Above is a brief video that I shot from the southern end of Plaka beach, near Orkos, during our May 22 bikeride along the west coast of Naxos. This and the six other short clips (below) accompany Part 3 of my trip report (posted above).
Orkos Bay
Orkos beach
Mikri Vigla beach and bay
Views from Kontos Taverna at Mikri Vigla beach
Kitesurfers at Mikri Vigla
Agia Anna beach, viewed from the pier at Agia Anna harbour
A windsurfer skims across St George’s Bay near Naxos Town
Bigger album: Just wanted to advise that more photos have been added to the Naxos May 20 2014 Flickr album that accompanies Part 2 of my holiday trip report, which I recently posted on the blog.
More than 90 additional photos have been uploaded to the album, which you can view by clicking here.
I’m currently putting Part 3 of the trip report together and hope to publish it later this week.
If you want to see more of Naxos in the meantime, click here for instant access to the Naxos photo collection on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page. The collection features thousands of pictures from our two Naxos holidays in 2013 as well as previous visits to the island, and also includes photos of the various hotels at which we have stayed.
Further information about Naxos is just a click away in one of my most widely-read posts: Our Top 15 reasons to visit Naxos
A chalkboard menu lists dinner specials at Chrisospilia restaurant
Missed opportunity: The colourful open-air dining terrace at Chrisospilia restaurant caught our attention while we were walking around Chora village shortly after arriving at Folegandros island several years ago. It was late afternoon and the restaurant wasn’t open at the time, but the chalkboard menu indicated that the evening dinner specials would include a variety of chicken, pork, lamb, pasta and risotto dishes, along with grilled shrimp and grilled octopus.
We meant to return for a meal, but Chrisospilia somehow slipped our minds while we were busy exploring the island, and we never made it there (surprisingly, we didn’t get back down the street where it’s located, even though we thought we had walked every lane in Chora at least twice.)
It wasn’t until we were reviewing our trip photos back home, and saw several pics of Chrisospilia, that we realized we had forgotten to drop by for dinner. We had delicious meals at other restaurants, but their dining areas weren’t as attractive as Chrisospilia’s. We’ll try to check it out if we ever return to Folegandros. It has received a series of excellent reviews this year on TripAdvisor.com, which currently ranks Chrisospilia as the #11 restaurant out of 44 on the island.
Scarlet and pink bougainvillea provide a colourful canopy for the open-air dining terrace at Chrisospilia restaurant
Side view of the Chrisospilia restaurant terrace
The Amazing Mykonos, a aerial video production by Aslanis Films
Air time: I’m willing to bet that the first thing a lot of you thought, when you read the headline for this post, was: “Oh here he goes, droning on about Mykonos again!” Well, this time it’s the folks at Aslanis Films — a moving image production company — who are doing the actual droning. And I mean that quite literally.
This 1-minute clip, which was created as a promotional video for their cinematic production services, shows amazing aerial views of popular Mykonos attractions that the vast majority of visitors will only ever get to look at from sea or ground level — the Mykonos Town harbour and Old Port, the Delos island ferry boat pier, the Little Venice seafront and the iconic row of windmills on the Alefkandra hilltop. (The first five seconds of the clip shows the drone that carried the video camera into the air for the film shoot.)
Aslanis Films specializes in commercials, music videos and video editing, and is spending the summer on Mykonos to film Little Venice, Super Paradise beach and numerous other island locations for the Travel Channel. You can view screen shots from some of their video shoots on the Aslanis Films Facebook page.
Some of the mules used to transport tourists up and down hundreds of steps between the cruiseship tender dock and Fira, the main town on Santorini
Animal abuse: An international online petition is urging local authorities on Santorini to make significant improvements to the welfare and working conditions of dozens of mules and donkeys that are forced to repeatedly carry tourists up and down hundreds of steps on the island every day, often without adequate water, shade and rest.
The petition is the latest in a series of efforts The Donkey Sanctuary has undertaken during the past 8 years as part of an ongoing campaign to reduce and prevent abuse and cruelty toward donkeys and mules on Santorini, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Greece.
I described The Donkey Sanctuary’s earlier initiatives in my April 12 2013 post, Don’t ride the donkeys! Why tourists should avoid taking the mule ‘taxis’ on Santorini, which has since become the most-read report on my website. (Please click on the link to see the article and photos if you aren’t already aware of the Santorini donkey situation.)
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Animals are denied access to shade, water & rest for long periods
The Donkey Sanctuary decided to launch the latest course of action after an independent report produced in 2013 “revealed that many of these animals are forced to carry overweight passengers and are denied access to shade, water and rest for hours at a time. Poor quality saddles and bridles are often used and safety guidelines are regularly ignored, placing tourists at risk of injury. “
“Over the past few years we have attempted to work with the town municipality to provide training and equipment for the taxi operators although unfortunately, the standards have not been maintained and the level of complaints has risen yet again,” The Sanctuary explains on its website.
