The next miles we traveled brought us to an island near Athens. The island of Euboea, which is the second largest in Greece. We said we'd drive through it from north to south and stop somewhere occasionally. You can easily get there over a bridge connecting the island with the mainland in the city of Chalkida.
The first night we wanted to spend at Drymonas waterfalls, but there was no signal there. We searched for a while in the dark, almost got stuck a few times, and then we discovered a divine little spot right next to a church. We stayed there for two days. We needed to work and plus it was raining again. On the third day in the afternoon we looked at that waterfall... or rather small waterfall. There's a nice trail next to it and there are also a few picnic spots with children's playgrounds. Perfect for a family with kids!
Our desire to see the sea again led us to the eastern coast of the island. We drove downhill past lots of olive plantations to one little beach, where we were only disturbed the whole next day by a few fishermen and we even had a swim! The water wasn't the warmest, but good for rinsing off. Plus it has an excellent effect on both hair and skin.
(If anyone wants to read about it, I found a nice article here: https://www.eotazky.cz/morska-sul-na-vlasy-jednoduchy-trik-na-vyreseni-problemu-s-vlasy )
Well, and then I got tired of just sitting in the van and working, so we headed a bit into the mountains for a smaller trip. We spent the night near the Agali canyon and the next day went to walk through it. This whole island is full of beautiful canyons that are probably dry most of the year, but it still has its charm. Half-dried trees grow there (or at least that's what it looks like at this time) from a bed full of large stones.
The north of the island is such hilly terrain, where one bigger road leads right along one river bed. It's a very nice route even just for looking from the car (but you shouldn't go there at night). It would definitely be possible to just walk it on foot, nothing demanding (Just an idea. If anyone wanted to go hiking, sometime early in spring - fly to Athens, hitchhike to the island and then get lost in nature for 3 days, right? :) ). From the center of the island to the south it's more mountainous. Near Chalkida is the highest mountain of the island - Dirfi (1743m above sea level), which is a popular tourist spot. And in the south in the Ochi mountain range is the Dimosari canyon, which was our next goal.
After the walk around Agali, we headed south. In town we just found a car parts store and got LED bulbs for the car and also that little thing that allows us to heat the boiler. We're bathing in hot water again!!! We had it broken... In still pretty nice weather, we arrived (again in the dark) at a beach perhaps at the end of the world, from which the plan was the next day to set out on that famous hike. A brutal storm broke out at night and I just prayed it wouldn't wash us from that beach somewhere into the sea. Fortunately it didn't happen and so Leo was forced to go on another trip.
We use mapy.cz and Google Maps. If anyone has a better idea for some maps around Greece, let me know! Unfortunately, neither is completely optimal. Google Maps ended at someone's yard and mapy.cz led us several times to a path blocked by a fence. We're not hooligans to walk on someone's property, so we turned back to the van. Even so, we walked quite a bit along Dimosari and I have to admit it's very nice there. (not counting the trash that someone sometimes throws down from the cliff)
We still had a bit of the day left, so we said we'd drive around the island along the coast. The road is there, but it's not exactly for an almost 7m vehicle. At one slightly wider spot we turned it around and rather returned the same way back to the western side of the island. They have roads that aren't undermined there! :D
On Christmas morning we woke up nicely on the beach again and in such nice weather that it even allowed us to have breakfast nicely outside. After a small holiday shopping we headed slowly but surely back toward Chalkida. For Christmas Eve dinner we stylishly roasted sausages on a fire on one godforsaken beach, where only about one local drove by that evening and even honked at us in greeting!
And that was our last evening here, on Euboea. This island, despite being so close to Athens and that horror of totally built-up area around it, is surprisingly peaceful. There are no well-worn monuments there (there's something in Eretria, but it's again just a pile of stones) and nature is a bit wilder and less accessible, so those who are looking more for tranquility and peace will enjoy it most. Highly recommended!