The little house in the desert
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 10 Ιουνίου, 2017 Filed under: choses vécues, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: adventures, Aegean Sea, atheras, balancing rocks, Google maps, Greece, heritage, hiking, ikaria, ikarians, Κίνηση Πολιτών Ραχών Ικαρίας, Ορεινό Καταφύγιο, εθελοντές, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, mountain shelter, my life, OPS Ikarias, tradition, volunteers 14 Σχόλια.
………The place 
………⭐ ⭐ ⭐
On the wuthering heights of 
mount Atheraς in the center of a sandy plateau surrounded by windswept round boulders lies a tiny cube-like building with a chimney on its flat roof. This is «To Spitaki tis Mamis» (the little house of the midwife), or «Saint Panteleimon Mountain Refuge», as the marble plate in the wall next to the door says. Built by a kind woman in 1960 for the benefit of all mountain walkers, Spitaki tis Mamis, despite its miniature size, is a mountain shelter properly speaking, not associated to a church or mountain chapel, as it is usual in Greece, but built hiking-wise at important crossroads in a location where a hiker cannot possibly miss. This makes Spitaki tis Mamis, if not the oldest, undoubtedly one of the oldest mountain shelters in the Aegean islands. With my own ears I have heard about the lives it has saved through the years. On the chimney there was a fog bell to guide lost souls in the mountain and inside, as if by a magic hand, it was always provided with firewood, cooking pots, lamps and lamp oil, coffee, sugar, rice etc.
It was a place that wrote history.
However and in spite of all that, in the course of events and new road building in the 1990s Spitaki tis Mamis was forgotten and fell in oblivion. As a result, today -57 years after it was built- it’s in very bad shape: cracked walls, no door and window and a roof almost ready to fall in.
………The project
………⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Last month, answering 
to a request made by several local associations, Spitaki tis Mamis was declared by the Town Council as a cultural monument – standing reminder of the times when there were no roads and cars in Ikaria and the only way to travel from one part of the island to another was by walking long hours across uninhabited, mountainous landscapes in rain, snow or fog. Following this desicion, the Town Council granted permission to the interested parts to repair the old shelter and adapt it to modern needs. As they said, that would be done on the own expences and voluntary work without help from either central or local government…
Volunteers going to work in the wilderness on dream project…?
Oops! I know that! I must help!
………My involvement
………⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Dear readers, the purpose 
of this article is to advertise the aforementioned project and call for funding and support. To do so I can’t find a better way than to show you a set of 16 photos taken many years ago on a hike along half the length of the mountain ridge. That great, mind and soul filling, two-day trip would not have been possible if Spitaki tis Mamis didn’t exist.
In the middle of that desert of rocks, sands, ferns and srubs, although abandonned and broken, it was still there marking the way, connecting the present with the past. It still said «Hello, I am here for you». I want it to be repaired. If not for any other reason, because of an experience I will never forget. Many years ago when I was single and young, while lying in my sleeping bag on its old cracked concrete roof, still warm from the sun, 
I gazed at the biggest and brightest summer night sky I’ve seen in my life!
……… The pictures
………⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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On the path inside Ranti Forest
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Walking on the ridge and leaving the old forest behind
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A typical Ikarian rock house on the way to Rahes
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Checking the map in the sunset. Got to reach that mountain shelter before nightfall
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Unpacking inside the tiny mountain shelter
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The fireplace!
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Sunrise on Ammoudia plateau, alt. 860 m.
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On the road inside Erifi plateau in the morning
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In view of forested uplands
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Hike across barren wastelands
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In view of the southern coast at last
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Walking down to Karkinagri on a beautiful stone paved lane for a while
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Old houses built on steep ground in the historical part of the village next to a very violent mountain torrent
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…..
That was all from me for now. You can read the official account of the project at this link. For donations, as well as for extra hands, you may write to opsikarias2008@gmail.com and/or kinisi.politon.ikaria@gmail.com. I will keep you up to date for further developments.
Follow me up!
Eleni Ik ❤
…..
Saturday, June 6, 2017
A Day at an Exhibition
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 26 Μαρτίου, 2017 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: adventure, aegean, angelos, art, explorers, flickr, Google maps, Greece, hiking, hiking trails, ikaria, χάρτης, Κάβο Πάπας, Ορειβατικός Πεζοπορικός Σύλλογος Ικαρίας, ΟΠΣ Ικαρίας, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, landscape, landscapes of others, map, March, Mavri, my-work, OPS Ikarias, photography, rocks, wild swimming 14 Σχόλια- .
Dear readers💗As things are at my work I sometimes have to stay for hours at nerve-racking standbys. To relax tension the trick is always to turn my mind to Ikaria and then to look for something interesting to blog about my island. In most cases things don’t fall in as I wish. Inspiration is a bird in flight, but sometimes there are exceptions.😋
Last week during one of those standbys I mentionned above, and while I was surfing fruitlessly in Flickr, I looked for new stuff from friends and a wonderful new set of 29 pictures from Ikaria appeared in front of my eyes: «A Day at an Exhibition» – «Hard hiking, wild swimming and admiring rocks scuptured by nature in Cape Papas, Ikaria». What a brilliant title, description and of course, visual content!These pictures were taken by my friend Angelos, amateur photographer and leading member of the Ikarian hiking club, on a day of March while he and his friends were trying to find a trail through «a jungle of rocks sculptured by nature» (sic) to connect the remote village of Karkinagri with the even remoter westernmost tip of Ikaria and the historical, spectacular lighthouse which stands on it.... ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ...As you could see in this great map above, the trail was found! Therefore, I think we should expect to see more shots from this colorful and naturally artistic, wild coast of Ikaria very soon. But for the time being, these are the best I have seen. I am letting you enjoy them! Move your mouse over the thumbnails to read a few words written by the author about each picture. They are very expressive and enlightening!..
