A Kalymnos boat trip is a sea outing around Kalymnos, an island of the Dodecanese. This page belongs to the Greece tours collection. It covers sport climbing, freediving, the war years of 1943, the island of Astypalaia and the barbecue, then ends with four short answers. Hard words are explained, and each fact comes from a reference article.
What does a Kalymnos boat trip mean?
A Kalymnos boat trip means a sea outing near the coast of Kalymnos. The island sits in the southeastern Aegean Sea and is also a municipality. It belongs to the Dodecanese chain and is its wealthiest member. A municipality is a local unit of government.
The small islet of Kalolimnos lies about 5 kilometres to the northeast. An islet is an island of very small size. The coastline of Kalymnos is very irregular and has sheltered coves. A cove is a bay set into the shoreline. A Kalymnos boat trip is a bare label for a sea outing.
The Hellenistic Temple of Apollo on Kalymnos was excavated by Charles Newton. Hellenistic describes the Greek age that followed Alexander the Great. Argos is a village between Pothia and Brosta, facing Telendos. Excavated means dug up with care to study the past. A Kalymnos boat trip meets this temple as a name from the past.
The population was about 24,000 in 1925, compared with 16,500 in 2012. Darwin and Melbourne in Australia have large Greek communities of Kalymnian descent. Descent here means family roots. The island is known as Càlino in Italian. In Turkish the island is called Kilimli or Kelemez. Each name shows a different tongue.
- Place: Kalymnos lies in the southeastern Aegean Sea and is also a municipality.
- Chain: Kalymnos is the wealthiest member of the Dodecanese island chain in the Aegean.
- Coast: The coastline of Kalymnos is very irregular and has sheltered coves.
Kalymnos belongs to the Dodecanese and has an irregular coast. A Kalymnos boat trip is a plain name for a sea outing around it. The next sections look at the sports, the sea and the history that surround the island.
On a Kalymnos boat trip, what does sport climbing add?
A Kalymnos boat trip brings up sport climbing. It is a form of free climbing performed in pairs. The lead climber clips into pre-drilled, permanently fixed bolts on the rockface. A bolt is a metal peg set in rock.
Quickdraws clip the rope into the bolts without generating friction. A quickdraw is a short strap with a clip at each end. A belayer is a rope partner. The second climber, also called the belayer, removes the quickdraws after the lead reaches the top. A Kalymnos boat trip is only a name here.
Sport climbing dates from the early 1980s, when French climbers sought blank rock faces. In France, leading climbers such as Patrick Berhault and Patrick Edlinger drilled bolts into limestone walls. Limestone is a pale rock formed from sea shells. Alan Watts created the first American sport climbs, Watts Tot and Chain Reaction, in 1983.
Competition climbing made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Competition climbing has three disciplines: lead climbing, bouldering and speed climbing. Bouldering means climbing short, hard problems on boulders. Sport routes are graded for technical difficulty alone, not for risk. A grade is a mark that shows how hard a route is.
- Start: Sport climbing dates from the early 1980s, when French climbers sought blank rock faces.
- Olympics: A Kalymnos boat trip meets sport climbing, which made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
- Grades: Sport routes are graded for technical difficulty alone, not for risk.
Sport climbing is a pair sport on bolted rock, graded by technical difficulty. A Kalymnos boat trip meets it only as a sport name. In 2017, Adam Ondra freed Silence, the first sport climb graded 9c. The next section turns to freediving.
On a Kalymnos boat trip, what does freediving add?
A Kalymnos boat trip brings up freediving, the sport of diving on a single breath. Freediving courses have three parts: theory, confined-water sessions, and open-water sessions. Confined water means a pool or a similar sheltered place. Apnea is the word for holding the breath.
Breath-holding sponge divers used weights of up to 15 kilograms to reach 30 metres. A sponge is a soft sea animal. Athletes can walk close to 400 metres in apnea walk training. Walk training means walking while holding the breath. A Kalymnos boat trip can call these divers to mind.
CMAS defines competitive spearfishing as hunting and capturing fish underwater without artificial breathing devices. Guinness also presides over record disciplines, alongside AIDA and CMAS. A discipline is one kind of event in a sport. A record is the best mark ever set. A Kalymnos boat trip meets these groups only as names.
Underwater hockey is also called octopush, mainly in the United Kingdom. Underwater target shooting is known as Tir sur cible subaquatique in French. In CMAS Skandalopetra competitions, the diver is called voutichtis and the assistant kolaouzeris. Underwater rugby began as fitness training in German diving clubs in the early 1960s.
- Courses: Freediving courses have three parts: theory, confined-water sessions, and open-water sessions.
- Sponge: Breath-holding sponge divers used weights of up to 15 kilograms to reach 30 metres.
- Games: Underwater hockey is also called octopush, mainly in the United Kingdom.
Freediving ranges from sponge diving to sport and training on one breath. A Kalymnos boat trip meets it as a set of names and facts. Every fact above is drawn from a reference article. The war years in the Dodecanese come next.
On a Kalymnos boat trip, what does the Dodecanese campaign add?
A Kalymnos boat trip brings up the Dodecanese campaign. After the Armistice of Cassibile on 3 September 1943, Italy joined the Allies. After Kos fell, the Italian garrison on Kalymnos surrendered. A garrison is a group of troops that holds a place.
The fall of Kos deprived the Allies of air cover. Air cover means fighter planes that guard the sky. The British planned to occupy Kos and use the airfield at Antimachia. The Allies planned to use the islands as bases against German targets in the Balkans. A Kalymnos boat trip recalls the plan as history.
