An Eye on the Ionians

With good northerly winds, we head to the Ionian Islands. I think they are the most beautiful of the Greek isles. Dark green forests of cypress, pines and scrub bushes blanket the steep mountains. Deep inlet bays make for ideal refuge during the nights. White fine sandy beaches that crunch under your feet all make up these historic islands.

Ok, so here is the legend. Zeus had a mistress named Io. When Zeus suspects that his wife is on to him, he changes Io into a cow. Well Zeus’s wife wasn’t born yesterday and she figures it out. She sends a gadfly to torment Io. It is so annoying that Io plunges into the sea, hence the Ionian Sea.

There political history is similar to much of Greece. The Venetians kept them the longest and if there is an architectural theme that has survived the earthquakes over the years, it would be Venetian. Unfortunately too many earthquakes have leveled most of the old architecture and what you get is a more 1960’s theme to even the small towns. In general, not a good decade for architecture. A few of the islands did something completely different when they rebuilt. They used a lot of corrugated sheet metal. I guess they were tired of constantly picking up the stones of collapsed buildings. It may hold up better during an earthquake but it gives the town a western appearance. The corrugated metal feels more like a facade than a real building. You get this eerie feeling that you are visiting Frontierland in some theme park.