Ferry schedules
Tourist destinations

Cinemas
Theatres
Restaurants
Public events
Expat organisations

Article source: http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/13/52719

Ferry schedules
Tourist destinations

Cinemas
Theatres
Restaurants
Public events
Expat organisations

Article source: http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/52678

Ferry schedules
Tourist destinations

Cinemas
Theatres
Restaurants
Public events
Expat organisations

Article source: http://www.athensnews.gr/portal/1/52160

It would be churlish to complain about the long tubes of white plastic, like chunky, sun-deprived caterpillars, that take up every available tract of flat land (they are, after all, protecting crops, and thus local livelihoods), but once you’ve accepted them, driving east along Crete‘s southern coast is still to be assailed by a heart-sinking array of monuments to thoughtless development: abandoned skeletons of houses, metal rods waving through flat concrete roofs at the sky; swathes of knobbly concrete lumbering down to turquoise water; garish signs promising villas in the sun, and fish and chips.

By the time we got to Makrigialós and turned left down a bumpy track, away from the sea, we were sceptical and tired, and really quite grumpy.

The White River Cottages, just a kilometre inland, came as such a relief after that. All the visual clamour dies away, and what’s left is a hamlet of 13 interlocking stone cottages so in tune with the rocky hillside that it occasionally takes a moment to realise that what you’re looking at is a roof or a wall. During the day the cicadas scream blue murder, but at dusk, at night and in the early morning, the silence is deep and clear.

And the cottages themselves are calm and cool. The walls are over 1½ft thick and inside, apart from the occasional abutment of exposed rock or recess of fireplace, they are whitewashed. The decor is minimalist but warm: rust-red bedspreads, a vase of flowers, a cookbook and a carafe of local wine. Every cottage has a terrace with a view – of olive groves, mountain, or Libyan Sea, or of all three – a thoughtful piece of planning that, combined with the fact that all the terraces are private, and none look in on each other, must have required a particularly fiendish bit of architectural origami. Ours had an ancient olive tree shading the table; a lemon tree that already bore one yellow lemon (and a flower or two; it seemed a little confused) nudged up against the wall.

Maria Kostantakaki, the housekeeper, sells olive oil, fresh eggs and honey from her village, and Makrigialós, with its greengrocers and long cool butcher’s shop selling cured meat and sheep’s milk cheese, and its well-stocked bakeries, turned out to have its uses. With food this good the terrace was the perfect place for breakfasts of Greek yoghurt, local honey and peaches, quiet lunches of Greek salad and fresh bread; and for afternoons of reading, watching the breeze reveal the silvery undersides of the olive leaves and, one surprising day, listening to a violinist practising what sounded like Brahms. It was also a great place to get bitten by mosquitoes.

When they became too irritating, there was the swimming pool. Though there nearly wasn’t one, apparently; Vangelis Mavrakis, 56, who bought and began converting the abandoned hamlet in 1986, says his friends tried to persuade him it wouldn’t be in keeping with the spirit of the place. I’m glad he decided not to listen to them. It isn’t very big, but the loungers and flagstones are tasteful, the gardens surrounding it, of whispering bamboo and flowering cactus, carob and oleander, well-kept. To float in the cool water and look up at the blue sky and surrounding hills is a real treat.

Mavrakis, a thoughtful and slightly morose economist from Heraklion, oversaw all the building himself, and still spends hours working out how exactly to provide air-conditioning or free Wi-Fi, say, without ruining the rustic look. The hamlet was originally built for families coming down to the coast for the olive-picking season and he shows me photographs of their ruins – fireplaces open to the sky, wildflowers growing through the floors. There was no road when he began, so all the materials had to be brought up by donkey. He spent months looking for good stonemasons among villagers who thought he was mad to be converting it at all. But it’s worked: the cottages fill with Greek tourists in July and August, when temperatures can rise to 42C; northern Europeans tend to come early or late in the season, when it’s a bit cooler and they can hike through the surrounding hills.

