We left touristy Mykonos. On to Syros, Paros, super touristy Santorini, Naxos and then to the Greek mainland. From Pireaus to the Peleponnese.
Here more in detail:
20th October; Paros
After having sufficiently admired all this precious artistic artwork in Mykonos we took the ferry to Syros.
A last glance of Mykonos, …
… a short stop in Tinos, …
… and after 1h we arrive in the capital of Syros Ermoupolis.
Compared to other urban centers on Greek islands this seems to be a real big town. A CBD with alleys to explore a central square …
… and a lot of colourful churches.
But no tourists at all – anyway there are only few of this species on this island during high season. And October is definitely not their time.
Probably that’s the reason why we discovered the tavern with the best food we had so far on our Greek journey.
There we found some more guests on a sailing trip. They all flew the Russian flag. Most of them in addition to the former Soviet one. Strangely 1 guy with the Ukrainian one instead of the red one.
The next day on to Paros. This time on an ultra fast ferry. It’s like driving in a subway. Closed in and can’t see anything because of the spray. Thus rather boring, but fast.
As weather was quite cool camping may no longer be our favourite. Many hotels, bars’n’restos have already closed. A clear off-season sign . In Paros just Frenchies remain, even Chinese have disappeared.
A stroll thru the old town of Parikia. Pretty nice houses, much less of a shopping mall compared to Mykonos.
Then a tour around the island. High up the hills, …
… down to some small villages and beaches …
… and then to the village of Lefkes. The number 1 must have seen spot on the island.
Finally, admiring the beautiful sunset in Parikia.
24th October; Oia
Some of you may remember some of the stupidest T-shirt slogans ever. One of them is Next Island – Same Shit. Definitely not the case for our next destination Santorini.
As usual we took the nearly empty car ferry to move on to this island.
A 3h drive with short stops in Naxos, a future destination for us. And Ios, simply famous for the excessive alcohol consumption of the British teenies arriving there every summer.
Arriving at the port of Ios we could very well understand the reason for this strange custom – a rather desperate island.
Then we entered the archipelago of Santorini. These islands are all part of a still slightly active volcano. Just the peaks form the islands – somehow a volcano gone swimming.
The boat follows the caldera of Santorini Island. On the top of it all these famous villages claiming some of the world’s best views. On the other side the top of the volcano. Just rising a few m above sea level.
We had to drive up the sheer cliff to the top of the caldera. Then on to Oia. The northernmost village. It’s said to be the most photographed in Greece, in Europe or the world. Whatever.
If in Santorini you have to choose an accommodation with a view. The only problem that most of the hotel owners ask more for a night in a mediocre room than was the construction cost of the whole hotel. Fortunately we found the Caldera Villas. As far as we could observe the owners were somehow lacking any sense for economic success. So they offered a quite nice room with a great view and a terrace rather constructed to commit suicide than to drink a sundowner for quite a reasonable rate.
As we were staying in the most photogenic place in the world we had to explore that special issue – and of course digitize everything.
Please click on the arrow 2c the Panorama
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Quickly we discovered that another few 1000 guys had exactly the same idea – even in absolute off season. So in addition to all this photogenic stuff we started some serious research on the activities of these tourists digitizing everything they could get in front of their lenses. Especially themselves or their all beloved ones.
We even developed our latest idea for a potentially extremely successful start-up: offering online selfie – background screens printable on your printer. You remain simply in your room, put the printed selfie-background behind you and take the selfie. And you have your face in front of the skyline of New York, Paris, Tokyo or Oia.
That would definitely avoid tourists to squeeze into terribly narrow plane seats for hours. All burglaries in their homes during holidays would be avoided. And none of them would suffer terrible diarrhea due to brackish tourist fodder.
Anybody disposing of an important amount of risk capital is invited to contact us for further details.
If you’re on concrete only, there’s another chance on the right.
Back to odd Oia. The most famous sight in Oia is its sunset. Well, it’s just an ordinary sunset at the sea you may experience everywhere. But it’s all about this ordinary sunset being in Oia. So 1000s of persons find space on the small terraces oriented towards the evening sun. Patiently they wait until the sun says goodbye for the day – or is getting covered by some clouds. Then the great moment. All take simultaneously their camera, cell phone, tablet, whatever they possess and they have their all impressive pic of the all famous Oia sunset to show their families, friends, enemies, neighbors and in future their grandkids.
Should you be unlucky enough to stand in the 2nd row – no problem. No need to directly see the sunset. Just watch it on the screens of the guys in front of you. It looks as marvellous as the original.
At night the show just goes on. Shopping – the usual stuff tourists seem to appreciate on Greek islands and watching from above other people’s activities on the balconies of their luxury all private suites.
Of course Santorini Island has more to offer than just Oia. So the next highlight: The hike from Oia to the island’s capital Thira on the top of the caldera. Super views, not too far and of course not too lonely.
On 24th we were ready to move on to Naxos. The weather was not really nice. Stormy wind and some rain for the last few days. As the ferry leaves in the afternoon time for a short visit to the other important sights of Santorini. A drive around the island made pretty clear why most tourists simply concentrate on Oia.
We found a few deserted, cold beaches, …
… some traditional villages, the highest mountain …
…and even the island’s southernmost lighthouse.
Arriving at the port we learn that no ferry would leave today due to the heavy storms. So back to Oia continuing taking pics like everybody else.
27th October; Naxos
The next day weather was still pretty bad. Nevertheless, the ferries resumed their services. In the afternoon to the port. Full of stranded tourists who planned to leave the day before. Looking at these guys somehow we had the impression to be in Shanghai’s Nanjing Street or Kalkutta’s Howrah Station during the rush hour.
A last glimpse of stormy Santorini Island …
… and the weather changed. Still very windy. But even a real Greek sunset.
It was already dark when arriving in Naxos town. Somehow a strange feeling when driving thru the town. All empty, roads full of water, the 1st couple of hotels look all closed. Finally a guy in 1 of these strange places offered us a room. The story behind: the day before the whole town was submerged, power went off and finally, when even the cell phones stopped working, all Naxosies were convinced the apocalypse was there. Well, that evening we could still find a beer.
The next day the island dried up again, we found a more convenient place to stay and we were touring the island.
A look at the combined Greek temple-church of Demeter, then up into the mountains.
Finally to the deserted resort village of Apollonas on the north coast.
A look at Naxo’s eponymous capital …
… and it’s currently rather lonely beaches.
31st October; Nafplion
Naxos was the last island. It’s simply getting too cold, too windy, too lonely and too much closed due to absolute offseason.
So we took the ferry to Piraeus. The sea was quite rough and wind rather gusty .
So no sunbathing on deck. Just sitting inside and have the time gone by.
A last glimpse of Naxos and 6h later we arrived on Piraeus.
Athens we postponed to a future visit. On to Loutraki. Mainly a weekend beach resort for government reform stressed Athenis. Not much to do except some lounging in the shade of the gas heaters with great storm watching …
… and the great chance to get some real fat seafood dinner. This time all kind of monsters from the sea.
The next day on to Nafplion on the Peloponnese, crossing the canal of Korinthos.
On the way a visit to the ancient Greek town of Mycenae.
The place where the old Greeks got rid of the 1st trojan. At that time not yet an intruder to the all beloved laptop, but to the CBD in Troja in Asia Minor. Study the whole adventure at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenae.
In the evening we arrived in Nafplion. As usual the weather rather autumnal. Looked like preparing for a storm.
More about the Greekies and other guys in our next post.
Cheeeers
Monika’n’Martin
