Fresh and caffeinated

Delayed

But free seats next to us!

Dealing with jumper stains like a champ… not amused!

Once arrived in Kos, we took the bus to Kos city, where we would take the ferry later that evening. We found a nice place to have some great Greek food and got to securdarily enjoy some of the Euros at the same time seeing as it was located next to a Dutch café \240🇳🇱 3 - 0 🇷🇴

Kos aeroport

Hippocrates tree

Ruins in Kos

DINNER!

Kos seems like a cute city, nice little shops, but a lot of tourists and we are kinda happy to be travelling onwards! Now on the ferry in the dark to Lakki on Leros from where we will take a taxi to Platanos, where we will be looking the streets for a white and green house without an address.

Kitties

Kos port

Found it!

Our corner kitties

Platanos square just around the corner

The house is a very cute place over two floors, downstairs a kitchen, a sitting area/bedroom and a bathrooms. Upstairs a living room and some storage and a super nice terrace to hang out outside.

We started our day by admiring the place by daylight and chilling with a coffee on the terrace. Afterwards we took a trip to the supermarket with a hungry Grete to buy in supplies and breakfast. An island full of sheep and goat, with a hungry couple that was overwhelmed by the amount of goat and sheep products. It took a while…. and we left with our shopping bags full. Next stop greengrocers for fruit and veggies.

After having made a scrumptious breakfast we packed our bags and set course to the beach nearest by, Panteli, where we spent the afternoon swimming, reading and drinking coffee.

View from the house

COFFEE

Bedroom/sitting area; we love all the books around us!

Brekkie!

Once we had a lovely lunch at the seafood restaurant (in the opinion of this writer, G had octopus that she could «feel the suction cup of the tentacle tear off every time she had a bite» and clearly will not order that dish again), we headed back up to go and have a look into town.

We are quickly getting accustomed to island tempo. The weather is perfect; a steady 25 degrees with a nice breeze and an occasional cloud!

Beach ready

Mills!

Once back home we made dinner and the first homemade Greek salad was a fact! Now enjoying the outside area with games, and planning our next day.

Cheese with salad!

Regenwormen!

«I am making worms today»

Waiting for the fish market to open

Morning swim

Done with the run!

Overheated but happy feet

Once home again, we made breakfast packed up and headed down to Panteli beach again to explore it from the other side.

In need of a messimeri, the Greek siesta, we headed back to the house to sit inside under the aircon with a book.

Prepping dinner WITH apron like a Greek housemom

Our favourite holiday activity was also on the schedule today, a trip to the grocery store. And once we did some prep for dinner, we walked up to the old castle ruins on top of the hill.

Love the last line. Welcome to 🇬🇷

This one is good also!

View over Agia Marina and Alinda

In thought, but aware of the camera!

View over Panteli

The breeze and the temperature late afternoon were the perfect time for this and after having followed a nice route following stairs that twirl around the landscape up. We took the road from the castles to the old mills, where we got recommended by Olga to have an aperetivo. A fantastic idea, apart from that it was pretty late by now and we were kind of in dire need for food. The drink went straight to the brain and the road home went by fast with spirits high (and lots of cats).

Mills

Same mills

Mills + Grete

«What’s this place called again?»…

Our stove where the magic happens!

Right now we just finished a lovely dinner on our terrace. A watermelon salad with …… yes feta again …. ala Renske and some Orzo.

Onto our traditional game of Regenwormen score after yesterday 1-1

Our cactus is getting a flower

Some people work; others drink coffee

Clean shala

After breakfast we put up the beach chairs and read a bit at home, had lunch and headed out to explore another beach; Vromolithos

Fruit that only grows here on Leros; Gavafes

Lots of cacti

Vromolithos beach

Once we got to the beach we had in mind, we kinda missed our usual spot at Panteli, so we headed back. Spending some hours reading and having a walk around the harbour!

House

Restaurant, Pirofani, we booked to eat at in the evening right next to the harbour. The father of the family is a fisherman and his entire family works in the restaurant, turning the daily catch and local produce into some delicious food!

Sea

Fishermen’s boats

«Pick me!»

We got a pretty good table!

Just because there wasn’t a picture of me yet. Gotta satisfy the fans!

