Lovely Lesvos

A short ferry ride from Ayvalik and we are in Greece.  It was very exciting and it could have been my over-active imagination but I felt the island of Lesvos, although in many ways similar to Turkey had an easier vibrancy than in Turkey.  We were staying in a great pension in Mytilini filled with antique bric-a-brac.  The streets have marble curbing and buzz at night with everyone eating and drinking along the waterfront.  The food has been superb.  We have quickly acquired a taste for retsina and ouzo.

Harbour of Mytilini, Lesvos

Our pension

Bob enjoying retsina

We spent hours exploring the huge old fort with magnificent views of the Aegean and the town.  The whole place was just open free for anyone to go anywhere and everywhere and we did.  The site of the fortress dates back to the 6^th Century and as with everything in this area was occupied by Greek (Byzantium) and Turk (Ottoman) forces throughout the ages so churches become mosques and then back to churches.  

Looking at the battlements over the Aegean

walls of the fort

restored residency in the old fort

more ruins of the old fort in Mytilini

buildings of the Mytilini fort

On our second day we took a bus to the other side of the island to a small town called Molivos.  It was a lovely quaint place with old stone houses winding up the hillside through cobblestone streets shaded and kept cool by a wisteria canopies. 

Streets of Molivos

 There was another medieval fort to explore, smaller than the one in Mytilni.  We went to the beach (rocky but then sand in the water) and had a very relaxing few hours swimming and people watching.  

Out station in Molivos

View from the  Molivos fort

Lesvos is one of the larger Greek islands but the trip only took about 1 1/2 hours by bus from one end to the other.  It went through hilly terrain of pine and olive trees and very few villages.  The entire island has only 86,000 people and seems to exist on olive trees, fishing and tourism.  We met a few Greek - American expats/tourist that come to the island every year and also some British tourists that routinely come to the island for their holiday.  I can see why as Lesvos is really a lovely spot and our stay was all too short.  But we are off to Athens (Pireas) on an overnight ferry.

Our ferry to Athens, the Ariadne