All pictures © Mountain Climbing & Hiking Club of Ikaria
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Côte de Naufragés Sauvés
Thank you very much, Angelos and
the other friends from OPS Ikarias!💗
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Picture Calendar 2017! 😎
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 12 Ιανουαρίου, 2017 Filed under: choses vécues, festivals, flying, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: adventure, aegean, calendar, flickr, Greece, hiking, hiking trails, icaria, ikaria, ikaria-in-winter, island in the aegean sea, χειμώνας, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, layers, merominia, my-friends, OPS Ikarias, photography, things to know, up-with-lonely-winter, winter 8 Σχόλια
Dear readers,
in Ikaria almost every village, community or association makes a picture calendar for the new year to raise money for various causes
and needs. Competition is tough so these calendars are getting better and better in both concept and context every year. Take for example this one by the Ikarian Radio Station on the subject of mushrooms. (By the way, do you remember my post about Ikarian mushrooms?)
Anyway, I am not a village, that’s obvious! And my purpose is not to raise money either. I am one of the co-founders and co-administrators of a small photo community about Ikaria on Flickr and there we have the same tradition as on the island itself: every year we produce a Picture Calendar! The idea behind it is not money of course. All I want is to present some pictures which, besides their quality, are worth to be seen by anyone who is interested in our small stripe of land. They are pictures typical of the corresponding months and/or typical of what goes on in Ikaria during these months.
This year too I made a Calendar for the group, but as I said in the forenote, this time the choice of photos would not be mine. They would be either the viewers’ choice through Flickr 
or merely at random through
The only bit of choosing I did was to pick a photo as a sample from the first rows of both websites. The reason was that as we scroll down the pages, the pictures tend to be less and less relevant to the topic, that is «Flickr + location + month».
I hope you will enjoy this. The larger pictures on the left direct to Flickr. The smaller pictures on the right direct to Google. Click and watch our Ikarian monthly panorama!
Happy New Year!
🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁
His island of freedom
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 20 Σεπτεμβρίου, 2016 Filed under: exploring, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel | Tags: adventure, aegean, blog review, communism, explorers, food, freedom, Greece, hiking, history, ikaria, ikarians, island in the aegean sea, island life, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, lifestyle, peaceful island, stories, travel 7 Σχόλια
Hello readers! 🙂
how long has it been since I last wrote a blog review properly speaking – that is, to review something written by someone I don’t know? I think the last one was about Jackie Fox, the Ikarian/American who posted a whole series of wonderful articles about her life in Ikaria during the year 2012-13. Jackie published on WordPress so it was easy for me to spot her and connect to her blog articles. The same goes with my present blogger. He is in WordPress where he keeps a blog which he calls: «Dorken at large – Outings in search of personal freedom». I like him so here I am, hard-working, cool blogger Eleni, I am blogging about his doings in Ikaria!
As I always do, I will let him speak on his own. But before that, just let me say only two things: a) Dorken comes from Izmir, a city geographically and historically associated with our islands. It’s so close and so big that in some winter nights when the clouds are low I can see the glow of the lights of his city in the east! b) Some Turks like Dorken, also like a lot of people who come from the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, incarnate the legendary Oriental Oral Narrator – in simpler words, they know how to tell a story and capture the listener!
Go Dorken, speak about my island – your island of freedom! 😊
As always in my blog reviews, if you click on the pictures you see in this article you will be directed to the full posts in the source. There you will find more photos with a few words for each. As you will see, I have borrowed some quotes from Dorken’s posts. Goes without saying that I am solely responsible for my choices.
Dorken’s Ikaria : Foreword
«…but then, there was another island. One that was somehow magical, and for no special reason. One that I picked for myself, my fantasy island, my island. When I told the name, very few people would have heard of it, even though it was so close to where we lived. In my child’s mind, I would be the king of my island and my own civilization. I would declare my independence lying on the floor of my bedroom, lost in the map. It was years later, when I started reading about it, I was surprised to see that my island was of the same mindset, that it had actually declared its independence in 1912, had its own flag, its own anthem, even if it had lasted for only five months. Yes, that was definitely my island…»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 1 – Arrival
«Getting to Ikaria is no easy task, I’ll tell you. Despite being one of the largest of the Aegean islands, it seems to be somehow left out of the grid. Although it is clearly visible from the Turkish coast, it is easier to get to Mykonos or Santorini then Ikaria. Well, I hope it will stay that way…»
«The entertaining bit of the trip though was to overhear (ok, not overhear, simply listen, yes I like lis-tening to others’ conversations, shush!) twenty something Istanbulites discussing which beach clubs they should go to in Samos. I’m not going to get into details, but I will tell you this much: some of the Turks really have the wrong idea about the Greek islands. They get on the boat to Samos or Chios thinking they will find the same boom boom – fuck me – boom beach clubs they go to in Cesme or Bodrum, and then they are heavily disappointed. Aegean islands, perhaps with the excep-tion of Mykonos and Santorini, is about peace and tranquillity, and very very good ouzo…»
«.So here I am, sitting on my wooden throne on the beach, adoring my kingdom. I just had the most delicious grilled squid and am on my third glass of white wine. Stars are shining, there’s a gentle Greek tune coming from the back, and the sound of the waves from the front. There’s a brave woman going for a swim. Life is good. So far, I love my kingdom.»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 2 – Agios Kirykos
«Mornings of any Aegean trip has the same theme: wake up (preferably not too late), instead of jumping under the shower, jump into the sea, sit at a café, have a bite, have a coffee, and another coffee and another one. Why should today be any different?»
