Weekly Photo Challenge: Signs

October 4, 2014October 5, 2014 / wrightsolution / 3 Comments

I was excited to see this week’s Photo Challenge theme on Signs. I’ve always had a thing about signs and what they have to say about different cultures. I actually have a section on my blog devoted to them. They offer little insights and clues into a culture’s priorities, buying preferences, or sense of humor. Sometimes all three. I love noticing what they have to say about where I live, or at least the questions they raise. Often they leave me stumped too.

Take today for example: Stuck in a small developing world airport, I was delayed for hours, waiting around inside a concrete box with no internet connection, a dead battery, nowhere to charge, and no book… People watching ran its course. I studied the bad paint job. I kept looking at the broken clock. I peered regularly out the window hoping to see our plane land. After a while it was just me and the signs staring back at one another. Here are the two that graced the airport’s walls today:

The Greenply company manufactures commercial plywood. Quite why they would have a public stance on bad language is a bit of a mystery? In fact, what they are trying to say is a bit of a mystery too. After hours of uncomfortable staring at an otherwise blank wall, I’m still not clear on the point? Suggestions welcome!

My other choice was this one. How to even begin?! Thinly veiled sexual innuendo, blatant false advertising (where is the “serving suggestion” label)…since when do Nepalis eat Thai noodles?… very odd indeed!

Beach Life

October 4, 2014October 4, 2014 / wrightsolution / 4 Comments

The other kind of beach life that is… I thought this would be the best way to close all the stories from Greece this Summer: a short glimpse at one of our favourite beaches, Kounoupi. There’s plenty of other kinds of beach life going on with beer and friends and food. But if you step away and find a quiet spot, here are a few portraits of life on a beach… Bye Spetses…see you next year!

Hike to Zogaria

October 4, 2014October 4, 2014 / wrightsolution / 1 Comment

The peaceful wide trail at the start of the hike

The trail to Zogeria is one of the longest on the island and has been on my hiking to-do list for years. Zogeria is on the northern tip of Spetses and starts with the usual hike up to the ridge road, and then takes a right-hand turn towards the Church of Agias Ilias, the highest point on the island. Latham and I stopped there for a small breakfast and enjoyed the views from the row of red chairs that look out to the sparkling early morning sea. From the sterna of Agias Ilias you can see out to both sides of the island (reminding you how small the island really is), but our peace was broken by the bees were up early too, so we grabbed the map and figured out the start of the new northbound trail that we hadn’t taken before.

The first part was easy to follow but finding the turn off was harder. When we found it, it looked very narrow and rarely used. Pricker bushes grew over the path or threatened to catapult across your legs, armed with thorns that looked like they could pierce leather. It was easy to believe that we had taken a wrong turn, but we moved carefully onward and it brought us to the right place, an obscure point on the main ring road which I had never noticed before as a trail head. Had we been on a motorbike, we would have turned right and taken the wide dirt trail directly down to the sea and followed the path a bumpy 1-2km to the beach at Zogeria. Our pedestrian map told us to turn left and walk a short way along the concrete road, turning right on to a long narrow trail that paralleled the lower coast road. It kept us high up forever, winding back and forth. Now three hours into the hike, the sun was getting higher and hotter in the sky. I was starting to wilt and the most challenging part of the walk was upon us: spiders! Lots of them. Strung out across the path from tree-to-tree. You couldn’t see the threat of their invisible webs until they were upon you. If your attention waned for just a few moments, suddenly there would be the caress of an elastic web string pulling across your face, a pregnant pause, and the veil of the web would land in your hair with the promise of a very large spider in the middle of it! We tried to tread waringly.

Latham grabbed a stick to serve as the Spidermaster 1000, and waving it ahead of us Harry Potter-style, he caught almost all of the invisible webs before they caught us. A few slipped through the wand’s magic powers and we batted our heads and waved our arms, screaming the spiders out of our hair. After forty five minutes of this, I was exhausted and wobbly, but happily the path started to descend towards the sea. All I could think of was how I was going to throw myself in the ocean headfirst.

We cooled off in the sea for a blissful 20 minutes, then started the final, easy hike along the coast road to Zogeria Beach. It had been a 4.5 hour hike with the swim stop. I’d do it again, but next time I’ll be turning right!

One of the terrible spider beasties – out to get us!

Wielding the Spidermaster 1000 against the evil spider army

These people arrived by boat on Zogeria beach. No spider-battling stories for them!

The reward of a greek salad at the end of the hike.

Hara Chapel

October 3, 2014 / wrightsolution / Leave a comment

Leading from the side of the Hara home are the remains of a pretty mosiac path that winds through the pine trees. The trail clearly promises some kind of discovery at the end, although we didn’t know what. With curiosity, we followed it to discover a small chapel that was is need of some TLC but was pretty good structural condition otherwise, but it had no front door. The paint was peeling off the exterior walls, but the inside was still a blaze of colour.

And inside someone was still tending the place. Candles burned at the icons of mother and child, the floor was swept, and garlands of olive branches decorated the walls. An old plastic chair in the corner must have been the caretaker’s private spot to enjoy the quiet and peace of the place. We sat a while and looked up to the ceiling. It was a blaze of blue with stars looking down on the pretty ochre walls and wooden carvings.

So sad that the chapel sits there so lonely most of the time, but its I’m glad to see someone still takes care of it a bit. Wonder what happened to the doors?