OrestisTrips: ΤΖΙΑ

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20/08/2022

Kea, my favourite escape from Athens

Heatwaves in big cities are not my kind of party and since I'm lucky to have so many nice islands around here like Kea it's a no brainer to hop on a ferry and leave the hell behind. The port of Lavrio is just 55ish km away and here I am early in the morning enjoying my view from the ferry's deck as it warms up its engines:

Speaking of the ferry, this looks like it might be doing its last trip:

As this old thing starts moving and right at the exit of the port we get an announcement that we have to go back to the port for urgent reasons. This never happened to me again and I go back to watch what this reason is. I see a car with a family waiting at the port and I go "don't tell me we'll be late just cause they are late!":

At least this return gives me the chance to picture this nice tag ship:

As we reach the dock turns out that it all happened so that two ladies would disembark:

The family with the car (top left) didn't manage to enter the ferry so we leave again right on. Seriously, I don't know what the fuck happened but the guy in whit shirt who works on that ship was bitching that this was the 3rd time it happened during the last days! I still scratch my head how someone can convince a whole ship to return when there's no (visible at least) health reason since they both walked out pretty casually.

The view on board makes you forget all that instantly:

We pass near the island of Makronissos where I'm always interested to see it's lighthouse on its tip that looks tiny from this distance:

Meeting other vessels on the way is no surprise especially on such a hot summer day:

You know you're over Hellenic waters when your view is this:

Or better without this ugly ferry thingy, let's go full Aegean blue:

The island of Makronissos is past and gone,

and the first views of Kea island come up:

This is the port of Kea named Korisia, looking pretty under the morning summer laser penetrating sun:

Look at the view of the local cemetery and be sure Kea is the place to live but also the place to die:

Ships die there too as it seems:

We dock drama free and I can't wait to ride up to Kea's town Ioulis and start walking. It's the peak of the season so I struggle a bit to crumb my bike between the cars as the available shady spots are rare:

I walk uphill and the view already pays back the effort:

And gives me the chance to picture the parking challenge from above:

This is the view that the first foodie store of the town offers:

Time to walk its super cute narrow backstreets:

You love cats? There you go:

You like chess? Kea's got it:

Such a colourful paradise:

Just in case you're wondering how far you are from all these places:

Let's walk some more escaping the sun in the heart of Ioulis:

Fancy donkeys? Kea's got you covered:

And the walk goes on:

Until I reach this window of view where I always make a stop:

Cuteness never stops though:

Fully loaded wonderful grapes:

That view though:

Fortunately the local church follows the vivid trend:

Just like its neighbours:

I had just made my first steps out of Ioulis town continuing on a cobblestone path that generously offers vies like this:

The gate to the local cemetery is not so fancy but who cares with a view like this:

Something to care about is the following one though:

It's all Greek to you but no worries cause I'm as Greek myself: This is a water spring made of marble in 1928. Back then one could just stop and drink pristinely clean water. Almost a century later there's this pathetic sign on the faucet reading that "water is not drinkable". The cannibalisation of natural resources in one picture. This happened mainly due to the extreme use of nitrogen fertilizers from farmers who believed that they could increase their harvest just by increasing the fertilizers infinitely. And I am not sure I should use past tense - some might still believe so.

That view though...

This is where I am walking to - hard to tell from far but there's a lion rock sculpture in the middle:

Fortunately the path has bits of shade to escape the merciless sun for a while:

In the next one you can see the lion on the right if you want to take your eyes off the beautiful sea view:

I like the contrast of this white temple:

The view shouldn't be missed from any possible angle:

Interesting rock formations on my way:

At the look of this fig tree I rush to have a break under its shade:

Though I was already more than thankful to it for protecting me from the penetrating summer sun I was more than happy to find out that it makes my favourite kind of figs - the black ones! I managed to find a good one and it was one of the best I've ever tried - you can't beat a fresh fruit right off the tree. Here's the leftovers of its gold (in taste and looks) meat:

Time to enter the site of the Ancient Lion:

The way down there is very steep:

But soon gives you a view from the top to the local attraction:

Doesn't look that much as a lion from the back:

It does so from the front though:

At least if you think of it as a cartoonish version of a lion. It's unclear whether it was shaped like this by the weather over the years or someone made it look like that but interesting to see in any case especially if you plan to watch the sunset from this spot.

I'm far from sunset time so I enjoy the rest of the view around:

Neglection and beauty are not rare around here:

Funny touch on this old door:

Feeling like I had enough beauty and heat already (mainly the latter) I decide to ride up to my favourite beach to cool things down (see video later for the ride). So, here I am at Otzias beach:

Unfortunately it's the peak of the season and the first short of free year after the COVID madness so it's crowded like never before but still remains a paradise to enjoy: