Agistri

The island of Agistri was the third stop on our Greece trip. It is located just 35 km from the port of Piraeus in Athens, and a stone's throw from Aegina. Like Aegina, Agistri is in the Saronic Gulf, part of the Saronic Islands.
Agistri is a small island (14 sq km), with only four villages of any size. The rest of the island is covered in pine forest. Only two kilometres apart, Skala and Megalochori (also called Milos) are the two villages that cater most to tourists on the island. Megalochori, which means "big village", is the capital village of the island. It has traditional whitewashed stone-built houses - some of the oldest on the island, tiny, winding streets, a sandy beach and a small port where fishing boats moor. We stayed in Skala, the main port of Agistri. Skala is just a twenty-minute walk from Megalochori along the coastal road.

For those who love hiking, Agistri is ideal for walking. Many old footpaths crisscross the island and lead to tiny chapels, small settlements, beaches, and hilltops with breathtaking views to the sea. But hiking is best in autumn and spring when the weather is not so hot. In summer it would have been uncomfortable. There are a few interesting churches on the island, but it was the sandy beaches with blue-green waters that were the main draw for us. The beach closest to our hotel was the beach of Agioi Anargyroi, located at the beginning of Skala, next to the harbour and in front of the all-white Church of Agioi Anargyroi. The church, the newest in Agistri, was the first thing we spotted when we arrived on the island. It is an imposing all-white church, which stands out from afar with its blue dome.

We spent three days on Agistri. On our last day we took a boat trip around the island. We admired the bays, swam in secluded coves and discovered the small islands that are around Agistri. Our skipper told us about the island and pointed out locations of particular interest. We learnt that the population of the island is approximately 1,100 inhabitants, but in the summer months it approaches 5,000. Until 1960, transportation was done by boats coming from Aegina but in 1960 the island was connected directly with Piraeus. In 1973 another important service was made available on the island - electricity.

The boat ride was stunning and a wonderful way to end our Greek holiday. We had just one more night in Athens before our flight home. Hopefully we will be able to return to the area again one day, to discover more of the different islands that Greece has to offer.

* This post has been shared on Little Things Thursday, Thankful Thursday, Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) and My Corner of the World.

Flowers

We did very little during the Passover holiday. There isn't much to celebrate at the moment and anyway it was extremely hot for some of the days of Hol Hamoed, the five days between the first day of Passover and the last day. I had however booked tickets for "Flowers" in Tel Aviv, which was advertised as the largest flower exhibition in Israel. We went to a wonderful flower show in Haifa back in 2012 and I was intrigued to see how this new show would compare. It was cool inside the Expo Tel Aviv complex, where the exhibition took place, though unfortunately we were far from the only visitors! It seems that every Israeli thought to escape the warm weather too and let's just say it was rather crowded.

The "Flowers" displays were created using over two million flowers. Many of these were rare species not native to Israel and were specially imported for the event, along with flowers that were grown in Israel, including in the Gaza Envelope.

Each hall in the exhibition had a different theme. The first hall was the Tropical Hall. It featured floral monkeys, a huge yellow, red and white snake which towered above the crowds, and a peacock with a four metre long tail that stretched out on the floor like a colourful fan. The peacock was made up of a variety of flowers including scabious and lisianthus. Other animals included butterflies, a lion, a zebra and more. 

Next was the Hall of the Planets, which included the sun, the moon and the earth. The earth was woven with beautiful blue lobelia flowers, while the crescent shaped moon was designed using petunia and lobelia. The sun was created in yellow and orange, using bidens, marigolds and chrysanthemum. 

The Hall of Legends covered the world of fairy tales. Alice in Wonderland's tea party table, below, included beautiful tiered cakes and cupcakes sculpted with more than 4,500 flowers such as carnations, Belvedere rose, alstroemeria, Craspedia, orchids and more.

The Yellow Ribbon is a symbol of hope and solidarity, expressing support for bringing home the hostages. More than 250 hostages were taken captive by Hamas following the 7th October terrorist attack. Since the hostage deal between Israel-Hamas in November 2023, 125 remain in captivity.

I wasn't a fan of the next exhibit, the magical Swan Lake. Ten swans covered with 5,000 chrysanthemum and white alstroemeria, which were grown especially for the exhibition, swam on a huge lake. Unfortunately they looked more like little fat ducks than swans to me! I have not included a photo.

The finale of the exhibition was a giant chessboard. The game pieces included a green knight decorated in pink at the base and with a mane made of amaranth flowers. The queen had a green base with 3 rings shaped like crowns, above, all made of alstroemeria flowers, scabiosa and orchid branches. The height of the chess pieces ranged from 2 to 2.5 metres.