«Ag. Kirykos is a nice island town (town – village – town? whatever), but nothing spectacular. Nice cafés by the coast to enjoy your book. Few pebble beaches around – not very comfy, but the sea is much warmer than in the nearby islands of Samos and Chios. Nice people. Yeah, that’s it. Summary of the day: swim, have coffee, read book, walk around, have more coffee, plan the next day, have another dip in the sea, and another coffee – yeah that’s really it.»
«Although Greece gained its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1827, East Aegean Islands still remained part of the empire. In July 1912, the Ikarians said that they had enough with that and revolted under the leadership of a chap named Ioannis Malahias. The Ottomans had their own prob-lems like World War I, so as a result, Free State of Ikaria was declared an independent country on July 17th. Of course, it wasn’t the easiest of times. And with no dowry, no money, no family background, Ikarians had to be glad to be annexed by Greece only five months later in November. To this day, Ikarians are extremely proud of those five months and all around the island, you can see more Free State flags than Greek ones. The flag has a dark blue background with a white cross in the middle – basically Swiss flag turned blue. 🙂 »
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 3 – Chalares Canyon, Nas, Armenistis
«To get from the south to the north of the island, you have to go up and down the high mountains that run like the spine of Ikaria. The view on both sides is simply breath-taking. One has to be care-ful enjoying the view while driving in Ikaria though. The roads are all very narrow – at some points to the degree that two cars cannot pass at the same time. On one side of the road, there are rocks and on the other side, cliffs several hundred meters high and more rocks at the bottom. Not to worry, you are more likely to come across a goat than a car while driving on the island anyway.»
«I arrived at Nas, at the northwest end of the island towards ten o’clock. Nas is a very small village with a few hotels and restaurants that took the healthy-trendy line. Everything here is organic, healthy, super food and stuff. It’s not difficult to imagine people doing yoga on the beach at sun-rise, which I’m sure they do.»
«Ikaria has an unbelievable amount of well-marked and well-kept walking trails – one might say bet-ter marked and kept than the roads themselves. The one I was going to try today was starting at Nas and following the river along the Chalares Canyon. As the trails are never ending, I decided to walk as long as I found reasonable, then return back either using the same route or some alternative path.»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 4 – Evdilos, Kampos and around
«The northerly autumn winds begun caressing Ikaria this morning. The sun is still strong, but you know that it is not going to last long. Colors of the season started showing themselves on the trees at higher altitudes. It is the best time of the Aegean.»
«The roads gently ascend the hills passing by farms and vineyards. After a few dead ends, I seem to have found my way. In any case, if you get really lost lost, just walk down till you meet the sea, not that hard.»
«As the altitude increased, bushes and olive trees left the scene to pine forest. At the end, I reached my destination point: Theoktistis Monastery. It is really a small monastery this one, but sitting on top of the mountain, the view is well worth the climb. There is a small church at the very entrance with your typical Greek icons and what not. As you climb a bit more though, you come across an-other tiny church which drops your jaw. Imagine that there’s this big rock on the ground, then they built block walls on it, and then using what mythical creature god knows, they placed a gigantic rock on top of it all to serve as a roof. Walking around the church, you realize that the roof bit is ac-tually a massive rock cantilevering out of the mountain. They just built a block wall in between the two rocks. Okay, now it makes sense. It’s a tiny tiny church by the way, the door is barely a meter high or so, you really need to bend down to get in.»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 5 – Manganitis
«The south coast of Ikaria is rugged, harsh, so rocky that in most places depriving the trees of the least bit of soil to hang on to. This makes it very difficult for humans to settle, but it is a playground for the goats. These steep hills also shelter some of the most beautiful, tiny, isolated beaches you can find on the island, of which, Seychelles Beach has unequivocal reputation.»
«Here’s another interesting note about Ikaria: After the Greek Civil War of 1946-1949 between the nationalists and the communists, the Greek government used Ikaria as an exile location for the de-feated commies. Some 13,000 people affiliated with the Greek Communist Party, KKE, were sent to the island. Considering the current population of Ikaria is just 8,500, you can well imagine the impact of this relocation on the island’s political demographics. And which party do you think wins all the elections on the island today? Yes, you guessed it right :). Even today, the island is referred to by many Greeks as the Red Rock. It is funny though, Ikarians are also very devout Orthodox Christians. Nowhere else have I seen communism and religion going so much hand in hand, but then again, Ikaria is not just any place.»
«…the highlight of the whole day, perhaps the trip, was the tiny, beautiful, under-stated Manganitis village. With houses overlooking the vast blueness that is the Aegean and the cutest little harbour, this fishing village offers the real isolated Greek island beauty in one’s imagination. And the deli-cious Ikarian ratatouille cooked from vegetables grown by the owner of the taverna himself in his backyard, accompanied by a glass of Mythos… for some people, there is heaven, eden, paradise to go to; for the likes of me, there is Manganitis.»
Dorken’s Ikaria: Day 6 – Departure
«Today, I will have a few beers and enjoy my book until the Dodekanisos Seaways hydrofoil takes me to Pythagoreio in Samos, from where I will board the boat back to Kusadasi. I have one and a half hours between the two boats, I hope the connection will be less dramatic than the last one.»
«I have to express my gratitude to the amazing island of Ikaria, for treating me like the king that I am and allowing me to reign over it for six long days – much longer than many mighty nations tried to do. It would be unwise though to outstay my welcome, for I know that the spirit of Ikaria is all about freedom. I will surely miss this red little rock of mine and who knows, perhaps one day…»
«Autumn winds increased their strength over Ikaria today. Gone are the long, warm days of the summer. Whether you like it or not, change is on its way. Things are about to get different, and different we will have to embrace.»
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Come again Dorken! Maybe your ancestors and my ancestors were related! Maybe they were friends!
Let’s be friends too! 😊
👩 Eleni
September 20, 2016
The Who in The Where (2)
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 7 Αυγούστου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, festivals, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel | Tags: anthropology, anti-mykonos, eyes, eyes and smiles, faces, flickr, flickr-photos, frugality, Greece, Greeks, greeks-in-crisis, ikaria, ikaria-in-winter, ikarians, instagram, island in the aegean sea, πρόσωπα, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, lifestyle, local identity, my-beta-island, my-friends, my-idea, my-neighbors, people in landscape, portraits 9 Σχόλια____
«…συνηθισμένοι εις τον θεληματικόν κόπον μιας ησύχου ζωής, ανυπόδουλοι, εξ αρχής της κατοικήσεως των εις εκείνα τα υψηλά βουνά – έχουν ευτυχείς μακρά από την πολυτέλειαν και κακοήθειαν των διεφθαρμένων πολιτειών, ανδρείοι ως ελεύθεροι, φιλόξενοι ως Έλληνες…»
(παλιο ανωνυμο)
__
Hello readers!
There is no need to say much about this kind of post. I think I said more than enough in my first, very enthousiastic «The Who in The Where» 4 years ago. The focus again is on people, our people or the people who visit Ikaria but who somehow seem to have always belonged there. Or is it that our mysterious but so peaceful island has always belonged to them? I don’t know… I only know that I am missing it. I hope that as usual I will return in winter. Meanwhile, go ahead and look through my choice of new pictures of beautiful, meaningful human figures and faces from the summer months as well as the winter in Ikaria. Some of them I know, some others I don’t but I am proud of them all! These people are my next of kin. And though I writing this in a grey overheated city while wearing an uncomfortable formal suit, my heart is with them! I hope you like them too!
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All images open directly on the bloggers’ or photographers’ own spaces and it goes without saying that they are copyrighted. Special thanks to © angeloska, © Ορειβατικός Σύλλογος Ικαρίας and © egotoagrimi
More material in Flickr can be easily found if you type: «Ikaria + portrait», «Ikaria + face», «Ikaria + girl», «Ikaria + boy» etc.
Closing this let me add that there are more shots but that’s not «The Who in The Where» – that’s …
«Only Few in Only Few Places»! 😀
Bye, bye! Got to work now! 😛
Cross blogging 1: Nana’s WP media
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 18 Ιουνίου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, hiking, ikaria, photography, stories | Tags: adventure, aegean, agrimi, blog review, dreams, enviro-lore, environment, girls, Greece, hiking, ikaria, inspirational, island in the aegean sea, island life, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, motivational, my-friends, nana's-wild-photo, stories 7 Σχόλια
Happy Summer, my friends!
It’s not the right time of the year to post long accounts. In the summer people usually browse magazines and look at pictures. So this article is about pictures, pictures of a special kind, older or newer attachements to my friend Nana’s blog posts, that may have passed unnoticed. The same as her blog as a whole, these pictures are not touristic neither do they aim to giving information about the island. All I may say about them is that they are thrilling and they have provided inspiration to a lot of viewers, and if I may say, a bit of motivation as well, and that not only concerning Ikaria but for all similar places of the world gifted with an exciting outdoors and a culture of freedom. Before I write a full blog review, I’ll stop and just say: it’s not pictures from my beloved Flickr that I look at when I am homesick for Ikaria. I look at these pictures. And when I have time, I click on the links and I also read the articles some of which go back to several years ago.
I encourage you to take the ride. It’s a wild ride, as wild and natural as our island. Sometimes the concept does not make sense, sometimes it does, sometimes there’s humor or doubt, puzzlement, even bewilderment. There is art and fun and yes, in some of them a visitor can find some tourist information too.
But this is not the point. The point is a strong, desicive and creative girl living and rambling in Ikaria and what she thinks about it all. Take a look yourselves and say if I am wrong.
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Someone just asked. Yes, of course there will be a second part and maybe more to come. Nana to agrimi’s media library from Ikaria is big!.
‘The Hiking Trails of Ikaria’ – illustrated interview by OPS Ikarias
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 14 Μαΐου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, hiking, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel | Tags: adventure, aegean, atheras, documentary, ecotourism, enviro-lore, good-conspiracy, Greece, hikers, hiking, hiking trails, ikaria, ikaria-in-winter, ikarians, interview, ΟΠΣ Ικαρίας, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, my-friends, OPS Ikarias, people in landscape, photo rapsody, photography, photostory, preservation 11 Σχόλια.
Hello readers!
You know that my blog likes interviews and this one… well, it’s a good one because it’s like a documentary! I mean that you can just stare at the photos (loads of them) streaming over the questions and answers, only that I thought that the context was interesting too, so I got into the trouble to translate the whole thing in English and then I sent it over to be added as subtitles to the video on youtube. Which video is an illustrated version of an interview to my good Ikarian friend, Angelos K., founding member and representative of the Mountain Climbing and Hiking Association of Ikaria (OPS Ikarias), by Babis Kokosis for «The Hiking Trails of Greece» a regular radio show on «The Voice of Greece», the international Greek state Radio (ERA 5). Unlike what you might have expected, the pictures do not show landscapes and trails and maps and stuff like that but people!
As the introduction goes:
«The photos showing in this video made by OPS Ikarias were taken along our various hiking trips and many other activities in the nature of Ikaria from 2008 to 2016. They are a tribute to our older and newer friends and members of the Club who walk and enjoy the island’s fascinating landscapes and take part in the club’s projects and activities. They are our inspiration and our one and only support. This video is dedicated to them!»
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***Find button to turn on "subtitles". Seen best in full screen mode!
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You can read my translation of Angelos’s radio interview by opening this link to OPS Ikarias Google docs. The interviewer introduces the show like this:
«Today we will visit Ikaria, an island that has managed, in spite of the growing tourist development, to maintain a big part of its cultural traditions.
The natural particularities of Ikaria are many. They are shaped by the geographical features and the position of the island in the Aegean Sea. Ikaria consists of a long mountainous mass stretching from east to west forming a ridge with heights over 1000 m. and separating the island in two sides: the northern side with mild slopes, forestlands and abundant waters, and the southern side with stony grounds and steep slopes. Therefore, it displays an impressive variety of landscapes and natural sights which the visitor can discover by following its numerous trails while getting in touch with its history and the legendary particular way of life of its inhabitants.
Let’s find out a bit more about the hiking routes of the island as well as what a hiker may encounter in them through our talk with Mr. Angelos Kalokairinos, representative of the local Hiking Club.»read more...
And if you are a Greek reader you can check out the original transcript in this link.
The video, seen best in full screen mode, it goes without saying, includes a selection of pictures from the Flickr Album: «Mountain Climbing and Hiking Club of Ikaria». I have exercised my influence 🙂 and gotten a specially coded link so you can see all the pictures -not only the public ones. So take advantage of this privilege and enjoy an amazing slideshow! But if you just like a quick view, here is the album straight out of Flickr:
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I WANT MORE OPS Ikarias Videos!!!
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[related links]
Eleni Ik
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Ikaria, May 14 2016
[BIG DAY!]
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Ικαρία & Φούρνοι: μια εξερεύνηση
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 24 Μαρτίου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, hiking, holidays, ikaria, pleasure, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: adventure, aegean, explorers, good-book, Greece, greek-entries, guide, guidebook, holidays, ikaria, island in the aegean sea, ταξιδιωτικός οδηγός, διακοπές, ελληνικά-entries, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, my-friends, my-photos, tourism, tourist-promoter, what-ot-takes, why-ikaria 8 Σχόλια
Γεια σας αναγνωστες 🙂
Σημερα γραφω με χαρα στα Ελληνικα γιατι το θεμα μου ειναι Ελληνικο και μαλιστα αφορα ενα καλο βιβλιο για την Ικαρια! Μπορει να πειτε πως κανονικα δεν θα ‘πρεπε να γραψω αφου ειμαι τοσο παθιασμενη, οντας ολοσωμο κι ολοψυχο το μπλογκ μου αφιερωμενο σ’ αυτο το νησι, αρα η κριτικη μου δεν θα ειναι αντικειμενικη. Ομως εγω οταν χρειαζεται ξερω να συγκρατω το παθος μου. Εξαλλου εχω αλητεψει ταξιδεψει αρκετα και ξερω καλα οτι η Ικαρια δεν ειναι το κεντρο του κοσμου καθως επισης εχει και παρα πολλα μειονεκτηματα. Ετσι νομιζω οτι θα τα καταφερω να γραψω μια νηφαλια κριτικη. Θα βοηθουσε επισης αν σας ελεγα οτι οχι μονο δεν εχω μετοχες στον εκδοτικο οικο που βγαζει το βιβλιο αλλα ουτε καν γνωριζω τη συγγραφεα. Καποτε μονο διαβασα μερικα γραπτα και ειδα φωτογραφιες της και μου φανηκε πως ηταν καλο παιδι. Ετσι απλα.
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Οταν λοιπον εκανε την πρωτη ερευνα για το βιβλιο, μου εγραψε και μου ζητησε φωτογραφιες για την εκδοση. Τοτε ηταν που ειχα ζησει πανω απο 1/2 χρονο στην Ικαρια και μου ειχε κανει μεγαλη εντυπωση που δεν υπηρχε σχεδον καθολου εγκυρο δημοσιευμενο υλικο για τον τοπο που ζουσα. Τοσο που γνωστοι και φιλοι, συνεργατες στη δουλεια, ξεροντας τον χαρακτηρα μου, νομιζαν οτι ειχα κατοικησει σε καποια χιππικη βραχονησιδα με σπηλιες! 😮 Ετσι της εδωσα φωτογραφιες με χαρα και ανακουφιση, νιωθοντας απο ενστικτο οτι η Αλεξια θα εγραφε απλα και τιμια, με διασταυρωμενα στοιχεια και καλη επιλογη θεματων, και ιδιως χωρις κουφιες εμπορικες καλολογιες. Πραγματι, τωρα που κρατησα στα χερια μου το αντιτυπο που μου χάρισε, βλεπω πως ειχα δικιο. Αυτος ο ταξιωτικος οδηγος ειναι τοσο αμεσος κι απλος που εκτος απο «Εξερευνηση», θα μπορουσε να εχει τιτλο: «Ικαρια και Φουρνοι: Εξ επαφης»!
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Το καλο πραγμα αργει να γινει. Μεχρι να εκδοθει σωστα το βιβλιο της Αλεξιας γνωρισε μεγαλες περιπετειες. Απο κοινους γνωστους εμαθα οτι αντι να της ανατεθει η αποστολη απο καποιο αφεντικο, εκεινη ηταν που πηγε και χτυπησε «μεγαλες πορτες» ζητώντας την αναθεση η οποια της δοθηκε μεν, ομως η εκδοση, αν και με τρανταχτη υπογραφη γνωστων εκδοσεων του χωρου, πηγε κακην κακως στη διανομη, δεν έφτασε στα ραφια και τελικα εξαφανιστηκε. 😮
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Ομως η Αλεξια επεμεινε. Σε συννενοηση με την Καριωτικη παρεα του ηλεκτρονικου περιοδικου ikariamag τμηματα του βιβλιου εμφανιστηκαν στο «Ο,τι χρειαζεστε για το νησι» οπου φαινεται πως ειχαν μεγαλη επισκεψιμοτητα, ελεγχθηκαν απο τους αναγνωστες και αναγνωριστηκε η εγκυροτητα τους. Ετσι ψηθηκε η ιδεα για μια νεα ενημερωμενη εκδοση η οποια βγηκε τελικα το Δεκεμβρη του 2015 απο τις Εκδοσεις «Ελευθερες Πτησεις» που συνδεονται με το περιο
δικο και άρα το θεωρω απιθανο η εκδοση να εξαφανιστει κι αυτη απο τα ραφια. 😉 🙂
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Εκτος απο τ
α βιβλιοπωλεια, το «Ικαρια & Φουρνοι: μια εξερευνηση» θα βρειτε σιγουρα στο ηλεκτρονικο καταστημα ikariastore. Εχει 370 σελιδες και κοστιζει 15.00€. Παρακατω θα σας εξηγησω γιατι αξιζει να το αγορασετε. Πρωτα ομως ας δουμε τι γραφει στην εισαγωγη η ίδια η Αλεξια για το βιβλιο της:
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«Το παραδέχομαι, δεν την είχα συμπαθήσει όταν την είχα πρωτοδεί την Ικαρία. Ούτε που την ένοιξε βέβαια αυτήν. Δεν με είχε ανάγκη βλέπεις, ούτε εμένα ούτε κανέναν. Ωστόσο δεν κατόρθωσε να με ξεφορτωθεί τόσο εύκολα. Καθώς περνούσαν τα χρόνια, κάπως τα ΄φερε η ζωή κι επέστρεψα, αυτή τη φορά κάτω από τελείως διαφορετικές συνηθήκες. Η Νίκη κι ο Βασίλης με πήγανε παντού, με φρόντισαν, μου έμαθαν ικαριώτικο, με βοήθησαν να μην αισθάνομαι ενοχές που δεν βιάζομαι, με πήγανε στη ντίσκο στις 5 το πρωί και μάντεψε: τελικά τη λάτρεψα την Ικαρία!..»
«Μετά δεν ήθελε και πολύ. Ξαναπήγα και ξαναπήγα και ξαναπήγα, γνώρισα κι άλλους φανταστικούς ανθρώπους και τελικά έγραψα ένα βιβλίο. Ο στόχος τώρα -όπως και τότε- παραμένει ο ίδιος: ν’ απολαύσετε και να αγαπήσετε αυτόν τον τόπο γι’ αυτό που είναι και όχι γιατί σας το προτείνω εγώ. Κάθε τόπος άλλωστε είναι σαν ένας ξεχωριστός άνθρωπος. Με τα χρόνια φτιάχνει την προσωπικότητά του, ζώντας τις δικές του μοναδικές εμπειρίες, κάτω από διαφορετικές επιδράσεις. Κάπως έτσι γράφεται τελικά η ιστορία του, όποια κι αν είναι αυτή…»
«Ανοίγοντας το βήμα για να φτάσεις στα πιο απομονωμένα σημεία, χάνεσαι μέσα σε ανήλιαγα αρχαία δάση, διασχίζεις ορμητικούς λουλουδιασμένους ποταμούς, βουτάς μέσα σε χρυσαφένιες παραλίες, διψάς μέσα στην πέτρα και τη σκόνη, ξαποσταίνεις σε καταπράσινα προστατευτικά δέντρα. Μέσα σ’ αυτόν τον ταξιδιωτικό οδηγό θα βρεις τον τρόπο να φτάσεις στα πιο κρυφά σημεία της Ικαρίας και των Φούρνων, θα γνωρίσεις ηλιοκαμένους ανθρώπους που κατέχουν το μυστικό της μακροζωίας και θα ανακαλύψεις γιατί ο Ίκαρος διάλεξε να πέσει ακριβώς εκεί…»
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Κι εγω τωρα σας λεω να το παρετε γιατι:
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- Η Αλεξια εφαρμοζει πιστα τους βασικους κανονες του καλου ταξιδιωτικου βιβλιου. Χωρις να θεωρει τιποτα σαν δεδομενο ή αυτονοητο, γίνεται σύντροφος του ταξιδιωτη και τον καθοδηγει να κινηθει στο νησι και εφοσον θελει, να ξετρυπωσει κρυμενα περασματα σε μυστηριωδεις πραγματικοτητες που η Ικαρια διαθετει αφθονες, πιο πολλες απο καθε αλλο Ελληνικο νησί. 🙄 😉
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- Εχει ξεκαθαρισει σε ποιους απευθυνεται. Η Ικαρια της Αλεξιας δεν ειναι για ταξιδιωτες μαθημενους στα ευκολα. Ξερει που ειναι ολα τα αγκαθια, τα βραχια, οι αποτομες στροφες κι οι γκρεμοι, ενω θεματα περιβαλλοντος, τοπικης οικονομιας, τροπου ζωης και κοινωνικων συνθηκων ειναι σε πρωτο πλανο σε ολα τα κεφαλαια του βιβλιου, διχως ωστοσο περιττους εγκυκλοπαιδισμους. Σ’ αυτα τα θεματα εμεις οι γυναικες ειμαστε πιο πρακτικες απ’ τους αντρες. 😉 🙂.
