I have forgotten to mention this fairly new effort from Cicerone, their newest Crete guide, “The High Mountains of Crete”:

Cicerone has just released a new walking guide to the Catalunya region. This is “Mountain Walking in Southern Catalunya”:

Added to the Book Shop.

Lonely Planet also had several more hiking guides for the Mediterranean region that are gone now. In addition to Greece I seem to remember both Turkey and France. Current offerings are Spain and Italy only:

The Spain guide used to include both Canary and Balearic islands, but AFAIK the Canary islands are not represented anymore. The Italy guide (at least used to) include both Sardinia and Sicily (including Eolian islands).

If you ever wondered why someone would start walking so much on Greek islands (which seem more well known for other activities…), for me Marc Dubin is partly to “blame” for that:

This “classic” book (meaning now out-of-date and long out-of-print) covered in addition to mainland Greece the islands of  Amorgos, Chios, Crete, Folegandros, Lesvos, Naxos, Nissiros, Rhodes, Samos, Samothráki, Serifos, Sifnos, Skiathos, Symi, Tilos and Tinos. Too bad it was discontinued by Lonely Planet and never came in any new edition after the initial 1st. And Marc Dubin went on to write travel guides for Rough Guides instead…

After some particularly stupid restaurant reviews of Greek restaurants in my home town of Oslo I feel the need to give them a grade of my own.

Restaurant Alexandros:

Restaurant Zorbas:

So there!

People are walking with the strangest things on their feet, but for me good leather walking boots are a necessity. But nobody can tell you what boots are the most fitting for your feet, so you should try several brands and models before making a choice. Remember that boots should always feel comfortable even before they are broken in.

Boots should preferably be all-leather with GORE-TEX® (or equivalent), good ankle support and a VIBRAM® sole (or equivalent). The lacing on the ankle should be as independent from the lacing on the foot as possible. Personally I recommend boots of Italian origin, which in my opinion have unsurpassed quality and comfort. Good brands are e.g Crispi, La Sportiva and Trezeta.

I have not even used the 5th edition of Sunflower’s “Landscapes of Sorrento and the Amalfi coast” that I bought last year yet, and there is already a new one:

ISBN 978-1-85691-395-9

Although Greek wine has a dubious reputation (In my mind mostly because a usually decent product is destroyed before it reaches the consumer by inappropriate storage like standing cooking on a top shelf in the summer heat). Also one cannot expect everyone to be compatible with Retsina (see below) or semi-dry red wine (yuck!). In fact Greece has some top wines that can compete with just about anything. The Skouras Grande Cuvée Nemea is the best I have personally tasted and it easily beats even some of the most expensive French wines:

Skouras Grande Cuvée Nemea

The Beast

Possibly the best effort in sports ever from any Norwegian. Read the full story at the UCI website.

But quite possibly Boutari’s Retsina is the best of the lot. Almost too good to be a Retsina this one. Just a pity so few Greek tavernas actually have it. It is years since I last had a bottle of this.