Special summer: one week in Castellorizo

filled by Giulia & Romeo

For those who love peace, a little of adventure and atmosphere of confinement, Castellorizo gives feelings similar to those offered by a mountain pass: that distance from everything and everyone, that atmosphere of suspension from everyday life, of sweet escape from reality . It is one of the Greek islands more distant from Italy, overlooking the Turkish coasts. To get there need to catch a flight for Rhodes and then get on the ferry or on a local plane making a few flights a week.
To embrace the atmosphere of Kastellorizo, its silences, its crickets, its lights and its shadows that are followed by the ship arriving in port, we recommend viewing or probably the second vision of one of the masterpieces of Salvatores, Mediterranean.
You will arrive on the island already prepared for this atmosphere hardly ever found in other Greek islands. Castellorizo is different. In Castellorizo there is no beach but a board of cement used as such, where children meet in the morning and say, "let's play at the beach?", Pulling out the bucket and spade that will fill up with water because the sand here is nowhere to be found. There is no sand but there are all the ingredients to make you happy for a week away from noise and light of your city. A couple of hotels and many houses for rent will help you experience the island by local instead of tourist. Maybe with a nice terrace with views of the harbor, as it has happened to us ...
A lovely natural harbor around which takes place throughout the life of the island, also called Megisti and dominated by the Castle of the Knights of St. John.
The towns on the island are made up of two villages: Pigadia, around the marina, and Chorafia, around the church of Aghios Konstantinos and Agia Eleni, that frame the harbor and continue up to Mandraki. The fixtures characteristic colored houses that give color to the brush strokes as postcards. Behind the imposing cliffs of Vounou put the village sheltered from the wind.
It 's an island without cars and therefore no noise.
The sweet doing nothing is marked by the rhythms of nature: the dawn, the sun at high noon, the sun, the wind blowing, the darkness, the moon and the stars.
For the choice of the beach we suggest you to take a walk and find your small bay. At Faros, on the headland, where there are steps down to the sea and Plakes, a 20-minute walk to the north. And then there is Mandraki, small sandy beach. For the more daring suggest venturing into Galazio Spileo or Fokiali where you arrive by boat.
For those who love trekking and can not stand the heat, towards the hour of sunset we suggest a nice walk up the hill to the old monastery, which will give you a thrilling view of the whole island.
You will not find bars or nightclubs, but you will do later in one of the taverns or coffee is a pleasant way to spend your evenings. The dishes served on the island are part of the traditional Greek cuisine. The local specialty is a cake chickpeas ... Then there are the meatballs in sauce with egg and lemon, the chickpea balls, fish, seafood, stuffed onions and rice with onion, mint and tomato. Among the desserts, in addition to baklava, the sweet pizza with cinnamon and cloves.