Big waves break on Plaka beach as high winds batter Naxos on May 24 2013. Unusually strong winds blasted many Greek island areas this month.
Category: Cyclades islands
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Mykonos expecting strong tourist season
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.
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A sensational Mykonos sunset
A fishing boat motors past Mykonos during the dramatic sunset on May 15 2013. I shot this photo from a road above the Kouros Hotel in the Tagoo district of Mykonos. Click on the image to view a full-size picture.
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Pics of the day: Paradise Beach on Mykonos
Here are two different views of Paradise Beach on Mykonos. At top is a view looking straight across the beach from a point on the rocky hillside below the Cavo Paradiso entertainment complex. Below is a shot of footprints in the sand and the view looking out to sea from what is arguably the top party beach on the island. Click on the photos to view them in full-size format.
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2012 Greek holiday report: Final day on Paros
A view of fishing boats docked near the Venetian fortress at Naoussa harbour just as sunshine begins breaking through thick morning stormclouds
[This is the third and final instalment of my report on my May 2012 visit to Paros. The first part included photos from my arrival day on the island, while the second segment featured extensive photos and information about a day I spent exploring the town of Naoussa, where I was staying.]
Thursday May 24 2012
Sudden storms: Much to my chagrin, the weird weather pattern I had experienced on Mykonos — no more than two consecutive days of sunshine — continued on Paros. After two beautiful bright clear days, clouds had rolled in and completely filled the sky.
I should not have been surprised to see the grey sky and dull light when I opened the curtains in my room. After all, stormclouds had moved in during the previous evening, and it looked like Paros was going to get a downpour at some point. But the stone floor of my terrace was dry, suggesting there had not been any overnight rain (I doubt I would have heard rain in any event; I had been so tired from all my walking on Wednesday that I slept like a log, and probably would have snored through a hurricane).
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2012 Greek holiday report: Exploring Naoussa
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.
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2012 holiday report: Hopping over to Paros
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.
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