The Three Island Tour

Hi there folks, it's been a while.  Been traveling some more, will be posting pictures here soon and will also do a blog on my main page about the little Euro-trip we did in November.
Here are some photos and a few lines about this great little day trip we did from Athens at the end of our Santorini trip.  This seems to be the more popular tour as it's offered at most hotels in Athens, and rightfully so.  The three islands we visited-although for a short time- were lovely and picturesque, the boat ride was nice and comfortable and the dinner served was fantastic with a fun traditional dance show at the end of the trip.  So I highly recommend it, a very "touristy" thing to do but still fun.
So the boat leaves from the Piraeus port, buses pick you up at your hotel in the morning. First stop is Hydra, loved this island. It's small, no cars, just donkeys and boats to get around.  A beautiful marina, with busy tavernas and cafes all along the sea shore. Small streets lined with beautiful white buildings, trimmed with yellow, blue or red doors and windows, one wouldn't mind getting lost around here :)  After that it was Poros, another beautiful island, the port overlooks the large peninsula known as the Peloponnese which is separated from the mainland by the Corinth Canal and which by the way is beautiful part of Greece worth exploring too. It was a very short stop here but enough for us to walk around a bit, even found a little church on a hillside where a wedding was in progress just outside the compound overlooking the beautiful blue sea.  And the last stop was Aegina, this one is a bit bigger and worth exploring a bit more, there you have the option of taking a bus tour to the Temple of Afea Athena or taking a swim at a near by beach.  Although a day trip isn't quite enough to enjoy what all these islands have to offer, but if you're visiting Greece and are staying in Athens to see all the historical spots there, this is a great little detour of a few Greek Island worth doing... just a taste. :)
Enjoy the photos  

Hydra

Hydra

Hydra

Hydra

on the boat

Poros

Poros

Poros

Poros

Aegina

Aegina

traditional dance show on the boat

Santorini

Here are just a few images of Santorini.  It is definitely the most unique island out of the Greek islands I have visited. Of course it is probably the most photographed and famous one of them.  The island itself, as you drive through it is fairly bland, with a few small towns throughout, some vineyards, a few scattered homes along the highway and of course the occasional small old church.

On the one side of the island is where the beaches are, The White beach, the Red beach and the Black beach, where we stayed.  All great beaches to get your toes wet in those hot summer months. As you head to the opposite side of the island, you begin to notice the land rising further and further from the water, with high cliffs overlooking one of the most beautiful coastlines.  The two major ancient towns on this side of the islands are Fira and Oia. Both with amazing panoramic views of the beautiful blue sea down below, and the horizon which offers some of the best sunset scenes.  The typical white homes, with blue accents as well as the churches throughout the cities with their famous blue domes add so much to the experience and make it the unique one that it is.  
Both towns can be reached by bus, or a rental car would be much better, as some of the beaches are not accessible by bus. There are also several daily boat tours.  The one we took was the Volcano island hike, with a stop at the nearby Thirassia island and the tour ends at the town of Oia just in time to catch the magical sunset, I highly recommend this one.
On a side note, I would also recommend visiting one of the many wineries on the island, which I didn't get a chance to do.  But the process with which the grapes are grown is quite interesting and different which produces some very fine wines.  As the island gets very windy at night, the grape vines are wrapped into a basket on the ground for safety and warmth so it looked really interesting to me.  I did purchase a couple of bottle from which one is now my favorite sweet wine, called Vinsanto.  The sweetness is solely from the sun dried grapes, no sugar has been added and it is truly fantastic.  This coming from a person who doesn't really like sweet wines.  :)
Enjoy the pictures and I hope everyone gets a chance to visit this magical place...

Kavala and Thassos Island

the famous Greek salad, my boys just can't get enough of this..

a nearby beach and taverna in Kavala.. the summer is winding down.

from the top of old town Kavala, at the lookout, there are actually steps down to this area for swimming..

 

Kavala down below

streets of Kavala

soaking in all the sun...

the old fortress atop the city of Kavala

view from the Fortress walls

beautiful Kavala

from the Fortress

at the marina in Kavala

Thassos town

before the dinner rush on Thassos

Thassos marina

following the ferry

leaving Kavala

a relaxing beach on Thassos...

Hope you have enjoyed the mix of few images from our travels so far in Greece, stay tuned for more...

All images are mine, so please don't steal ;)

peace.

first week in Greece...

First things first.. some of my favorites, boghacha and

 dark chocolate croissant from the corner bakery

The boys love the gyros at this spot at the center of town... I love em too ;)

We went down to Perea, had a meal to honor Gag's birthday

 and put the last of his ashes in the water.

The glorious Greek salad (Xoriatiki)

 Greek coffee always hit the spot!

Market day... picking olives :)

More fresh market fare.. beautiful tomatoes and fantastic sausages..

Arman was inspired to make us dinner... twas yummy ;)

feta with a drizzle of olive oil and dried Greek oregano..
they way yiayia used to make

 Aristotelous Square



for more of my words see my other blog.. this is just for pictures :) 

peace and light

Black and White

I recently had myself a black and white week on Instagram, which was loads of fun and a learning experience.
When shooting for black and white you tend to look more for shapes, textures, light, patterns etc.. you can't just rely on popping color to catch the eye of your audience.  And since all these were shot with my iPhone, I also learned a few new editing skills on a couple of apps I use on there, Camera+ and Snapseed are the two apps used for all of these images.
Here they are, enjoy! :)

You can find me on Instagram under herthirdeye