How did the exhibition compare to the one we had seen in Haifa all those years ago? There were way too many people inside the buildings, making it impossible to see the flowers properly. While some of the displays were impressive, it was hard to enjoy them while jostling with the crowds. More attention should have been paid to entry times and the number of entrants should have been limited. In addition signage was poor. I would have liked to have read more about the flowers and the meaning of each piece, though frankly I could barely see the signs that were there anyway!

But, the flowers were beautiful, and that's what mattered. With everything going on in Israel today, it was nice to escape into the cool halls for a couple of hours to enjoy the beauty of the displays.

* This post has been shared on Sundays on Silverado, The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), My Corner of the World and Floral Friday Fotos.

Malta

Back in September, fortuitously before the war started, Mister Handmade in Israel and I had a week long holiday in Malta. Since Gadi died we have done very little and Mister Handmade in Israel's holiday days were accumulating. It was time for us to take a short break. But where? I had no interest or energy to plan too much and indeed did not know how much I would even want to do when we reached our destination. Fortunately my good friend Jane jumped in and suggested we book a trip to Malta. She and her husband had been there the year before, so I could just book the same airline and hotel as them. Even her itinerary was pretty much copied too!

Malta turned out to be the perfect choice for us. A small island country, it is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of Sicily and north of Libya. The country consists of five islands - Malta, Gozo and Comino, which are inhabited, and the uninhabited islands of Cominotto and Filfla. The capital and chief port is Valletta, which is located on the main island of Malta. 

Valletta was founded in 1566 by the Knight of the Order of St. John who was called Jean Parisot de la Valette. The city has lovely narrow streets and historic buildings dating back to the 16th century, as well as quaint gardens, parks and artfully decorated churches. At just 0.61 square kilometres, it is the European Union's smallest capital city and therefore very walkable. We spent our days exploring the streets and museums of the city, returning towards the end of each day to our gorgeous hotel, The Embassy Valletta Hotel, situated right in the heart of Valletta, for a swim in their rooftop pool, top photos. It had the most incredible views!

We visited the St. Elmo National War Museum which charts Malta's history from early civilization through the Knights period and the victory over the Ottomans, the first and Second World Wars and onto independence. The museum is within the actual fort of St. Elmo and enjoys great views of the harbours from every direction.

The Lascaris War Rooms, above, housed the war headquarters from where the defence of Malta was conducted during the Second World War. The rooms are now open to the public as a museum.

The one day that required us to get up early and get moving was when we took a ferry over to the island of Gozo. We booked tickets for the hop on hop off bus and spent a long day (we took the very last bus of the day back to the harbour!) stopping at all the island's major attractions. My favourite stop was at Dwejra Bay, a rugged island bay featuring beautiful rock formations which we saw on a short boat ride to the Blue Grotto, above. The water was an unreal shade of cobalt blue, and the coral and algae made beautiful purple-green stripes on the rocks.

The Ġgantija temples, above, are the earliest of the megalithic temples of Malta and are older than the pyramids of Egypt. The name Ġgantija derives from the word 'ġgant', Maltese for giant, as Gozitans used to believe the temples were built by a race of giants. Not so surprising when you see the size of the limestone blocks from which they are constructed. Some of these megaliths exceed five metres in length and weigh over fifty tonnes.

We took a traditional Maltese water taxi called a dgħajsa across the harbour, to explore Vittoriosa, Senglea and Cospicua, known as the Three Cities of Malta. These types of boats have navigated the Grand Harbour since the 17th century and continue to serve as the main way to travel back-and-forth.

The Three Cities sit directly across the Grand Harbour from Valletta. Although they are three cities, they are relatively small and clustered together, making it very easy to sight-see in just a few hours. The area was picturesque and full of history, though I regretted not joining a walking tour for our visit.

The Gardjola Gardens, above, a small park at the end of the Senglea peninsula, provided us with a spot to relax in the shade while enjoying the impressive views over the harbour and the city of Valletta.

Mdina is a fortified town located on a large hill in the centre of Malta. It served as the island's capital until the medieval period. The town is still built within its walls and has a population of just under 300. With its narrow streets, few inhabitants and incredible views overlooking large parts of Malta, Mdina is extraordinary in its mix of medieval and baroque architecture. It was also one of the filming locations for Game of Thrones!

The Co-Cathedral of St. John was one of the last places we visited but was certainly worth the wait! It is a Roman Catholic co-cathedral (Malta's population is 98% Catholic) in Valletta, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1572 and 1577. In the 17th century the interior was redecorated in the Baroque style and today it is considered to be one of the finest examples of high Baroque architecture in Europe. Incredibly, the cathedral survived the heavy bombing of Malta during the Second World War.
The cathedral also houses one of Europe's most impressive and famous artworks - Caravaggio's Beheading of St. John the Baptist -  widely considered to be one of the ten greatest works of art of all time. It was definitely a highlight of our week-long trip to Malta.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random. The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) and My Corner of the World.