Harley and the Holy Mountain
through the heart of Greece to its soul
Meet Harley – an antiquated 50cc motorbike, top speed 25mph, who carried me on the backroads of Greece from the island of Evia to deliver the collected Jeeves and Wooster to a Moldovan monk on Mount Athos, a self-governing state run by monks.
Harley and the Holy Mountain is a journey through the heart of Greece to its soul. We pass sites and sights from prehistory to the present: a Mycenaean beehive tomb, 3500 years old; the body of a Russian saint, who teleported pilaff; a refugee camp in a chicken factory; and many other extraordinary places as well as tavernas, cafes, cheap hotels and anywhere else I can find conversation and a jug of wine.
Our road trip is based on a lifetime’s love of Greece. It is seasoned with experiences and memories, absurdity and humour, treats and discomforts, the terrors and boredom of the slow lane, and above all comedy.
With a glimmer of enlightenment at the end.
A travel memoir with heart, soul and humour – with lashings of humour and humanity and a lovely dollop of Greek history, he had me bewitched, beguiled and laughing out loud. (Athens Insider)
Exceptionally well written, organised and presented…A unique combination of travelogue, memoir, and history. Very highly recommended for community, college and university library and for personal reading. (Midwest Book Reviews)
He has managed to effectively blend travel, history and even matters of the heart, no mean feat… eminently readable and instructive, with clear and skilful use of words, laced with humour, but also betraying considerable knowledge of Greece, warts an’ all. (Professor William Mallinson Guglielmo Marconi University)
Not only full of laughs but even for someone who has lived in Greece for many years a great source of information. It comes highly recommended! (Women’s International Group South)
What a wonderful read! I sense I have already found my ‘Book of the Year’! Amusing and thought-provoking… a thoroughly absorbing travelogue…supremely well written. (Mostly Food and Travel)
Mole’s sharp observations, irony and sense of humor make this off-beat odyssey laugh-out-loud funny at times. One learns, laughs and gains insights rarely associated with any motorcycle trip. (Ultimate Motorcycling)
Anyone who has read John Mole’s earlier publication, It’s All Greek to Me! (and if you haven’t I strongly recommend it), will know that this book is not going to be an entirely serious read. But like the earlier book, it is based on a deep love of Greece and the Greek people, and also in this instance of the Holy Mountain….This book provides plenty of food for thought as well as laughter and tears. (Friends of Mount Athos Annual Report)