Fortified castle in KOZ town. Archeological site inside. Island hopping in Greece.Gazing at Turkey, pondering the number of refugees who have crossed these watersStone entrance to the castle and a step back in time
ATHENS
Safe antiquities.
Women who hold up the world.
Fatigued protection.
New Accropolis Museum. Phenomenal!Accropolis site. The women who guard The Porch of the Maidens. They are strong and beautiful. The morning light was perfect for photos.Perfectly synchronized, disciplined and serious. Loved watching them watch the Accropolis.
DUBAI
Overdeveloped
Beauty overprotected
Super ultra sheik.
Looking down from the tallest building in the world. Floor 124. Looks like this all the way around. I was not impressed.One of the few who shows her face.Who is more sheik?
THE NOT GEEKS: TRENT, DAWN AND SWEET BABY ASPEN BAKER
Do Goats Sleep Standing Up?
Friends gather to join Will the Thrill and BonBon for a klimbing extravaganza on the Greek Isle of Kalymnos. Unexpectedly, they meet fellow Salt Lakers Trent, Dawn and sweet baby Aspen residing in the room right next to K O and Kissy. Will is thrilled (as usual) because this means more klimbing partners, more friends and more social gatherings than originally planned for. BonBon is also thrilled as this means a baby to play with because we all know klimbing is NOT her passion and she misses her grand babies terribly. However, the plot thickens when goats start showing up everywhere….on rocks at the crag, around the corner of your hotel, standing up on the rungs of barbed wire fences, sitting in the middle of the road…on your plate for dinner (never mine). Their poop is everywhere, too, but mostly in the rivets on the bottom of your hiking boots…..GROSS. They eat everything and especially seem to enjoy plastic….go figure. They do not have much to say (BAAAAA) and they are very unkempt. The sheer number of these was surprise number one for the Geek Squad. Wasn’t much we could do about it except “get over it”.
Klimbing takes precedence over everything…even goats.Swimming with goats???Expand the photo and find all the goats. Correct guess gets a prize. Evening gathering of goats to discuss their Klimbing exploits of the day.?
We all explored the island independently and sometimes could not agree on a crag that would work for all of us. We had a few favorites, but we had the most fun discussing our klimbing exploits over dinner and beer and watered down house wine each evening. Surprise number two was we learned quickly that Demon would order many small plates of appetizers and a GOOD bottle of wine and we geeks would reap the benefits. Even though Demon does not climb, he was always invited to dinner and we were always glad to have him!!!!
Demon?In the front right; GOOD bottle of wine in middle of table. Food for everyone. Thanks?.Pappi???, hot stuff? and Bonbon? Shooting the schite at the end of the day. Sunset at our balconyHot stuff? wins the prize for best overall view of the Aegean…sunrises and sunsets.Chilaxing with ?K O and ??? Pappi????
There were plenty of rest day activities including: great hikes, island hopping, visiting archeological sites, beaching, swimming, sleeping, and hanging out with the goats….not to mention CNN reports of the debates. BUT, the Geek squad hardly ever took rest days, so we really did not get to do some of those great Kalymnos activities. K O gets the award for non stop klimbing and dragging Kissy along with him….no surprise there. We did have fun kayaking, snorkeling, cliff jumping and motor scooting one day when we all agreed to take a rest.
The Thrill doing his thang on one of his three rest days.Kayaking on a rest dayEnjoying the amazing Aegean and a rest day!?Hiking the small island of Talendos with ?? ,?,?.Hora Castle above the port city of Pothia.
Holding up an early Byzantine necropolis… Not that I needed to since it has been there since the 5 th century.
Kalymnos is a scooter island and it seemed to be a bit of a scene. Of course, instead of renting proper and safe head gear, klimbers wear their klimbing helmets on their scooters to save a buck….again, no surprise and we all fell right in line with that. The Thrill and I took an afternoon to revisit the hospital where he had his surgery five years ago. When we asked the ER doc about the number of klimbing accidents, he replied that scooter accidents top the list…BIG SURPRISE…not. I was gripped every time I got on that scooter. It was only going to be a matter of time before we decked a goat and I fell off ( this geek would not drive her own scooter)and landed on someones dinner.
Gripped with fear, but still smiling??Skooters and Trent.Skooters and me.Scooters and scooters at the Secret Garden crag.More scooters……….
We really enjoyed klimbing with all of our friends. Will found a perfect partner in Dawn and a perfect challenge in climbing with Trent. He did not try to climb with sweet baby Aspen. K O and Kissy were a great match for us as the guys were looking for the same nice, fun, easily approachable climbs for the gals. They were completely unselfish when it came to climbing with the ladies. In return, the gals were trying to make their guys happy by “being happy”! And, klimbing with Pappi and Hot Stuff was super chill. Those two geeks are laid back, always willing and were able to block out our bickering. Hot Stuff Stevie just ignored us and quietly stayed uninvolved and Pappi had a very clever way of diffusing my angst and Will the Thrills‘ frustration. We all matched up well. There was always someone to klimb with, a new crag to discover and lots of planning strategy to avoid the sun or shade, the warm or cold. The new guide book is super informative and brilliantly put together to guide geeks as to where to go and when, how to get there and, also included awesome descriptions and photos of potential klimbs. A MUST HAVE!
Thrilled??
If you are waiting for some sort of weird twist to the story, an unbelievable event, a terrible accident or a clever mystery….just stop reading now and enjoy the photos by the Thrill. The best and only ending for this story is that I rediscovered climbing and it was fun, awesome, challenging, beautiful, physical and I may or may not have had the most rest days (4 in three weeks), but thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to get better and stronger and more confident. The rock is sharp, but the edges are all there. Pockets, jugs and tufas were plentiful. Sticky rock for fun face climbing boosted my confidence. Big holds when you least expect them. Footwork was challenging at times and chicken head fun at other times. My favorite crags were Sea Breeze and Poets. The climb “Happy Girlfriend” made me very happy and when I am happy, the Thrill is happy. The hike to the Grand Grotto was spectacular as just a spectator. This amazing cave was a stunning scenic backdrop for the strong, talented, gutsy, agile and incredible climbers who braved the goats andthe grades to push their limits. I enjoyed watching the movement and unbelievable dancing on the rock. This is a BIG story ending, if you know me and my so so lack of real passion and motivation for klimbing. Kalymnos…what a mecca. I want to go back. I want to get better. I might want to train for a second trip here….I might want to be a Klimbing geek. Shocker!!!!! And, no the goats sleep lying down….at night….like the rest of us. Are you surprised?
The End
Big smile on “Happy Girlfriend” in Grand Grotto?Step and pull down.Break time at “InfraRed” crag.A happy Klimber????
Oh, and did I forget the chapter on Sunsets?
Nope, too scared. Did not think I could clear the bulge. Chicken!!!!!