He makes no secret of his annoyance over the housing boom. “The people who destroyed Spain have destroyed Crete. Makrigialós was always ugly, but construction has been overdone. There’s no vision.” He is worried by the fact that even before the economic crisis tourism was declining because, in his view, Crete competes with countries like Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt – rather than Italy, France or Spain – but no longer has their low cost of living. So more projects will be left unfinished, more tourist development abandoned.

In the meantime he and his warm, efficient administrator, Iris van der Kaay (who used to work as a social worker and in advertising in Amsterdam), suggest ways to avoid the eyesores. Diaskari beach, for example, just along from the pounding music and idling cars of Makrigialós beach, where utterly clear water laps at sand and stony outcrops are embedded with pebbles of red, blue, white, and green, like a natural mosaic. Or the pretty mountain village of Pefki, where a 100-year-old pepper tree is the focal point and the quiet whitewashed cottages, surrounded by flowers, all look out to sea.

A ravine that traces its rocky, pine-shaded way from Pefki to sea level is a popular hike (I declined to attempt it in the heat – it was generally 30C by 9am – but if you’re good at early mornings or there out of summer, it looks like a pleasant thing to do). There are monasteries and boat trips; there’s shiatsu, thanks to Iris’s Israeli husband, Amnon Tepper (who likes Crete because “it’s like Israel but without the war”), and the annual Casa dei Mezzo music festival, where musicians from all over the world come to a Norwegian businessman’s villa in the hills to play, this year, Gershwin and Gounod and Rachmaninov; Schubert, Pärt and Mendelsohn. That explained the ghostly Brahms. There was also Greek poetry and some specially commissioned music. Gunnar Strømsholm established the festival because “the ‘culture’ that some visitors bring with them does not always impress the locals.”

But the main thing, for me, was the quiet cottages, their calm and restfulness, and blue pool at their centre.

• EasyJet (easyjet.com) flies to Heraklion from Gatwick and Manchester from £64 rtn inc tax. A week’s car hire with Hertz (hertz.com) starts from £134.16. Studios at White River Cottages from €80 per night, cottages €105-€129 (minimum three-night stay; 10% reduction for weekly stays), based on two sharing. Book through i-escape.com/whiterivercottages.php. Festival information: casadeimezzo-festival.com (24-29 June 2010).

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/aug/22/white-river-cottages-crete

Take a look at

Luxury Villas or  Luxury Suites see the full prices, and take 30% off if you book by the end of June

A summer gift from SuperbGreece.com

Happy travels

Article source: http://www.cretetravel.com/blog/crete/cretes-most-lavish-and-luxurious-elounda-at-30-saving/

It can be done – a day trip to Kithira, easier still to Antikithira.

Lane lines’ VINCENTO KORNAROS ship plies this route with a strange and romantic schedule.

This strange schedule means that upon a Thursday it would be practical to do a day trip.

As you can see on the sailing SCHEDULE for a one day trip perhaps Antikithira is a better bet, with more time to spend there.

We will do it soon and let you know!

Article source: http://www.cretetravel.com/blog/crete/kithira-small-island-between-crete-and-the-peloponnese/

As of  07.30 in the morning on Friday July 30 2010

Buses are still running and we see taxis in all the usual places, so far.

Petrol/gas delivery lorries/trucks are still not delivering fuel to petrol/gas stations(for the most part).

This will be over with in a couple of days (75% probability) and before the 3rd August (95%+ probability)

[ I would hardly give any event much more than a 95% probability as the world is just not made that way! ]

As Taxis and buses (well all buses, some taxis) run on diesel, diesel supplies are still intact  for longer.  Also, diesel cars are just about unheard of and almost unavailable here, so they don’t use up any remaining supplies.

I understand the concerns of our visitors – and apologize for your having to even consider this nonsensical situation.
I think that it will be ok quite soon as you can tell from what I have said above.

That’s the on-the-spot and “boots-on-the-ground” update from our observation point in Crete, reports from other areas of Greece and a combination of news and personal testimony from those areas beyond Crete itself.

