The promotional poster for the International Aegean Sailing Rally, an annual competition that takes place from today through July 29.
Milestone event: Competitors from around the world will set sail today in the International Aegean Sailing Rally, the most prestigious sailing regatta in Greece.
Organized by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club, the event was founded in 1964 and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
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A butterfly rests near Agia Anna beach on Naxos island. This particular species has the hallmark characteristics of a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Winging it: Back in late April, when southern Ontario experienced an irruption of Red Admiral butterflies, I recalled the time our island bus tour on Paros skipped a scheduled stop at the famous Valley of Butterflies — because there were none to be seen.
That was back in mid-June 2005. We had signed up for a day-long Orbit Travel excursion that would take us to places right around the island, including an afternoon visit to Petaloúdes, the butterfly valley 6 km from the port town of Parikia. I’d read about the Valley in my Greece travel guidebooks; they described Petaloúdes as a Paros must-see attraction during summer months simply because of the staggering numbers of Jersey tiger moths that would swarm the area. We had been impressed with the Butterfly Conservatory near Niagara Falls, so we thought it would be neat to see an entire valley teaming with tiger moths.
Unfortunately, it was not meant to be.
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The mountainous Amorgos coastline was in silhouette from a brilliant sunrise when we approached by ferry for our first-ever visit to the island …
… and it was once again in silhouette when we departed the island, also at sunrise, several days later. Both photos show views of Cape Koutsogiani, the hulking dark mountain at right. Tiny Monopetra island pokes out of the sea a few hundred meters from the sheer cliff coastline of the Amorgos north coast.
Scenery silhouettes: During our island-hopping holiday in 2009, we arrived at Amorgos in very much the same circumstances as we departed several days later — watching the sunrise from the open deck of a ferry.
Our arrival on May 21 2009 is literally burned into my memory, probably because I was nearly blinded by the fiery, searing sun while I tried to take photos as we approached Amorgos on the Blue Star ferry ship, the Naxos. I’ll never forget arriving at Amorgos for another reason: the horribly early start to our day.
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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!
The goats start rushing up the hillside toward us
The whole herd stopped grazing so they could come up to see us
One of the goats watches us from the hillside below the pool terrace
Another goat arrives to welcome us to Ios
The goats watched us intently for several minutes …
… then got bored and forgot all about us!X
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Overlooking Kolitsani beach and bay from a nearby mountainside
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Scene of tranquillity: Beach lovers would probably consider the accommodations where we stayed on Ios in May — the Hermes Hotel at Agios Ioannis — to be ideally situated. To the left of the hotel, and visible from its breakfast room and bar, is the island’s most famous beach: Mylopotas, a gorgeous curved strand of golden sand. About a 20-minute hike down the mountain valley to the right is Kolitsani, a secluded small beach accessible only on foot or by sea.
Kolitsani beach spans the foot of a long, narrow bay with shallow turquoise water. There is a large white private villa and some 12-meter cliffs on one side of the bay, and a steep hillside covered with wildflowers, herbs and low scrub bushes on the other. The beach itself is divided into two separate sections by a rock outcropping and giant boulder that jut into the sea. One side has soft brown sand, while the other is covered in large stones and rocks.
Sign at the top of the trail that winds down the mountain to Kolitsani beach
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Coco Beach Club‘s pool overlooks Super Paradise beach and bay
Beach view: Ask someone if they can name a “party beach” on Mykonos, and there’s a good chance they’ll mention Super Paradise. It’s not surprising, since Super Paradise has been one of the island’s most popular beaches for decades. But many people still think Super Paradise is a hedonistic destination primarily for gays and nudists, along with a smaller crowd of open-minded straights. Though it was the top Mykonos “gay” beach from the 1970s through the 1990s, times have changed and most of the gay scene has moved farther down the coast to Elia beach. Nowadays, Super Paradise draws a mainly straight crowd, but still sees its fair share of gay visitors — as well as beachgoers who love to frolic in the sun and sea au naturel.
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The gorgeous swimming pool at the Honeymoon Petra Villas in Imerovigli is positioned on the Santorini caldera cliffside hundreds of feet above the Aegean Sea …
… with spectacular views of Nea Kameni, the volcano island
Deep freeze: There are two great ways to beat the extreme summer heat in the Greek Islands: go for a swim in the sea, or take a plunge in a really cool hotel pool. But depending on the time of season you travel, there’s a good chance the pool could be cooler, if not downright frigid. There’s also a chance the water in both the sea and the pools could be too cold for swimming altogether. At least, that’s been our experience.
We typically travel to Greece in May, and have always encountered hot weather — including brief but brutal heat waves on Naxos and Santorini that sent afternoon temperatures soaring to nearly 40 Celsius. But regardless of how hot the air temperature got, the Aegean Sea has always been too cold for us to swim. In fact, there have been times I couldn’t even wade in the water during visits to Mykonos, Naxos, Paros and Santorini because it felt like my feet started to freeze only seconds after stepping in. Even just dipping my toes in the water at Super Paradise beach on Mykonos one May was too painful because the water was so bitterly cold.
