the beautiful blue Aegean, sparkling in the morning sun. Isn't it pretty? I never got tired of looking at it during the five days we were there.
We stayed at the wonderful Aegialis Hotel & Spa, where they made us feel welcomed and pampered.
Breakfast view at the Aegialis Hotel & Spa |
The breakfasts were AMAZING! I've never seen such a lavish spread. There must have been a hundred different things to choose from: breads and pastries, savory dishes, fruits and veggies, cheeses, yogurt (and what wonderful yogurt it was!), nuts, honeys, jams & marmalades, fresh-squeezed orange juice (my favorite), and even rice pudding!
Our classroom overlooked the pool, with views to the nearby village of Aegiali and its picture-perfect beaches.
Often, when we were painting there in the late afternoon, one of us would suddenly look up and notice that a spectacular sunset was developing, so we'd all jump out of our seats, dash to find a good vantage point, and start snapping photos. Here's one of my favorites....
One feature of a Blue Walk tour is that it includes an optional walk each day. For our first walk on Amorgos, we didn't go far, just down the hill into the little town of Aegiali, passing this cute guy along the way...
plus a chapel,
a beach,
and a cute outdoor cafe.
We ended up at this beautiful spot...
where we did some onsite sketching.
Our time on Amorgos was a mix of class time (sketchbook journaling, painting lessons, & demos), day trips to interesting places, optional walks & hikes, onsite sketching, and free time to do as we pleased.
Our second day on the island, we all walked up the hill from the hotel to a tiny chapel built into the hillside.
Jeannette and Suzy, our tour guides, told us that in Greece, landowners can get a tax deduction for having a chapel on their property, so you sometimes see them in the oddest places, like on a hillside with no houses or people in sight (but lots of goats!)
After walking up all those steps to the chapel, it was an easy downhill stroll to beautiful Levrossos Beach...
We waded in the water and looked for sea glass and other treasures.
I could have stayed there all day, but I had to get back to teach a class in the afternoon.
We took several day trips on Amorgos, winding through the rugged landscape to visit interesting places like an herbal distillery in Langada.
Another day trip took us to the town of Chora where we hiked up the 300 "donkey steps" (steps that are deep enough to accommodate a donkey's four feet) to the Hozoviatissa Monastery which has clung to the cliffs above the sea since 1017 A.D.
There were so many pretty scenes in the town of Chora itself....
See the doorway at the end of this alley?
A dakos salad has crusty stale bread with juicy tomatoes, soft, creamy feta, kalamata olives, herbs, and capers |
The inside of the restaurant was pretty cool, too....
I did a sketch of one of the alleyways in Chora before we had to leave. We had lingered so long over lunch that I only had about 15-20 minutes to do a very quick pencil layout and then ink it with a Platinum Carbon pen before I had to dash to the shuttle bus.
I can't wait to bring it to life with watercolor!
Another day we had a field trip to the tiny village of Tholaria where I did a sketching lesson on location. We drew and painted two different doorways, one very old and one newer.
Even our tour guide, Jeannette, got into the spirit of things and did a sketch. But notice my mom off in the corner with her book - try as we might, we never can convince her to pick up a pencil. :)
We all agreed that the old doorway was much more interesting to draw and paint than the new one.
There were no activities scheduled for our last afternoon on Amorgos, so I walked down to the beach and spent some quiet time just walking along the water.
I loved our stay on Amorgos. Since the tourist season was waning, we practically had the place to ourselves. We had time to enjoy long leisurely meals, take in a spa treament or two, sketch, go for walks, and see some incredible sights. But now it was time to move on...
time to toast the sunset once more and get ready to catch the early morning ferry to Naxos.
Tomorrow I'll tell you all about our time on Naxos and Santorini!