Article source: http://www.cretetravel.com/blog/crete/petrol-cars-buses-taxis-in-crete-and-greece-july-30/

Crete Greece

October high: 24C

The Greek islands can lose their lustre out of season, but southern Crete falls into the north African climatic zone and basks in sunshine long after other resorts have put up the shutters. The Minoan palace of Knossos and the Samaria Gorge are free of crowds and it’s perfect weather for walking in the White Mountains, where the grape and olive harvests are in full swing. The Ammos Hotel, near beautiful Chania, offers chic, contemporary studios with sea views on a beach 5km from the lively port city of Chania.
• Doubles from €131, room only (+30 28210 33003, ammoshotel.com). Easyjet (easyjet.com) flies Gatwick-Chania until the end of October from £197 return

Ibiza, Spain

October high: 23C
While the rest of the Med slips into an off-season slumber, Ibiza goes out with a bang. The next fortnight sees a wave of “closing parties”, with superclubs such as Amnesia and Space bidding a hedonistic farewell to the summer. If it all gets too much, head inland to one of the island’s hip agroturismos, where the island’s cognoscenti will be hanging out at intimate DJ events and recharging their batteries at swish spas. Es Cucons is a laid-back finca with 15 rooms in the west of the island.
• Doubles from €195 (+34 971 805501, escucons.com). British Airways (ba.com) flies to Ibiza from various UK airports from £150

Marrakech, Morocco

October high: 28C

Few cities can rival Marrakech for exoticism, but if it’s relaxation you’re after, leave the bustle of the medina behind and head for the hills. Tigmi, 15 miles from the city, is a peaceful complex of tastefully converted village houses surrounding courtyards. There’s a hammam and a large heated pool – something you won’t find in the city-centre riads. A regular shuttle bus into Marrakech ensures guests experience the best of both worlds.
• Best of Morocco (08450 264 585, bestofmorocco.co.uk) is offering four nights at Tigmi for the price of three until the end of October. So a four-night stay costs £550pp half-board, including flights and transfers

Algarve, Portugal

October high: 22C

In autumn the sandy beaches of the western Algarve are empty, and the chestnut forests of the Monchique mountains are at their best. Inntravel has comfortable apartments at the Algarve Quinta, a 19th-century farmhouse 5km from the port of Lagos, handy for secluded bays and walking trails in the mountains.
• Inntravel (01653 617001, inntravel.co.uk) has availability at the Quinta from the end of October. Seven nights from 26 October costs £630pp including car hire. From 1 November the price drops to £498pp. Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies from various UK airports to Faro from £61

Le Marche, Italy

November high: 17C

A traditional farmhouse surrounded by olive groves and vineyards is the setting for a four-day gourmet olive break which promises to immerse guests in the specialities of Le Marche region in all its autumn glory. The trip includes visits to food markets, olive oil and wine tastings, gourmet meals based around seasonal fare such as chestnuts and truffles, a cookery demonstration and the chance to help with the olive harvest.
• The four-day package costs £525pp including transfers, three nights’ accommodation at the Casal dei Fichi, all meals, visits and demonstrations (+39 734 959 018, casaldeifichi.com). Dates are 5-8 and 12-15 November. Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies from Stansted to Ancona from £45 return

Provence, France

October high: 19C

Tucked away in a sleepy Provençal village, La Maison de Blauzac is an 18th-century house with a pretty garden and a pool. There are just five guest rooms, simply and elegantly furnished. If you can tear yourself away from the sumptuous views from the garden, the perfectly preserved medieval city of Uzès and the Roman aqueduct of Pont du Gard are a short drive away.
• Doubles from £95 through i-escape (i-escape.com/lamaisondeblauzac.php). Ryanair (ryanair.com) flies to from Liverpool and Luton to Nimes, 35km away, from £16 return

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/sep/25/warm-autumn-getaways-winter-sun

WINNING TIP Hydra, Saronic Islands

As we arrived in the silent dark, Hydra was like a glittering gift. No cars, narrow and steep steps leading high into the island, donkeys, delicious pan-fried feta and gyro (spit-roasted pork) every day, peaceful, blue swimming spots, freshly caught squid and our gorgeously charming Kiaffa Cottage, where Tracey Emin once stayed! Leonard Cohen wrote Bird on the Wire on the island in the 1960s too. A gem of a place.
Kiaffa Cottage, showweb.net/hydra
Saramargolly

