Day 23 / Chapel Crawl Pt 1
Featuring driving mishaps and the joy of things going wrong
Chapels successfully visited: 2/12 (will do better next time)
Wheels sacrificed to Artemis: 1 (RIP Suze’s back left)
Times said “sorry” in one evening: 319 (British record attempt)
Current trust in Google Maps: Nominal
It’s artist date night round two and this time I fancy something a little bit different.
Something with culture. A sprinkling of history. Some island exploring. Hmm, how about a mini road trip to check out Leros's chapels? This being Greece, they are a) numerous and b) cute af.
A chapel crawl it is. Maybe followed by dinner. Lovely.
Chapelling
I find a dozen chapels scattered across the island and pop them into Google Maps. As the light starts to soften that evening, Suze and I head out on our adventure.
We start by heading south, whizzing past small boats bobbing merrily in the bay and tavernas where the first diners tucking into their moussaka.
Chapel No. 1 is carved into the cliffside, right by the sea with a set of white-trimmed steps running down to her. She's chocolate-box pretty with red paint that pops against the blue water.
It's giving major Mamma Mia and I poke my head around the door to see a cluster of paintings and alters decked with small silver charms as well as a few candles twinkling in the cave-like interior.
A childish glee starts to fizzle and I run back up the steps to Suze with a cheshire cat grin on my face. Hurrah! We love artist date night! We love chapel crawls!
Chapel No. 2 is further inland. I follow an increasingly tiny road up a hill. Suze just about fits through the tight corners and it’s a relief to arrive at the top. The chapel itself is less achingly cute, but boy oh boy is the view the real reward.
I do a few laps, soaking in the fields and distant mountains. Glorious.
Onto number three.
Off-roading
As Suze and I inch our way back down the track, I think to myself, I should just go back the way I came. At least I know we fit that way.
But Google Maps is telling me to turn right, and worried about being that tourist who gets stuck going the wrong way down a one-way street, I put my trust in Google.
Bad decision number one.
The road appears to be okay. It’s concrete, at least, and there’s a lovely view down towards the sea. I soon spy a house and think, phew okay, did it.
There’s a rather tight-looking hairpin bend and I start to inch around it.
Bad decision number two.
I soon realise this is not a hairpin bend for turning around. I find myself see-sawing my way around with one wheel floating in the air. Crikey. Am I going to be stuck here?
I keep inching and breathe a big sigh of relief when I finally make it without injury to Suze or the fence of the house I’m passing.
Homeward straight now, I think and I continue on.
Bad decision number three.
The road turns into a narrow, steep incline with a sheer drop on one side. Then suddenly, I see a step in the middle of the road. Hold up, Suze.
I get out to investigate and see not one step but several. The road turns into an actual staircase. For humans. Not cars. Uh oh.
Popping
I look around and see two people leaning over the terrace of the house I just passed. They ask if I'm okay then confirm that no, that is not a road, and yes, I will need to reverse up.
Alright Suze, let’s have it girl. I offer a silent prayer to Artemis and start reversing. It’s tight. I’m too close to the old fence on my left. I try to turn away and suddenly hear a loud pop as my back tyre goes.
Oh dear.
By this point, the man from the terrace is heading down. "Do you want me to reverse it for you?" he offers.
Obviously I am a strong, independent woman who can reverse her car but given the circumstances, I gratefully accept.
He manages to inch Suze back up to safety and we take a look at the tyre. It’s not good news. There’s a whopping great hole. Oh dear, Suz. I am so sorry, girl. To make matters even better, there's no spare tyre in the boot. Brilliant.
Rescuing
Turns out my saviours are a couple who met on a night out on the island years ago. Adam is Greek and was doing his national service at the time. Petra is German and was travelling with friends. They now split their time between Germany and Leros and invite me in for a drink while we work out where to go from here.
I feel rather incredibly guilty about hijacking their evening as the terrace soon resembles an incident response HQ. Given my lack of phone signal (great, thanks O2), Adam takes charge of calling the car rental company and fielding calls from their insurers.
When that goes nowhere, he manages to get a local car hire man to come all the way out to remove the entire wheel. He disappears with a promise to be back soon.
Adam, Petra and I settle in with a plate of biscuits and watch the cliffs glow in the sunset. I’m introduced to their adopted cats (or did the cats adopt them? Hard to know in Greece), and as night slowly falls, we spend the evening chatting about everything from energy to refugees to where to buy the best food on the island.
They are quite simply the loveliest people, and what could have been an absolute disaster turns into one of my favourite evenings of my hermit chapter.
At some point, the car hire man returns with a new wheel for Suze. He screws it on and we are good to go.
Up in the sky, a sliver of crescent moon has appeared and Chapel No. 2 is lit up like a castle. Adam gets Suze back onto the road for me and Petra sends me off with a hug.
I head back home and stop for an emergency pizza on the way (essential for sodium levels). Eating it down by the sea with fairy lights overhead and the gentle murmur of happy pizza munchers, I have a little chuckle to myself.
Chapel crawl? A disaster.
But the evening? A pure delight.
Note to (slight) control freak self, sometimes the good stuff really starts when best laid plans go awry.
