September 24, 2006 by zankbennett.

Simply put, I believe this to be the most beautiful place I’ve been anywhere in the world outside of Rotuma Island, Fiji.

No one described this island to me and I’m thankful for that. No words can do it justice. The cliffs are so much taller than I’d expected. The whole place is magical.

Kristen and I rented a quad and explored the island with the wind in our hair and big smiles. I’m pretty sure, judging from the horns and flury of passers, that we rented the slowest quad on the island.

We watched the sunset on the north-west most point of the island on our second night. Just us and about 2000 other tourists! It’s a famous spot for watching the sunset. It’s just not as spectacular without the san Diego smog to really amplify the oranges and pinks!

Our second day, we took the donkey (read, DUNG) trail down the 500+ steps down to the ferry to the volcano that sits off the west coast of Santorini.

Atop the rim of the crater.

About to BELLY FLOP really badly!

With a mud-hawk from the mud in the volcanic hot prings.

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September 24, 2006 by zankbennett.

3 nights in an amazing hotel. Went out each night to the very small town center on the west side of the island. We missed the high-season by a matter of a few days and so the alleyways were passable. Kristen and I made our way between several of the bars each night, and each night, we wound up at our favorite of the Greek food stands. Chocolate crepes were the call at 5 am!

The days were spent doing various activities. The first day, I rant for a run and explored the western tip of the island. The next day, Kristen took a spa afternoon. I walked a couple miles away and played guitar for nearly 5 hours as the sun set over the small mountain to my back and lit the hillside where our hotel was situated. I found a dilapidated cement pier and played for the fish in the clear green water. It was a magical place and very secluded. 100 meters from the pure was an incredible beach, only about 50 meters long. We would swim there as our last bit of fun on Ios.

The third day, before catching a 4:30 pm super-jet boat to Santorini, we rented a scooter and headed out to a nearly detached bluff at the farthest west point of Ios. Kristen and I hiked out to the very end, about a 40-minute hike with all the stops we made. We were surrounded by green water for 300 degrees at all times. It was an amazing hike with a small climb and a couple small false summits. It was Kristen’s first hike ever and one of my favorites. The end of the bluff allowed us hiking access to the water. We found a rocky, rocky beach and took turns wearing my shoes while swimming. It was truly a magical little cove. We have lots of pictures and I’ll post some soon.

Kristin on the way out to the point and swimming in the clear water at the amazing swim-hole at the point.

The return hike was only 15 minutes. It was off to the aforementioned beach for a quick swim in the calmer water and off to Santorini.

The verdict: much apart from the party scene for which Ios has gained notoriety is the peaceful serenity of the place and its complete affordability. This was an island full of magical spots that can be reached by hiking and exploring. These rugged parts are not to be missed when going to Ios.

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September 17, 2006 by zankbennett.

Mykonos! Arrived sans Kristen, friend from NYC, to Mykonos via a high-speed ferry. Janis -sp?- was waiting for us, well, in this case, me. Kristen lost her luggage and, along with her whole flight from NYC, missed her connection. And the French kept her bag to boot. I hear that Paris is a terrible connection city..note to self…
So it turns out that Janis owns the hotel where we’re staying: Hotel Omiros. He’s a young guy and very amicable. He showed me to the SICK room…sweeping sea views with an unbelievable deck that’s just perfect for taking in a sunset. It was dark when I got in, but stunning none the less.

Finally, Kristen gets in at 11 pm with no bags so we walk into town for some dinner and possibly to go out. Only the former happened, and would be the last we would see of the town of mykonos or any of the bars for that matter.

Got up the next morning and rented a scooter for me and a 4-wheeler for her…good times. We went all over that island and eventually wound up at Elias -sp?- beach. Laying there near the water was liken to standing in front of a stucco-removing sandblaster and asking if “this one goes to eleven”. It was very windy, and every so often a gust would come up and….BLAM…sand in places I didn’t even know existed yet!
Back to the hotel. Janis had asked me to play some guitar around sunset and so with a small crowd of international travelers and Janis I played and sang and we frank some great wine. The sun set and we finished a few bottles of wine. Considering it a special time, Janis brought out a bottle of wine made by his friend from grapes that grow right there at the hotel. Great stuff and soon everyone went for the pre-evening nap…a great Spanish tradition I’m embracing fully over here. Janis invited KrIsten and me to a party somewhere on the other side of the island.

We jump into his Omiros van and we’re off. We get lost like four times but alas arrived…deep into the Mykonos hilly interior. I’m pretty sure Kristen thought we were going to be abducted and so was a little concerned in the back seat. All was fine, and we were warmly welcomed at the party. Come to find out that Janis is very well known and respected on the island; he’s even running for public office. The party was great. Everyone was a Mykonos local. I’m pretty sure it was a party for a baptism. There was this DJ, Hans, who spun the best stuff I’d heard in years. He couldn’t have been a day under 60. I’ll have to post a pic soon.
Over the DJ, there was a parsschutte strung rather taughtly. It was blowing and flapping in the incessant Mykonos wind. Great scene, great people and an experience that I’m so grateful for. Mykonos is known as a party island and we had an experience that was just the opposite of the typical. No clubs, no 8€ drinks…but a great time with locals and homemade food and insane music.

We got home at around 2:30 am and argued about going into town until we fell asleep. Perfect.

Today, Sun, 17 SEP, went exploring on the scooters towards Panorma, on the north, or windward, shore. Found some great beaches, but amazingly, found the rocky, quite rugged, north shore. Picture the home of the cartoon character with the brush-helmet who kept talking about his X-14 space modulator…it was barren and windy and lonely, yet perfectly preserved in its ruggedness. The rocks were damn sharp, but we managed to avoid flats and it was a perfect exploratory end to the Mykonos portion of the trip.

I almost flipped my scotter at 40 mph coasting down this massive hill. The hill ended abruptly, the bike’s front wheel hit it and the shock bottomed out violently, and the bike bucked me so hard my feet rose above the seat in response. I never let go and pulled it. Idiot American on a scooter!

Now on Ios.
Ran (of course) to catch the ferry from Mykonos, bec Janis and I were exchanging music on my MP3 player - I’m loaded with greek goods now. I’ll be sure to pass on any gems I discover in there.

Ios is beautiful. The view from our deck (this is starting to be an unbelievable trend) is breathtaking. There are several island peaks on the near-horizon that merge together in the distance just over the vanishing pool…the floors everywhere are made of cool, translucent marble. This is unequivocally one of the nicest places I’ve stayed in my life. My part is €37/night.

Still having the time of my life. The weather is perfect. The sky is blue and clear. The water is warm and swimable and finally the winds have calmed.

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