Mountain Hike

After work, yesterday, I had nothing planned and no karate so I decided to go for a little hike. The weather was perfect! It was a warm day and there was a light breeze and zero clouds.

I rode my bike to the Kolimbithres area (about 10 mins from home), on the northern part of the island, where there’s a mountain made of weird rock formations. In the summer I climbed up it with Tony, Manolis, and Annie. It felt different climbing it by myself; I kept reminiscing of the summer when I hung out with Tony everyday… I can hardly wait till he’s done with the Army! It was a really nice hike though and I just sat at the top for a while relaxing in the mild air and watching the sky change from blue to purple. The only things I could hear were goats and sheep bahing, cowbells clanging, and a little babbling brook in one of the valleys; it was so nice. It started to get dark so I left at around 6:30. I notice it gets dark early here but I forget if it’s the same as Victoria (Canada) or if it gets dark earlier here. This morning I woke up at 4:30am to let the cat in and it was starting to get lighter. I don’t think that’s the case back home!



I sometimes take it for granted that I live in Greece and get caught up in the routine of work, grocery shopping, karate, cleaning, “tv”…. It’s nice to get out and go for a hike and see how beautiful it is and how lucky I am to live here. It’s starting to feel more like home; now I recognize and say hi to people when I’m out on my bike or in the grocery store, I know the Northern half of the island roads quite well, and I sometimes say things in Greek automatically (I still have a very long way to go though, I speak English with the people I know here way too much, I have to make more of an effort to speak Greek to them instead).



I’m looking forward to my Athens/Milan trip! I always love the thought of hopping on a plane and landing somewhere that isn’t familiar (well Athens and Milan are slightly familiar) and getting to know where things are and what roads lead to what. It’s rewarding to “conquer” a city and move on to the next. I booked my accommodation and I have low expectations. There is only one main hostel and it’s half the price of most of the budget hotels; it doesn’t have the best reviews but I want to be a cheapo right now so I don’t care. As long as it has a bed that’s fine with me!

M