The Turkish mosque Yiali Tzami cuts a distinctive figure at the Venetian harbour in the city of Chania in northwest Crete. The mosque’s great dome is supported by four arches, while six smaller domes accent the top of the square building. There is no minaret — it was demolished in the early 20th Century. According to a post on ExploreCrete.com, “the mosque was a Muslim place of worship until 1923, when the last Muslims left Crete at the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey.” The building now hosts art exhibitions.
Naxos Town, as seen from the south end of St. George’s beach on Naxos. We walk to Naxos Town from the Agios Prokopios area at least once each time we visit Naxos, and this is one of our favourite views during the final 20 minutes of our hike. Click on the photo to view it full size.
A pelican entertains tourists in the Kastro area of Mykonos Town
Bookings up: The 2013 travel season appears to have gotten off to a good start for Mykonos, one of the top tourist destinations in the Greek Islands.
While I was on Mykonos from May 13 to 18 during my annual Greek holiday, I spoke to dozens of hotel managers, restaurant staff, shop proprietors and other people involved in businesses that depend upon tourism. Virtually everyone told me there was more tourist traffic on the island this month compared to the same time last year, and all signs (so far, at least) suggest the rest of the travel season will be much busier than it was in 2012.
Regular readers will recall that, in my series of reports about my 8-day visit to Mykonos in May 2012, I frequently mentioned how unusually quiet the island had been, even on days when cruise ships called into port. Mykonos Town was practically empty of tourists most times I walked around, and lacked the typically vibrant energy, hustle and bustle that I had encountered on seven previous trips to the island.
This old windmill in Naoussa might be a cute studio residence, but I didn’t notice any sign indicating if it’s available as rental accommodations
[This is the second instalment of a multi-part report on my May 2012 visit to Naoussa village on Paros island. The first part of my report described my arrival at Paros and the first evening I spent in the town of Naoussa following an 8-day visit to Mykonos.]
Wednesday May 23 2012
First full day: My room at Hotel Manos was so dark and quiet, I got a good night’s sleep and woke feeling refreshed and eager to get to know Naoussa better.
I got a bit of a surprise when I went into the bathroom to shave — no hot water came out of the sink faucet, even after I let it run a considerable time. No chance for a smooth shave today! Fortunately, there was plenty of hot water — very hot water, in fact — in the shower. Then, before I went downstairs for breakfast, I booted up my laptop so I could check my email. Although the receptionist had assured me that there was wi-fi access throughout the hotel, I could not obtain a signal in my room. I did get a weak connection from the terrace, and managed to briefly get online, but the signal repeatedly cut out and eventually I had no luck getting back on. I took the laptop with me when I went to breakfast, hoping I would have better luck in the main hotel building.
I got this great late afternoon view of Naoussa bay and Piperi beach just by walking a very short distance down the road from Hotel Manos after my arrival on Paros
[This is the latest segment of a report about my 2012 holiday in Greece. Previous reports described my 8-day vacation on Mykonos. You can access those reports by clicking here.]
Tuesday, May 22 2012
Second chance: After eight fun days on Mykonos, I “hopped” over to Paros, the second island destination of my 2012 Greek holiday. Paros actually was supposed to be my third island, after visiting Ios for a few days, but Anna and some of the guests at Hotel Tagoo had persuaded me to drop Ios from my itinerary and spend more time on Mykonos instead. (I’d been having such a good time on Mykonos, they didn’t have any trouble twisting my arm. In fact, I would have stayed on Mykonos the entire time had it not been for the fact I already had bought a non-refundable flight from Paros to Athens.)
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I travelled to Paros on the 14:55 Flyingcat 4, which was almost completely booked for the second year in a row. In 2011, we had waited until we arrived on Mykonos to buy tickets for our ferry trip to Ios (the next stop on the route, after Paros) and, to our chagrin, discovered that economy class was sold out with only two seats remaining in business class (which of course we booked on the spot). This time I made certain I booked my Paros ticket online well in advance. I was glad I did because, once again, economy was sold out and only a handful of seats remained in business class. The SeaJet2, which departed the Mykonos Old Port 10 minutes before us, was nearly full, too. The Flyingcat4 left Mykonos a few minutes behind schedule, but gave us a smooth ride to Paros and arrived at Parikia port nearly on time around 16:00.
Mountains provide an impressive backdrop to the scenic town of Kokkari on Samos …
… situated about 11 kilometers from Vathi on the north side of the island …
… next to a sheltered harbour where dozens of bars & restaurants along the water’s edge …
… all engage in eye-catching competition to attract the attention — and business — of the throngs of thirsty and hungry tourists who visit the village each day
Sunbathe, swim, eat & repeat: Two impressions have stuck in my mind since we visited colourful Kokkari village on Samos three years ago.
The first is the picturesque beaches that bookend the village: Long Beach on one side, and two back-to-back beaches called Small Lemonakia on the other.
The second is the rows of restaurants lining the town’s sheltered harbour as well as much of the length of Long Beach. It’s almost impossible to walk more than a few steps without passing a waterfront café, bar or taverna, or signs pointing the way to dozens of different places to eat and drink. There are myriad restaurant ads and menus attached to posts and walls, and dozens of sandwich board-style signs scattered along the narrow lanes and footpaths.
