Category: Greek Island villages and towns (Page 14 of 32)

The allure of Astypalea

November 6, 2015 / admin / 1 Comment

Astypalea is an inspiring short film by Eva Rodriguez and Ignasi Llobet

Intriguing imagery: We have been to Astypalea just once, for an introductory 3-day visit back in 2009, but after watching the video posted above, I regret that we didn’t spend more time there. We missed so many amazing sights!

Astypalea is a short video that was created by Eva Rodriguez and Ignasi Llobet. It’s only two minutes long, yet the film is packed with intriguing images and spectacular scenery from what the two filmmakers rightly describe as “one of the most beautiful and unspoiled Greek islands.”

Filmed by Ignasi with a handheld Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera, the video follows Eva as she tours the butterfly-shaped Dodecanese island, pausing to admire and contemplate Astypalea’s striking landscape, beach, coast and village scenery. I recognized the spellbinding views from some of Eva’s vantage points, but felt a strong tinge of disappointment that I didn’t get to personally see many of the other sights while we were there.

Happily, Eva and Ignasi have shown me plenty of good reasons to consider a return trip.

Filming is a challenge under the intense Greek sun

But it isn’t just their film that has rekindled memories of our own brief visit six years ago. In notes describing their film, Ignasi said “it was practically impossible to see what I was shooting, focusing, exposuring and framing… under the Greek sun it’s impossible to see anything on the screen.”

That is so true. The sun is always incredibly brilliant in Greece, but in Astypalea I found it exceptionally intense. Even though I wore sunglasses, I couldn’t stop squinting, and my eyes often watered uncontrollably because of the searing sunshine. Like Ignasi, I couldn’t see anything through my camera viewfinder or LCD screen, either, and most of my photos wound up blurred, overexposed, or poorly framed because I could only point and shoot and hope for the best. (It didn’t help that I was in a jetlag haze much of the time — Astypalea was our first stop on a four-island itinerary that year, and it had taken us well over 24 hours of travel to get there.) You can see the photos that turned out okay in my Astypalea album on Flickr.

But do watch Eva and Ignasi’s film a few times — I think it’s remarkable for capturing the allure and charm of Astypalea, and making you feel like you’re actually there, experiencing the island yourself. If you can’t get to Astypalea, this film is the next best thing.

Many thanks to Eva for inviting me to publish the film on my blog. This is one of my favourite videos of Greece!

A purrfect place for a catnap

June 28, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

A cat catches an early afternoon snooze on a giant butternut squash displayed on a table outside a house in Stenies village on Andros. We saw the cute kitty cozying up to the giant gourd while we were hiking around the Stenies area during our Andros visit in late May.

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Exhilarating sights and scenes from Santorini

June 22, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

Filipe Samora captured breathtaking Santorini sights in this spellbinding film posted on Vimeo. I loved watching the video and am sharing it here so you can enjoy the exhilarating images of this incomparably beautiful Greek island.

Exploring the quiet lanes and alleys of Andros Town

June 22, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

Three curious cats watch as we approach them in a lane in Andros Town

During our visit to Andros at the end of May, we usually had most of Andros Town all to ourselves while walking around — we saw only a small number of residents and even fewer tourists whenever we were out and about. Although the town’s main commercial street was bustling with people each morning and again in the evening at dinner time, it was a different story off the main strip, where we typically would encounter some cats but barely any people on side streets and lanes like the one in the photo above. For us, the quiet alleys and walkways were pure bliss — a refreshing escape from the crowds, traffic, sirens and incessant city noise that stress us out back home in downtown Toronto. In main travel season, I’m sure Andros Town is teeming with tourists and residents, but we didn’t mind finding it so empty in May.

Here are more street scenes that will give you an idea of what it’s like to stroll around Andros Town:

Approaching a church near the eastern tip of Andros Town

Looking along the main street in Andros Town. Vehicles can drive on this particular block, but beyond the intersection a few doors down, the street becomes a pedestrian-only thoroughfare.

With most shops and businesses closed in late afternoon, the pedestrian section of Andros Town’s main street is empty. Stormclouds gathering overhead seemed to scare most of the tourists back to their hotels until dinner time.

A view of the main street during a busier time of day

Shops and cafes line the marble-paved street

A view down the steps leading to the island’s Museum of Contemporary Art. It was open only between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and since we were always off exploring other parts of the island during those hours, we were unable to visit the galleries. Other tourists told us that the museum’s collections and special exhibits are impressive.

