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Santorini is a beautiful and impressive island known all over the world for its active volcano. Its last eruption took place in 1950 but more than 100 eruptions have taken place during the last 40 centuries. The most disastrous one occurred 3.5 thousand years ago and lead to the burial of a flourished civilization under tonnes of lava. The eruptions followed by lava spreading have lead to the creation of two small islands in the centre of the caldera area of Santorini, named as Palea Kameni (Old Burnt island) and Nea Kameni (New Burnt island). The first one is 2,000 years old consisting of a thin fertile soil level where locals cultivated animal feed, in the past. Nowadays, one can see wild animals like rabbits or goats that try to survive there. The second island, Nea Kameni, is much bigger that Palea Kameni and is composed of lava rocks with a few plants and rabbits as well as a lot of lizards living there.
The two small volcanic islands are surrounded by the Santorini complex which consists of Thira (the half moon shaped island), Thirasia (on the north west side of Thira) and Aspronisi (south Thirasia) which are the earth parts that stayed above sea level after the volcano eruption, 3,500 ago, that created the caldera of Santorini.
The eruptions were always preceded by warnings such as water warming, water subsiding, earthquakes.
The Santorini volcano has been sleeping for the last 60 years while hot springs on the coasts of Palea and Nea Kameni and gas emissions remind people of its being alive. However, scientists have installed an equipment network in order to get notified of any pre-eruption phenomenon so as to keep save both locals’ and visitors’ lives.
Guided tours are organized to the volcano area so everybody can visit it, swim in the medicinal baths of the hot springs and see the rocks or the soil that have been created by the lava.
One of the most beautiful islands in Greece is Lefkada which lies in the Ionian sea.
The island has natural beauties that never end. Breath taking sandy beaches like Egremni, Porto Katsiki and Agiofili, capes, natural anchorages and harbours, like the one in Vassiliki.
There is a perfect combination between the green mountains and the turquoise waters of the sea.
Even Onassis loved this island so much that he bought the island of Skorpios which is located next to Lefkada.
www.villangela.gr/lefkada_lefkas_greece.html
www.lefkada.gr
www.greekisland.co.uk/lefkas/lefkas.htm
Should you ever travel in Greece, there is one thing you definitely must do: taste the “frappé”. It is a mixture of instant water coffee and sugar shaken and served in long glasses accompanied by a straw. It is iced and a thick foam layer covers its top. Some people add milk in it and some others add a scoop of ice cream, dependent on one’s preferences. I have also tasted it with Bailey's and I got excited!
To cut a long story short, Frappé is a cultural issue in that country. Vivian Constantinopoulos and Daniel Young have written a very interesting book entitled “Frappé nation” where they analyze every aspect of the Frappé as a cultural item. They call it “The Modern Greek Elixir” and I totally agree with them. I have experienced the Frappé ritual several times as I visit Greece every summer. I have a lot of friends there who are fond of the Frappé and so am I. It is a long drink that helps Greeks to wake up in the morning, provides them with energy, thanks to caffeine, during the day at work, and relaxes them in the evening, at a café with fellows. Many of them, who travel abroad for a long stay, carry in their luggage the Frappé equipment because they can’t stand missing it.
According to the writers of the “Frappé nation”, Frappé should be considered as the Greek coffee instead of the small hot coffee that has come from eastern countries and is also known as Turkish. In my opinion, it is a reasonable point of view and Greeks should take it seriously into account. Moreover, I have read a thought expressed by a Greek film actor in that book that attracted my attention. He says that ancient Greeks would have been perfect Frappé drinkers had it arrived in their country earlier than it finally did. They had plenty of free time and lots of issues to discuss, so Frappé was ideal for their daily life as it reinforces brain activation and is a perfect drink within a brain storming company!
Frappé is a Greek trademark that reflects the easy going way of living of this country, a way that dates back Greek ancestry, as Constantinopoulos and Young mention appositely, where “the thirst for conversation began” among the “pioneers of the culture of dialogue”.
A web directory dedicated to links related to Samos and particularly tourism.
You can still stand, or stand still, at the foot of a thousand years of history housed in the Hozoviotissa monastery, and watch from above the dolphins who come to breed off the North East coast of Amorgos.
The nearest Aegean islet floats, the head of a half submerged hippo, guarding their privacy. The monastery is an enormous seagull stain on the dramatic cliffs, and preserves the tradition of a penitential climb towards the miracles and the icon. Except in August, of course, when Mainland Greeks, American Greeks, Italians, French and even some Spanish cinephiles, turn the peaceful pilgrimage into one of the more crowded circles of Hell.