Surprisingly, our hotel swimming pools haven’t been much warmer. And sometimes they’ve actually been colder! I could count on one hand the number of times we were able to spend more than five minutes in a pool, and on just one finger the number where we lasted longer than 10 minutes.
Even when we travelled to the islands during the second half of September one year, we got to swim only twice — once in the sea (which was blissfully warm) and once in a pool (which was shockingly cold) — even though Greece had experienced blistering heat waves throughout the summer.
Are we disappointed that we haven’t been able to do more swimming in Greece? Maybe just a bit. We’ve had good times at plenty of island beaches, and we’ve enjoyed spectacular views from most of our hotel swimming pool terraces. Cooling off with an ice cold bottle of Mythos instead of a swim hasn’t been so bad!
I’ll tell you more about our pool and sea swimming experiences in upcoming “Chill Out!” posts. For today, however, here are pics of some of the cool swimming pools we’ve seen during our visits to Santorini.
The cliffside swimming pool and whirlpool at Dana Villas in Firostefani
Another view of the Dana Villas swimming pool and terrace
The cliffside swimming pool at Pegasus Suites hotel in Imerovigli …
… has a terrace that juts over the island’s rugged volcanic cliffs
Swimmers can watch ferry and cruise ships come and go from this sea view swimming pool atop the caldera in Firostefani
Another clifftop hotel swimming pool in Firostefani
Yet another Firostefani pool terrace with views of cruise ships
A closer look at the Firostefani pool pictured above
A small caldera-view swimming pool on the cliffside in Fira
An air mattress floats in a cliffside swimming pool in Imerovigli …
… while lounge chairs on the adjacent terrace overlook Skaros Rock
The caldera-view swimming pool at the Kafieris Apartments in Firostefani
Another view of the pool at the Kafieris Apartments
The Kafieris Apartments swimming pool at night
I’ve always loved the look of this pool and terrace at what appears to be a private villa on the cliffside in Firostefani …
… from above, the pool’s shape reminds me of an apple …
… there’s comfy cushions for lounging in the sun beside the pool …
… as well as lounge chairs and a shady nook nearby
The big palm tree next to the pool draws some attention away from the villa’s unique Cycladic architecture
Here’s another view of the palm tree and the pool …
… which has an infinity edge offering great views of the sea far below
The uniquely shaped and situated pool at the Honeymoon Petra Villas in Imerovigli offers some of the most stunning views in all of Santorini
The swimming pool and terrace offer incredible views in several directions
The pool is built into the cliffside hundreds of feet above the sea …
… and has a shallow wading pool on the hotel level below
A side view of the Honeymoon Petra Villas pool …
… and some of the apartments built of volcanic rock from the island
One final view of the Honeymoon Petra Villas swimming pool, this time from the clifftop footpath that leads to Oia in one direction, and to Fira in the other
Setting a group table on the harbour-view terrace at Camares restaurant next to Taxi Square (Manto Square) in Mykonos Town
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Your table is ready: Where shall we eat today? Where should we go for a drink? Those are daily vacation dilemmas no matter where you travel. But those questions are even more vexing on Mykonos, which boasts a mind-boggling and appetite-whetting vast selection of restaurants and bars just in its main port town alone. There are dozens more dining and drinking establishments elsewhere on the island, including the inland village of Ano Mera and most of the island’s 20+ beaches. Even if you spent an entire month on Mykonos and dined and drank at a different place every day, you still wouldn’t make it to every place on the island. Which of course means that you’ll have plenty of restaurants and bars to sample on your next visit. So how the heck are you supposed to decide where to eat and drink if you’ve got only a few days or maybe just a week to stay on Mykonos?
Since it became popular with the jet set during the play days of Jackie O, Mykonos has catered to the world’s rich and famous with an impressive array of exclusive high-end restaurants. But even if you’ve got money to burn, you’ll still be spoiled with choices.
Serving French and international cuisine since 1971, Katrin has been a favourite with the “mature” in-crowd who don’t care how much anything costs. Three travellers from New York City who dined there in July 2009 told me the average price for a meat or fish entree was €100, while even small starter plates were priced from €20 to €30 and up. Was it worth it? One thought the prices seemed a bit steep; however, “they are what they are and they cater to their own clientele,” he acknowledged. Nevertheless, “the service was incredible and the food was really wonderful. Great quality and wonderful flavors.” Their bill for food and wine came to €340 plus tip, and they left Katrin’s feeling “very happy and extremely content.” (For that price, I should hope so!) The atmosphere was just as enjoyable as the meal, they added. “It is a very social scene with lots of mingling between tables.. relaxed and elegant.”
For the stylish younger crowd flush with cash, the Belvedere Hotel is the place to see and be seen, particularly over cocktails at either the über-hip Belvedere Bar or the Sunset Saki Bar & Lounge, or during dinner at world-renowned Matsuhisa Mykonos (often called “Nobu” after its namesake founder, celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa.) Also popular is Nammos Restaurant by the Sea at swanky Psarou beach, where music and movie stars, royalty and the merely fabulously wealthy sometimes sail into the scenic bay on private multimillion-dollar yachts.
