From the terra cotta and ocher of the Ionian Islands to the brilliant blues and whites of the Aegean, the villages of Greece and its islands are incomparable. The variety of village life and buildings springs from a multitude of histories and influences, yet these towns are all, in their separate ways, quintessentially Greek.From north to south through the mainland and the Peloponnese, from west to east through the islands, there is a mixture of intimacy and grandeur. The Ionian Islands are home to belfried churches, pitched tile roofs, and porticoes, reflecting years of Venetian rule. The flat-roofed white houses of the Cyclades, startling against the blue Aegean sea, seem to express the very essence of Greece. And there are many other gems as well, with ancient temples, sandy bays, and cobbled paths.