This one is from Ios at the very top of the island.
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Tag Archives: Cyclades
Sunday Sunsets – The Cylcades
Posted in back packing, Beaches, Cyclades, Europe, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Natural Environment, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Cyclades, Ios, island hopping, Naxos, Postcards, Rayleigh Scattering, Science of Sunsets
Getting Nautical in the Cyclades
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Posted in Arts and Crafts, Beaches, Europe, Greece, Greek islands, History, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Amorgos, Cyclades, Fishing Boats, Folegandros, Greek islands, Ios, Koufonisia, Nautical
A to Z of Windows – S is for Santorini
By 2008 I had been to Santorini three times before, in 2002, 2004 and in 2006 and although I rather like it I have to say that it is no longer my favourite.
The trouble with Santorini is that once you have been elsewhere it simply becomes less impressive. Everyone says ‘Oh, you are going to Greece, you must go to Santorini!’ but generally these are tourists who haven’t been to Amorgos, Sikinos or Folegandros and these islands, let me tell you, are many times better that easily eclipse Santorini despite its stunning caldera and unique scenery.
People Pictures – Taking a Break
When it comes to taking pictures I like doors, statues, balconies and washing lines, Kim on the other hand likes people pictures so I thought I might share a few of them with you.
This one was taken on the Greek Island of Amorgos…
I imagine this woman was taking a well earned break after a morning of hard graft housework.
We took a ride out to the Chora which cannot be seen from the sea or from the harbour but as we got closer we could see it above us like a fresh snow fall on top of a mountain. From the outside it doesn’t look especially promising but once inside the walls of the town it is a different matter altogether. The town turns in on itself in an introspective sort of way and inside there were narrow shady streets and lots of traditional cafés and tavernas where getting disorientated and lost is a certainty.
It was a lazy place where time goes by slowly and no one is in a particular hurry about anything. If this was Naxos or Ios the Chora would have been teeming with shops and fast food places but this was a local town for local people and completely unspoilt by the retinue of tourist shops that can be found on more popular islands.
We explored the streets and in a very stiff breeze climbed to the very top to the redundant windmills that overlook the town and the Venetian castle that is built on top of a rocky outcrop that soars above it and its mass of dazzling white buildings.
On the way back we were ready for a second stroll through the Chora where we ambled through the corkscrew of twisting streets returning several times to exactly the same place passing by several churches, the castle, blue doors, blue sky, shady vines and friendly cafés and I knew that this was my kind of town.
The Chora is rather like a hippie time-warp, slow, lazy, faded and bleached, pot plants struggling in the midday sun and appropriately slow mood music in the tavernas and bars – it reminded me of a favourite pair of old denim jeans and my battered blue t-shirt that I am reluctant to throw away.
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The ambience is compounded by cultural traditions. Village life retains a centuries old pace thanks in large part to the absence of motorised vehicles. Old men while away the afternoons sitting in the summer shade chatting. The labyrinthine, narrow lanes are the province of donkeys and wooden carts. Displays of ripe fruit – tomatoes, figs, golden apples – stand outside the little stores, the local catch is brought into the harbour daily, the wine and the raki is plentiful, good and cheap.
As we wandered around an old lady dressed all in black asked for help negotiating some difficult steps and we naturally obliged and in return for our assistance she treated us to her life story and tales of Amorgian life. Her name was Limonique and she told us that after sixty-five years of marriage she was now a widow so I guessed her age to be somewhere around eighty-five or so.
Posted in Arts and Crafts, Beaches, Cyclades, Europe, Food, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Literature, Natural Environment, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Amorgos, Chor Amorgos, Culture, Cyclades, Greek Car Hire, Leonard Cohen Hydra, Life
People Pictures – Greek Island Farmers
When it comes to taking pictures I like doors, statues, balconies and washing lines, Kim on the other hand likes people pictures so I thought I might share a few of them with you.
