Rural Greece (could be slow-lots of pictures)

[Highlander]

I thought I would share a few photos of rural Greece to go along with the Athens thread I created earlier.  We tried to see as much as possible of the country in the week we were there.  After leaving Athens, we went south via ferry throught Cyclades to the island of Santorini which comprises a volcanic caldera not unlike Crater lake Oregon, only much of it is submerged.  After that, we returned to Athens and drove to Meteora.  I've included pictures from both places. 

Sunrise along the Attic Coast, just after casting off from the port of Pireaus (taken from car ferry)


Island of Paros in the Cylcades (city of Parokia)


Island of Naxos in the Cyclades (Naxos Town)


Entering the Santorini caldera (Cyclades)


Looking up at the towns of Oia and Fira on the Caldera rim (Santorini)



Some photos around Fira, the main city on Santorini which is directly on the rim of the Caldera.  We stayed on the rim in a troglodyte hotel.  Winter is off season and the deals were great (and the weather is not too bad unless one is expecting some beach time).  The town along with the nearby town of Oia, were a photographers dream. 
















As beautiful as I thought the town of Fira was, the neighboring village of Oia was even more picturesque

Oia.  Local denizen.


















Island countryside



Northern Greek Mainland.  Area known as Meteora.  The structures built on the rock pillars are monastaries and convents.  These were a lot harder to photograph as it was difficult to find the right angle and good light conditions.  Covered a lot of ground both horizontally and vertically this day. 















This monastary was in the Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only"

[kclofter]

Lovely photos!  BTW, in the villages built in to the hills/cliffs, are the stairs treated like comon elements in traditional condos?  I've always wondered what the etiquette was when traversing those types of enclaves.

[Highlander]

Lovely photos!  BTW, in the villages built in to the hills/cliffs, are the stairs treated like comon elements in traditional condos?  I've always wondered what the etiquette was when traversing those types of enclaves.

Funny you ask because I was always a bit uncertain when I was exploring.  There were several throughroutes with stairs and branches that ran parallel to the crater with offshoots towards the town.  Eventually, I just went anywhere I wanted unless it was fairly obvious I was not supposed to be there.  It helped being winter as there were few people around to let me know when I was in a place I was not supposed to be. 

[Tosspot]

That's some incredible lighting you captured!

[Highlander]

That's some incredible lighting you captured!

Thanks Toss.  You would have had a heyday there.  Conveniently, both subjects had nice west facing slopes which soaked up the low angle European winter sun.  Throw in the clouds and the white-washed villages on Santorini and it was really a great place for photography.  I think I took around 700 pictures on Santorini and at Meteora. 

[im2kull]

WOW! Those pictures are all worth at least a thousand words    I actually have a good friend from Greece, but that is so much different than I pictured it there.  The pic among the last few with the building seemingly coming out from on top of a large rock formation deep within that gorge is amazing.  I never pictured anything like that, it defies our american logic of what can and cannot be built.

[mean]

Stunning, man. Just unbelievable.

[chrizow]

wow, this is just awesome. 

one of my best friends' family is greek and they have a house on a coastal cliff outside of athens.  i've seen many photos and videos of santorini and other beautiful areas of greece, but your photos capture the area beautifully.  i am hoping to go to greece with him in 09 or 10 , and this thread made me look forward to that even more.

[Roanoker]

Beautiful pictures of beautiful and almost unfathomable places. Thank you so much for taking them and posting. Most of us will never get to see such views except through your eyes and camera lens.

[ignatius]

Wow, I'm thinking of going to Spain in May but you may have just altered my plans.  It's one of those 'wish I could be there' threads.  Fantastic pics.

The cliff towns looks like they naturally grew out of the peaks - eerie.

[Highlander]

Wow, I'm thinking of going to Spain in May but you may have just altered my plans.   It's one of those 'wish I could be there' threads.  Fantastic pics.

The cliff towns looks like they naturally grew out of the peaks - eerie.

I love Spain too, particularly Andulusia which has some really grand sites and cities (Granada's Alhambra being my personal favorite).  Toledo is another great place and still has a profound old world feel to it.  Unfortunately, nearly all my visits to Spain were pre-digital camera. 

I did love Greece though, extremely friendly and generous people, particularly in the more rural areas.  There's a slightly higher hassle factor in Greece due to the different alphabet and dependence on relatively slow ferry transportation (if you are interested in seeing the isles) but we managed with absolutely no hiccups.  Santorini is among the most dramatic places in all of Europe that I have seen (only thing comparable would be the Amalfi Coast in Italy).