Tag: Amorgos (Page 2 of 4)

Promotional videos mark a travel milestone — a full century of organized tourism in Greece

April 12, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

The English-narrated video Greek Tourism. An eternal journey features stunning views of some of the most beautiful and famous sights and attractions in Greece

Significant Century: With its long and storied history, Greece has been associated with tourism for what seems like an eternity. Not surprisingly, tourism is the country’s oldest industry.

“The Greek passion for travelling, for both knowledge and adventure, began long ago with Odysseus, the paradigm of the eternal traveller; with Herodotus, the first tourist and most famous story teller; and with Pausaniuas, who wrote the first travel guide 2,000 years ago,” narrator Donald Morgan Nielson notes in the promotional video Greek Tourism: An eternal journey.

The five and a half minute film features utterly splendid video photography of spectacular scenery from the Greek mainland and some of the Greek islands, and is accompanied by soaring, uplifting music by Dimitris Papadimitriou. With a script directed by Andonis Theocharis Kioukas, the video was produced by QKas Productions for the Greece National Tourism Organisation (GNTO), and has been posted on the GNTO’s Visit Greece YouTube page.

From 10,000 tourists in 1914 to over 17 million in 2014

The video celebrates the 100th anniversary of officially-organized tourism in Greece. Back in 1914, respected Greek statesman Eleftherios Venizelos founded the first national service to oversee Greek tourism. That same year, 10,000 tourists visited the country, and the numbers just kept on growing from theret. They reached record proportions last year, when more than 17 million people visited the country — an all-time high. And even though it’s still early in 2014 and the main summer tourist season hasn’t even begun, Greece appears on track for another banner year.

There was an 8.4% increases in the number of international arrivals at Greek airports in January, February and March compared to the same quarter last year, while travel officials report that summer bookings from major markets like Germany and the USA have risen substantially. And with more than 150 new airline routes operating to Athens this season, along with numerous new international direct flights to Mykonos, Santorini, Crete and other islands, Greece appears likely to top its target of 18 million visitors by the end of the year.

Frankly, I’m surprised the number of visitors isn’t considerably higher. But once more people get to view Greek Tourism: An eternal journey, I’m sure they’ll consider planning trips to see the amazing sights and attractions for themselves.

Below is a slightly shorter version of the video which will let you enjoy Dimitris Papadimitriou’s inspiring music without the narration. Turn up the volume, sit back, and enjoy the 4-minute journey to “Greece … a small piece of heaven on earth.”

A little white church in the valley below Lagada

February 8, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

Dark grey stormclouds swirl above Lagada village as a spring storm moves across Amorgos. Although the weather looked bleak the morning we arrived on the island, the clouds cleared away during the afternoon and left us with sunny skies for the rest of our visit. Click the image to view a full-size photo.

Island driving distractions: Sheep gridlock at Grikos and 4-legged highway hazards on Amorgos

August 4, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

A flock of sheep approaches the main highway from a side road leading to the Grikos Bay resort area on Patmos island

Mass transit: One of the things we appreciate most about our Greek Island vacations is our temporary escape from the commuter chaos that clogs the city streets during the morning and afternoon rush hours back home.

That doesn’t mean we escape traffic problems altogether when we’re in Greece. It’s just that the ones we encounter are generally a lot more interesting and usually quite entertaining to see.

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Pic of the day: Tholaria’s Agioi Anargiroi church

August 1, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

The tall belltower and big blue dome of Agioi Anargiroi church is a landmark attraction at Tholaria village on Amorgos

Mule tidings: donkey tales from the islands

April 12, 2013 / admin / 2 Comments

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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Step up to superb food & sublime sunsets at Kamara Café on Amorgos island

March 29, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

The open-air terrace at Kamara Café in Upper Potamos is a great spot to view the amazing scenery while enjoying some of the café’s delicious Greek cuisine

The café also has lounge areas on its terrace, for those who just want to sit back and relax with a glass of wine while watching a spectacular sunset

This was one of the sunsets we watched from the Kamara Café. Here, the sun looks like an enormous white orb as it slowly descends behind Naxos island.

You’re guaranteed to work up a hearty appetite and thirst on your way to the restaurant — It’s a half-hour walk from Egali, up hundreds of steps like these.

Steps, stews and sunsets: When I was planning our trip to Amorgos in 2009, I asked an acquaintance in Athens for restaurant recommendations. We absolutely had to go to Kamara Café in Ano Potamos village, she said, and order the patatato — a goat and potato stew that is one of the island’s signature local dishes. Her other tip: allow plenty of time to walk up the mountain to the taverna, so we wouldn’t miss seeing the sunset if we got lost or delayed en route. “You won’t believe the view! The sunset — fabulous! And make sure you try the goat!” she gushed.

I put Kamara Café on my “must try” list, thinking that would nicely take care of dinner plans for one of the four nights we would spend on Amorgos. That list was in my luggage, in our room at the Yperia Hotel in Egali, while we were out exploring during our first day on the island. We spent the entire afternoon in and around Egali, wandering around the town, the beach, and some of the hiking trails in the area, as well as scoping out places where we might like to have dinner that night. Several spots near the beach and in the center of the town caught our eye, but since I didn’t have my restaurant list with me, I couldn’t remember if any were among the specific places that friends had highly recommended. Nevertheless, since we would probably be “walked out” by the end of the day, we were happy to see we would be spoiled for choice within a short stroll of our hotel.

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Amorgos is a hiker’s paradise

February 25, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

You will feel like you’re on top of the world while hiking on Amorgos. This particular trail leads from Egali to Chora along what’s called “the spine of Amorgos”

Start points for many of the hiking routes on Amorgos are well-marked by signs. This one even shows the approximate walking times to the destinations indicated.

Wonderful walks: If you like to see vacation destinations on foot rather than through the windows of a rental car or tour bus, you can’t beat the Greek Islands. Most islands, especially those in the Cyclades, are ideal for walking and hiking. Some, like Sifnos and Amorgos, boast extensive networks of footpaths and donkey trails that take visitors to scenic parts of the island that can’t be reached by vehicles.

Amorgos is one of our favourite destinations for hiking.

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The valley above Aegiali

October 6, 2012 / admin / 0 Comments

Looking toward the whitewashed houses of Langada village from the opposite side of the vast valley above Aegiali Bay on Amorgos. Click on the photo to view a larger-size image.

Ahhh-morgos! A friend planning a short trip to Amorgos contacted me last week, asking for some travel advice and links to my photos so she could take a sneak peak at the scenery she and her travel companion would soon be enjoying first-hand.

While I was scouring my computer for information and photos from our visit to Amorgos in 2009, I discovered a series of panoramic pictures I haven’t posted either here on the blog, or in any of my online albums, because the images are simply too large. When re-sized to fit in the narrow column on the blog, the photos would be almost too small to view. Some would be so tiny, I thought it would be a waste of time to publish them. But then another friend familiar with the technical workings of WordPress blogs showed me a handy-dandy trick for displaying larger images.

Photos from our half-day hike around Aegiali valley

I decided to give it a try, so below is a series of photos that we shot during a half-day hike around the valley above Aegiali Bay. (Amorgos is a hiker’s paradise, and the valley walk is just one of many incredibly scenic routes on the island.)

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