STILL IN THE GREEK ISLANDS

FROM SANTORINI TO CRETE - SEPTEMBER 2006

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"ISLANDS - According to Wikipedia, Greece has some 1400 islands, 169 of which are inhabited, though only 78 have more than 100 inhabitants. The map I borrowed from WorldAtlas.com shows some of the most important of them. As we may see, lunch in Santorini, dinner in Heraklion is not a difficult task!"

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SANTORINI


"RED BEACH, located near the archaeological site of Akrotiri, is one of the most beautiful beaches of Santorini. It attracts lots of people because of the blocks of red and black volcanic rocks one may find there. This view, taken from the top end of the rocky route that brings you from the car parking, before starting walking down the rocks to the hot sand, is one of my favourites. If you look along the rock you'll see that it turns white, thus explaining the name of the next beach"


"HOW TO GET THERE - There are only two ways of getting to the Red Beach: either by car (and then by walking from the parking lot through the rocky route) or by the sea with these small fishing boats (used in summer for tourism purposes) that depart from the ports of Akrotiri and Fira"


"BLACK SAND - The sand is reddish black and may get quite hot, thus making it difficult to sit straight onto. Actually, with this kind of sand, the sun seems to beat down particularly strong..."


"BLUE SEA - The water is clear and warm enough..."




"THE DOLPHINS is a nice restaurant quite close to the parking lot of Red Beach, near the ruins of Akrotiri, in a wonderful location right at the water's edge. It's used by locals, namely for the Sunday lunch, and has a good combination of Greek salad and freshly caught fish..."

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CRETE

The FlyingCat departs around 5:30 p.m. and takes one hour and forty five minutes to bring you from Santorini to Heraklion, so that you may have dinner at a decent (not Greek) hour...


"AGIOS TITUS - The beautiful church of Saint Titus, patron of the island, was first built by the Byzantines around 962 A.D. The Venetians used it as a Catholic Cathedral, and the Turks converted it into a mosque. The church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1856, rebuild as a mosque and, after the liberation, converted into a Greek Orthodox church in 1923. The holy relics of Saint Titus, returned from Venice in 1966, may be seen inside (the Venetians had taken the golden skull with them when the city fell to the Turks in 1669). The photo is blurred, as always, but I couldn't resist"



"OUTDOOR CAFES - The cafe outdoor lounges in Heraklion are amazing!"



"LOUKOULOS is considered as one of the fanciest restaurants in Heraklion, with a wonderful terrace garden and an antique interior. The fish was superb, and I don't show the excellent lobster pasta"


"LAST QUARTER - Night view from an Executive suite at the Lato Boutique Hotel"

OIA - SUNSET PARADISE

SANTORINI - PART TWO - SEPTEMBER 2006



"ON THE BEACH - Perivolos is one of the nice beaches in Santorini, and together with Perissa form the longest black-sanded beach on the island. Of course, the sand is not as beautiful as the one you may find in Algarve, but the Aegean Sea is nice enough to keep you busy..."



"CALDERA - Oia, Immerovigli and Fira look amazingly on the top of the cliff around the caldera, but the blue is impressive!"


"CHURCH - Santorini has more than 250 churches for a population of less than 14000 people. The main church at Oia (pronounced [i.a]), located 11 km far from Fira, at the northwest edge of the island, is a beautiful building"


"CHURCH - Another one in Oia"


"OIA is famous for its sunsets. By 6:30 p.m., hordes of people start gathering for the free show..."


"SUNSET - Usually, the diving of the sun into the sea provides the chance for some beautiful pictures"


"THE SHOW IS OVER - The sun went down and the hordes start retiring!"


"COUPLE - There is always a nice person to get a picture"


"WINDMILL - Greek Islands are also famous for their windmills. This one in Oia looks quite nice..."



"OIA - After sunset... Beautiful terraces!"


"CHURCH - This is probably the most photographed church of Santorini, but during the day. The view towards the caldera, behind the church is stunning, but you can't see it at night..."


"THE 1800 RESTAURANT, housed in a mansion that was built in the middle of the 18th century, is a typical captain's house and a «living museum». It offers a roof garden with a magnificent view of the sea and some delicious Mediterranean cuisine. The fish we had was quite nice and the wine perfect"

IN THE HEART OF GREEK ISLANDS

SANTORINI - SPECTACULAR CYCLADES - SEPTEMBER 2006


"SANTORINI, also known as Thira, is a circular archipelago of volcanic islands located about 200 km south-east from Greece's mainland, forming the southernmost member of the Cyclades islands. Santorini is essentially what remains of the Minoan Eruption, an enormous volcanic explosion that destroyed what was formerly a single island (some believe the tsunami originated by the eruption destroyed some of the palaces of the Minoan Civilization in Crete, 110 km to the south), and lead to the creation of the present-day caldera. A central lagoon measuring about 12 km by 7 km is surrounded by 300 m high steep cliffs on three sides. On the fourth side, the lagoon is separated from the sea by another much smaller island called Therasia; the lagoon merges with the sea in the northwest and southwest. Its beauty is absolutely spectacular!"



