Climbing with Kids in Kalymnos
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| Sponges drying in the sun at Pothia |
Kate and I rarely return to the same location as there are so many interesting places to visit in the world. So, as a testimony to how much we enjoyed our time in Kalymnos last year, we booked the same house for two weeks this year. We were planning to meet our Australian friends, John and Nors, from last year’s trip so all the ingredients were in place. I had even organized for my Mum to visit for the first week
Despite the familiarity, there was some trepidation, would we enjoy it a
second time around? How much will it
have changed? Will we have changed?
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| John leading out |
I can safely report that, apart from drop in standards at the Aegean Restaurant, everything was better than we had hoped. This year our eldest daughter, Lucy, didn't join us as she was holidaying with he best friend in the U.S.A. So it was just Kate, Ada and I.
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| Nors on the rock and yes, John is an attentive belayer, its just the belay glasses |
Unfortunately, our plans were thrown into disarray prior to departure due to delays to the opening of the Metro Project that I have been working on for the past three and a half years. It had been scheduled to open long before the Kalymnos trip but further delays meant that we opened a little over a week before our holiday was scheduled to start in mid September. I needed enough time to ensure that the operation was stable before leaving India.
We debated cancelling or rescheduling the two weeks. In the end we extended the stay by booking a third week at Kastelli Blu in the hope that the Metro operation would be stable enough for me to join the family. Fortunately, the operation settled quickly and I was able to join the family for the last 12 days.
Given the extended stay with Ada and my mother joining Kate
and Ada for the first week. Keeping
everyone happy was crucial. Here is
what worked for us.
Transport
In know most people travel by scooter but with kids, we feel a car is a better option than two scooters. It certainly makes access to places like Varys and Palionissos easier, particularly if you are going to visit restaurants at different villages at night. Our friend John has the rear wheel of his scooter slide out on a slippery corner and ended up with some nasty grazes. You certainly saw a number of people in Massouri with scooter grazes. I am not being over cautious, I ride a scooter in Mumbai with Ada and Kate on board but in this instance we felt the car was better.
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| Everyone lover their scooters |
Transport
In know most people travel by scooter but with kids, we feel a car is a better option than two scooters. It certainly makes access to places like Varys and Palionissos easier, particularly if you are going to visit restaurants at different villages at night. Our friend John has the rear wheel of his scooter slide out on a slippery corner and ended up with some nasty grazes. You certainly saw a number of people in Massouri with scooter grazes. I am not being over cautious, I ride a scooter in Mumbai with Ada and Kate on board but in this instance we felt the car was better.
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| Just to prove that I didn't spend all my time swimming and eating |
Climbing
We climb early and we stuck to the crags a short walk from the roads. Arhi, Belgian Chocolates, Pocket Wall, Ghost Kitchen, Infra Red Wall, Kastelli, Dolphin Bay and Summertime were popular. Easy access for Ada and a short drive to the crags
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| The view at Dolphin Bay |
The best crag for the kids was Kastelli and Dolphin Bay. Close to home, some easy routes, gentle walk in and spectacular views made it a favourite
Restaurants
The Aegean had definitely slipped and was not as good as we had remembered. On this trip we traveled more to other villages to eat and these were the best.
Harry’s at
Emborios. Designer Greek fare using local produce which was obviously carefully and thoughtfully sourced in a beautiful
garden setting in a lovely village.
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| The garden at Harry's, no beach view but a magnificent setting |
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| Kate's vegetarian dish at Paradisio |
Paradiso at Vlichadia. Bordering on trendy once again the menu had a twist on the standard Greek menu and set on a beautiful beach.
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| Michael's mamma! |
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| One of a number of tombs in a Byzantine necropolis just above the beach at Telendos |
Michael’s at Talendos. Good quality food served by a charming family with a feeling that you were sitting in their lounge room.
Artistico at Palionissos. After a steep drive over the main range you weave your way down to the village. Here is a sheltered bay and on the southern side side is Artistico. It is a family restaurant that serves local seafood and is popular with the yachting crowd who moor their boats in the bay
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| The harbour from Artistico restaurant |
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| A picture perfect view |
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| Artistico's cook and hot coal BBQ |
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| My squid, beautiful! |
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| It had been a long time since I had cleaned fish! |
Shopping
The best fruit and vegetables were to be found at the "Town Square" at near Elies Hotel which is just at the round about after descending the hill from Kamari. The store stocks predominantly seasonal local produce grown organically and it is reasonably priced.