There are dozens more fine dining establishments that are easier on the pocketbook (though still a tad on the expensive side) than the posh places mentioned above that are magnets for celebrities and socialites. They include Avra and its “sister” restaurant NiSa, along with Lotus and Interni for international cuisine, Sea Satin Market for seafood, Uno Con Carne for steak, Pasta Fresca Pizza Barkia for Italian (including hand-made fresh pasta), and Gola and Aqua Taverna for Italian/Mediterranean — all in Mykonos Town. Spilia in the Hotel Anastasia Village at Agia Anna bay (near Kalafatis)is known for superb seafood and pasta served in a romantic cave-like restaurant setting above the sea.
For moderately-priced Greek cuisine in Town, Bakalo and To Ma’ ereio (also called Maerion, it’s one of my favourite restaurants in the Greek Islands) get consistent good reviews; I hear very favourable feedback about Matthew Taverna and El Greco near the new port at Tourlos, too. Friends who live in Greece keep telling me how much they enjoy watching the sunset while savouring tasty Thai and Chinese dishes at Blue Ginger on the main highway above Town.
Meanwhile, Antonini, Opa, Ta Kioupia, Paraportiani, Kostas, Marco Polo and the ever-popular Niko’s Taverna keep drawing customers back to Town with their reliable and reasonably-priced traditional Greek cuisine, as does Kounelas Fish Taverna for fresh seafood (of course) and Catari for pizza and pasta. Serving delicious (and reasonably-priced) Greek dishes outside of Town are Oregano along the main highway to Tourlos, Joanna’s Niko’s Place at Megali Ammos beach, Avli tou Thodori, Bonatsa and Atlantida (in the Acrogriali Hotel) at Platis Gialos beach, Nicolas taverna at Agia Anna (which I mentioned in my June 20 2011 post about Agia Anna beach), Tasos at Paraga beach, Ithaki at Ornos beach, Hippie Fish at Agios Ioannis (which I described in my July 7 2011 post about the “Shirley Valentine beach”), Elia taverna at Elia beach, Taverna Luna at Lia beach, Fokos Taverna at Fokos beach, and Kiki’s Taverna at Agios Sostis beach.
On a tight budget? There’s plenty of places to get cheap eats such as gyros, souvlaki, spinach pies and sandwiches. Jimmi’s Souvlaki (open 24/7 from May to October) and Sakis serve yummy and inexpensive Greek “fast food,” while Piccolo is the place to go for quality take-out sandwiches, home-made Mykonian onion and honey pies, and other light fare. There’s dozens more take-out and eat-in cafés throughout the Town.
Feeling hungry yet?
I’ll talk about some of our specific Mykonos dining experiences in future posts. Until then, here are some photos of tables ready and waiting for you on Mykonos.
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Flowers brighten a streetside table outside the entrance of Maerion (To Ma’ ereio) taverna on Kalogera Street in Mykonos Town. It’s our favourite spot for people watching while we’re enjoying Maerion’s wonderful local Greek cuisine.
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Seaside tables at the scenic Little Venice area of Mykonos Town
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Café tables outside Philippi restaurant and bar on Kalogera Street
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Tables and cushioned seats in a lane outside a Little Venice cocktail bar
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A café on a corner in the shopping district of Mykonos Town
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Red checkered tablecloths at Marco Polo taverna coordinate with nearby bougainvillea, balcony railings, window shutters … and even laundry
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Colourful dining terrace at a cafe in Mykonos Town
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The tree-shaded terrace at Kiki’s taverna at Agios Sostis beach
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Umbrellas shade a café terrace in Mykonos Town
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A taverna at Goumenio Square in Mykonos Town
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Seaview tables at a cocktail bar at Little Venice
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Bolero Bar and Internet café in Mykonos Town
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Bougainvillea blooms and vines provide a colourful canopy above the dining terrace at Pelican restaurant at Goumenio Square
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Alefkandra taverna at Little Venice
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Tables in the square a few steps above perenially-popular Niko’s Taverna …
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… and more tables on the lower terrace just outside the restaurant
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Green café table and chairs outside the Piccolo sandwich shop
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Mandarini café + dessert shop in Mykonos Town
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Table settings in place at a restaurant at Goumenio Square
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Il Centrale café and gelateria in Mykonos Town
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A green table and blue chairs outside a Mykonos Town café
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A vine sheltered restaurant terrace in Mykonos Town
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A cocktail bar next to the seaside in Little Venice
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Extra tables and chairs await the peak summer crowds at Sea Satin Market taverna. Action movie fans might recognize the restaurant as the film location for the final scene in The Bourne Identity.
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Flower arrangements on tables in the narrow street outside the upscale Katrin restaurant in Mykonos Town
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Café tables on a narrow Mykonos street
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One of dozens of “fast food” cafes scattered throughout Mykonos Town
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Tables in the street outside La Casa restaurant in Mykonos Town
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These taverna tables at Little Venice offer outstanding views of the sea, the sunset, the famous Mykonos windmills, and nearby Tinos island
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Seats outside many of the cafes and snack bars in Mykonos Town are a great spot for watching people from around the world pass by
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Rows of tables and chairs at a seaside taverna at Little Venice
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