Sifnos

Greece and the economic crisis

‘Has Greece got the Drachma yet?’ they asked me when I returned back from Greece. ‘We’re there lots of queues?’

‘Queues? Yes in Mykonos the queues were mostly outside the clubs. Not outside the banks.’

And it was not a lie. The Greek islands seemed a world away from the mainland and Athens where the reporters and film crews were stationed to film the Greek economic crisis.

I was in Greece during the weekend that Greeks were going to vote on further austerity measures for the bailout packages. 

‘Many people were too scared to come’ said the hostess at our hotel.

‘Too scared to go on holiday rather than come and support the economy?’ I scoffed. She picked up my tone but was classier than me and said nothing.

‘And will you be voting?’ I asked her.

‘I cannot. I am from Larissa and I cannot travel back there to vote. After all I need to work.’ She paused and asked me what I thought. I told her that I would yes if i was eligible to vote. She nodded in agreement and seeing that we had the same perspective opened up to me a little more.

‘I think it was on purpose that the government planned this so. It is too rushed and not done properly.’ I understood that what she meant was that not all people who wanted to vote would have been able to vote and so the results would have been skewed. 

Tinos Island

And our road trip began. The island is dotted with these white-washed Churches that like gems were sparkling in the sun and blue sky

At the Nunnery in Tinos. The sign says 'The Nunnery is a place of calm and prayer'

As it was a Nunnery, the Sister told us that men cannot enter. I took this photo as I stood outside. It looked so tidy, clean and clam. Those flowers were in full bloom and seem well taken care of

This donkey literally just strutted down the road

Most of the villages in Tinos were built on the slopes of a mountain

The village sits below the mountain

Agapi is Love in Greek. There is a village in Tinos called Love. How can anyone not stop to take this picture. Only 2km to Love

A Church with the mountains in the background

A farmer in Tinos with his cattle

Always Remember God

A windmill on the top of the mountain

What a beauty

And another beauty

The fishing village of Ornos Panormou

Chilling. In Ornos Panormou

A Church built onto the side of a mountain

Tinos Town

Tins town had to be one of the tidiest and best kept not only in Greece but in the Mediterranean. I assume that had to do with the fact that Tinos, is a seriously island...

A family of readers. All immersed in a summer book on the ferry on the way to Tinos.

The view of Tinos from the hills above the town.

The view of Tinos.

Left: The tablecloth at a restaurant in Tinos town. Great food and service.

Right: Peristerones - these are home for doves and pigeons. They are found all over Tinos.

Protection from the Evil Eye.

Panama tis Tinou - Our Lady of Tinos. The Church is an important pilgrimage site that is visited by thousands, especially during 15th August.

Mykonos Town, Greece

50 Shades of Aegean Blue, Elia Beach, Mykonos, Greece

These images are taken from Elia Beach. I now understand why the call it Aegean Blue.

The Monastery in Ano Mera, Mykonos, Greece

Mykonos is not all beaches in parties. The island is varied with a lot to do. But one of my favourite places is the Monastery in Ano Mera.
The village of Ano Mera is in the middle of Mykonos and is an idyllic respite of the cosmopolitan town of Chora. I went to Mykonos in 2012 and fell in love with the island and especially the Monastery and so I had to revisit it. I was talking to the priest there and he allowed me to take some photos, of course without flash.

White-washed and fresh. Secluded from the outside this is the entrance to the Monastery.

At the courtyard of the Monastery; the Church.

A welcome moment of calmness and coolness inside the quiet Church.

These icons were on the Madonna and Child, painted by a Saint. The icon I believe is thousands of years old.

Ios, Greece

A popular line in a Greek song says that Mykonos and Santorini are two penguins in love ‘ερωτευμένοι πιγκουίνοι‘. The reason for this is that most tourists go to Mykonos and Santorini for one long holiday. To Mykonos for the cosmopolitan vibe (who knew that such a tiny island could be so chic) and to Santorini for the views. I had done the same thing two years ago (adding in Mylos, Aegina and Athens into my itinerary) however this year I returned to Santorini and decided skip Mykonos and to hop over to Ios which is a one-hour boat ride from Santorini.

I honestly knew very little about Ios other than it was located between Santorini and Naxos. When googled it I got iOS (which has something to do with the iPhone) and on Wikipedia it is even noted on Ios (island) in order to distinguish it from the phone. If a phone device was more famous than an island then Ios really was a secret and one I hoped worth keeping. My main reason for going was to see something different during my five-day holiday in Santorini. And yes there is a thing a stunning-view-fatigue and I wanted to discover something different. Ios was the next best (and closest) island and I was pleasantly surprised with what we discovered.

We were on the bus on the way to Santorini harbour for our boat to Ios at 9.00. We did not get onto the boat until 10.30 because our bus from Oia in Santorini had to go all round the island to pick people up from other hotels. What Fun! But once we were on the water, sipping a frappe and looking out for dolphins I felt that adventure feeling come on again. We docked at the tiny harbour called Ormos. Welcome to Ios, population 2’024 (but qudrule that in the summer). Our medium-sized ship was too big even for the harbour and I overheard some Greeks saying that that prevented more tourists from visiting. Surely that was a good thing, no? Who would want another tiny island spoilt by all the tourists?

Our tour guide told us that Ios was a party island and its main town, Chora (also know as Ios town) was the capital of the island’s nightlife. I dreaded to think what it would look like. Like Magaluf? Even though it was 11.30 I expected trashy two-for-one drinks, drunk teenagers and people dressed in costume. Other than one or two drunk tourists asleep on the pavement by the bus stop (I kid you not) it was a quaint, quiet town of small shops, market squares and small Churches almost on every street. The trashy tourists were like and old man’s false teeth. They come out at night.

Apart from Chora, Ios has sporadic settlements. Most people live around the main town and the main beach with golden sand called Milopotas which was famous with hippies in the 1970s and now is popular with young tourists. Today the Milopotas Beach area is developed for packaged tourism but the Greek authorities have done a good job of allowing the building to blend in with the beach and its environmental surroundings. I sat on the beach and drank Ouzo. 

Interesting facts about Ios:

Homer's mother was from Ios and Homer's tomb is in Plakotos in the north coast of Ios.

There are 365 Churches in Ios. One for each day of the year, so no excuses for not going to Church every day. 

Greek Tourism Board website on Ios: http://www.visitgreece.gr/en/greek_islands/ios