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| greece |
| rhodos, paros, mykonos, santorini, corfu |
| I came to Rhodos on a ferry from the Turkish port of Fethiye. Rhodos was once part of the Ottoman Turk empire. According to mythology, the sun god Helios chose Rhodes as his bride and bestowed light, vegetation and warmth upon her. Apparently it worked, the island of Rhodos receives more sunlight than any other Greek island. It's also the closest Greece comes to Asia, filled with ancient temples, mosques and fortifications. The main city, Rhodes, was were one of the Great Wonders of the Ancient World once stood, the Colossus of Rhodes. Little remains of this giant statue today, in fact nothing remains of the statue itself. The evidence of its existence lies in ancient stories and the two stone platforms, where the feet once stood, on either side of the port. It is believed that the Colossus collapsed in an earthquake and was then sold for scrap metal to Turkish merchants. |
| Dodecanese - Rhodos |
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| Me and Tony above the hills and valley of Rhodos and (right) Tony, Anita and Anna in the medival Rhodes City. |
| Two elderly Greek ladies sitting in the town square and (right) lunch on our rented-car-road-trip around the island. |
| Anita, Tony and Anna with the car that we rented for our trip around the island. |
| Me in the white-washed city of Lindos. |
| Lindos Castle on the hill and the town of Lindos. |
| A view south from the abandoned Pheralkos Castle. |
| The town below Pheralkos Castle. |
| I had planned on spending another day on Rhodos checking out what LP calls "the world's finest surviving example of medieval fortification" but the only ferry off the island left either that night, or five days from then. And I was off. I said goodbye to Anita, Tony and Anna, whom I had travelled with since Gallipoli, in Turkey, and joined a new crew, the Liverpudlian, Matt, his girlfriend Karen and their friend Helen. It was a 12 hour ferry ride, overnight, from Rhodos to the island of Paros. Paros was a scarcely touristed, beachy island, with crystal clear water and a small white-washed and domed town. The Venus de Milo in Paris' Louvre Museum was carved from Paros' famous pure white marble. |
| Cyclades - Paros |
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| (Above) A view of a white-washed house at sunset, (right) boats in the harbour and (right, below) a chapel in the town square. |
| (Above) Me outside "Canadian Pizza"and (right) Helen, Karen and Matthew out for souvlaki and free ouzo on our first crazy night on Paros. |
| Paros' waterfront shops and hotels. |
| Cyclades - Mykonos |
| What can I say about Mykonos. It's a world-renowned party destination, especially for gay men, but has a wide share of straight clubs as well, some beautiful beaches, all night parties and some of the most expensive everything I've encountered yet. There was a gorgeous old town filled with twisting alley-ways, surrounded by white washed walls and blue domes, a nice harbour and a waterfront lined with restaurant terraces. It took a big bite out of my budget (let' say $1000 for four days), but I met some great people and had a great time. Matt, Karen, Helen and I rented a house about 15 minutes drive from the center of town, perched high on a hill overlooking the city and water below. |
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| The view from our rented house...how can you beat that? |
| Mykonos from the water. |
| Bright flowers in an alley. |
| Helen, Matty and Karen waiting for some $11 beers. |
| A man hanging out with a couple of the pelicans that walk around the city. They'll even let you pet them, if you're nice. |
| Yes, Mykonos. |
| Mykonos Harbour. |
| Peralkos, the islands mascot. A friendly pelican. |
| Colourful 'worry-beads' for sale. Almost every Greek male over 15 carries these around and plays with them non-stop. |
| A red door. |
| The old windmills just outside the town. |
| THE Cavo Paradiso nightclub, world-famous, beach party destination. A 20 euro cover ($30 CAN) gets you in to a party that doesn' start until 2am and goes well into lunch the next day, sometimes on for a week. Don' even ask me to explain further, it was ridiculous. |
| Two more views of Mykonos' very, very greek white washed buildings and alleyways. |
| Cyclades - Santorini |
| In my opinion, this island is one of the most beautiful places on earth. In 1450 BC, the volcanic heart of the island erupted and sank leaving an incredible landscape. One large crescent island caldera, with a smaller crescent opposite and centred by a small grouping of islets spotted with jungle and hot springs and accessible only by boat. Dramatic, sheer and jagged cliffs rise out of the ocean, clouded in mist and topped off by picturesque small Greek towns. Mattz, Karen, Helen and I took the boat here from Mykonos one hung-over morning. We met a man on the dock with rooms for rent, cheap, and climbed aboard his van for the steep winding ride towards the top of the largest of the islands, Thira. |
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| Karen and I, mailmanning our arrival on Santorini. |
| A view of Thira island from the docks at the base. |
| A view north towards Oia town at sun set. |
| The same view by day. |
| Looking south and Fira town where we stayed. You can hire donkeys to carry you up the steep stairs from the docks below. |
| Fira town and one of the many cruise ships that stop by the island packed with unfortunate tour groups. |
| Looking south from Oia, a flawless village on the northern tip of the island. It was unbelievably picturesque. The whitewashed Greek houses perched precariously on the cliffs and spotted with ancient churches, a few buildings walls or rooves painted bright colours. |
| Looking north from Oia. Most of the houses have now been turned into expensive bed and breakfasts or hotels. Few people still actually live here. |
| No fast food in Oia. |
| Two of my favourite shots from Santorini. (Above) A striking church dome in Oia, a photo much like this one graces Lonely Planet's 2005 Greece Edition, and (right) an old rowboat atop a village house in Fira town. |
| We all rented a car one day and sped around the island searching for beaches. (Above) The red sand of aptly named Red Beach on the southern tip of Thira island. |
| Monolithos beach with it's black volcanic sand that sizzles in the hot Grecian sun. |
| An old doorway in Oia town. |
| If the beaches won't get you here, try some of Santorini's ridiculous bars. Here, the bartender is setting up some of our Absinthe shots at Murphy's Irish Bar in Fira town. That same night, by complete coincidence, I happened to run into a former co-worker from earls, Kellie Corbett. It's a small, small world. |
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| And lastly, Matty and I, way back on Rhodos Island. I had just met him, maybe 15 minutes before. We were downing a glass boot (literally, see photo) full of beer and about to hop on a 12 hour ferry ride from Rhodos to Paros. Good times! |
| Ionian - Corfu |
| Corfu is supposed to be beautiful, full of beaches and history. My only recollection seems to be pink though. Yes, yes, the island's architecture was heavily influence by Venice and most of the buildings in the old town are pink...but I'm talking about the 'Pink Palace'. I arrived around 4pm, bought a 4 euro phone card, called the Palace and asked for a free pickup from the ferry terminal. They offer, as the Palace is a good twenty minutes drive on the other side of the island. The girl on the phone said it'll be an hour. With the pick-up on the way, I used up the rest of my phone card. I waited and waited. At around 5:30, there was no sign of the bus, so I reluctantly bought another 4 euro phone card and called back. Apparently, the lady who was supposed to pick me up had gone home and I had missed the last local transit bus. My only option was to take a taxi who charged me another 25 euros. All in all, 33 euros (around 50 bucks) to get there, they reimbursed me around 10 euros. Anyways...the Pink Palace is all about debauchery. Check out their website for more information. I didn't take many photos of my time there because I spent too much time partying and sleeping. My roommate was this top bloke, from Vancouver as well, Mike...I met up with him again in Paris afterwards. Cheers! |
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| The Pink Palace beach. |
| The Pink Palace beach again and the mis rising over the mountains of Corfu. |
| Can you guess? Yep, it's the Pink Palace, just a small bit though, it actually has over 900 beds! |
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