A beautiful dinner ended with a stroll along the boulevard. We returned home with a linen top for Douwe richer, among all the fat stains on his already collected tops are now newly acquired sunscreen stains, and so the stockpile has reduced and needed to be topped up!

Upstairs of the house

View

More upstairs

Stairs to the first floor. Grete has evolved a way to keep on rotating in order to get down. Douwe takes the outside stairs! Also very happy with our Birkenstock sandals.

A long morning that somehow turned into afternoon on the beach followed, and after trying three different places we have finally settled on our favourite beach club - sun tight parasols and good coffee!

A very late lunch at home; Greek salad, toast and even more coffee, then a little down time out of the sun.

Our outdoor swimming pool

One of many Greek salads

After being the only two people on the very rare local bus, we spent the evening exploring the town of Lakki. We had only seen it in the \240dark on the day we arrived, but it turned out there wasn’t much to see anyway, before having dinner at El Greco, a recommended taverna. Douwe devoured a plate of seafood and Grete got married to grilled lamb chops. Nothing extra, just good food, Greek style.

Mussolini had big plans about making Lakki their main Italian marine base in the Mediterranean, because of its size an position. Lots of Italian influences here, mainly some very oddly place art deco building, now abandoned or reused!

Lakki bay

Art Deco clock tower

More Art Deco, and very not Greek buildings.

Is it a lime or an unripe lemon?

It’s lamb! And it was gooooooood!

Back home to Platanos square, Platanos cafe, to watch the Netherlands-Turkey game with a shot of espresso. Everyone seemed to be for Turkey, so we kept our reactions muted and tried to fit in!

🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱

Packed and ready

It was hot and heavy!

Our pool for today

We found a beautiful bay with two very nice taverns. We got kinda accustomed to these parasols and sunbeds that they have if you consume something. Almost ashamed to admit it, but kinda loving that comfort right now. The sea here was full of little fish and lots of things to see underneath the water surface.

Todays activities (like all the other days) reading and swimming some laps

«Swim of shame», after her toilet break…

«snack»; giant beans and calamari

Counterintuitive to what one might think, it was Grete who had the idea to also run back. Towing Douwe behind her she took the lead, halfway we started tasting that «snack» again, maybe we didn’t wait long enough….

Run done; cooler at the other end!

But this one was the first beach with sea urchins. Bathing shoes to the rescue (for Grete, D left the sea with two cuts on his feet…)

Once back home we made some dinner and found our favourite rosé so far!

Chef and sous-chef; you fill in the names…

We call this piece of art «precision»

And this one «slightly sunburnt and why is this risotto taking so long»

The pinky …

After dinner we headed to the square around the corner. We found out there was a festival today, celebrating the peace between Greece and Turkey. We could hear the music already from our terrace and it seemed like the whole town was gathering for some souvlaki, Ouzo (local digestive), coffee and for us a sorbet!

Lots of music and dance!

Pointe work! Inspired by last nights Greek dances on the square

An impression

His and hers; Freddo espresso and a green smoothie

She actually has a tan line

Her way of getting up the stairs

His way of coming down

After coming home it was time for our daily raid of the cheese section at the supermarket. We got ready to go out and headed to the pharmacy, which actually turned out to be a beautiful shop lots of nice products, before going back to the seafront for dinner!

Cat lady taking a photo of the cat in front of our gate

The actual kittie

The dumpster kittie gang up the street

Evening stroll down to Agia Marina

My dinner date

My dinner date; a portrait

My other dinner date with begging eyes

So to explain the next series of photos. The pimples coming out of this face because of the sunscreen have been legit (there has been times where D has been chopping them + double the amount of skin around them away with tweezers) hence we got a face mask at the pharmacy!

Zwarte pieten

Evening decaf espresso

And…. The pinky!

Someone is very happy with his mum’s little coin bag

On the bus

We made the last bus before messimeri and were asked to leave the cheese aisle in the supermarket so they could close. We spent our afternoon inside, resting, reading, and listening to the collection of old-fashioned cd’s that are standing upstairs. Luckily we finally managed to have the aircon work there so we could enjoy that room as well. Before heading out to town, \240D was guided through a vigorous session of yoga!

Caper plant!