Next door is a cheese shop with a full range of regionally produced feta, haloumi and saganaki. Reasonably priced and locally produced
We picked up some fresh fish from the markets in Pothia through Theo, our horseman, who is a fisherman in the morning!. It was fresh and wonderful but don't expect them to be big.
Swimming
Ada’s favourite is Platis Yalios. A beach with course black sand which drops steeply and offers some small crashing waves which is unusual for most of the beaches in Kalymnos. It has free lounges if you buy a reasonably priced juice or other drink. For those into distance swimming, there is a nice rough swim around the corner to Kantouni beach.
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| The view from Emborios Beach with a Byzantine era tomb in the background |
Emborious is a shingle beach with lounges in front of a line of good quality restaurants and near our favourite, Harry’s. It sits below a cliff lines and there are religious sites from the Byzantine period. There is a good swim out to the fish farm.
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| Looking down on Varys Harbour from the headland and onto the hinterland |
Varys is a village with a fijord like harbor on the west side of the island that is popular with the yachties and hosts the party boats from Bodrum at lunch time for whom the local kids put on a cliff diving show. There is no beach but a concrete platform from which you swim. For the distance swimmers among you the swim along the cliff line in the crystal blue water is spectacular. Behind the harbour is a productive hinterland full of citrus, olives and market gardens.
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| Riding down to the bay at Vlichadia, and a cool beer! |
Vlichadia is a great local' beach in a small village with a number of local restaurants including Paradisio The beach has a gradual gradient and is great for kids. The swim around the point
on the south western side is spectacular with great rock formation as you head along the coast.
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| The blue waters off Kastelli platform. Its not just the sharks you need to worry about! |
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| Ada and John negotiating the rules of the lilo |
If you are looking for some pool time, a number of private pools offer free entry in the hope you will buy some food and drink. The Plaza Hotel was our favourite and is well positioned in the main part of Massouri.
Other Activities
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| The new foal , Long Stockings, coming to terms with Ada |
Ada went horse riding at Theo’s, a small family run stables at Vothini. The family is wonderful and Ada loved their company.
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| Ada and Wallace |
They offer rides to Vlichadia or a mountain ride when there is no wind. Theo really built Ada’s confidence and had her galloping on Wallace, a stallion at 16 hands!
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| The fruits of our labour ready to be cooked |
We booked in for cooking lessons through the Kalymnos Adventure Centre which were run by the neighboring restaurant and learnt to make Dolmades and Greek salad. All three of us had fun and enjoyed eating the fruits of our labour with a white wine from Rhodes.
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| Ada learning the finer points of a Greek salad |
We joined John and Nors for yoga every second night on the roof of the Kaylmnos Adventure . It was timed so that the sun was setting behind Talendos. Apart from being beautiful, setting sun took the edge off the head of the day. The class catered to all levels and was based on an Ashtanga primary series.
It was a great opportunity to stretchout from the days exertions and prepare the body for climbing the next day. Mats were available through the Kalymnos Adventure Centre and Ada was happy sitting in the garden using the I Pad and the free WiFi while chatting to the owners of the store and playing with their dog while we were doing our downward dog.
We would recommend a day trip to Leros. The ferry takes about an hour and is pleasurable in itself. There is something intrinsically enjoyable about bouncing across the water between Greek islands on the roof of a small high speed ferry while songs from Elvis’s Las Vegas days blast out over the sound system.
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| Arriving in Leros, windmills in the foreground and the castle on the horizon |
Leros is definitely more up market and caters more to the leisure tourist rather than “dirt bag” climbers. The accommodation is more up market and the restaurants are more polished. That said, the up market restaurants lacked "character" and the service was cold. We had lunch at a well very well reviewed family restaurant away from the main town and found the food disappointing
The Castle of Pandeli, often known as the Castle of our lady due to a famous icon stored in the Church within the Castle, was built in the 10th centure on the site of an ancient acropolis. It was ceded by the Byzantine Emporer Alexius I for use as a monastrey and was reinforce in during the Crusades by the Knights of St John. In later times it was used by the Turkish, Italians and Germans as an observation post and was bombed heavily as a consequence.
The castle and windmills were tremendous but I preferred the beaches at Kalymnos. Leros has a large deep water harbor which was an important base for the Italians in WW2 and the Battle for Leros is the inspiration behind the Guns of Navvarone. It was definitely worth the trip.
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| Looking down to the small harbour of Panteli from the Castle where the Kalymnos ferry docks |
