Beyond the modest, boxy houses of the harbour town are dozens of sensational villas designed by in-demand architects. Make sure to rent a motor boat to putter along the coast to pebble coves such as Marmari and Kipiadi, or across to Antipaxos, an even smaller island that’s a hit with the yachting set. The classic starter here is the misto di primi, a quintet of homemade pasta dishes that varies according to the personable Netta’s mood. You're singing nothing but [Woody] Guthrie songs,'" he said, jabbing his finger into my chest like he was talking to a poor fool. There's no airport and it's a nine-hour ferry journey from Athens, which keeps the hoi polloi at bay.

Gaze down on the glittering expanse of the city from the world-famous Infinity Pool and immerse yourself in a world of infinite possibilities — all in one extraordinary destination. Once a thriving maritime economy, Kastellorizo was bombed during World War II and then virtually abandoned.

It is also quite good for travelling, it’s the one instrument I take with me to all summer or winter destinations.

If kept properly tuned (with a tuner) it gives you a useful baseline, so you’ll be naturally more in tune when picking up the fiddle. Then practice them and do diatonic runs by picking, using all four (which is 8 on a mandolin) strings. Instead, there are family-run guesthouses brimming with character, where you feel more like a friend than a room number. Most beaches on Leros may be small and scrappy, but the water is luminous and there are just enough low-key beach bars like Zephyros and Lime. We try not to take ourselves too seriously or play God," Pankake told the Minneapolis Tribune in 1962.Canny ex-pats have snapped up properties in Pachia Rachi, a stone village with sensational views across the straits to the Peloponnese. The deep, sheltered harbor town of Vathy is barely livelier, but the mood can be deliciously mischievous at Mylos bar. But who cares when you can kick back with fennel pie and raki at Stou Stratou, pick up Natassa Kalogeropoulou’s minimalist ceramics at Kerameio, and listen to Greek folk in the open-air amphitheatre?

As you head south, high-rise resorts give way to stretches of golden sand, such as Glystra, Tsambika, and Fourni. For a glimpse of Santorini before the onslaught of cruise ships and Instagrammers, explore the quieter south (but keep your discoveries to yourself).

In 1988, Marcia and Jon Pankake wrote "A Prairie Home Companion Folk Song Book," and celebrated the publication with a Nashville concert featuring Keillor, Chet Atkins, the Judds, Mike Seeger, Johnny Gimble and Ray Stevens. Cooing American and Chinese honeymooners line up to take selfies as the sun sinks behind Santorini's caldera, the flooded volcanic crater. There's a nascent surfer scene on Kolibithra bay, where a VW camper van has been converted into a cute beach bar. The combination is important too, of course, but a fiddler won’t always stand out if there are other fiddlers playing either. Athenian artists take up residence at the School of Fine Arts, one of the vast, grey, stone mansions overlooking the horseshoe harbour.