: excellent olives and stuffed calamri. We were besieged by cute orange cats demanding their share.