Dodecanese

Chalki
This is a small island four miles west of Rhodes but very far from the hectic tourist activity of the larger island. Until recently there were no cars at all on the island and even now there are very few. Chalki is very dry, and water has to be imported from Rhodes, which helps to explain the lack of major development. There is one pretty harbour town and two small beaches served by traditional tavernas – the Ftenagia Restaurant is particularly good. The beaches are never overcrowded as the island cannot accommodate many tourists. Most visitors stay in small apartments or villas in the town, or in the new Hiona Art hotel.
Ftenagia Restaurant, +30 22460 45384, ftenagia.gr; Hiona Art, +30 22460 45244, hionaart.gr
Dorival

Cyclades

Mount Zeus and the village of Filoti, Naxos. Photograph: Alamy

Naxos
This island is a glorious antidote to the Greek beach experience. High above the port of Hora is the ancient Venetian citadel of Kastro. The central Tragaea plateau is the treat. Here a milder climate and friendly villagers welcome walkers. Aged olive and fig trees shade Byzantine churches linked by ancient paths and tracks joining the villages. The village of Halki keeps alive the unique citrus distilling tradition; Filoti spreads in the lee of Mt Zeus, the highest mountain in the Cyclades, with excellent walking; Apiranthos exhibits the local marble in steep stairs while offering giddy sea views to the east. The plateau has scattered fortified towers, and two of the island’s three unfinished statues of Kouros, dating from around the 7th century BC, lie on the hills where they were carved.
naxos.gr
herbalwalks

Naxos has everything. A headland marked by a temple ruin greets you as your ferry arrives. The harbour lies directly below the Old Town (Kastro), a maze of narrow alleyways on a steep hill and, at its foot, the new town (Chora) with plenty of shops and tavernas and a lovely sandy beach just beyond. No need to hire a car; the island can be explored by bus and on foot to reach various small archaeological sites. For a whole island of antiquity, take the day trip to Delos (with Mykonos thrown in). The able-bodied should stay in one of the small hotels such as Anixis in the picturesque Old Town: plenty of steps but no traffic, not even bicycles!
Anixis Hotel, Amfitritis Str, Old Town of Naxos, hotel-anixis.gr
DUBrown

Koufonisi
This is a little gem south of Naxos. Because of its size, it gave us a feeling of being in a different world. On the east coast you will find small bays that give the illusion of being alone on the island. We stayed in a small studio close to Finikas beach, perfect for the small budget we had then. If I ever return – and I hope that will happen one day – I would try to get a place in the Windmill Villa, a refurbished windmill close to the sea.
Windmill Villa, +30 210 7293789, windmill-villa.gr; koufonissia.net
Moetorhead

Ionian Islands

Agni Taverna, Corfu. Photograph: David Pick/Alamy

Corfu
Agni Taverna is a psaro (fish) taverna on a small beach tucked away in Agni Bay, on Corfu. They serve the most delicious food, particularly seafood, with views over the water to the Albanian mainland – at night the moon rises over the bay.
agni.gr
PhilFerris

Meganisi
Even in August you’ll have plenty of space on the beach at Spilia, on Meganisi’s north coast. George’s Taverna is at the end of the bay. If you come by boat you can use their lazy lines for mooring. Super taverna – you can order fresh bread from the village or, if you fancy an early morning walk, visit the village yourself. Small pebbles and sand gently shelve into a crystal clear bay – lots of fish to spot if you go snorkelling.
meganisi.gr/EN/
Nipper1517

Paxos
Tiny but perfectly formed, Paxos is less than an hour from Corfu by hydrofoil. The main town of Gaios is where you’ll see swanky yachts, but inland is a quiet island covered with olive groves, donkey tracks and beautiful flowers. Life here is lived at a slow pace. The tiny village of Magazia has a wonderful traditional taverna serving hearty Greek food. Not far from Magazia, in Castanida, is the Sunset Taverna, which does what it says on the tin: you can climb up on to the slightly precarious plywood roof terrace for an unrivalled view of the sunset.
corfuvisit.net
Troutiemcfish

