bougainvillea | MY GREECE TRAVEL BLOG

Tag: bougainvillea

Some photo highlights from our return visit to Nafplio

Nafplio waterfront

Nafplio waterfront view to the Bourtzi sea fortress

Back again: Exactly two years ago, we travelled to Nafplio for the first time and spent a full week exploring areas in and around the town. We liked it so much we decided it was high time to come back for a return visit. And here we are, enjoying Nafplio just as much as we did the first time. It truly is one of our favourite places in all of Greece.

Below are some sights and scenes from our first couple of days in the historic Old Town district of the picturesque seaside town. I will publish more images in separate posts.

Nafplio street

A canopy of bougainvillea in a lane in the Old Town district of Nafplio

Nafplio waterfront

Cafes and palm trees along the Nafplio waterfront promenade

Nafplio street scene

A rustic building on a street corner in the Nafplio Old Town

cruise ship at Nafplio

The MSC Poesia cruise ship, viewed from the Arvanitia coastal promenade. Daytrippers from the cruise gave the Old Town a lively buzz, but didn’t overcrowd the streets or make the town feel uncomfortably busy in any way.

Banieres swimming area of Nafplio

The Banieres swimming area on the Nafplio waterfront is a popular place for locals to sunbathe or take a dip in the sea

a street in Nafplio

One of the colourful pedestrian streets in the commercial area of the Old Town

Palamidi Castle and the Land Gate

The Palamidi Castle (top) and the historic Land Gate, the original main entrance to the Nafplio Old Town

Palamidi Castle view of Nafplio

An evening view of the Old Town, from a point roughly two-thirds of the way up the nearly 1,000 steps to the Palamidi Castle

Palamidi Castle steps

A steep flight of steps leading to the mountaintop Palamidi Castle. I counted 80 stairs on this particular stretch of the climb to the top.

Acropnauplia fortress stairs

It’s much easier to reach the Acronauplia fortress, one of the three castles at Nafplio, since considerably less stair climbing is involved. This is the stepped path leading from the upper Old Town to one of the Acronauplia entrance portals.

Nafplio coast

Coast and sea views from the Acronauplia fortress

Coast views from Acronauplia

Acronauplia fortress views of the sea, coast and Arvanitia beach

Arvanitia beach at Nafplio

Part of Arvanitia, a stone and pebble beach that’s popular with locals and tourists alike since it’s only a short walking distance from the Old Town

Rooftops in Nafplio

From a vantage point in the Acronauplia fortress, a view of Syndagma Square (upper right) and the first Greek Parliament building — the building with the domed roof at center left. Nafplio was the capital of Greece from 1823 until 1834, when the Parliament was relocated to Athens.

Syndagma Square in Nafplio

A quiet morning moment at Syndagma Square, which is lined with cafes, shops, restaurants and the archaeological museum (top)

a street in Nafplio

A street in the pedestrianized commercial area of the Old Town

steps in Nafplio

A long flight of steps on a hillside lane in the Old Town

Kapodistriou Street in Nafplio

Part of Kapodistriou Street, where our accommodations were located

a lane in Nafplio

A lane near the top of the Old Town’s hillside area

Catholic church in Nafplio

A peek at the exterior of the Catholic church in the Old Town

Philellinon Square at Nafplio

Philellinon Square and the memorial to the French soldiers who fought for Greece in the country’s war of independence

a street in Nafplio

A restaurant patio along one of the main pedestrian streets in the commercial heart of the Old Town

steps in nafplio

Steps in a narrow hillside lane in the Old Town

Bourtzi sea fortress at Nafplio

Nafplio waterfront view to the Bourtzi sea fortress

Bourtzi sea fortress

People can take a small excursion boat to visit the castle. The trips are offered daily and cost €4.50 per person; they include a 20 minute stop for a walkabout on the castle islet (the interior of the fortress is closed for maintenance construction) and a short ride along the waterfront so passengers can enjoy sea views of the Old Town.

