Chios – Χίος

I live to travel. The greatest adventures for me involve the kid-like excitement of butterflies in my belly when I’m able to go to a place I’ve never been before. As luck would have it for me and a new friend, our husband’s had a conference in Chios. This island is a 25-minute flight from Athens, on the Aegean Sea close to Izmir, Turkey.

We rented a car for 25 Euros for 6 hours and went from the town to the mountainous area where there’s an 11th-century monastery that has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The picture above is Nea Moni – Middle Byzantine architecture.We drove on to the village of Avgonima and walked around admiring the beauty of this Greek island and found a gorgeous spot for lunch. We continued on to Anavatos which I read got its name originally from the Greek word “anaveno”, which means “I climb”. And climb we did. it is a mostly deserted village and the views are peaceful and meandering.We came upon one inhabitant who has creatively used the natural rock for her artwork.

This time of the year there were just a few other tourists. The benefit of traveling off season is so precious. On the drive back to town we saw honey for sale in Kampos and stopped and had a whopping conversation with the bee keeper (all in Greek). He was quite funny and kept stuffing our purses with dried figs and we naturally purchased some honey and I also got a honey comb. We arrived back in town and went to the beach to relax. The second day was a full one with a tour bus and guide to the other wonderous parts of Chios including visiting the famous mastic trees. Mastic is a resin obtained from the mastic tree.  We also visited the Chios Mastic Museum and learned that mastic has been harvested for at least 2,500 years since Greek Antiquity. Here above is mastic on the ground. The village of Pyrgi known as the painted village. I want to come back for the sun dried tomatoes seen here. Every area on the island has unique and captivating views. We ended the day with a tour of The Chios Maritime Museum. The sky always shines brighter the night before a full moon and my dreams of travel continue.