Greek Sunshine and Heat on IOS

I'm not sure Rick Stein would want to come to Ios as it was more about back-packers and nude beaches packed with beautiful Swedish girls than good Greek grub but no doubt I'm sure they could have rustled up a kebab and chips or two, indeed I got food poisoning or rather a bad tum. There were three or four full-sized buses on the island which were kept busy taking sun worshippers to the nearby sandy beaches like these two Mercedes.It was certainly good to get back as they used to be packed like sardines in there and the driver might have had a pretty feeble mini fan on his dash but the rest roasted in there smelling the arm-pits. Still it would be nice to go back!

Mercedes-Benz Bus on Santorini

We have a certain nostalgia for buses from places like Portugal and Malta and perhaps Greek buses deserve a second look for even though most were familiar manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz they have a kind of rugged charm helped no doubt by the heat and dust like this example on tourist transfer duties at a quayside on the fascinating volcanic island of Santorini

Feel the heat on Ios

When I was on holiday there in the Eighties there were only three buses working on the small arid island of Ios taking the visitors to the best local beaches. Not surprisingly I took snaps of the same buses more than once including this attractive Hino but getting them in interesting views too is my way of making up a 'holiday album'. I thought this was a good posting today as here in the UK the sun has not been out long enough for us to enjoy any road dust in our eyes yet.

I wonder how well the tourist trade is doing in Greece and whether life is just as depressing on the lovely islands as it is in Athens. Typical of the late Eighties was this Greek bodied Mercedes seen on Ios. I could certainly do with some of that warm sunshine to shake of the 'Cold Spring Blues'.

Ios: New house isn't coming on too well, but the rockery is going to be wonderful

In our deeply regulated stupefyingly safety conscious developed Europe it's nice to see how others who don't worry so much do it. In Greece they might have all those annoying planning and bureaucratic nightmares to overcome but once those hurdles are overcome the rest should be a doddle for the local builder. However were I to try to build an apartment like this I'm sure someone from the council would soon come over with the tape measure and a bundle of hard to fathom prohibition forms. Another thing we find strange when travelling is all the unfinished buildings in Greece, it seems the custom is to build a bit at a time and live in it whilst you save up for more. However the world is changing and no doubt that applies to laid-back backwaters like Ios too so I expect even though certain strange practices remain EEC regulations now apply. Surprisingly even if the far off Eighties the local Hino bus that ferried people to the local beaches had a warning beacon on the top, maybe it doubled as a fire appliance! However I expect it was for in the harbour area.

Room on top on Santorini

Onlookers look concerned as their precious luggage is bundled on top of a Mercedes bus for their bumpy ride to Santorini Town. However I imagine few items ever fell off unless it was mine.

Pile them on, room for more on top: OKay it's IOS not Mykonos

It's all go during the summer months on Greek islands like Mykonos which all seem to have a quite different character and charm. Thought of as the Greek Capri as well as being famed for it's white windmills and mascot Pelican, Mykonos has a good deep harbour big enough to support expensive boutiques selling clothes and trinkets for the Mediterranean cruise ships that berth here whilst it's more colourful cosmopolitan side makes it a gay and nude beach paradise. Indeed there are even two famous beaches, one mixed where tourists like us gathered called Paradise and the other for the more brave called Super Paradise which was very gay and colourful. To them you could take a breezy ride on a boat or stand and bake inside rugged buses like this typical Greek locally bodied forward-control Mercedes where the bouzouki music somehow managed to make itself heard above the rattles and groans from the hard working German engine. Still 1981 was a long time ago but I expect Mykonos is just the same, but of course the old buses might still be there on the quayside but sadly they will be a lot newer than this classic beauty.

P.S. Sorry this is Ios, but I'm sure you won't mind reading about Mykonos instead.

Santorini

As we are enjoying some warm weather in the UK I thought I would continue the sunny theme and post an image of a place that is far hotter despite the sea breezes that feel blisteringly hot and dusty too. I guess the locals get used to it but it couldn't be comfortable stuck behind glass surrounded by sardine-like squeezed in sweaty bodies with just a little electric fan and chain-smoking to keep the poor old driver sane and cool. Actually I never rode on any buses on this magnificent volcanic island because we had to just stay there for hours baking in the sun waiting with no facilities or shelter for a little boat to come pick us up and take us to the smaller island of Ios nearby. I think Sunmed Holidays used the laid-back couldn't care less amateurism an inefficiency of the Greek locals as a kind of perverse selling point. That's right after lunch they still enjoy a good nap after lunch. On the other hand of course maybe it was the tour company who was to blame. But when a boat did eventually come to collect us and our luggage it was a trifle small and sitting low in the water many of our party down in the bow got a good soaking as the Aegean Sea can be pretty choppy where the currents swirl around. Anyway it looks as though the Kamari Tours Mercedes O303 seen here in the mid-Eighties was fairly well appointed with an air-conditioning unit on the roof and curtains to close against the ferocity of the sun.

Hino

One thing that has surprised me is how little impact the Japanese and Koreans have had on the European bus and truck market. This pleasant looking Hino was photographed on the Greek Island of Ios in the Eighties.