Italian prisoners numbered 3,145 and British prisoners 1,388. The Allied garrison of Leros surrendered on 16 November 1943. The 2,500-strong Italian garrison surrendered on 22 November 1943. Surrendered means gave up to the other side. A Kalymnos boat trip meets these dates as part of the past of the Dodecanese.
Only Kastellorizo, off the Turkish coast, stayed in British hands. Germany’s conquest of the islands was one of its last wartime victories. A conquest is the taking of a place by force. Wartime means the years of a war. A Kalymnos boat trip does not retell the fighting.
- Armistice: After the Armistice of Cassibile on 3 September 1943, Italy joined the Allies.
- Prisoners: British prisoners numbered 1,388 and Italian prisoners 3,145 in the campaign.
- Kastellorizo: Only Kastellorizo, off the Turkish coast, stayed in British hands.
The Dodecanese campaign is a chapter of the war told here in plain, neutral words. A Kalymnos boat trip meets it as history only. Every date and number is drawn from a reference article. Astypalaia, a neighbouring island, comes next.
On a Kalymnos boat trip, what does Astypalaia add?
A Kalymnos boat trip brings up Astypalaia. It is a Greek island that counted 1,376 residents at the 2021 census. From end to end the island measures 18 kilometres, and at its widest it spans 13. A census is a count of a population.
Together with its islets, the island makes up a municipality in the Kalymnos regional unit. A unit of this kind sits one step below a Greek region. The island is believed to be named after Astypalaea, an ancient Greek mythological figure. A Kalymnos boat trip links to it by name.
The island’s coasts are rocky, with small pebble-strewn beaches. The capital, called Astypalaia or Chora, was formerly the island’s main harbour. Pebble-strewn means covered with small stones. Strewn means scattered. Rocky means made of bare stone. A capital is the chief town. A harbour is a sheltered place for ships.
Venetian nobleman Giovanni Querini bought the island and built a castle and palace there. The Ottoman Empire conquered the island in 1522 and held it until 1912. An empire is a large realm ruled from one centre. A nobleman is a man of high birth. A Kalymnos boat trip meets this past as a name.
- Size: From end to end the island measures 18 kilometres, and at its widest it spans 13.
- Area: The island covers an area of 97 square kilometres in total.
- Rule: The Ottoman Empire conquered the island in 1522 and held it until 1912.
Astypalaia is an island with its own castle, capital and long past. A Kalymnos boat trip meets it as a neighbour in the same regional unit. The next section ends with the barbecue, a way of cooking over fire.
On a Kalymnos boat trip, what does the barbecue add?
A Kalymnos boat trip brings up the barbecue. The English word barbecue comes from the Spanish word barbacoa, which has its origin in a Taíno word. Spaniards found the Taíno roasting meat on a wooden framework above a fire. A framework is a frame of sticks.
Another barbacoa method involves digging a pit, burning logs in it, and placing stones to hold heat. The first known noun use of the word came in 1697, from English buccaneer William Dampier. A buccaneer was a sea raider of that age. Samuel Johnson’s 1755 dictionary defined barbecue as a hog dressed whole.
In American English, grilling is fast over high heat, while barbecuing is slow, using indirect heat or smoke. Indirect heat means heat from beside the fire, not from above it. Grilling and smoking are done with wood, charcoal, gas, electricity, or pellets. A pellet is a small pressed piece of fuel.
Barbecue’s South American versions are the southern Brazilian churrasco and the Southern Cone asado. In South Africa, a braai is an informal gathering around an open fire for any occasion. In Australia and New Zealand, barbecue is called barbie or barby. A Kalymnos boat trip meets these words as food history only.
- Word: The English word barbecue comes from the Spanish word barbacoa, which has its origin in a Taíno word.
- Fuel: Grilling and smoking are done with wood, charcoal, gas, electricity, or pellets.
- Names: In Australia and New Zealand, barbecue is called barbie or barby.
Barbecue is a word and a method with roots in a Taíno word. A Kalymnos boat trip meets it as a story of words and fire, not as a menu. The final part gives four brief answers about a Kalymnos boat trip.
Which four questions come up before a Kalymnos boat trip, and what are the answers?
A Kalymnos boat trip raises four small questions. They cover the season, a town, an island and a seabird. Every answer here is taken from a reference article. The answers cover Greece and the Aegean as a whole, not one particular day at sea.
Which season suits a Kalymnos boat trip?
Greece has a wide range of micro-climates and local variations. Days are hot and nights are pleasantly warm. Rain in winter is persistent. A micro-climate is a small area with its own weather. These notes describe the climate as a whole, with no promise for a day.
Which town leads the island behind a Kalymnos boat trip?
Pothia is the capital of Kalymnos and its major settlement. Pothia had 13,529 inhabitants at the 2021 census. Pothia dates from 1850, after pirate raids fell and residents moved near the sea. A settlement is a spot where a community lives.
Which small island lies beside a Kalymnos boat trip?
Kalolimnos is a small island lying between Kalymnos and Imia. It rises to 80 metres above sea level and covers 1.95 square kilometres. At the 2021 census, fifteen citizens lived there alongside a permanent garrison. A garrison is a group of troops stationed in a place.
Which seabird lives along the coast behind a Kalymnos boat trip?
Gulls, informally called seagulls, are seabirds of the subfamily Larinae. Gulls are coastal or inshore birds, rarely venturing far out to sea. Gull species breed in coastal colonies, with a preference for islands. A colony is a crowd of birds nesting side by side. Inshore means close to the shore.