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- Αν και ολοφανερα δεμενη με τον τοπο, εχει το θαρρος της αποψης και της επιλογης των θεματων. Μετα τη θαυμασια εισαγωγη για τη γεωγραφια, την ιστορια, την κουλτουρα, την αρχιτεκτονικη και τις παραδοσεις, διαιρει το βιβλιο σε οκτω διαδρομές στις οποιες μας παει βημα-βημα, δινει τα highlights, καποια αφηνει απεξω, εννοειται, ευτυχως, δεν ειναι εγκυκλοπαιδεια ουτε χρυσος οδηγος! 🙄.
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- Οι χαρτες! Οι χαρτες! Οι χαρτες!
Οι φωτογραφιες! Οι φωτογραφιες!
Οι πρακτικες πληροφοριες και τα μικρα, πολυ χρησιμα, τιπς 😎
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- Δεν γινοταν να λειπουν οι αναφορες στις χτυπητες ιδιαιτεροτητες μας. Τα πανηγυρια ⭐ οι «γκρουβαλοι» 😎 η διαφορετικη αισθηση του χρονου 😳 το οχι/ναι καμπινγκ 🙄 η μακροζωια 😉 – για ολα αυτα (και αλλα που δεν τα ξερετε) η Αλεξια καταθετει την αποψη της θαρρετα, γλαφυρα και με χιουμορ 😀 αλλα δεν παραλειπει κιολας να καταγγειλει τα πολλα σκουπιδια, τα παρατημενα αυτοκινητα, την συχνη ελλειψη αρχιτεκτονικης καλαισθησιας και την αδιαφορια για το περιβαλλον οπως π.χ. στο θεμα της υπερβοσκησης που ερημοποιει τα βουνα του νησιου. 😦
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- Μιας και μιλησα για βουνα, σε καθε κεφαλαιο του βιβλιου γινονται πολλες αναφορες στην πεζοπορια: ειτε για το πολυ απλο, δηλαδη για να φτασει κανεις σε μια απομονωμενη παραλια [«καβατζα» 😀 ] ειτε για μεγαλυτερες διαδρομες οπως π.χ. το Φαραγγι της Χαλαρης ή τον Γυρο του Δασους του Ραντη. Ομως δεν επεκτεινεται πολυ και κανει καλα. Η πεζοπορια/ορειβασια στην Ικαρια ειναι ξεχωριστο, πολυ μεγαλο κεφαλαιο που γι’ αυτο θα αξιζε να γραφτει εξειδικευμενος ταξιδιωτικος οδηγος. 🙄
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- Τελος, ηθελα να πω οτι δεν εχω δει καλυτερο καταλογο δωματιων, ξενοδοχειων, εστιατοριων, μπαρ κτλ. Βρισκονται μετα απο καθε κεφαλαιο στο τελος καθε διαδρομης και απορησα που τα ξερει, γιατι στην Ικαρια ουτε τα μισα κομοντιτις δεν βρισκονται στον κεντρικο δρομο αλλα ειναι κρυμμενα σε μακρινες πλαγιες και ραχουλες! Μαλιστα η Αλεξια δηλωνει οτι για αυτη τη ξεχωρη δουλεια δεν ζητησε κι ουτε πηρε δεκαρα. Φυσικα την πιστευω! Κι εσεις να ακολουθησετε τις συμβουλες της γιατι ειναι γυναικα μερακλου προφανως.
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- Προσωπικά εγω διαβασα το βιβλιο της με περιεργεια αλλα κυριως με μεγαλη ανακουφιση. Η περιεργεια μου ικανοποιηθηκε με το παραπανω γιατι εμαθα πολλα πραγματα που δεν ηξερα. Πιο πολυ ομως ενιωσα ανακουφιση γιατι εχουμε ενα καλο τουριστικο τυφλοσουρτη επιτελους! Να μη χρειαζεται καθε φορα που συνανταμε ενα ξενο να του κανουμε σεμιναριο, αλλα να του λεμε:
-Αγορασε αυτο το βιβλιο, ειναι καλο, το διαβαζουμε κι εμεις οι Καριωτες. Διαβασε το κι ελα μετα, οποτε θες, να τα πουμε με πιο πολλες λεπτομερειες! 😀..
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Αυτα απο μενα τη Λενη και γεια σας, χαρα σας. 🙂
πηγ
αινετε τωρα αν θελετε να δειτε τη
σελιδα του βιβλιου της Αλεξιας στο facebook
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Σημ: Η Αλεξια δεν ειναι απο την Ικαρια ή τους Φουρνους. Γεννηθηκε και μεγαλωσε στην Αθηνα, σπουδασε στο τμημα ΕΜΜΕ του Πανεπιστημιου Αθηνων και λιγο αργοτερα βρεθηκε για μεταπτυχιακα στην Αγγλια και την Ολλανδια. Εργαστηκε στο χωρο της δημοσιογραφιας, της επικοινωνιας και της εκπαιδευσης και απο το 2014 εχει μεταναστευσει στη Μεση Ανατολη. Λατρευει τα εξερευνητικα ταξιδια, ενω η συγγραφη αποτελει γι’ αυτην καταφυγιο. Το «Ικαρια & Φουρνοι: μια εξερευνηση» ειναι το πρωτο της βιβλιο και το πιο αγαπημενο της δημιουργημα στη μεχρι τωρα ζωη της. Το mail της ειναι: alexia.palesti@gmail.com
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Ικαρια, 24 Μαρτιου 2016
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What I blogged about in 2015
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 12 Ιανουαρίου, 2016 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, festivals, flying, hiking, holidays, ikaria, photography, pleasure, stories, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: adventure, aegean, eleni-in-ikaria, enviro-lore, environment, Greece, hiking, ikaria, ikaria-in-winter, island in the aegean sea, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, my-friends, nature, nature-culture, photography, preservation, stories 9 Σχόλια
Happy New Year, my friends!
