The back of Mount Olympus from the road between Ano Skotina and Kriovrisi; the summits are hidden. And now the other side, facing the sea, where crowds gather for the popular drama

I have been trying to write this story for a year and a half, and last night I thought I would simply post some introductory photos, with catchy captions. They’re all gone. and the story is about making discoveries and getting lost, about following others, enviously sometimes, and going alone.

the great plane tree at Ano Skotina and the church bell.

Near Kriovrisi on the back road from Ano Skotina

nature imitating art, or laughing at garden designers, on a bank of rubble newly created by road widening, near Kriovrisi.

A lizard orchid by the same roadside

Rain on the mountain, sun on the achillea (yarrow)

An orchid, Dactylorhiza saccifera, beginning to open in the forest at Ano Skotina

corn cockles in the barley, you might remember this one from before. The road from Ano Skotina to Kriovrisi – I’m now reminded by the map that it’s not the back of Olympus but the side, not the west but the south – runs through an amazing variety of landscapes.

I’ll leave it there for now I can no longer see a option to save a draft so to make sure I don’t lose it with a twitch of the finger or by experimenting with strange icons I’ll ‘publish’ it and come back to it when I’ve taken the dog for a walk….

Cephalanthera rubra (helleborine) in the forest at Ano Skotina