Our ferry ride from Pireaus to Tinos was very relaxing (once we got our luggage stowed). We read and napped, arriving at Tinos about 45 minutes late around 9:30pm. We had directions to our apartment, but in the dark in a new place, we weren't sure which way to go. Our cell phone came in handy--Rick contacted Sharon at Windmills Travel. She says she can see us from her office, and in a few minutes, we find her. We had sent a deposit from the states, so all we did was pay her the difference, and she took us to the apartment. We were quite pleased to find a whitewashed bungalow with a kitchen and comfy bed. The feature of the place was the front sitting room--fully glassed-in with a great view of the Aegean and the harbor at Hora (the main town of Tinos).

Rick had not been to Tinos on either of his previous three visits to Greece. We chose to come here on the recommedation of our friends Al and Kathy Oerter who described Tinos as a very relaxing place with very few tourists and little traffic--perfect, after driving all over the Peloponnese and mainland Greece. The apartment was a five minute walk from the center of town, numerous tavernas and coffee bars, and a small market area. We got groceries (juice, milk, bread, etc) so we could have breakfast and snacks in the apartment. We had lunch and dinner in town every night. This would become our routine on every island we visited.

Tinos is noted for the (Greek Orthodox) Church of Panagia Evangelistria, which sits on the hill overlooking the town. It is best avoided in August when the town is flooded with religious pilgrims from all over Greece and the rest of the world. Along the street from the ferry dock to the church is a rubber mat upon which the women crawl on their hands and knees all the way to the top. Some have thick knee pads; others are in obvious pain when they reach the church. The streets are lined with shops selling candles varying in length from about 1-6 feet! The women crawl up and the men carry the candles. At the top, is the church, located inside a courtyard. There's also a museum with portraits, murals, and icons.

We spent 5 nights on Tinos, mostly just sleeping late, relaxing and wandering around the town. We bought our ferry tickets for the trip to Naxos (next leg of our trip). We rented an open car (Suzuki samurai) for a day and drove around the island of rock-studded mountains with terraced hillside slopes. There are several villages some on small inlets--very picture-postcardish. The weather was sunny and warm; perfect for driving leisurely along the mountain roads. We stopped in Pyrgos, noted for the many marble sculptors who have workshops and studios there. We enjoyed meeting one of them, Lambros Diamantoulos, watching him work, and trying our best to communicate using the little bit of Greek we'd picked up, the little English he knew, and lots of hand gestures! We also visited Volax, another small town, noted for its active open air theater and for its basket weavers.

We really enjoyed our visit to Tinos and the opportunity to unwind (Rick read 7 books while we were in Greece, two of them here); but we were ready to catch the ferry to Naxos.

To get the most out of the photos below, we suggest you check out our Tinos journal. Otherwise, just click on any photo below to enlarge it. (Note that they are not necessarily presented in the order they were taken.)