The local souvlaki

G having her daily cat time

One body with two heads; lots of Greek mythology books here and we are clearly inspired!

Not sure what to say about this.

Agia Marina

Byzantine fortress ruines

We headed back up making dinner and spent a lovely evening inside after we spotted a massive cockroach climbing our neighbours wall during dinner!

Dinner prep whilst reading «How to learn Greek in 25 year»

Dessert in the making

Nectarines with Anthotyros, Greek fresh cheese and honey!

NOM!!

She kicked my ass in «Five Crowns» alongside some espresso and Ouzo

Freddo Espesso has become a staple!

Finally the showers worked to rinse of that salt crust.

Post swim goggle eyed book commercial; «A little life» I think it’s recommended…

After our home made Greek salad lunch at the house \240it was time for some games, reading and listening to music. Midday really is a good time right now to be inside and we are slowly getting accustomed to messimeri.

Regenwormen (G 3-1 D)

The cd collection. Today’s selection, Glenn Gould and Grigori Sokolov

Late afternoon the shops start to open again and G went for her daily supermarket trip. We enter the shop and the people working there start to laugh (today: where is the boy?!?) so we are gonna try not to go tomorrow…. What a grim prospect.

After waiting a week for our table reservation at Mylos, supposedly the best restaurant on the island, we finally set course down to the scenic old mill on the water front for dinner.

Grapes + souvenir shop

Grapes and dinner date

Our destination

The little mill on the right; Mylos

After a delicious dinner we headed back up to watch the football Netherlands-England at the cafe, only to find that all the tables were taken… So second best option was watching the game at home (on our phone) with a second serving of dessert and a decaf espresso. Anthotyros cheese with local honey and summer ripe nectarines is a real winner.

Nationalism at its best

We have established that no matter how hard she tries Grete finds it very hard to sit still and be quiet during a football game. The occasional comment also doesn’t tend to land well, such as the thoughtful “Two good teams yeah…”

Same outfit, different day

Guardian of the doorway; Ouzo

Made it!

Home for the day

Cooling down

Alone on the beach!

Le Poisson

Her true closest companion

The next series of photos is an ode to our «Jack Sparrow» walk out of the sea. Love the pebbles but the only thing is that this side effect is real!

Made it.

Saft or ranja……

The bread druggie sneaking in her own bread into restaurants

So stealth!

Reading a book about geopolitics…

Today we met a whole family and their friends that own the café by the beach. Despite the Jack Sparrow walk out of the sea they spotted we were dancers, and seeing as one of their daughter was gonna start ballet they were interested. They hang at G’s lips when she was talking about her stories and our work, and before we knew it we were getting acquainted with their extended family and friends. Unfortunately this did not lead to the free bottled water we had hoped for (and we usually get here with every coffee). Slightly dehydrated we embarked on the way back home, this time walking.

Garden in a fisherman’s boat

We got a caper.

Our quick dinner turned out delicious!

Nice light. We love the evenings here!

And… the pinky. She must have royal blood somewhere!

Right now we are rounding off the day reading and listening to a CD, Chopin’s Noctures. Strangely satisfying to use an old-fashioned disk!

Morning selfie with Ouzo

We finally found the goats (look closely)

Qwixx

The rest of the morning was spent playing games, reading, swimming and chilling. Back home for lunch and some exercise in an air conditioned living room.

We hit the jackpot in the supermarket today, a new shipment of our favourite sheep’s yogurt! We shamelessly bought about 3/4 of the stock, and are already looking forward to breakfast tomorrow. Once our stockpile was safely installed in the fridge we headed up to the windmills again for an aperetivo. On the way we stopped at a church we have seen from our walk to the beach, but sadly it was not open. We had to settle for a stroll around the perimeter where we woke up about 5 guard dogs and probably the whole neighbourhood. Sorry!

Further up the hill we found a fig tree where the fruits are beginning to ripen, though they are not quite there yet. We have made a note to come back in a few days and see if we can steal some ripe figs then.

Finally at the top, installed at the Harris bar with an Aperol spritz and a view to die for. Starting the evening in style.

