Hike to Kokkari

 

With the Euro value down and gas prices low, you would expect this to be a good year for travel; but news of the refugees flooding into the Greek islands near Turkey last year has resulted in a 45 percent drop in tourism for those islands.  With Greek pensions cut in half and with taxes to double this year, the result has been devastating, especially for coastal towns like Kokkari who live or die by the tourist trade.  The irony is that the refugees are now being routed into Western Europe through Italy.  The nightly invasions of the beaches here have stopped and the holding camps are empty, but this year Western news is all about the election.

From the eastern rim of the village you can look down the mountain and see the coastal outline of Kokkari.  In seasons past, we were used to seeing Dutch tourists, or the flinty German hikers eating lunch in the Plataea.  They'd often drive or hike up the mountain from Kokkari in the morning, stop in Vourliotes for lunch, then hike on to Manolates, or walk back down the mountain for a swim in the Aegean.  This year Kathy wanted to hike down the mountain, have lunch and a drink in Kokkari, then catch the bus back to Vourliotes.  Down the mountain sounded easy enough, so I agreed.



Crossing a brook

When Kathy retired last year, she joined a gym and went almost daily to walk on their treadmills and swim in their pool.  When I retired it meant that the dog and I had more time to spend together in the golf cart or the recliner.  The scenery on today's hike was beautiful, but the soreness in my back and legs has been a painful reminder that the recliner and the channel changer have not been my friends.