"SEH120 – We were supposed to take the Flyingcat hydrofoil to Thira, but when we arrived at the port the ship was not running due to the traditional Aegean Sea summer wind. So, we went to the airport, and after a tough negotiation, we convinced the manager of Sky Express to organize a special flight for us, and for 15 other ship travellers meanwhile arrived to the airport. That was flight SEH120 and 25 minutes later (two hours before the ship was due) we were landing at Thira airport. Great trip!"




"VEDEMA RESORT - This was our second visit to Santorini (a post with pictures of the first one may be found here). This time, our home in the Island was the Vedema Resort, a beautiful hotel located in the middle of the village of Megalochori"




"THIRA, THERA OR FIRA, the capital of the Island, grips to the top of the cliff, overlooking a magnificent caldera atop some 300m of sheer black, red and brown stratified cliffs. Astounding views of the caldera are offered from the tables of cafes and bars on the west side"


"PORT - The sea is nearly 400 m deep in the centre of the lagoon, making it a safe harbour for the many cruise ships getting there"


"THE OLD PORT (Ormos) lies directly below Fira in so deep water that ship anchor chains won't reach the sea bed. The old port, which may be seen at the bottom of the picture, is only a small quayside. Tourists are usually harassed with offers of a mule ride up or down the steep, zigzag staircase. It seems that riding a mule down is even worse than up, as the animals career at speeds that suggest they would like to catapult their burdens over the walls and into the sea"


"IMMEROVIGLI is a traditional village, located next to Fira, but on the top of a higher cliff. The village was almost totally destroyed by the earthquake of 1956, but it re-emerged to become a beautiful and quiet village, with interesting accommodation solutions..."



"DOMES - Beautiful domed churches spill down the terraces in Fira"


"SUNSET - The fumes from what is still an active volcano (actually the most active of the South Aegean Volcanic Arc) are responsible for those showy skies"


"VEDEMA BY NIGHT"

MEDITERRANEAN DREAM - PART TWO

GREEK ISLES IN THE AEGEAN SEA - AUGUST 2003

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SANTORINI

Santorini, the last of the Cyclades islands to the South - actually a complex of five islands -, is unique! It seems that early in the Late Bronze Age, the volcano at the centre of the island erupted on a huge scale. The caldera created by this eruption of the Theran volcano is said to have measured as much as 83 square km in area. It presently extends down as much as 480 meters below sea level inside of the wall of cliffs which ring it and which themselves rise up as much as 300 meters above sea level. The tsunami originated by the eruption is said to have been one of the strongest on Earth history. All the devastation that occurred, however, left this beautiful pearl we can see today.



"BY SEA - Approaching Santorini by ship is a fantastic experience, not to be missed at any rate"



"OIA - (pronounced E-ah), facing south, is famous for its sunset and its small pedestrian streets, always crowded in the evenings. The view to the sea and to Thira, the capital of th island, is also impressive"



"VIEW OF THIRA AND OIA, from the other end of the island. Cruise ship and ferry can also be seen, but the blue of the sky and the dark blue of the sea have no comparison"


"THIRA or FIRA - Ice cream and drinks with a fantastic view"


"SUNSET - Always beautiful"


"BYE - Preparing to get down from Imerovigli - an extension of Thira but situated on a higher cliff - with the funicular, leaving the donkeys in peace..."

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RHODES

Rhodes is the largest island in the Dodecanese, and the easternmost of the major islands of Greece in the Aegean Sea. It is situated at the crossroads of the routes of the Mediterranean Sea to the coast of the Middle East, Cyprus and Egypt, lying approximately 18 km west of Turkey. Its strategic position made the city of Rhodes one of the leading cities of the ancient Greek world, and the Knights of St. John made it famous during the medieval times. The Medieval Town was included in the Unesco World Heritage List in 1988.


"ARRIVAL - The marina and the old town"



"LINDOS is one of the most beautiful villages of Rhodes, and is located south of the capital, on the eastern coast of the island. It is dominated by a magnificent and imposing acropolis, overlooking a picturesque bay"


"GATE TO THE PALACE OF THE GRAND MASTER - In 1309 the Byzantine era came to an end, and the island came under the rule of the Knights of Rhodes. Many of the city's famous monuments, including the Palace of the Grand Master, were built during this period"


"THE STREET OF THE KNIGHTS was the main street in the medieval city and is perhaps the best preserved medieval street one will find in Europe, the only one that has retained its authentic character. The street has a length of about 200 m. and a width of 6 m. and goes uphill toward the Palace of the Grand Masters"


"HIPPOCRATES SQUARE - The old town continues today to be divided into the two parts as in the time of the Knights: the Castello, which contained the official buildings; and the larger southern part, called the Chora, home of the Greeks and Europeans who were not member of the Order. Today, that's where one can eat and have a drink while watching the pedestrians..."