Seemingly barren landscape Today, I attempted to pay more attention to the plants and animals of the coast. You know, the kind of grey-looking plants that one usually just scoots past. Well, it turns out that they are not so grey. Is it a type of Fuschia? Using goggles, I had a brilliant view of the brightly coloured fish and painfully prickly anemones around some sea caves. Unfortunately, I think scientists have rather more effective resources than a Google search engine and

Although I was unable to unleash my true inner hippy by visiting Stonehenge on the solstice, I thought I would still aim to catch the sunset. Luckily, I was able to do so in a stunning location- the temple of Poseidon at Sounion. #30wilddays #summer #ruins #greece #wildswimming #temple #solstice #Wild #beach

In Southern Greece we came across these abandoned houses, hotel complex and church. Easily accessible from the side of the road, I wondered why they had been left in such disrepair. Some of the land had a battered For Sale sign outside, suggesting it was still owned. #explore #abandoned #urbanexploring #greece #urban #urbandecay

Today, I swam in the lake at Vouliagmeni. It is a huge lake set against a cliff face. It is freshwater although only about 20 metres from the coastline and 50cm above sea level. The water is warm, 27 degrees celcius in fact. Where cold water from a tap might be 20, this is pretty warm. It is naturally heated by springs which makes it the perfect habitat for Garra fish. Otherwise known as doctor fish and commonly available in little tanks for spa treatments, they nibble the de

I got up early this morning and walked through the deserted streets towards the Acropolis. The night before, a fellow hostel-goer had recommended that I see the sunrise by the Acropoplis. I decided to take this advice. The streets were almost unrecognisable without the usual bustle of street stalls and restaurant owners valiantly trying to tempt people in. I clambered up the slippery rock which had been worn smooth by the feet of a thousand tourists. I found a perch at the

Day 15 was a nightmare of a travel day. Nightmarish because we were due to travel from Rio to Athens but there happened to be a train strike. But this is not a post in which to complain about my day. Instead, I want to describe how much of a difference small and beautiful things can make to an otherwise bad day. ‘The information you wanted’ cartoon at a bus stop So we wandered off and discovered a beach and lighthouse. I took a swim and floated near a fisherman. He was thr

After all our travelling we decided to relax with a wild a meal out. We chose a pizza bar on the side of the road near the beach. It had a partially open, weaved roof and an enormous palm tree twisting up through the centre. Later, I took a walk along the Rio-AntiRio bridge. I had read that it was magical at dusk and so it was. It was deserted apart from the occasional lorry tearing past. I could see the sky darkening and hear the creaking of the bridge. The lights of the n

We spent the day on a little gravelly beach swimming beside the mountains and the Rio-AntiRio bridge. #greece #wildflowers #travel #wildswim #mountains #adventure #beach

In memory of the best mum I could have asked for and who will always be in my heart. I remember her trying to teach me how to make music from a blade of grass in our south London garden. I was about ten years old and mightily impressed by her prowess on this instrument. Today, I picked some grass from near the beach in an attempt to feel closer to her. It turns out it is a lot harder than it looks. But I practiced throughout the day and, eventually, taught myself to whistle.

Day 11 and 12 were wild travel days. We journeyed by trains to Bari, a city on the east coast of Italy. From the station, we walked down through the town’s shopping district and calm (by Italian standards) traffic. This took longer than expected with the heat and our backpacks so we stopped for a picnic on the side of the road, under a palm tree. Refreshed, we staggered onwards. We came across a Baroque style church and then meandered through narrow alleyways decorated with f