View of Panteli with our Aperol

After the recommendation from our newly made Greek friends we decided to have dinner at Stis Anna’s, a gluten free and vegan friendly restaurant. When we ran past it last week we thought it looked a bit odd, and would probably not have tried it if it weren’t for the tip. It turned out to be one of the best meals we have had on this trip! We tried Retsina for the first time, and also probably the last. Concluding that it tasted like “mouldy moss”, or “that smell when you tear the bark off a rotten tree”, it didn’t really leave us wanting more. We will definitely be back to try more dishes on the colourful chairs on the tiny beach.

Beautiful light

Stis Anna’s

Retsina

Classy with a pinky even when it doesn’t taste good.

After surviving the walk home along the road, we lay like stuffed walruses on a bench on the beach looking at the stars and feeling the wind and the waves.

After being reunited a bowl of 100% sheep’s yogurt topped with apricot, nectarine, crunchy clusters and Leros honey completed the morning.

Today’s mission was an expedition to Xirokampos, a small town on the southern part of the island. The bus driver is starting to recognise us, and we think we are his most faithful customers. The bus has to honk before it passes every bend, as there doesn’t seem to be a habit here of sticking to your own side of the road when taking a corner. The honk sounds like a Turkey gobble gobble, and we now laugh every time we hear it somewhere in the distance, as it is so unique. It’s kind of like the jingle of the ice cream truck, and we find it very endearing.

Quiz: ‘Why do they paint the trees white?’

After enjoying our sightseeing through the southern part of the island, which turns out to be greener and more luscious than the rest, we decided to walk to a little church that is carved out of the side of the mountain called Panagia Kavouradena. There’s supposedly a picture of Virgin Mary painted on a crab there, but we were too busy looking at the building and the surroundings, so we kinda missed it.

Coming out of the chapel we spotted a small makeshift staircase leading down to the water, and decided to go exploring. We found a beautiful little cove under a big cliff where we decided to take a dip. A few days ago we saw a map of Leros with a shark fin drawn into the water by Xirokampos. Without saying a word to each other about this we went into the water somewhat hesitantly, and were comforted when we saw other people snorkelling a few minutes later. Not getting eaten today!

Afterwards we decided to head back to the tavernas and took a sunbed there after lunch.

Taking the bus back to Lakki, we were determined to find back the rosé we drank from Olga here one of the first days. Somewhat naively we figured it would be easy to replace it, turns out it was a rarity. Our last resort; Lakki! And we got lucky, as well as being persuaded into buying several other bottles…..

We caught the last Turkey tractor home, threw our wine purchases inside the house, and headed back to the same place we had dinner last night. Moussaka here we come again!

Preparing breakfast

Afterwards we headed down to Pandeli beach for a quiet day in our favorite spot. Who knew day trips could be so tiring?! After yesterday’s tourism we just wanted to enjoy life without travel or research. During our morning laps in the bay we spotted an octopus on the sea bed, and we followed it around for a while. We were totally fascinated by the way it used its tentacles in different ways to move around and go about its business. A very fun and unexpected start to the day. Not so keen on eating them anymore to be honest. After we finished our laps we got cappuccinos and fresh orange juice and settled in with our books. Morning turned into afternoon, and after a super nice day we headed back up to the house.

Morning swim and coffee at the beach before it fills up with people!

Map with the sharkfin down south!

After a bit of down time with some exercise we broke out the white wine and some snacks for a few sets of Regenwormen on the terrace. Grete is still the champion of this game.

Pre walk snack and sip before walking to the west coast!

Slightly tipsy, and in a very good mood, we set course for our dinner reservation at Sotos Ouzeri on the west side of the island. It was a one hour walk, which was beautiful in the evening breeze with the sun setting in the horizon. The restaurant is a family run place close to absolutely nothing else, but was recommended by several people, so we decided to make the trip. On the way we found a very scruffy looking cat, and we did not want to walk away without giving it some water. We found some broken ceramics which we used to make a provisional bowl on the side of the road. The kitty seemed to appreciate the gesture, though it was clear she would really rather have had some food…

Snacks along the way

…

Another little church along the way, but this one was also closed.

