To Vrisi and back
Today we are going for another walk. This time, it’s three-thirty in the afternoon, at least 32 degrees and we’re heading uphill for two miles before turning around and heading down again. I was in the mood yesterday, so I put on my shoes and left the house, weaving through the back lanes of the village to the road.
I came out by Lavinia Studios, the place I stayed at on my first visit to Symi in 1996. Sadly, they now look a bit delipidated, and I don’t think they’ve been in use for a while. When I was there, there was no building right in front of them so there was an uninterrupted view down to Pedi. Anyway, past there and up the hill past the cantina to the Agia Marina church and cemetery. Past that to the bridge and the yappy dog (absent) and onto the concrete road that winds up to To Vrisi, as it’s known locally. It means ‘the tap’ because there is a natural spring beneath and you can refill your water bottles when you get there.
The thing with this route is that is winds in and out of the folds of the hill. It’s a bit like when you come back from the other Again Marina (the beach with the island) over the top to the windmills. You keep thinking, ‘one more ridge,’ only to find another one beyond it. So it can be with the folds of the hills if you’ve not done the route before, but it’s not too long. There’s not a lot of shade, depending on the time of day, so take a hat and water. I ambled up at a decent pace arriving 35 minutes after I left home, and paused in the churchyard for a few minutes and half a bottle of water before heading back down again.
Form up there, you get a great view down over the Pedi valley, the football pitch (still in need of repair), the bay, the opposite hill, the village and windmills. The route back is the same and much easier. There was also a breeze on the way back which helped dry me off. Today (Wednesday) I have to go to the post office, so that’s my walk for the day. If you’re wondering why I am suddenly doing all this, it’s for two reasons. Late next year we’re going to our son’s wedding in Scotland, and I will have to look good in a kilt, and the following year we’re aiming to go to New Zealand to see Mr Box and family. (See my trip to England posts from late July/early August for an explanation of Mr Box.) He has challenged me to try surfing, and if the thought of me in a kilt is unsettling, you should try thinking of me in a wetsuit.
