Many visitors to Vathi, the main city on Samos, don’t seem to venture beyond the commercial area along the waterfront near the port. But it’s well worth taking time to stroll some of the residential neighourhoods on the hills behind the business district. There are plenty of scenic streets with neoclassically-styled houses like the one above, plus great views of the city and Vathi Bay.
Even the Greek Islands experience snowfalls on occasion, as this 2004 photo of Mykonos confirms. It’s one of several stunning Mykonos winter scenes that M. Koubaros has posted on the Panoramio.com photo sharing website.
Winter wonderland: “I’ll bet you wish you were in Greece right now!”
Actually, I wish I had collected $1 each time someone told me that this week — I’d have enough money to treat myself to a hearty meal of pastitsio or moussaka at one of my favourite restaurants in Toronto’s Greektown neighbourhood tonight.
Like many places in North America, we suffered through five days of miserably cold temperatures this past week, followed by a severe winter storm that dumped more than seven inches of snow on our downtown neighbourhood yesterday. Whenever friends and acquaintances saw me bundled up and shivering in the wintry weather, they inevitably asked if I’d rather be relaxing on a Greek Island beach instead.
But all were surprised to hear me say that Greece doesn’t bask in scorching hot temperatures and clear sunny skies every day — and especially not during December.
Greek Islands get cold weather in winter
They, like many people, have a misconception that Greece is a semi-tropical destination that draws sun- and sand-seeking vacationers to its magnificent beaches all 12 months of the year. But Greece is not like Hawaii. Most people are surprised when I tell them the travel season for most Greek Islands extends only from late April until early October, and they’re stunned when I say that Greece gets winter, too. Few of them realize that islands like Mykonos and Santorini can experience bone-chilling cold temperatures or light snowfalls, and none knew that there are more than a dozen ski areas in the mountains of mainland Greece (of which Parnassos Ski Resort is the largest, boasting 23 trails and 13 lifts).
On December 11, for instance, the Mykonos Winter Facebook page reported that it was only 9 degrees on Mykonos — with gale-force winds reaching a brutal Force 9 on the Beaufort scale. Not a pleasant day to spend outside, by any means!
However, even though Greece does get cold weather during the winter, my friends are absolutely right — I would much rather be there. As I write this post, it’s overcast and 11 degrees below zero here in Toronto, compared to 12 degrees above zero under partly cloudy skies in Athens. And though a dinner of moussaka or pastitsio would certainly be a great way to warm up here tonight, a meal at an authentic Greek taverna in Greece would be so much better.
To give you an idea of what winter can be like in Greece, below are photos of snow scenes from Mykonos, Paros and Santorini plus one of the Parnassos Ski Resort, along with a brief videoclip entitled “Winter’s Beauty in Greece,” posted online by YouTube member TheAmazing Greece. You can view more winter scenes from Greece on the Amazing Greece Facebook page.
This view of snow on Agios Pantes on Paros was posted on the ΠΑΡΟΣ like Facebook page. Neither the date nor the photographer are identified, but a tiny watermark on the picture appears to read “Christos Skandalis Photography.”
The famous Mykonos windmills are seen following a storm in 2004. This photo was posted on the Facebook page for Andriani’s Guest House.
This YouTube upload by Dimitris Koutsoukos displays a variety of photos that various Mykonos residents and others have captured over the years following snowfalls on the island.
This photo shows a light dusting of snow around the town of Fira on Santorini island. It and three more winter scenes from Santorini were published in a post on the cassettes blog on February 22 2008.
Snowboarding and skiing enthusiasts can enjoy winter at more than a dozen mountain resorts on mainland Greece. This photo of the Parnassos Ski Resort is from the Parnassos Ski & Snowboard group page on Facebook.
This videoclip of winter scenes in Greece was posted online by YouTube member TheAmazing Greece
This Apiranthos travel video runs nearly two and a half minutes. It was posted online by YouTube member naxosislandtv.
Marble & museums: When we visited Naxos in 2006, we rented a car so we could do one of the much-recommended round-the-island drives and visit some of the scenic mountain villages — including Apiranthos — along the way. We wound up seeing far less than we expected, thanks to the weather.
When we picked up the car shortly after breakfast, it was already 29 degrees Celsius (84 F). By the time we reached the mountain village of Filoti, the temperature was in the mid-30s, and we felt like we were going to melt after only a few minutes of walking around. We got back in the air conditioned comfort of the car and headed on, planning to stop at Apiranthos, but as we approached the village the dashboard thermometer showed it was a scorching 38 degrees outside. There was no way we could drag ourselves around the village in that heat, so we didn’t even bother getting out of the car and just kept on going. We eventually stopped at the Apollonas coastal resort area, where it was only marginally cooler at the seaside.
Marble architecture & four museums
It was a huge disappointment not to see Apiranthos, which we’d heard is one of the most beautiful villages on the island. Boasting marble buildings and marble-paved streets and squares, along with four museums (the Archaeological Museum, Folk Art Museum, Geological Museum and Museum of Natural History), the medieval village certainly sounded like a place we would enjoy. We thought we would get there during our next Naxos visit, in 2009, but we didn’t rent a car that trip and never made it to Apiranthos. We didn’t have a car during our brief stop in Naxos in May of this year, either, so the village remains on our Naxos “must-see” list.
With luck, we might finally get to see it when we return to Naxos next month. If we do make it there, you’ll see our photos (and maybe some videos, too) here on the blog. In the meantime, check out the videoclip above for a quick peek at the scenic village.