The petition calls for a number of “urgent improvements” to the welfare of Santorini’s mule taxis, including provision of adequate shelter and shade, access to fresh water, predetermined weight limits for passengers, and regular veterinary and tack inspections, among others.
Names collected on the petition “will be presented to the mayor of Santorini as part of our campaign to improve standards for donkeys and mules working in the tourism industry,” The Sanctuary says.
A screen capture of The Donkey Sanctuary website post explaining reasons for its petition to prevent cruelty to mules and donkeys in Santorini
Ah, this is the life! A bikini-clad young woman catches some rays from the comfort of an air mattress floating on the calm waters at St George’s Beach. Naxos basked in gorgeous summery weather on May 20.
[Editor’s Note: Full-size versions of all the photos that appear in this post can be viewed in the Naxos May 20 2014 album on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page.]
Tuesday May 20
Suddenly summer: When I woke up around 9 a.m., I almost felt scared to open the curtains to see what the weather was like. Would it be another day of clouds and rain, as had been forecast? Or would we get lucky and have a hint of nice weather instead?
We got lucky! There was sunshine and a bright blue sky — an absolutely gorgeous morning. It looked like our spring vacation was starting off the exact same way our holiday had begun last fall — with clouds and rain our first day on Naxos followed by sunny clear skies the rest of the trip. I couldn’t wait to to have breakfast outside — our first outdoor meal since we were in Greece last October.
I always love starting my day with a cup of coffee on the poolside breakfast patio at Lianos Village Hotel. With colourful gardens and a swimming pool just steps from our table, views of the beautiful blue Aegean Sea, and a few of the neighbourhood cats lingering at our feet, the sun-shaded terrace is the place where I have enjoyed eating breakfast the most out of all our trips to Greece. The setting and atmosphere make me feel completely carefree, content and relaxed. A little voice inside my head keeps repeating: “Kalimera! You’re on vacation! You’re in Greece!” I wish every morning could begin like this!
Sunshine and an almost cloudless sky greeted me when I pulled open the door and stepped onto our terrace our first morning on Naxos. This was our view looking south to Agios Prokopios and Agia Anna.
Please click on the number 2 in the link below to continue reading my trip report and view dozens of photos from our day on Naxos.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
This familiar and favourite view of the Agios Prokopios beach resort area of Naxos was a welcome sight for our tired, jet-lagged eyes when we stepped onto our private terrace minutes after arriving at Lianos Village Hotel on May 19
Never enough Naxos: Regular readers of this website will recall that we visited Naxos island twice last year and named it our Destination of the Year for 2013 because of its wide range of activities, sights and attractions and its wallet-friendly price appeal. Our list of 15 top reasons to visit Naxos has since become one of the most widely-read reports on the blog.
Well, we didn’t get our fill of Naxos so we made a point to return for part of our two-week Greek holiday this spring.
Below is the first part of an ongoing series of photo-illustrated reports about places and things we saw while we were on Naxos (later installments will feature our other two destinations, Syros and Athens). I will include some information about specific hotels, restaurants and other tourist-related businesses that were either open or closed since it could be helpful to anyone planning low season trips to the Cyclades. People frequently post questions in online travel forums, wondering if beach areas might be too quiet to stay at in May, and I’ve noticed the responses often give the incorrect and misleading impression that virtually nothing is open at the beginning of the tourist season.
Monday May 19
We arrived in Athens early in the morning of May 19 on an Air Transat direct flight from Toronto. It was our 10th time flying to Greece on this particular airline, and probably the best flight of them all — smooth and uneventful throughout the 9.5-hour trip.
Athens was cloudy and a cool 12 degrees Celsius when we landed, and weather reports were calling for similar overcast conditions and also rain at Naxos and other Cyclades islands.
Despite the cloud cover, visibility was excellent and we had superb views of Syros and Paros as we passed over both islands during our 35-minute midafternoon Olympic Air flight to Naxos. We also got a good look at the long western coast of Naxos as the plane banked over Mikri Vigla beach during its descent to Naxos airport. [See the post below this one for important advice about carry-on baggage for flights to Naxos and other small island airports.]
The air felt warm with a touch of humidity when we stepped off the plane and walked to the tiny luggage claim room at the right-hand side of the small terminal building. By the time our bags came off the belt it was drizzling, and the light rain continued throughout our 10-minute drive to Lianos Village Hotel near Agios Prokopios beach.
This was our fourth consecutive stay at Lianos Village, and we were happy to be assigned Room 83 — the same one we had stayed in last October (there’s more information about the room, as well as photos of it and its beautiful views, in my report about Our best hotel experiences of 2013.)
Please click on the number 2 in the link below to continue reading my report and view photos from our arrival day on Naxos.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
I felt a tinge of envy when we saw the infinity swimming pool at this hilltop villa while hiking through the Danakos area of Syros island last week. The pool and adjacent terrace enjoy jaw-dropping views of the scenic Kini Bay region of Syros as well as Giaros island in the distance. The sunset views from the pool must be incredible since they’re spectacular even from sea level in Kini village. Below is a side view of the pool and villa. Click on the photos to see larger-size images.
