MyGreeceTravelBlog.com
Photos & memories from our trips to Athens, the Peloponnese, mainland Greece & Greek Islands — plus profiles of places we would love to visit

Kick up your heels at the Chania harbourfront!

The video Flashmob @ Chania: Dancing with a Cretan Heart features great views of the beautiful Chania harbourfront — and a spontaneous pentozali line dance by dozens of local residents and tourists

Seaside line dance: I’ve been to the city of Chania in northwestern Crete only once — during a daytrip back in 2004 — but a video I discovered on YouTube the other day instantly took me back.

Flashmob @ Chania: Dancing with a Cretan Heart was filmed at the picturesque Chania harbourfront, which we enjoyed seeing during the few hours we had available to explore the city. We were on a whirlwind island-hopping tour — actually, our first-ever trip to Greece — and rented a car for a day so we could take a drive from Heraklion to see Chania and other parts of Crete.

Chania has an extensive history that dates back to the Minoan era (roughly the 27th Century BC to the 15th Century BC). There’s a lot to see at Chania and nearby, but we only got to scratch the surface since we were so pressed for time. We’ve been meaning to get back and actually stay there for several days so we can see some of the many things we missed, and this video made me wish we were returning soon.

The film features two Cretan artists, George and Nikos Stratakis, who are having coffee at the Chania waterfront. When a young boy walks up and begins tapping a tabor on the table, George and Nikos take their cue and join in with their musical instruments. People in the crowd start clapping, and soon locals and tourists alike join in a spontaneous pentolazi, a traditional line dance.

The dancing is fun to watch, and there are plenty of shots of the scenic Chania waterfront that might make you wish you could soon visit the city, too.

The video was posted on YouTube by the HeartCrete Facebook page, which features photos of Chania and stunning scenery from places throughout Crete.

May 23, 2014
Plaka beach: 4 km of soft sand & turquoise sea

The view from the southern end of Plaka beach on Naxos. This beautiful long strand of light-brown sand and dunes is the perfect place to avoid crowds, since the beach extends for approximately 4 kilometers and offers plenty of space for peace, solitude and privacy. People were few and far between on the beach yesterday (May 21), so they probably felt as though they had the entire shoreline all to themselves.

May 22, 2014
Tuesday’s sunset views from Naxos beaches

We had clouds and rain on Monday, our first day back on Naxos. But Tuesday the weather was gorgeous — sunny and warm (24 Celsius). The beautiful day ended with an impressive sunset, seen here from Agia Anna beach (top photo) and Agios Prokopios beach (bottom picture) on the west coast of Naxos.

May 21, 2014
Going back for more of a good thing: Naxos

A view of Naxos Town during sunset on October 12 2013

Return trip: When a friend was asked why she travels to Greece every year, she replied: “Because you can never get enough of a really good thing.”

That’s exactly why we’re making a return trip to Naxos tomorrow — the island that we named our Destination of the Year for 2013 is calling us back to experience more of “a really good thing.”

This will be our sixth visit to Naxos so far, and we’re thrilled to be going back. We can’t wait to see some familiar faces and favourite places, and we’re looking forward to exploring parts of the island we haven’t yet seen (there are plenty, and we probably won’t even get to them all).

Want to see why we love Naxos so much? Click here to check out our Naxos photo collection on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page. The collection includes a whopping 37 albums from our October 2013 holiday, 8 from our visit in May 2013, 6 sets showing the hotels we have stayed at, and several more individual albums.

I hope you enjoy viewing the pics as much as we enjoyed taking them!

May 18, 2014
Stairclimbing in Koronos, a scenic village on a steep mountain slope on Naxos island

Koronos is built on the horseshoe-shaped slopes of a mountainside 30 km east of Naxos Town. The village descends hundreds of feet into the valley, and most homes are accessible only on foot.

Stair masters: I have three very specific and vivid memories of our brief visit to the Naxos mountain village of Koronos last October: a taverna tout, a man with a gun, and stairs. Lots and lots of stairs.

I’ll tell you the stories about the restaurant promoter and the guy with the gun some other time. For now I’ll stick to the stairs to keep with a common theme I’ve been posting about this week — walking around mountain villages on Naxos.

In my May 15 post I published a videoclip from our visit to Filoti, while my May 13 report included film of our walkabout in Apeiranthos. We had to climb a lot of stairs in both villages, but the workouts we got there were nothing compared to the stairclimbing challenge that awaited us in Koronos.

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Popular tavernas are located far down the hillside

This village is built in a horseshoe shape on a mountainside, and descends deep into the valley. Koronos has several cafes and restaurants that are popular with tourists — including Taverna Platsa Matina & Stavros (which friends and other travellers have urged us to visit) and Taverna Dalas. The “downside” to both of these places, no pun intended, is their location on lower levels of the village. To reach them, you must walk down dozens of stairs. That’s the easy part. Getting back up to your car or the bus stop after a meal or drink will require a lot more effort as you can probably imagine.

Below are several photos showing just a few of the many sets of stairs we encountered while walking around Koronos. Those are followed by three videos. I shot the first clip while walking along a lane that wasn’t as far down the valley as the two tavernas. I filmed the next video while walking up one “street” that was basically a long, steep staircase. Dan took the third video of me walking up the steps while I was filming my climb.