Thirsty kittie on top of the hill

View of both east and west coast

She found a pear tree

Sunset

We arrived at the restaurant on time and was greeted by a fairly cold waitress (she’s renowned on Google reviews for her rather unfriendly approach to customer service), showing us to the windiest table they had. We didn’t mind after the walk, and having dinner in a wind tunnel was definitely a novelty. We had some really good grilled fresh fish souvlaki and even more wine before heading back to Platanos in a taxi.

Sotos Ouzeri

Happy after her food!

Sponge Bob doing Greek dance in her chair… Enough wine now?

In a windy setting. No comment!

Finished the night with another serving of Anthotyros cheese with Leros honey and nectarine for dessert, accompanied by the football finals!

Ready to face the hills

Distraction on the way or is it procrastination?

Breeding turtles!

Once we arrived, we had our minds on reaching the neighbouring \240beach that is off the beaten track. Either a short but sort of challenging hike away or by dolphin shaped pedalboats. We decided for the hike, that we read about on the internet (though some people claimed it was 1h40 and other 30m). Other than goat trails there wasn’t much of a marked footpath, but luckily we walked in the footsteps of some people that had put down piles of stones.

Hard to see on these photos but definitely very present, we were welcomed by a herd of goats. Grete still slightly scarred from her experience with Renske at Gålå, “Grete and the blood thirsty sheep; volume one”, she was not keen to add volume two. Luckily they cleared the beach by the time we got there!

Steep down hill. The thyme bushes were razor sharp, but they also left a scent of thyme all across the area once you walked through them!

All alone

She found shade

Once we had finished skinny dipping, sunbathing/shade seeking, and feeding the fish, we decided to pack up and head back to the other side. After pulling on her t-shirt Grete looked down to find Douwe on one knee with a beautiful ring he bought from the local jeweller on Platanos Square. Turns out he has thinner fingers than her, but even though the ring didn’t fit the answer was a definite YES! The Greek shop assistant said the fingers might be swollen due to the heat, but we think there’s not much hope here. It will have to be stretched once we get home…

We hiked back and spent the rest of the afternoon in one of our favorite places Dio Liskaria, before walking home and just enjoying the rest of the day together.

Today’s walk down to the beach was like a petting zoo

Count the cats.

Hint; don’t forget the bushes

Coffees after our morning swim

«The little mermaid» and he wonders why she keeps on bringing this old rag of a shawl…

After some afternoon exercise we jumped on the last bus to make our way to the Agios Isidoros chapel on the west side of the island. As we’ve decided against driving ourselves on this holiday, we are having to be quite creative and patient in order to get certain places. On the upside we get to see a lot of places up close that we would have missed zooming past it on a scooter. We had to get off the bus in Kamara and walk to find the chapel. It was incredibly beautiful, and we were very grateful to have it all to ourselves.

We actually took a selfie!

Next we walked 45 minutes back to our own side of the island for our final meal at Stis Anna’s. We love this little gem of a restaurant. We will miss the food, the atmosphere and the lovely people.

A very generous half a litre.

Stis Anna’s

After some unsuccessful souvenir shopping and late night perfume smelling at the one of a kind pharmacy (which has turned into one of our favourite shops) we headed back home.

G had a face mask and ended up with this \240Frida Kahlo look

Yoghurt was back today

Not feeling this run very much

But we made it!

Today it was the first time our view was blocked by a cruise ship!

Feeding the fish on the way back with dry gluten-free bread!

We arranged to be picked up by Zoi at 19.15 from Platanos square. No idea what we were in for, so we rested at home a bit, had some coffee and snacks and headed out. (oh and wait… went to the supermarket as well)

Ring doesn’t fit, but she’s still wearing it on her pinky (with some very nice Greek white wine)

We drove past Lakki and met Alexandra and her friend from Athens at a parking lot before continuing up the road to Patela. She is from Leros, working half the year here and half the year in Athens, and does most of these walks up by herself. A lovely walk up with amazing views and this all with a sun that was setting behind the horizon. Along the way it became apparent that we shared a lot of the same interests, and we got invited for another walk tomorrow evening at another part of the island. Already being invited to come and see the hotel she works at, and it seems like we will be staying in touch. We are in awe of this island and its people, and we really feel the need to come back in not too long and continue this story.

View on the bay of Lakki

Parabolic Accoustic Mirror; it was used during WWII to identify from which direction an aircraft was coming

There is a vast tunnel system underneath the island!