The same as last year it’s again time to review for you my blog posts of 2015. I wasn’t counting but now I can see they were actually twelve, one for every month! If you are too lazy to scroll, you can just click on the image on the left and you will be directed to Google Image Search to see a gallery of random pics from my posts of 2016. But if you like things to come one after the other, go ahead and scroll below my gaping mouth 🙂 I have set my posts in order of appearance: a book, two maps, a guiding woman, a group of friends, a cook, a craftsman and a crazy girl, a food gathering man, a survival manual, yoga in the wild, hikers in the wild, my river and me, mushrooms, and finally, amazing landscapes in winter. I hope 2016 will be as rich with good subjects as 2015. I hope,..
I am in Ikaria now and it feels like in a lifeboat: heading for the unknown but safe and calm.
Ikaria Guidebook !!! 😎
Two big hikes Google mapped!
Xenia, the Ikarian mountain guide ❤
food, pebbles and headstands 😉
Ikaria in August – Instructions for Use 😎
These Mountains are for Yoga! 🙂
Large views – Small people ⭐
≅ river 2003 ≅ ❤
Mushrooms! 😀
Thick with the eerie awe of the uncanny 😮
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
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Thick with the eerie awe of the uncanny
Δημοσιεύθηκε: 23 Δεκεμβρίου, 2015 Filed under: choses vécues, exploring, flying, hiking, ikaria, photography, stories, travel, Uncategorized | Tags: adventure, aegean, atheras, balancing rocks, enviro-lore, explorers, ghosts, good-book, Greece, ikaria, island in the aegean sea, χειμώνας, Ορειβατικός Πεζοπορικός Σύλλογος Ικαρίας, ΟΠΣ Ικαρίας, ικαρία, μονοπάτια, OPS Ikarias, Pezi, photography, rocks, Save Atheras, Save Pramnos, stories, up-with-lonely-winter, wild shots 15 Σχόλια- .
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My name is Angelos K. and since I was nominated contributor I am afraid I have written very few articles in this blog. Let’s say that I was saving my blogging skills for special occasions. And as I hope you can tell from the introductory picture, this is a special occasion. The place is Pezi plateau located on the western part of Ikaria island, Greece. The time is two years ago, between December and January 2013. The photographer is Thomas K. Shor, an American writer, photographer and traveller. He and his wife Barbara appeared out of the blue in Ikaria in the middle of a cloudy and rainy winter. During their stay we hiked (a little), we talked (a lot) and we became good friends. Apparently, they liked the island, because they visited us two times. Between their visits I had the chance to read two of Thomas’s books, «A Step Away from Paradise» and «The Master Director» and although I know very little about the places where the action takes place, I liked both of them very much.
While in Ikaria Thomas often carried a camera but I didn’t pay much attention to the fact. All Americans carry cameras. Until one day when he came to my house and showed to me a pack of high quality B/W prints. Knowing that I am a hiker and an amateur photographer, and therefore, I was familiar with the locations and the subjects, he asked for my opinion about his work. I was all admiration! As a matter of fact, I couldn’t keep my fingers off those prints! Through the years I have seen a lot of great pictures from the desolate landscapes of our mountains but these ones were special. Moreover, they were 100% «Ikaria» and not, as it so often happens, overprocessed creations which, no matter how beautiful they are, I label them «fiction» and I don’t usually give them a second glance. 😕 😕
I immediately told Eleni about Thomas work and as much of her blog is dedicated to photography, she told me to ask for Thomas’s permission and left the door open for me to get in and post an article about his book. So I did.
Inside Thomas’s article about his book, there is an awesome slideshow where you can view some of his many amazing photos. I borrowed the title of my article: «Thick with the eerie awe of the uncanny», from Thomas’s first draft of the publication. I loved that title! Because, like Eleni, everybody in Ikaria loves ghost stories. How couldn’t we? Just take a look at these photos! Look at the landscapes we live in! Thomas has managed to show that these shapes, these shades, these forms, are alive. More than that, they can talk and tell stories!
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Below you can see some photos of Thomas K. Shor taken while hiking with our local hiking club, in Ikaria. Further down I have added a few quotes from his book about the island.
….:star: ⭐ :star:….
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«THE ISLAND OF IKARIA is distinctive for various reasons. It remains to this day an untouristed backwater where people are largely self-sufficient and unusually independently minded. It has been labeled one of the “Blue Zones,” with the highest percentage of people in their nineties on the planet.»
«Historically, it was the poorest island in the Aegean. It is also one of the lushest, with numerous springs and rivers and forests of pine and oak.»
«Yet the landscape photographs I have been taking over the course of a couple of extended stays reflect nothing of this lushness and hardly depict any people.»
«The island is long and thin, a single mountain ridge rising sharply out of the Aegean Sea not far from the coast of Turkey. At the top of this ridge, topped by numerous 3,000 foot (1,000 meter) peaks, is a landscape that haunted and excited me from the moment I set eyes on it.»
«It is a desolate and windswept land of exposed granite carved by the elements into bizarre shapes and balancing boulders. The granite has a mysterious propensity to take the form of living beings.»
«The trees are stunted and the bushes thorny. It can change from bright sun to near impenetrable fog at such a speed as to be entirely disorienting.»
«The atmosphere is often reminiscent of the stories of Edgar Allen Poe, thick with the eerie awe of the uncanny. The beauty of the place is raw and the solitude profound. This series of photographs, taken on the mountain’s many moods, reflects both the landscape and what it did to me.»
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Wednesday, December 24, 2015
Updated: Friday, October 26, 2018
Eleni's Blog in Ikaria 
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