Tag Archive: beaches


- There are no buses back to Punta del Este today, I’m afraid you’re stuck here.

I look down the barren, dusty unpaved road weaving unevenly between the colourful shacks. The early afternoon sun is cutting across so it seems even more desolate than it is.

The huts are in all states of construction, with stuff scattered about, as if everyone just suddenly dropped everything because there was a beautiful swell, and went to surf. But it’s the off-season so they’ll be back only around October.

Too bad. It’s idyllic now. Only a few more open cafes lazily playing some reggae could possibly make it better.

- Bueno.. could you hang a couple of hammocks for us tonight? But right now, I’m going for a swim.

4 hours earlier

I had just broken the water surface when I see Alon from the nearby Rancho Azul, sauntering down the alley towards the beach.

We previously met at a hippie coffee shop Canoa Quebrada, my favourite discovery of the Punta surroundings.

I said I happen to know one Alon, who was a magic carpet salesman. He didn’t believe me, but believe me, he was real. The magic carpets, perhaps, not so much. He was eccentric like that.

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Colombian beach life

If you didn’t know that Colombia has the reputation it has, you wouldn’t even be able to imagine it here, on the breezy Caribbean coast. And if you don’t know what reputation I’m talking about, disregard and carry on!

In these tropical and balmy days it is easy to forget that anyhow.

It is also easy to forget – among these tanned, creased faces – that it’s January, and a harsh winter, elsewhere.

What can I say, some like it hot..

The charm of un(der)developed countries is that the rules can be bent easily, and in your favour. I put those speculations (which I speculate myself) to test. This time, with inter-urban transit.

It’s easy to flag a ride anywhere along their general route as they all run frequently and collect passengers on the way. They only cost 1200-1500 COP (= 0.60-0.85 USD). Correct change is appreciated, although no one will tap their foot agitatedly while you scrap for monedas. No one appears to be in a hurry here.

On these rides you will encounter the allure of laidback coastal life: exchange of greetings when someone new hops on board, daily gossip, snacks being passed around, and best of all: singing out loud, in unison, buoyant, and uninhibited.

I do it even without knowing the words (but there’s usually ‘mi amor’ or ‘mi corazon’ somewhere in there – listen for it). View full article »

A-list Mykonos

Those who know “the (other) true Mykonos” hoard some valuable secrets and connoisseur obsessions, such as:

- A personal tour of Delos to unfold before you the charm of the ancient city, and a story full of money & glam!

- Diving at Tragonissi with Panagis’ boat, and ask him to take you to the cave where there is a hidden beach.

- An alternative sunset on the way towards Fanari-Agia Sophia when you camp at Faros.

- Fokos dam and the artificial lake on the way to the coast will reveal a scene of wild beauty and an exciting side of Mykonos.

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Best sunrise: At Agios Sostis, along with your first swim of the day, after stopping at the bakery in Ano Mera for a cheese pie.

Windsurfer’s paradise: Ftelia and Kalafatis. So, fly on your surfboard.

Most minimal-chic courtyard in town: Nikos Varveris’ Interni, which combines impeccable aesthetics, light home-made delicacies and a superb bar where you can start the evening with a pineapple caipirinha, beautiful people and sophisticated music.

Best rock beats: First by far, Astra remains the best nest of the island’s fans – even the ‘old’ ones who, with a few exceptions, do not go to many places any more. From midnight to dawn, outside for cooling off and inside for crazy dancing and concept parties, throughout the summer.

Noontime live: Gigs take place all summer at Bahia Blanca in Kalo Livadi.

The best tavern by the beach: Tassos’ in Paranga. Super delicious home cooked dishes and grills, in beautiful surroundings, with years of history and prices that don’t cause indigestion.

The most beautiful beach restaurant: N’ammos at Psarou. The best beach service and fun; the Sunday Times includes in among the 10 best beaches in Europe for partying.

Eight tribes of Mykonos

People who disembark in Mykonos are very different but also very similar.

Applying the science of lifestyle, they shall be classified in 7 tribes:

The Jet-Setters

(who are fed up with Saint Tropez and Saint Bart’s)

Fascinated by the architecture and seashores of the island, as they see them from the sea, they usually refuse stubbornly to leave the wooden deck and step on the golden sand and the whitewashed pavements.

And if they get bored eventually of the Apollonian sun that shines above Delos, they turn to luxurious shopping to entertain their holiday boredom and their misery for being so rich.

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The Vacationers

(Landowners in a cosmopolitan Porto Heli)

They have sealed their relationship with the island by a multimillion contract; they buy a piece of land with a view (land without views is non discussable) they build, according to their personal taste, small rustic villas with design arcs and windswept embroidered curtains.

The virgin beach at Agios Sostis – they believe is their own secret utopia and they curse anyone for revealing to infidels the path to bohemian sunbathing.

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The Serial Mykonians

(They always say that they will never come back, but each year they reappear)

Each time they enter the ship to Patmos, they get off at Mykonos, as they harbour guilty love that binds them to this isle. They will appear with full bohemian chic outfits at Panormos, the beach that lonely riders used to favour, which has lately become a place to see and be seen.

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Ride the waves, Mykonos

(c) the glamorous Namos beach bar @ the paradisal Psarou Beach

As soon as the sun starts shining my nostalgia for Ελλάδα starts sprouting, so here comes a three-part series on the ultimate white isle of the Aegean: Μύκονος (because Θήρα is otherworldly..)

The exciting characteristics of Mykonos’ beaches is that they offer so many choices and they can even fool you to believe each time that you are in a different place.

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Psarou

The island’s most high society beach and certainly one of the most beautiful: thin sand, emerald waters, and day after day parade at the front deckchairs, which are more comfortable than beds and are usually reserved since daybreak. Cool cocktails by the sea, fantastic meals with emphasis on fresh produce, impeccable beach service, social peeping and palm trees. Psarou is a miracle, so make sure you are in good terms with the royalty there.

It’s a relatively shielded beach, therefore you can swim during the entire summer since it’s not affected by the winds.

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Kalo livadi

It’s included among the favourite beaches of the island’s ‘regulars’ and has become the destination. The beach volleyball tournament, which is an event that everyone should participate – pro or not – was transferred here from Panormos.

The parties on the beach begin early with high-volume music and beats that keep the crowds dancing as they go through arrays of shot drinks, mojitos, caipirinhas, and various cocktails du jour. .

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Panormos

Mykonos’ most bohemian chic beach, free of deckchairs and umbrellas, looks like a virgin area if you go early in the morning. Alternative, wildly beautiful, with a friendly and relaxed mood, it has the most ‘carefully unkempt’ appearance, Panormos will continue to be a hip beach for some time.

Big hammocks, music and the best beach parties under a huge summer moon.

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España – photos

Valdemossa, Mallorca

Deia, Mallorca – my kind of town (:

when the summers are sinking away slowly..

Madrid in a hug

upside-down

Sydney Opera House

Surfers of the world, unite

rain or shine, there’s always the wave

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