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Step up to superb food & sublime sunsets at Kamara Café on Amorgos island

March 29, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

The open-air terrace at Kamara Café in Upper Potamos is a great spot to view the amazing scenery while enjoying some of the café’s delicious Greek cuisine

The café also has lounge areas on its terrace, for those who just want to sit back and relax with a glass of wine while watching a spectacular sunset

This was one of the sunsets we watched from the Kamara Café. Here, the sun looks like an enormous white orb as it slowly descends behind Naxos island.

You’re guaranteed to work up a hearty appetite and thirst on your way to the restaurant — It’s a half-hour walk from Egali, up hundreds of steps like these.

Steps, stews and sunsets: When I was planning our trip to Amorgos in 2009, I asked an acquaintance in Athens for restaurant recommendations. We absolutely had to go to Kamara Café in Ano Potamos village, she said, and order the patatato — a goat and potato stew that is one of the island’s signature local dishes. Her other tip: allow plenty of time to walk up the mountain to the taverna, so we wouldn’t miss seeing the sunset if we got lost or delayed en route. “You won’t believe the view! The sunset — fabulous! And make sure you try the goat!” she gushed.

I put Kamara Café on my “must try” list, thinking that would nicely take care of dinner plans for one of the four nights we would spend on Amorgos. That list was in my luggage, in our room at the Yperia Hotel in Egali, while we were out exploring during our first day on the island. We spent the entire afternoon in and around Egali, wandering around the town, the beach, and some of the hiking trails in the area, as well as scoping out places where we might like to have dinner that night. Several spots near the beach and in the center of the town caught our eye, but since I didn’t have my restaurant list with me, I couldn’t remember if any were among the specific places that friends had highly recommended. Nevertheless, since we would probably be “walked out” by the end of the day, we were happy to see we would be spoiled for choice within a short stroll of our hotel.

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Pic of the day: A sunset view of Skaros Rock

March 17, 2013 / admin / 1 Comment

Santorini’s distinctive square-topped Skaros Rock appears in silhouette during sunset. Tour boats approach the romantic village of Oia at the northwest tip of the island (left & center) while the silhouette of nearby Ios island is visible in the background (rear).

Springtime in Paros

March 13, 2013 / admin / 2 Comments

Looking toward the town of Naoussa from a hillside near Kolimbithres beach on Paros. Agia Kali island, with its blue-domed church of the same name, takes center stage, while mountains on Naxos island provide a backdrop to the scene.

Spring scenes: Now that we’ve been on Daylight Savings Time for a few days, I’m anxious for spring flowers to start blooming. It has been a long winter of cold and snow, so I’m eager to see leaves, green grass and flower-filled gardens bring life and colour back to my neighbourhood.

Since I will probably have to wait a few more weeks before that starts happening, I have been making do in the meantime by looking at our photos of flowers and other spring scenes from our two separate visits to Paros. Here’s a selection for you to enjoy, too. There’s a link at the end of the series to my Springtime in Paros album on Flickr, where you can view full-size versions of all these photos and many more.

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Springtime in Paros Part 2

March 13, 2013 / admin / 1 Comment

Flowerpots add colour and cheer to staircases outside houses in Naoussa

PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 2 FOR MORE PHOTOS

Pic of the day: The Odeon of Herodes Atticus

March 10, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

The city of Athens fans outward from The Odeon of Herodes Atticus theatre, situated on the south side of the Acropolis. Originally built in 161 AD, the venue had a wooden roof and could seat 5,000 people for music concerts. The seating and stage areas were renovated in the 1950s, and the open-air theatre now hosts theatre, music and dance performances for the annual Athens & Epidaurus Festival, which runs between June and September.

Pic of the day: Walking Santorini’s clifftop path

March 9, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

Tourists walk the clifftop path between Fira and Firostefani. The scenic path continues to Imerovigli village (left rear) and from there all the way to Oia at the northwest tip of the island. Hikers enjoy sensational scenery almost every step of the way, and can find countless spots along the path to watch the fabled Santorini sunsets.

Pic of the day: Sunset viewing on Milos

March 8, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

Two women watch the sunset from the terrace at Korfiotissa church in Plaka village, Milos

2012 Greek holiday trip report: Mykonos Part 3

March 7, 2013 / admin / 3 Comments

All quiet on the northern front: Even though it was a gorgeous morning, very few people were out and about when I walked past the Remezzo area of Mykonos Town at 10 a.m.

[Editor’s Note: This is the latest instalment in a series of reports on my 2012 vacation. Those of you who have already read Part 1 and Part 2 may want to go back and take another look through those posts — I have added several videoclips to each part.]

Thursday May 17

Sounds of silence: My fourth day on Mykonos started off with brilliant sunshine and plenty of peace and quiet.

The breakfast room at Hotel Tagoo was almost empty, with just a handful of guests showing up during the time I was there. It seemed like most people were sleeping in to recover from either a late night on the town or too much fun at the beaches the day before. Two guests who did make it down for breakfast told me that a friend of theirs from Mykonos would be taking them on an early afternoon driving tour around part of the island. They had room for a fourth person, and invited me to tag along. They planned to visit some beaches I had not seen in a few years, plus at least one I had never been to before, so I jumped at the opportunity to join them.

Since I had a few hours to fill before the island drive about, but didn’t feel like laying in the sun by the pool, I took a walk into town. The streets were surprisingly quiet and empty with practically no vehicular traffic and pedestrians. It was incredibly serene — and almost surreal — hearing only birdsong and sound of my shoes on the pavement. I didn’t expect that, at 10 a.m., I would have most of the Tagoo area and much of Mykonos Town all to myself. A cruise ship was docked at Tourlos, so I fully expected to run into groups of tourists wandering around, but the parking area next to the Old Port (where the cruise ship shuttle buses drop passengers off) was eerily quiet. I passed fewer than a dozen people during my 10-minute walk between the port and Taxi Square.

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