Dirt Road with a View

Yesterday was our day off and since we had rented a car we wanted to drive to places on the island that we had never been before. We decided that visiting this lone windmill up high on the mountain would be low hanging fruit, and so we set off on a driving adventure. 

It was an exceedingly windy day even by Astypalaian standards, around 40 mph.  As we started to gain elevation, the car started to rock in the wind.  We continued on.  Now the road turned into a narrow steep dirt road with no guard rails, rather daunting.  Still, we continued.

While we travelled, Andrea would ask me to stop the car so that she could take photos of the fabulous view. I stopped the car smack in the middle of the road, as I could not imagine pulling to the side.  Stopping was a bit difficult, as I had to get started again on a dirt road with a steep incline.  Adding to the problem was that the clutch on my manual transmission released way up high, causing me to rev the car a little which made us fishtail a bit on the narrow dirt road. A bit harrowing.

Finally we got up to the mill, and now the car was rocking quite vigorously in the wind. Andrea decided to brave the elements to get a few photos of the Chora down below us.  She struggled against the wind, actually staggering with every footstep, her dress pulled straight out like a sail against the gusts. I foolishly decided to join her, and it took every ounce of upper body strength that I have to push the door open.  I then had to use one of my legs to wedge the door open so that I could slip out of the car, the door slamming behind me.

I finally made it to the mill, but both of us had to press ourselves against the structure in order to feel safe from the wind. I was convinced that we would be carried away. We were rewarded with several nice shots of the main village and the port, which you see here.  The school that we work in is not in the photo, but it can be reached by following that long dirt road that begins in the port, all the way up to the castle.

One of the photos is a closeup shot of the ruins of a Venetian castle that tops the island.  You can also see that there are three churches way up high near the castle.  Our school is tucked under the base of one of these churches.

Hope you enjoy the video and the Greek music playing on the radio in the background.

More soon.