Arvanitia promenade

The Arvanitia coastal promenade and the Banieres swimming area of Nafplio

Arvanitia promenade at Nafplio

A tree-shaded section of the Arvanitia coastal promenade that leads from the Nafplio Old Town to Arvanitia beach

Arvanitia promenade

View from the promenade toward Arvanitia beach and the Palamidi Castle, partially visible on the mountain peak at upper right

waterfront in Nafplio

The waterfront promenade is lined with palm trees on one side, and boats on the other

a building in Nafplio

A rustic corner building on a hilltop in the Old Town

Spring colours at Epi Studios on Paros

March 31, 2014 / admin / 0 Comments

A bougainvillea-covered trellis shades a window at the Epi Studios Matsas Windmill hotel in Naoussa village on Paros

Colourful corner: It finally feels like spring in Toronto today, but we’ve got still got a few weeks to go before spring flowers begin to bloom. Gardens, yards and parks are foul-smelling, muddy swaths of brown and grey as remaining patches of dirt-covered snow and ice gradually melt away.

To get a glimpse of greenery and spring flowers in the meantime, I’ve been looking through photos from my May 2012 visit to Paros, where vibrant gardens and landscaping around whitewashed houses provided picture-postcard scenes throughout Naoussa village.

One corner in Naoussa was particularly colourful thanks to the bougainvillea, flowers, bushes and trees growing on the grounds of Epi Studios Matsas Windmill, a hotel complex of 18 kitchen-equipped studios a short walk from Ag Anargyroi beach.

Not much information available online

Out of curiosity, I searched online for information about the hotel, to see what the rooms look like and find out what it costs to stay there.

Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a website for the property — only dozens of listings for it on booking sites like Expedia, otel.com, dhr and others. Although the listings include some photos showing the traditionally-decorated rooms, I couldn’t find prices — all the dates I entered into the various different search fields showed no availability. And there aren’t many online reviews providing descriptions of what it’s like to stay there. For instance, the Epi Studios listing on TripAdvisor.com only has four reviews, the most recent of which was posted in 2010.

Nonetheless, Epi Studios is still a picturesque place to see if you happen to stay elsewhere in Naoussa and take a walk around the town, as the photos below indicate.

Street view of Epi Studios Matsas Windmill

Another street view of the Epi Studios and Matsas Windmill

Bougainvillea clings to the wall beside the Epi Studios sign

Flowering shrubs add more bursts of colour in the gardens at Epi Studios

A view of the Matsas Windmill, which stands proudly near the corner of an intersection in Naoussa village

Pic of the day: Seeing red on Samos

July 24, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

A canopy of bold red bougainvillea above the entrance ensures that it’s easy to find Hotel Helen on Grammoy Street in Vathi on Samos island

Springtime in Paros

March 13, 2013 / admin / 2 Comments

Looking toward the town of Naoussa from a hillside near Kolimbithres beach on Paros. Agia Kali island, with its blue-domed church of the same name, takes center stage, while mountains on Naxos island provide a backdrop to the scene.

Spring scenes: Now that we’ve been on Daylight Savings Time for a few days, I’m anxious for spring flowers to start blooming. It has been a long winter of cold and snow, so I’m eager to see leaves, green grass and flower-filled gardens bring life and colour back to my neighbourhood.

Since I will probably have to wait a few more weeks before that starts happening, I have been making do in the meantime by looking at our photos of flowers and other spring scenes from our two separate visits to Paros. Here’s a selection for you to enjoy, too. There’s a link at the end of the series to my Springtime in Paros album on Flickr, where you can view full-size versions of all these photos and many more.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

Springtime in Paros Part 2

March 13, 2013 / admin / 1 Comment

Flowerpots add colour and cheer to staircases outside houses in Naoussa

PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 2 FOR MORE PHOTOS

2012 Greek holiday trip report: Mykonos Part 1

July 23, 2012 / admin / 2 Comments

Air Transat logo on a winglet of the Airbus jet that flew me from Toronto to Athens

My Mykonos, Paros and Attica/Glyfada trip report

What follows is an edited and significantly expanded version of a trip report I posted on TripAdvisor.com shortly after returning from my holiday in Greece this past spring. I have added more extensive details to the text, and have included dozens of photographs to illustrate the report.

Sunday May 13: Flight from Toronto to Athens

I flew Air Transat, the Canadian charter airline I have flown on all of my trips to Greece. The flight was about two-thirds full when it left Toronto just past lunchtime on Sunday May 13. It stopped in Montreal for 90 minutes to collect more passengers and load the food and beverage carts for our 9-hour overnight flight to Athens. During the stopover, a flight attendant told a passenger sitting behind me that, with the additional passengers from Montreal, the flight was nearly full. (On all of my previous flights to Greece, except one, we flew direct to Athens; this year, Air Transat’s May flights stopped in Montreal because fewer people were travelling to Greece at the time and there wasn’t enough passenger demand to justify direct flights from both cities.)

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2