Overlooking Vathi’s main street from the rooftop at Samos City Hotel
Kalikatsou Rock stands sentry at the tip of a narrow spit of land separating Grikos Bay (foreground) from Petra Bay on Patmos. The Grikos side of the spit features a curved sandy beach, but the Petra beachfront is covered with stones and rocks. Below is a brief videoclip showing views from Kalikatsou Rock.
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A cat relaxes in the shade on a narrow stone-paved street in Chora
Chora show: One of the big advantages of travelling to the Greek Islands in spring or September is that you beat the summer tourist crowds and don’t have to bump shoulders with throngs of other people while you explore the twisting and narrow cobblestone streets of island villages. In fact, our experience has been that most villages are almost dead during the daytime, coming alive in the evening once the sun is lower in the sky and the temperature is more comfortable.
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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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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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