Blogs from South Aegean, Greece, Europe - page 4

Santorini is probably the most spectacular island in Greece and a geologic wonder. Several of the villages we visited (eg. Fira, Oia, Akrotiri) sit next to cliffs atop the caldera and offer spectacular views of the crater created from a 16th-century BC volcanic eruption. According to archaeologists, the first human presence on the island dates back to the Neolithic Period. Santorini hosted a significant civilization around 3600 BC. Discoveries made near Akrotiri revealed the existence of an ancient Minoan colony. The settlement was similar to those found on the island of Crete (like Knossos), with many wall ornaments and pottery depicting naturalistic landscapes of animals and humans of the same ancient Minoan style. In ancient times, Santorini Island was known as Strongili, which means ... read more

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

I got up early for the morning sunrise as per usual, but more out of habit rather than there being any particular Perissa setting I wanted to photograph. There wasn't really anything to photograph, but to be fair it was pleasant, peaceful, there were no crowds, no rivalry for the best positions and actually just great to watch and enjoy it. Perissa is very different from Oia in ways that are good and bad. Breakfast was a buffet in the hotel restaurant, so after four mornings of being able to just go out onto our terrace when breakfast arrived like slobs, wearing what we liked and in whatever state we liked, this morning we would need to be in some sort of semi-presentable condition before going down. The buffet included one of my Greek favourite, Baklava. ... read more

I was up early yet again. After the washout that was yesterday (see ) I opened the door and was greeted by the most amazing sight. There was the most intense orange moon low over the sea straight in front of me. It didn't last long and was fading by the second. If I'd have been a few minutes later, I would have missed it. In the excitement, I accidentally woke my wife up so she came to find out what all the fuss was about. I set off to some of the usual, popular locations on the expectation that I wouldn't have to worry about any queues. I was wrong. I guess I'm just too used to having everywhere to myself at this time in the morning or if there are other photographers there, we ... read more

Lindos – May 21, 2023 We had heard that the harbor at Lindos was an excellent stop along the coast of the island of Rhodes so one of our many plans was to stop there for a night and explore the Acropolis of Lindos. As always, plans must remain fluid and with our purchase of a new dinghy and waiting for the delivery of it until Monday, we found that there was a bus that we could take to Lindos. This now gave us the flexibility of being able to sail past Lindos and get further down the island when we leave the Rhodes marina. With this in mind we had a new plan. When we checked the bus schedule, we found that there was a bus that would leave Rhodes at 6:45AM and get us ... read more