Antipaxos
Heaven is the small island of Antipaxos, three kilometres south of Gaios, the main town of Paxos, and reached by a sea taxi. It is full of olive groves, and there’s also sandy Vrika beach, a taverna overlooking the clear Ionian sea, an old lighthouse you can walk to, and a tranquillity and peace you find only in the land of the gods.
corfu-island.org/antipaxos.htm
Davidstephens

Zakynthos
If you’re heading to Laganas, on Zakynthos (which you should only do if you’re young and want to party), then the Plaza Hotel is the place to stay. It’s a few minutes from the main drag, but completely peaceful. No blaring music at the pool, simple but spacious rooms, fantastic bathrooms. The place is family-run – they make you feel incredibly welcome. The food was also great – almost didn’t need to eat out at all! Highly recommended; a piece of paradise in a typical party destination.
Plaza Hotel, Laganas, +30 26950 52419, zanteplaza.com
Heather25

Ithaca
The beautiful and peaceful island of Ithaca can be reached via Kefalonia for a day trip but better to spend a night or two (or longer). Travel up into the cool of the mountains and view the capital Vathi and its horse-shoe shaped harbour from way up above. Then cool off on one of the island’s quiet pebble beaches – the crystal clear waters make up for the lack of sand. Maybe head to the pretty village of Frikes, then back to Vathi for dinner at one of the many tavernas on the harbour front, where you can indulge in a spot of yacht envy. If travelling back via Kefalonia, get the late evening ferry and watch the sun set over the Kefalonian mountains – breathtaking.
ithacagreece.com
Nimmy75

Kythira
The waterfalls at Milopotamos, on Kythira, are worth a trip. In the village of Milopotamos, head to the main square and ask where the path to the waterfalls is. From there, it is a 15-minute walk. The scenery is great and the feeling when arriving at the falls lovely.
Demikaz

Crete

Religious icon, Panayia Church, Spilia, Crete. Photograph: Nicholas Pitt/Alamy

Kolokitha is a peninsula linked to the mainland by a causeway, with a lovely taverna, a sunken city, a Byzantine mosaic and lovely small beaches to enjoy. Take the sharp turning to the east when driving from Agios Nikolaos to Elounda, drive along the causeway by the Venetian salt flats, over the hump-backed bridge, and enjoy.
Michellegrand

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/may/09/greek-islands-crete-naxos-skyrios

I met Manoli Foundoulakis on 20 January 2007, in a hotel in Crete. It was at exactly six o’clock in the evening. His punctuality was only one of the many differences between Manoli and every other Greek I had ever encountered. We met because I had written a novel set on Spinalonga, a small island off Crete, which was a leper colony from 1903 until 1957, and Manoli had been asked to write a foreword to the Greek edition. He was a former leprosy sufferer, and still lived in the village opposite the island.

1. OxTravels: Meetings with remarkable travel writers (Ox Tales)

2. by

   Michael Palin

3. 
   
4. Buy it from the Guardian bookshop

When I wrote The Island, my complete lack of Greek meant that I had not been able to do any research about the people who had lived on Spinalonga. Everything about the island itself, the patients and the doctors came from my imagination as I sat at my desk back in England. Indeed, Manoli was the first European with leprosy that I had ever met. I had always maintained a firm conviction that those who suffered from this disease would be as funny, clever, charming and wise as anyone else. Why would they not? And in Manoli, I saw how close to the truth my instinct had taken me.

When he emerged from the shadows of the hotel foyer to shake my hand, I was shocked. This was not because of the way he looked as, in spite of the very obvious damage that had been done to his face by the disease, Manoli was still a handsome man. It was more the feeling that a character in my novel had come to life.

I was anxious that Manoli might be critical of the assumptions I had made about the lives of people with leprosy. Instead he thanked me for lifting the stigma that had blighted his life for so many years. However, at that first meeting, someone had to translate every sentence we spoke to each other. I decided there and then that I would find time to learn Greek in order to talk to Manoli. I began my lessons in London shortly afterwards and gradually realised my ambition.

