September 11: Milies–Kala Nera–Milies
11.3 km; 296 m (-296) ascent.
The day dawned bright and sunny, a promising start for our first hike. Anastasia served us breakfast on the porch outside.
Today’s walk was an out and back, an easy stroll downhill to the seaside town of Kala Nera and back. We began by walking along the railroad track of the little Pelion Train, which travels the narrow track that used to convey travelers from Volos to Milies.
Now it’s a fun tourist attraction.
Kala Nera (“Good Waters”) is a pretty town with an economy apparently entirely based on tourism. We had lunch at a waterfront taverna — not that we needed lunch after our massive breakfast, and Anastasia had made us packed lunches, but there we were.
Greek tavernas typically cover the tables with paper when diners sit down, for ease of cleanup. This one had particularly informative table paper featuring a map of the entire peninsula. It didn’t make much of an impression on me at the time, but when I went back though my photos later I could clearly see the shape of our route.
Lunch over, we hiked back uphill through sunny olive groves.
Goats were everywhere, including this dead one that lay in the path:
The money-shot of this stage of the hike was the cave formerly occupied by the wise centaur Chiron, an hour or so up the hill from the beach. This is surely the way Achilles would’ve walked to school, after he and his dad Pelias sailed across the Pagasitic Gulf from Phthia, perhaps even landing at Kala Nera and enjoying a seafood lunch before heading up to Chiron’s Prep School for Young Demigods.
We were now regulars at our Milies taverna, where we looked out over the terrain we’d covered as we dined.