This one was taken on the Greek Island of Amorgos….
“I would stare out the window at these telephone wires and think, how civilisation had caught up with me and I wasn’t going to be able to escape after all. I wasn’t going to be able to live this eleventh-century life that I had thought I had found for myself.” – Leonard Cohen
As we climbed we passed through what might be loosely described as fields with rows of derelict terraces and dry stonewalls that separated the hillside into equally measured individual plots of land. Amorgos is mostly inhospitable rock that has been baked hard in the sun for thousands of years but as recently as only fifty years ago people here were scraping away at the thin soil and removing the stones to try and make a living or to feed the family by growing fruit and vegetables.
Amorgians have a history of preserving the past and resisting progress. There is a sense of collective defiance perhaps explained by the fact that during the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas (1936-41) the island was used as a remote place of exile for political prisoners.
Fifty years ago the island didn’t have electricity, the tarmac roads that link the villages weren’t constructed until the 1990s and the modern ports which today welcome the large ferries are relatively recent additions. The island has a desalination plant now to provide fresh water but up until 2015 fresh water was shipped in and delivered by tankers.
Go to a bar today in Amorgos and they will serve you a glass of fresh water because they are proud of progress…
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Posted in back packing, Beaches, Cyclades, Europe, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, History, Natural Environment, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Aegiali Amorgos, Amorgos, Cyclades, Life Culture, Tholária Amorgos, Walking holidays
People Pictures – Caught in the Sunset
When it comes to taking pictures I like doors, statues, balconies and washing lines, Kim on the other hand likes people pictures so I thought I might share a few of them with you.
This one was taken on the Greek island of Amorgos…
Amorgos has some fabulous sunsets, this picture is one of mine…
Monday Washing Lines – Milos in the Greek Islands
Welcome to my latest theme. Monday Washing Lines.
I am in the Greek Islands again this week on the island of Milos. I include this picture because of the attention to detail in the peg work…
It is almost a perfect 10 but if you look more closely what lets it down slightly is the unequal distribution of colours – eight red and six green. Seven of each would have been perfection. This has led to a simple error because the red-green red-green red-green sequence is not carried through along the whole length of the washing line. A real pity that.
It is a Challenge. Do feel free to join in…
Posted in Cyclades, Europe, Greece, Greek islands, Greek Taverna, Postcards, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Cyclades, Greek islands, Milos, Monday Washing, Washing Lines
On This Day, The Greek Island of Ios
Even though travel restrictions are easing I am not yet minded to risk it so I still have no new stories to post so I continue to go through my picture archives and see where I was on this day at any time in the last few travelling years.
On 27th August 2007 I was on the Greek Island of Ios in the Cyclades…
The walk to Valmas is interesting because of the derelict terraces and dry stone walls that separate the hillside into individual plots of land. Ios is just one large inhospitable rock that has been baked in the sun for thousands of years but as recently as only fifty years ago people here were scraping away at the thin soil and the stones to try and make a living or to feed the family by growing fruit and vegetables.
Click on an image to scroll through the Gallery…
Posted in Arts and Crafts, backpacking, Beaches, Cyclades, Europe, Food, History, island hopping, Natural Environment, Travel, World Heritage
Tagged Culture, Cyclades, Greek Taverna, Homer's Inn, Ios, Life, Trave
Thursday Doors, Amorgos in the Greek Islands
After walking around the village we set off back to Aegiali and came across a group of walkers who enthusiastically showed us a short cut but it was down a tricky path and they had stout walking shoes with leather non-slip soles and knotted laces and we had inadequate synthetic sandals with dodgy Velcro so we ignored the advice and stuck to the road instead.
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Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favourite door photos from around the world. Feel free to join in the fun by creating your own Thursday Doors post each week and then sharing your link in the comments’ on Norm’s site, anytime between Thursday morning and Saturday noon (North American Eastern Time).
Have Bag, Will Travel 