Blogs from Chios, North Aegean, Greece, Europe

When you think of Greek Islands you might think immediately of Santorini and its picturesque hillside splash of white buildings and stunning sunsets. When Seda mentioned taking a day trip to the island of Chios we both though, ‘ok, exploring an island we don’t know anything about for a day why not.’ Our expectations were fairly low. Well, we went for that day trip and liked it so much we returned for three more days after that and wish we could have stayed longer. We accessed the island from Cesme, Turkey via a rather short (approx.. 20 minutes) ferry. Then, both times, upon a recommendation by a friend, stopped at a small local car rental place just on the water by the port to rent a car (one day for 34 euros, 3 day for 25 ... read more

Next stop Chios, a small island once captured by the Turks during the time of the great Ottomon wars. Here we head to the acropolis, the highest point on the island, to visit a deserted village. This Village, once the home of 20,000 Greek citizens, was completely abandoned more than 500 years ago. The Turks attacked the village and either killed or enslaved all the locals. Since that day, no one has lived in the village, save for one old woman, whom we met. She is the squatter caretaker of the village. It was amazing to see a village build in 1100's just abandoned as if everyone left yesterday. Some of the buildings had fallen down over the centuries but others, like the church at the very top of the hill, just looked closed for the ... read more

Chios Greece Chios is the fifth largest Greek Island in the Northern Aegean. "The island of mastic, jasmine and intoxicating fragrances, the island of orchards and orange groves, the noble island with its stone mansions and their pebbled courtyards, with its unique medieval villages and their towers. (Chios The fragrant Island Book) Our 5 days in Chios were absolutely amazing and more then we ever could have imagined! The experience would not have been the same without the guidance of our wonderful hosts! Nicks Aunt and Uncle were also vacationing at their family house there and they allowed us to stay along with them for the week. They ensured we saw all the unique and isolated beaches and ate at all the best restaurants in the best locations. Our first morning in Chios (actually we were ... read more

Stayed in Mesta for a few days, a medieval village on the island of Chios in Greece, just across from Turkey. The village has been in continual habitation since the 14th century and the castle like center of the town is still very much intact. There are only 300 permanent residents now, but it used to be a flourishing town of 2000 or so, profitting from trade of mastic, a resin from the mastic tree which apparently only grows well in the south of Chios and nowhere else. It was a great commodity with prices at its height similar to its weight in silve, and now still is about 80 euros per kg. The villages therefore are built with defense in mind, away from the shores and fortress like to prevent pirate raids. I stumbled to ... read more

Hey I have kind of lost track of things here...had to look at the pics to see where I had been! This is going to be a long one because its been a few days and will be a while again until I write. We are having a rest day and I am in a bar that will let me use my laptop for the price of a cup of coffee, Gord is out shopping. The next 2 days we are renting scooters and will be touring Chios. I said earlier that pictures are better than words to discribe what we see here. ow I find that even the pictures are not doing justice to the scenery, especially Western Levos which we visited on Sat. We didn't actuallly plan to go there, "the book" said it ... read more