Category: Cyclades islands (Page 52 of 66)

Getting high on Ios

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Chora village on Ios

Overlooking Chora, the main village on Ios, from a hilltop to the east

 

Sightseeing at its peak: My humble apologies if the headline led you to think this particular blog post is about having a good time on Ios while doing illicit drugs! It’s completely understandable if that’s what you assumed, especially considering that Ios has a notorious worldwide reputation as one of the top summer party destinations in the Mediterranean (if not all of Europe, for that matter).

By “getting high on Ios,” I’m actually referring to something totally different: hiking up hills and mountains to enjoy the amazing island views and scenery, and get a natural, physical high.

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Greece holiday pic of the day

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church in Oia village on Santorini

This church belltower in the picturesque village of Oia has a view toward the town of Imerovigli in the distance, perched high above the Aegean Sea atop the spectacular steep cliffs of Santorini’s world-famous caldera. The photo appears in my Greece 2004: Oia, Santorini album, which Webshots.com featured as Album of the Day on September 12 2004. Unfortunately, Webshots changed its format in December 2012 and the album is no longer available for public viewing. The photos can, however, be seen in the Oia Santorini album on the mygreecetraveblog.com Facebook page. Below is a link to my Santorini 1 album on Flickr, which includes hundreds more photos from the island. Click once on the album cover photo to view a slideshow, or click twice to enter the album and view individual full-size photos.


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A warm welcome from the goats at Hermes Hotel on Ios

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a goat on Ios

This goat was in a herd that gave us a warm welcome to the Hermes Hotel

 

Warm welcome: Checking into a hotel usually isn’t a memorable experience. Sometimes you get a friendly greeting from a cheery person at the reception desk, and sometimes you just get a grunt from someone who couldn’t care less about making a good first impression to a stranger from another country. And sometimes you really luck out, and get to see an entire herd of goats hurry up a hillside to welcome you to their island.

That’s exactly what happened minutes after we checked into the Hermes Hotel on Ios back in May.

After filling out the registration form at reception, we took a walk to check out the facilities, and headed down to the spacious swimming pool terrace on the hillside hotel’s lower level. When we leaned over the terrace railing to take photos of the nearby valley, we caught the attention of a herd of goats grazing in the field below us. They interrupted their meal and rushed up the hillside to say hello.

It was an unforgettable warm welcome to an island that quickly became one of our favourite destinations in Greece. Thanks, kids!

 

goats on Ios Greece

The goats start rushing up the hillside toward us

 

goats on Ios Greece

The whole herd stopped grazing so they could come up to see us

 

a goat on Ios

One of the goats watches us from the hillside below the pool terrace

 

a goat on Ios

Another goat arrives to welcome us to Ios

 

a goat on Ios

The goats watched us intently for several minutes …

 

goats on Ios

… then got bored and forgot all about us!X

 

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