Blogs from Tinos, South Aegean, Greece, Europe

Tinos is a Greek island located in the Cyclades archipelago within the Aegean Sea. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. Tinos is famous amongst Greeks for the Church of Panagia Evangelistria, with its reputedly miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary. As a result, Tinos is also the center of a pilgrimage that takes place annually on August 15th (the date of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary). Devotees crawl on their hands and knees from the ferry port all the way up to the church (~800m). Jacqueline and I did visit the Panagia Evangelistria church in Tinos (town) but spent most of our time at/near Laouti Beach near our airBnB. It was a very quiet island, and a nice place to relax.... read more

We thought Tinos was a lovely island.... after our dislike of Syros, that is. We arrived at the port and immediately spotted the domatia tout we were looking for, since an English couple who we had been talking with on Syros had recommended him to us. It certainly took the hard work away for him, as well as for us. However, the wind, a Greek wind known as the Meltimi had got up and so the entire time we spent on Tinos, we were shoved about by 60 mile an hour winds. Tinos is predominantly about religion. The Church of Panagia Evangalistria built from marble from the islands quarries stands magnificently on the hill, and is a place of pilgrimage. A nun had a dream in the early 1800's about an icon buried nearby. Now, this ... read more

Wow, where do I begin about my time in Greece. My two weeks volunteering on Tinos Island were amazing. We stayed in Kardiani, a 45 person village on a steep hill above the sea. We were graciously put up in the community center which had a kitchen, three bedrooms, and a giant dorm-style room on the bottom floor, not to mention an amazing view of the beach below! I had so much fun hanging out with the group of 17 and even the work wasn't all that bad. We spent 5 hours each day clearing a 100 yr old path that led down to the sea. Almost all of it was made of marble steps that snaked down the steep hillside. We had an amazing view and a nice breeze to keep us a cool. When ... read more

We went to see the ruins in Delos. As mentioned in my guidebook, there were a lot of ruins and very little signage and what little signage there was appeared in Greek and French. That didn't bother me too much as I understand French quite well but the lack of description was a little disappointing as was the volume of tourists visiting the site. Most of our group climbed the hill to the Temple of Zeus but a couple of us chose to go to the museum instead. It was fascinating with the rooms laid out more or less by era. This allowed me to view several Archaic statues together, then several Classical statues together and start to sort out the differences that we had learned about prior to coming to Greece. It was also interesting ... read more