Manoli lived in the hills overlooking Spinalonga, in the village of Ano Elounda, where the streets are too narrow for cars and the population is largely made up of beautiful but elderly widows in black. In summer, we used to sit on the steps in the street, beneath his vine, sipping the overpowering raki that he had distilled himself, and in winter we sat inside, my back almost melting from the heat of the wood fire that constantly blazed in the hearth.

Whenever I planned a visit to Manoli, I would put a dictionary in my bag and we would talk. His patience was matchless. One evening, when I took the narrow road up to see him, secure in the knowledge that he would be there, because he always was, I forgot both my dictionary and my glasses. So Manoli and I shared his thick-lensed spectacles along with the Greek-English dictionary that he kept in his kitchen, and for many hours we “talked”. It was painstaking work but meant that each sentence had to be worth constructing.

Manoli knew I loved to sit on a particular chair with my back to his fire and after a few hours there, I would emerge suffused with the aroma of wood smoke, my stomach full of horta (Greek spinach, for which he knew I had a passion), barbounia (red mullet), and coffee, which I would make under his careful instruction.

He taught me so much. The most obvious lesson was that, in spite of everything he had lived through and suffered, there was no place for self-pity. Unlike so many people, he never talked about himself, never once complained of anything.

Manoli was a very gifted man. He had immense powers of oratory, and when something stirred him, he could deliver a speech that moved everyone around him, mixing intellect and emotion in a way that even the most talented politicians often fail to do. He became chief adviser and consultant on the TV serial made for Greek television from my novel, and his house became a focal point for all actors who wanted to know what it felt like to suffer from this ancient disease. The series was dedicated to him.

He had an exceptional memory too. One afternoon during the last few weeks of his life last spring, I visited him in hospital with a Greek actor, Theodoros Katsafados, who was playing a leading role in the TV drama. Through the filter of his oxygen mask, Manoli began to recite verse after verse from the Erotokritos, an epic love poem written in the 17th century in Cretan dialect, by Kornaros, Greece‘s equivalent to Shakespeare. At a certain point, Theodoros joined in and they spoke the lines together but even he, who had held the stage at Epidaurus every summer for decades, was amazed at Manoli’s delivery and his powers of recall, which held us both spellbound.

Age meant nothing to Manoli. Until a few weeks before his death, he was as sprightly as someone half his age. Sometimes when I was with him, I felt that his walking stick was just a stage prop and that he might break into a dance routine like Fred Astaire.

The former leper colony of Spinalonga. Photograph: Alamy

When he went across to Spinalonga to play a role in the scene where the patients have all been cured and are leaving the island, he left his stick behind and marched holding my arm. It felt to me that I was supported by Manoli, not the other way round. He was determined to show the reality of the cure, and nothing could have demonstrated more eloquently that leprosy had been conquered than the sight of his abandoned walking stick.

His energy characterised everything – from his passionate devotion to his family, to his strong religious faith, to the way in which he expressed his ideas. Unlike so many people with firm opinions, he would speak and listen with the same level of concentration.

Whenever people talk of Manoli, they always mention his psyche – his “soul”. I think of this in the way I think of his hands: larger than life, generous, other-worldly. Perhaps both his soul and his hands were shaped and moulded by his experience of leprosy. The positive effect he had on those around him was something very out of the ordinary.

The timelessness of the village in which he lived and the calmness with which we always talked made me feel that Manoli had all the time in the world. I felt that he would live forever: there seemed no reason for him not to, after all the physical and emotional assaults that he had survived.

Just before he died, he told me he was ready to go. With his immensely strong faith, I know he was and, moreover, that he was looking forward to it. On 28 May 2010 he died, peacefully at the age of eighty-seven. For him it was the right time: his punctuality was immaculate to the end.

• This is an extract from OxTravels, featuring the travel experiences of some of the world’s best travel writers. The book raises money for Oxfam (oxfam.org.uk)

Article source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/may/21/victoria-hislop-crete-leper-colony