Category: Dodecanese islands (page 9 of 16)

What we can’t wait to eat in Greece next week …

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Greek salad

A delicious Greek salad we enjoyed at Maria’s House restaurant in Kos Town

 

 

Feta fans: We will be arriving in Greece for our 2013 spring vacation in just a few days, reaching our first island destination around lunch time. And I can tell you right now what we’ll be ordering for lunch: Greek salad.

I make Greek salads often, but they never taste even just a fraction as good as the ones we eat in Greece. The ingredients simply can’t compare. The cucumbers sold at my neighbourhood grocery stores generally have no flavour, the green peppers are usually bitter, the tomatoes tend to be bland and mushy, the olives are sour and rubbery, and the over-salted feta typically has a spongy texture.

It’s a whole different story in Greece, where the vegetables are packed full of flavour and the olives and feta are divine. Just the thought of ordering a Greek salad in Greece practically makes my mouth water.

Can’t wait for our first lunch!

 

Maria's House restaurant at Averof 80 in Kos Town

Maria’s House at 80 Averof Street in Kos Town. Maria’s was our best — and favourite — dining experience on Kos during our Dodecanese island hopping holiday in May 2010.

 

 

Pic of the day: View from the Asklepieion

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View from the Asklepieion toward Kos Town and the coast of Turkey

The view from the Asklepieion ruins and monuments on Kos island takes in nearby Kos Town and extends to the mountainous coast of Turkey. Click on the photo to open a larger image so you can enjoy a better view!

 

Pic of the day: Pothia port on Kalymnos

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Arriving by ferry at Pothia, the port town of Kalymnos island

A view of Pothia, the port town on Kalymnos island, from an approaching ferry

 

Pic of the day: Gorgeous Grikos Bay on Patmos

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Grikos Bay on Patmos

We enjoyed this panoramic view from our balcony at the Hotel Golden Sun at Grikos Bay on Patmos during our Dodecanese holiday in May 2010.  Below is another Grikos Bay photo we shot from the hotel. Click on the pictures to view full-size images.

 

Grikos Bay on Patmos

 

 

Mule tidings: donkey tales from the islands

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a donkey on a hillside overlooking the Skala, the port town on Patmos

This donkey enjoys a spectacular view of Skala, the port town on Patmos, from his hilltop vantage point on the edge of Chora

 

 

Donkey tales: Mules and donkeys can be a common sight on many of the Greek Islands including — not surprisingly — two of the country’s most popular tourist destinations: Santorini and Rhodes. If you visit Santorini’s capital town Fira, especially during a cruise, you’ll see scores of the animals working as taxis to transport tourists up and down hundreds of steps linking the small port to the town 220 meters above sea level (see my Don’t ride the donkeys! post above for more about that controversial practice). On Rhodes, dozens of donkeys are similarly pressed into service to lug lazy sightseers up the path to the Acropolis above Lindos.

On smaller isles that don’t draw huge hordes of tourists and cruise ship visitors, you’re more likely to see donkeys grazing in fields and yards while you hike or drive around. Sometimes you might not be able to see them, but you’ll clearly hear them — their boisterous braying can carry across a long distance. And at other times, you can wind up having a close encounter with one or more of the animals just when you least expect it.

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Pic of the day: A sunny beach on Kos

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Tigaki beach on Kos

A stretch of sandy beach basks in brilliant sunshine as big clouds drift above the turquoise sea near the Tigaki resort area of Kos island

 

Pic of the day: Skala harbour on Patmos

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Skala harbour on Patmos

A view of Skala harbour on Patmos, from a ferry departing the island en route to Samos

 

The Castle of the Knights in Kos Town

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Castle of the Knights

The exterior wall of the Castle of the Knights of St John, viewed from the opposite side of palm-tree-lined Finikon street in Kos Town …

 

 

Castle of the Knights of St John

… and part of the castle interior, viewed from the elevated walkway that extends along the perimeter of the castle’s tall stone walls. Visible in the distance is the Bodrum area of Turkey.

 

 

Seaside stronghold: When I was a little kid, my friends and I used to build makeshift forts and treehouses and compete for control over the territory. “I’m the king of the castle, and you’re a dirty rascal” was a familiar taunt back in those days. It’s too bad our parents never took us to Kos, because we would have had the time of our young lives visiting the Castle of the Knights in Kos Town.

One of the most popular tourist attractions in Kos, the castle was constructed sometime in the 15th Century by the Knights of St. John, who used stones and marble recovered from the ruins of an ancient city that was devastated by an earthquake. It took them more than 120 years to finish building the stronghold, which was the second castle to be built on the site. (The first one was built in the early 1300s and later got completely destroyed). There actually is a castle within a castle — the outer wall was built between 1495 and 1514 to provide extra fortification for the original castle built more than a half century before.

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