We’re physically active and do a lot of walking and stair climbing whenever we’re in Greece, but I felt more winded than I expected by the end of that uphill hike. I would not want to walk all those stairs after a big meal and a few glasses of wine!

View of Koronos from the side of the highway where the Naxos bus dropped us off. This sloped road leads only part way into the village, perhaps 30 to 50 meters. Then the fun stair climbing begins!

A tourist strolls down the road leading into Koronos. One series after another of thigh-burning stair climbs awaits him.

This was the first set of steps we walked down. We climbed back up a short time later after we finished exploring the left-hand side of the village.

A streak of sunlight illuminates a set of steps

Yet another flight of steps in Koronos

Several flights of steps were under renovation on the day we visited Koronos. Workers had closed off two lanes while they laid stones in place. Work on this particular staircase wasn’t complete, but it had been reopened to traffic.

Looking down a long, curving set of steps. This was the last staircase we climbed on our way to the Koronos bus stop to catch our ride back to Naxos Town.

These buildings were surrounded by stairs on two sides

I filmed this clip while walking along one of the streets in Koronos

I shot this clip while climbing a long flight of stairs. I counted 102 steps during the minute and 20 seconds it took me to walk up.

Dan filmed me going up the stairs while I was filming my climb. You don’t need to go to a gym to get exercise on Naxos … just visit a mountain village like Koronos and you’re guaranteed a rigorous cardio workout!

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May 16, 2014
Sunbed signs point the way to beaches on Kos

A sign with an illustration of seagulls, sunbeds and palm trees points the way to Golden Beach on Kos island, while the one below indicates the access road to another beach on the north coast of the island. We saw numerous markers like these while bike riding from Kos Town to the Tigaki resort area in May 2010. At bottom is a photo of one of the beaches we passed near Tigaki.

I don’t recall seeing palm trees on or near any of the beaches we cycled past on Kos, but this sign suggests that they do exist

One of the beautiful white sand beaches we passed near Tigaki

May 15, 2014
Footsteps in Filoti

A view of Filoti village, captured from a video I shot while we were riding a bus on Naxos last October. Click the image to see a larger-size photo.

Filoti on foot: There are more than 30 different mountain villages on Naxos, but Filoti makes a bigger and more memorable impression than most when you approach by bus, by car or on foot.

That’s not just because Filoti is the largest village on the island, but because of its dramatic amphitheatrical layout across the lower slopes of Mount Zas, the tallest mountain in the Cyclades.

The village looks quite impressive when it first comes into view as you approach on the road from Chalki. The first time I caught a glimpse of Filoti eight years ago, I was so fascinated by the sight that I had to stop the car so I could get out and take a better look. Seeing it for the second time last October, while walking there from Chalki, was equally as breathtaking.

Mountain road offers spectacular views of the village

But the village is even more spectacular to see from numerous vantage points on the road that climbs the mountainside high above Filoti en route to Apeiranthos and other hamlets to the northeast. If you’re driving a vehicle, there are a few lookout points where you can pull over and get good views of Filoti. But if you’re riding on a bus, you’ll get to see the village much better and for longer periods of time. We saw Filoti on four bus rides to and from Apeiranthos and Koronos last fall, and I was blown away by the views each time.

Although Filoti is a predominantly residential area, the road that runs through it is lined with taverna and cafés, a few shops and fruit markets, banks, a post office and various local businesses and municipal service offices. Top tourist attractions include the Panagia Filotitissa (Our Lady Filotitissa Church) and the Venetian-era Barotsi Tower, as well as a café-lined main square shaded by a giant plane tree.

Panagia Filotitissa, the Our Lady of Filotitissa Church in Filoti

A memorable visit to Panagia Filotitissa

Our favourite moment in Filoti occurred while we were taking photos outside Panagia Filotitissa. As I was snapping a picture of the church’s beautiful belltower, an elderly woman, dressed head-to-toe in black, quietly emerged from one of the church’s front doors and beckoned us to approach. She could speak only a few words of English, and I could understand even less of her Greek, but her gestures made it clear we were being welcomed to the church and urged to take a look inside. The interior is marvellous … if you ever get to Filoti, be sure to have a look inside the Panagia if the church is open.

There are a few photos of the church interior, along with more than 200 pictures of the town, in my Filoti Village album on the MyGreeceTravelBlog Flickr page.

Below is a video I filmed while we were walking through the village. The first minute of the clip shows the narrow lane that leads to Panagia Filotitissa, while the second half of the video shows part of a residential area we explored near the opposite end of the village. Although restaurants and shops are located along the flat (but slightly sloped) main road, the rest of the village is built on hillsides. That means you’ll have to do a lot of stair climbing if you want to wander around Filoti!

The first minute of this clip shows the walk to Panagia Filotitissa. The rest of the video shows some residential “streets” on the opposite side of the village.

May 15, 2014
A full moon over Santorini

There was a full moon above Greece at 22:14 p.m. local time tonight. This photo of moonglow illuminating the sea below Santorini’s famous caldera cliffs was posted on the Wonderful Greece Facebook page.

May 14, 2014