We Made It!

So in the past 75 days we sailed from Barcelona, Spain to Yalova, Turkey, a journey that took us over 2,100 NM (4,200 km) and allowed us to visit small villages, town quays, secluded bays, and extraordinary vistas that we couldn’t have seen were we not on our moving home at sea.

Some of the prettiest towns we visited were the ones we hadn’t planned yet stumbled upon like our recent visit to the town of Lagkada on the island of Chios in Greece.  We were headed to Chios from Mykonos not knowing where we were going to spend the night, we looked at the wind and the bays and chose one that would be sheltered.  After an 11 hour trip we arrive at 6pm to this peaceful town dotted with colored homes, adorned with bright, pink bougainvillea flowers.  As we approached the bay we were pleasantly surprised that it was a town quay which meant we could dock right in front of the cafes and restaurants.  A waiter working at the café quickly came to help us with our lines as we secured the boat to the pier. We were the only boat in the whole town!

As we walked in the town’s narrow roads, I couldn’t hold my excitement as the town was filled with fruit-bearing trees, there were vine leaves and grapes hanging between homes, trees filled with red pomegranates and the air was filled with a sweet scent coming from the jasmine plants. The best part about these small towns is the people, they are down-to-earth, helpful and kind.

The island of Lesvos is one we stopped at on our way to Turkey because it was on our route, little did we know that we would be greeted by kind people who took care of us during our stay and took us around the island.  We arrived at Metellini marina on Friday, hoping to get our exit stamp and move on to our next stop within the day but we arrived after the port police had left for the day so had to wait until Monday.

Thankfully we met great people there that made us feel welcome and we had the chance to go around the island and enjoy the green mountains, scenic views and beautiful bays. On one of our car trips we found ourselves stuck on a road that was around 2.5m wide where at some point a lady sitting on the side of the road had to tuck in her feet so we didn’t go over them!

Here are cities/ towns not to be missed if you will follow a similar route:

Es Tuna Bay, Spain

Cadaques, Spain

Antibes, Nice, Cannes, St Paul de Vance, Monte Carlo, St Jean Cap Ferrat, France

Calvi, Corsica

Positano, Ischia and Amalfi Italy

Island of Stromboli, Italy

Othinoi, Greece

Corfu, Greece

Paxos, Greece

Chios, Greece

Island of Lesvos, Greece

Bozcaada Turkey

I’m sure there are spectacular places to visit in Turkey but we haven’t been around there yet that’s why they aren’t on the list.  We have Turkey on our list for the next sailing season😊

If anyone needs further info on any of the above places, send us a message and we’ll be glad to share more details.

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