Walking back down in the moonlight

Once home we quickly put some meze on the table along with our favourite white wine, and sat down to digest the whole experience. It’s quite incredible to think that a random question from a stranger on the beach should lead to friendships and experiences you never thought you would have! Today we really saw Leros in the most intimate way, through the lens of someone who truly loves her home, and it was unforgettable.

Fish already up for grabs

After finding out that the eye is a symbol for good energy in Greece, Grete has wanted to buy every eye in every shop. After dragging her away from several impulse purchases we finally arrived home with only a few trinkets. Now we could finally continue our tradition; beach, swim, coffee and orange juice.

Once back home we rested and started preparing our departure, before being picked up by Zoi and her daughter Ivy.

Saying ‘goodbye’ to Platanos square, we really hope it is a ‘see you soon’, we donated all of our read books (which added up to a small pile) to the local library on the left in this photo.

We get this picture now!

Alexandra took us on another ‘off-the-beaten’ track walk, this one maybe a bit more challenging, yet not less beautiful. We got to watch sunset at the edge of a cliff, and walked back under the light of the moon.

Sometimes we had to use all fours to get down.

But her little niece Nancy did it so we felt there was no excuse!

Once we were dropped back home we decided to walk to Pirofani for our last supper here.

Catch of the day; Black snapper!

Do we think she got to eat some of the scraps?

To me one looks guilty and the other one begs for more!

Guardian of our gateway; Ouzo

Recommended read; A Little Life

An alarm at 11:30 got us back to reality, and it was time to wrap up and get back to the house. After packing and cleaning, we made a lunch from all the leftovers and with enormous suitcases (we overpacked partially, and the gear that Grete had to bring for her rehab did not help) we rolled over the cobblestones down to Agia Marina.

Leftovers wasn’t a punishment.

Someone has serious issues throwing food and drinks.

Not feeling like leaving!

Agia Marina

The catamaran to Kos was comfortable and it was really nice to stand on deck with the warm salty wind. We said our goodbyes to the island whilst it was getting smaller and smaller, and after a mad scramble to find our suitcases, we were soon rolling them up to our apartment studio in Kos with sweat rolling down our backs!

She found shade!

And he doesn’t care!

The hotel is very clean, somewhat unatmospheric (actually plain out clinical), but totally fine for one night. After a little refresher and a moment in the aircon, we headed out with a map to look at some of the sights in town.

Ancient Market in Kos

You can see the similarity with the buildings in Lakki; Italian influence on the Dodecanese Islands

Satisfying to be finding your way with a real map

The amount of drunk Dutchmen in town became increasingly apparent, and we were kind of set on getting away from the tourist trap. We decided to take our leftover wine to the beach and threw together a picnic with some stuff from the supermarket. After a quick dip in the dark, that was so short that it’s hardly worth the mention, we settled in to say our goodbyes to summer nights in Greece.

After a hot and stuffy local bus ride we arrived way too early at the airport, only to learn that our flight was delayed (yet again this year). Luckily we had some good books and good company, so we didn’t really mind.

Going through security didn’t turn out as smooth as we had thought, when it turns out you aren’t allowed to bring big stones on a plane… Having reasoned that you can find something hard and heavy anywhere in an airport if you really want to hit someone, Grete had settled on that surely it’s not a problem to bring your own hard and heavy object. She was wrong.

We tried to explain that it had sentimental value, a memory from our engagement, but the officers were unimpressed. In the bin it went and we tried to walk away. Turns out Douwe has developed a special bond with the stone and the loss was hard to stomach. We decided to go back and send it as hold luggage in one of our backpacks… They gave us back the stone and as Douwe was asking how we would get back out the security guard just turned his back and seemed very unconcerned with the issue. So in an inspired moment and with sleight of hand Douwe slipped the precious object into the backpack and strolled casually through the greek wines, olive oil and chocolates into safety. We celebrated with the most extortionately expensive coffees ever acquired and settled in for yet another wait.

We are sad to leave these weeks behind, but feel extremely lucky to have seen this special island from all angles, especially from such a beautiful base. We are so thankful for all the generosity shown to us on this holiday! We will remember this time for the rest of our lives.