Cancer cells can destroy my lungs, but they can never break what touches my heart. Like wandering around the island by car, where the flowers are slowly giving way to the summer  heat and the fruits.

Lesvos consists largely of hills and mountains, and wherever you drive, you are treated to generous views over mountains that bear the traces of millions of years of geological history, but also over  the sea, whose various shades of blue peek out from behind ridges.

When on the unpaved, desolate road from Sigri to Eresos with its barren hills finally reveals the green valley of Eresos, it feels as if you are standing before a valley full of giants. Whimsical and  jagged mountain peaks fight for your attention. Here you feel the volcanic power of the earth, a life force that cannot be destroyed.

The most beautiful peak of the island, Profetis Ilias, which rises above Parakila, offers splendid views over the island, but it is especially a paradise for spring flowers such as peonies and the source of the tumbling showers of yellow rhododendrons, which steadily flow down from that  mountain. Here you feel yourself untouchable and above the world.

You don’t have to climb mountains for sensational views. Even the Nissi Aspro, seen from Palios, take on a mysterious appearance due to the light blue sea gently caressing its white shores. You feel that the gods are not far away.

I would like to be like Circe, a demigoddess with magical powers all alone on an island. Then I could certainly win the battle against cancer.

Looking for my favorite view and cherries in Agiasos. This traditional mountain village is known for its chestnuts in late autumn, but in early summer, the red-speckled cherry trees stand out. The road above the village already offers a splendid view of the brightly coloured houses. A little further away, the cherry trees are slowly being replaced by chestnut trees, whose tops, adorned with yellow candles, stand out cheerfully against an intensely blue sky.

The road leads past the former sanatorium to the chestnut forest, a wonderful place full of forest giants living on steep slopes, garnished with an exuberant palette of flowers, such as peonies, tulips, orchids, arum lilies or donkey thistles. Above, birds orchestrate concerts to honour this magical place. Occasionally, sweeping views of the Gulf of Gera appear, while in the distance, the mountains of Turkey beckon. But for the most enchanting view, you need to drive out of the chestnut forest, heading toward Karionas. There, just before the Crystal Mountain, driving over a narrow mountain ridge, you look to the left over the Gulf of Gera with its rugged coasts. Over the mountains, behind which Mytilini and the airport are hiding, you look deep intoTurkey (if the weather gods have granted you a clear day). At your feet, steep mountain slopes descend, beneath which a string of villages stretches out. Mesagros, Skopolos, Pappados and Paliokipos, the village where the notorious pirate Barbarossa was born.

Even the so successful Redbeard wouldn’t have been able to do anything against my cancer cells.

Looking to the other side of this crystal-paved road: Gazing over rolling hilltops that merge into a green valley, Chios floats like a lounging sultan high on the turquoise sea, supported by a bed of haze, giving the large island a mysterious atmosphere.

Megalochori, once the regional capital, is hidden from view by mountains. When, in the mid-nineteenth century, it was often plagued by wildfires and the olive trees took a severe hit from an excessively harsh winter, the inhabitants moved to the coast, where the beautiful town of Plomari emerged, it too remains hidden behind rolling hills.

At your feet, traces of more recent, aggressive infernos mark the mountain slopes that leap down toward the sea. That was decades ago. The scars seem to have healed. Now, the hesitant beginnings of a new forest is emerging. Massacres, earthquakes, wildfires, or extreme weather: the island always manages to recover.

Humans who are allowed to spend only a pinprick of time on this earth do not have nearly as much resilience. My body even less so.

Chios has also experienced quite devastating times, but remains firmly standing in the light blue sea. I would have loved to wander again around this beloved island, with its enchanting mastica villages, rugged nature, stunning views and Volissos, the village that last year narrowly escaped the grip of a wildfire. But my energy is slowly dwindling, and here, on a narrow mountain ridge, where  Chios rises like a god from the mists, I blow it a kiss as a farewell.