Seasonal cheer is in full swing in the Kamares club-house. Glitter, mince pies, sherry–it’s the annual Christmas Bazaar, and stalls are loaded with arts and crafts.

From the far side of the narrow main road, my back pressed up against the building opposite to get as much perspective as I could, I looked at the “house” expecting to see a donkey’s tail swishing through the gaping hole of the doorway. Except most donkeys would be more particular. For one thing, they would probably prefer a roof…especially as this was a mountain village likely to be dusted with snow come Christmas.

I walked over the pale brown earth at the edge of Crete’s Mesara Plain. There was little evidence of last year’s harvest, just a bare scattering of olive stones. Because each olive in Greece is valued for its precious oil, only a few escape the finely webbed black netting placed around each tree to end up drying on the ground.

Blame the Greek weather gods, but I’ve only two nights and one full day to explore Chios. September can get windy in the Northeast Aegean. Very windy. The ferry I originally planned to take from neighboring Lesbos remained anchored in the mainland port of Piraeus.

Imagine a place with a remarkably low cost of living…and a Mediterranean climate to boot. Living in the far-flung island chain of the Dodecanese gives you just that.

On the Greek island of Leros, Agia Marina is where the inter-island catamarans and hydrofoils dock (I sailed there from Lakki.) Most of the best hotels and restaurants are located around this bay but it’s still a working fishing port, so it’s not uncommon to see an impromptu fish-market whenever a catch is landed.