A steep flight of steps on the south side of Andros Town

Not a soul in sight on this street, either

A colourful section of street near Agios Georgios Church

Agios Georgios Church

A lane of steps in Andros Town

The road along Nimborio beach on the north side of Andros Town

A street near Nimborio beach

The big main square in Andros Town

$steps from Andros Town to Paraporti beach\$

Looking down the long, steep flight of stairs leading to Paraporti beach …

… and looking partway up the same stairs from a spot near the bottom

This lane has views of two of the most famous landmarks at Andros Town — the Tourlitis lighthouse and Agia Thalassini Church

Steps leading from Andros Town to the Nimborio beach area

A lane high above the bay on the north side of Andros Town

A street near Nimborio beach

A wide waterfront promenade leads to Agia Thalassini Church on the seaside

Seaside houses in Andros Town

June 20, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

A view of houses built on the south side of the rocky peninsula that juts into the sea at Andros Town. We found Andros Town fascinating to explore because of its unique layout on the slender, long finger of land, particularly since the views of sea, coast and land change drastically from one vantage point to the next. At upper right is the Tourlitis Lighthouse, an Andros icon often seen on postcards, travel websites and island guidebooks.

View from the steps to Nimborio beach at Andros Town

June 20, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

Looking toward the Nimborio beach area from partway up a long lane of steps that lead into the heart of Andros Town. Our accommodations were at Irene’s Villas, located on a hill behind the beach. This was just one of the beautiful views we would get to see while walking back to our villa from town.

Rain or shine, Andros amazes

June 15, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

The Andros beach resort area of Batsi looks beautiful even while menacing stormclouds pass overhead. During our six-day visit to the island last month, we experienced some cloudy skies and a few brief periods of rain … but that didn’t keep us from enjoying the island’s spectacular mountain, coastal and village scenery. Even during inclement weather Andros looked amazing. Frankly, we would rather be on Andros in the rain …

… than be here in Toronto where sunshine has been sparse and where our balcony views have been mainly of fog-shrouded highrise towers, intermittent light rainfalls, and heavy downpours since we got home June 11.

Although nobody can do anything about the weather, most people dread cloudy skies, rain and thunderstorms during their vacations. While I personally prefer a mix of sun and cloud, I would rather be somewhere in Greece on an overcast or wet day instead of being at home in Toronto in similarly bleak weather conditions.

Since we returned from Greece last Thursday night (June 11), we have seen sunshine only briefly. The sky has been overcast with dark clouds or thick with fog most of the time, there have been intermittent light showers, and we have experienced several thunderstorms with heavy downpours. It has been disappointing and depressing to see the bleak, grey skies and fog-shrouded city skyline whenever we glance out our windows or go on our balcony.

We didn’t feel that way the few times it turned cloudy or rained while we were on Andros in May. Periods of daytime stormclouds didn’t detract from our walks and hikes, while occasional evening rain didn’t stop us from strolling into Andros Town for drinks and dinner. Rain or shine, Andros looked lovely, and kept us amazed and amused.

Below are some photos we shot during cloudy periods on Andros … I think you’ll agree the island looks pretty even under cloudy skies.

Stormclouds start to fill the morning sky over hills behind Andros Town

Stormclouds advance above Nemborios beach on the north side of Andros Town. They sprinkled light rain a few times during daylight hours, then produced occasional light showers in the evening and late at night.

Winds picked up and the late afternoon sky darkened while we were exploring the streets of Andros Town, but we got back to our accommodations long before evening showers started. It rained lightly off and on over the course of the evening, and overnight.

Rain clouds approach hillside settlements near Andros Town

In this view from our terrace at the Aneroussa Beach Hotel near Batsi, stormclouds swirl overhead shortly before a series of brief but heavy downpours soaked the island at breakfast time.

During our walk from the Aneroussa Beach Hotel to Batsi after the breakfast rain showers, we looked back to see more dark clouds looming overhead …

… while straight ahead, the cloud cover extended along the island’s entire coast to the north

When we turned the next corner on the road, the sky above Batsi looked far more threatening

Sunshine briefly illuminates rental rooms and studio apartments on a hill on the south side of Batsi

The weather was beginning to look grim as we reached the halfway mark on our walk to Batsi

Sunshine briefly breaks through the thick clouds as we approach the edge of the commercial waterfront strip in Batsi

Stormclouds sweep above the hills to the immediate northeast of Batsi

Every now and then sunshine broke through the clouds to illuminate the mountains north of Batsi

We enjoyed some sunshine at the northern end of the beach at Batsi

View from a hill on the north side of Batsi

Although we experienced repeated but brief interludes of sunshine, the breeze turned into a cool wind so we headed back to Batsi, where we reached a sheltered bar terrace on the waterfront just as the clouds opened up and began dropping light rain. The showers stopped within half an hour but the dark clouds hung around several more hours.

By evening the clouds were moving away from Andros, and we got to watch an impressive sunset from our terrace at the Aneroussa Beach Hotel

On our way to Andros island!

May 25, 2015 / admin / 0 Comments

This image showing an impressive view of Chora (Andros Town) on Andros island appears on the Discover Greece page for Andros

We’re on our way back to Greece for our annual spring holiday, and looking forward to visiting Andros island for the first time. If I have reliable Internet connections while there, I will try to post some photos.

If you’re interested in seeing more of Andros in the meantime, I’ve posted two videos below. The first shows Andros Town, while the second is a slideshow of sights and scenes at numerous places on the island.

Scenes from Andros Town

Photo highlights from Andros