Greece Day 5

This is our last full day in Alonissos, and I have to admit I wished we had a little more time here.  Although the villages were not as beautiful as some on other islands we have visited, the waters, the beaches, and the people by far exceeded my expectations.  The one thing about this place was the fact that English was widely spoken here, basically because this place is very popular with Italians, and Germans.  Not having a language barrier makes any trip a little more relaxing.

 

In all my years of coming to this country we have never rented a boat, so there is no time like the present.  No matter where you are in Greece, on an island, or even the mainland, there are so many little coves, beaches, and uninhabited islands only accessible by boat.  So when my husband booked the boat the night before, I couldn't think of a better way to spend our last day.  Our morning routine was still the same, after waking up we headed to the bakery, but we also stopped by the local market to stock up on water, and snacks.

 

 

 

Our first stop was the island right across from Alonissos, which we thought was uninhabited, but were wrong.  The island did have a few permanent residents, they just happened to be goats.  As we drove up and down the coast, they were everywhere, and seeing them just walking up and down the beaches was priceless. 

 

 

 

We found our first stop, dropped anchor, and jumped right in.  The waters were crystal clear, and refreshing (especially with the sun beating down on us).  It felt as if we had not just the beach but the entire island to ourselves.  But as the saying goes" all good things must come to an end, "and before we knew it here comes another boat, and our signal it was time to move on.

 

 

 

We drove around the coast for about 30 minutes before coming upon an old boat wreck.  I knew my husband was dying to get in and do some exploring, but we didn't bring our snorkel equipment, so we just explored a little from the boat, then moved on to our next stop.

 

 

 

We headed back to Alonissos and to the "Blue Caves."  Because the island has a rocky coast it has many caves, but the "Blue Caves" is by far the most popular.  If you don't want to rent your own boat, but still wish to experience the cave, not problem, there are plenty of excursion companies offering tourists trips to the cave.  When you pull up it looks like any other cave, but as we drove the boat into the actual cave, I understood what the attraction is.  The color of the water once inside the cave is a shade of blue so beautiful and indescribable.  Also you really don't know how deep and large the actual cave is until inside.  If you wanted you could easily anchor your boat and swim around.  This was definitely one of the highlights of the day. 

 

 

 

After leaving the cave we found an awesome little beach not far from it, where we spent the next hour or so before heading to our final beach.

 

 

 

As we were following the coast, taking in the beauty and scenery, and putting our camera through an intense workout, we ended up at a beach that we came to on the scooter the day before.  We were hot, and famished, so we anchored the boat, cooled off in the water, and ate at the little beach bar again.

 

 

 

 

The time finally came to head back to the port as we had to have the boat back by sunset.  Exhilarated yet exhausted we headed straight to our room, showered, and packed our bags.  We took our last walk through the port, bought our ferry tickets for the next morning, and called it a night.  This was not only one of the best days of this trip, but one of the best in all the times I've been here. 

 

 

Back to Athens tomorrow for a night before heading to Paros.

 

 

 

 

 

GREECE Days 3 & 4

Our 3rd and 4th days were spent pretty much the same.  We rented a scooter for the next two days to try and visit as many beaches as we could.  We have a routine which is always the same no matter where we are in Greece.  We wake up, pack a backpack, buy a couple of bottles of water, and hit the local bakery.  There is nothing like starting the day with fresh baked pastries.  I order my usual tiropita (cheese pie), and my husband usually goes for the spanakopita (spinach pie), although he has been know to mix it up a bit and order a chocolate croissant.

 

After our tummies are full of Greek deliciousness, we check out the local map we have and try to come up with a game plan.  Today we chose to attempt beaches on one side of the island, saving the other coast for tomorrow.

 

 

At the first beach we went to we actually had to walk through someones property to reach it.  No problem, this is Greece after all.  It was a nice little cove, and like so many times in Greece, had the beach to ourselves.  We stayed for about an hour before I was ready to leave.  This beach was a rock beach instead of sand, and after six years of visiting this country, I still cannot figure out a way to get in and out of the water without hurting my feet.  So we packed up and headed out to find a nice sandy beach.

 

The next beach we found was actually a small triangle peninsula, where strangely one side was rocks, and the other side was sand.  Here we spent several hours, and even had a small snack and a couple of Mythos at the little beach bar.  I could have stayed here all day, but there were so many beaches to see, and only a certain amount of time to see them, so back on the scooter and on to the next beach.

 

 

 

This island has something for everyone.  There were small private coves to large popular beaches lined with chairs and umbrellas, and even one beach that had a big jumpy thing in the water with a lot of water sports.  We tend to lean towards the quiet beaches, so if we would drive up and didn't care for it, we would move on to the next one.

 

 

 

That night we decided to head back to "Chora" for dinner.  My husband treated me to a fabulous, and I might add romantic, dinner at a small restaurant that was basically a few tables in an old house that was in ruins.  After dinner we walked through the village and came across a local artist that had the most interesting jewelry.  I instantly fell in love with a Greek key necklace and bracelet, and to my surprise my husband bought it for me.  We walked around a little more just exploring, before hopping back on the scooter and to our hotel.

 

 

 

The next morning started the same.  First stop bakery to get our pies, then off to explore and discover more beaches.  The first beach we arrived at was a beautiful cove, where it was just us and one other couple.  About an hour after arriving we heard the jingle jangle of bells.  In Greece it could only mean one of two things.  Goats or Sheep?  As I looked up, there they were, a small herd of sheep hanging out on the cliffs beside the beach.  I instantly grabbed my camera and walked towards them.  The closer I got I noticed this little fuzzball amongst the larger sheep.  A Baby!  Cute does not describe him.  they stayed about 30 minutes licking the salt from the rocks, then the leader of the herd left, and the rest followed.  As I was marveling at actually sharing the beach with these creatures I knew all my husband was thinking about was how good they would taste roasting on the spit.

 

 

 

We left and headed to several other gorgeous coves before finding a place for lunch.  The sun was relentless today, and food and a cold beverage was definitely in order.  We ended up at a great little taverna on the beach, had another amazing meal, swam a little more, and headed back to town right as the sun was starting to set.

 

 

 

Seeing most of the beaches we could get to by scooter, and having 1 more full day here, my husband decided to rent a boat for our last, and what would be our best day!