Amorgos, because of the ten hours on the ferry from Pireaus, preserves other traditional Cycladic experiences; the crystal sea, the pristine beach, the picturesque eateries. The main village, Hora Amorgou, is renovating its windmills in homage to, and hopes of, the tourist trade on Mykonos, and high summer brings a tribe of jewellery making ‘trustafairians’, vaguely Goan English public school ‘hippies’ on extended gap years, ‘just travelling round the Med’. So, there are slow changes, and the island is not quite the hermit paradise it used to be. Its starring role in The Big Blue was not a killing blow, however. The virtues of Amorgos performed slow judo on the crowds pulled in by the movie, almost as if the fervent hopes of the cinema tourist had actually managed to reproduce the scenery, the characters and the atmosphere they were expecting from the island. What really happened was that the movie caught some of what was already there, and amplified it, and then the unique conditions of Amorgos, the geography, the history and the sociology, trapped the wave of tourism and coped with it, just like it coped with the tsunami at Ayiali after the 1956 earthquake. Your photographs should feature a small, dark, native and attractive bottle of ‘Psimeni Raki’ , to celebrate this success.
Airport: Athens, then Pireaus and a ferry. Tourist Office: ORMOS EGIALIS
84008 AMORGOS
Greece
phone : (2285)73094
fax : (2285)29099
Email : info@amorgos.net
www.amorgos.net/
I think Craft is Greece's only microbrewery. Its excellent beers are on sale in various bars in the city and elsewhere in Greece. The bar/restaurant on Alexendras Ave also houses a brewery and serves beer-friendly grub.
The smoked lager is particularly unusual and goes well with the sausage platter. Red Ale, Black Lager and Weiss beer also tasty.
205 Alexandras Avenue
Tel: +30 210 646 2350
www.craft.gr/
Nearest station: Ampelokipoi
I've not been to its namesake on top of the Hilton but I imagine they couldn't be more different. Located in a shopping arcade (!) the Galaxy is an old-school bar that doesn't feel like it's changed since the 60s. Pictures of Kerouac, Balzac, Jack London and Beethoven behind the bar. Dapper barman serving seasoned drinkers.
Stadiou 10 (in shopping arcade)
210 322 7733
Nearest metro: Syntagma
Wonderful private museum housed in a beautiful mansion. What's great about the Benaki is that it offers a brilliant overview of Greek history (not just classical) through its collection of artifacts, art works, costumes and furniture.
Koumbari 1 (cnr Vasilissis Sofias)
210-3671000
Nearest metro: Syntagma
www.benaki.gr/
maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?cid=14957132971109921392&q=1+Koumbari&hl=en-GB
Budget hotel a short stroll from Plaka and Monastiraki metro stop. It's certainly no frills but also clean and friendly. Double rooms start at 57 euros (in season).
29, Eolou Street, Athens
+30 2103213175
www.tempihotel.gr/
Nearest metro: Monastiraki
Basically, nearly every village in Greece has a church named after a saint, and when it is that saint's day, the village usually has a party.
Ikaria is justly famous for its panagiria, which tend to start at midday and end when the last musician drops off his/he chair from exhaustion, some time around dawn the next day. Food is usually basic: roast goat, rice, chips and salad, with wine or beer to wash it down. Music (always live) tends to be predominantly nisiotika (traditional island music) with a fair amount of rebetika thrown in. All ages attend (at one, the youngest person at our table was my daughter, then aged 6 months, and the oldest, my wife's aunt aged 102!).
You will drink and you will dance, even if you normally do neither. Fantastic fun, and a great chance to participate in a folk culture that is very much still alive.
Ask around when you get there or check this site:
www.island-ikaria.com/
Pleasant live music venue, featuring local jazz and "world music" musicians, along with some more interesting contemporary Greek acts.
Popular jazz trio Human Touch are highly recommended, although they do not play here as often as they used to. Armenian Haig Yazdjian is another regular who is always worth hearing.
Konstantinoupoleos & Agiou Orous, Kollonos,
Post code: 10447
Telephone: +302103474074
Live Jazz venue at the music school run by outstanding bassist Giorgos Fakanas. Apart from his own band, who are usually outstanding, I have seen acts there such as Allan Holdsworth, Wallace Roney, Mike Stern and Birelli Lagrene. Highly recommended to all jazz fans.
3 Poseidonos Ave., Neo Faliro,
Tel 210 4813605
Greece is mainly famous for its ancient glorious past; thus, the museums that are associated with that period are the mostly visited. However, Greece kept on living and evolving and there are many museums that are addressed to every kind of taste.
ANTIQUITY-RELEVANT: This year, the New Museum of Acropolis (www.newacropolismuseum.gr/ ) opened. Its ambition is to house all the finds and statues that were discovered in Acropolis from archaic till Roman times. In the National Archaeological Museum you will have the chance to see a panorama of ancient Greek art, its development and some of the major artworks of that period. You can also experience ancient Athens through a virtual reality time travel in the Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Centre, which is housed in an original industrial complex. Grasp the opportunity of seeing how the Ancient Agora or Ancient Olympia really looked like!
FOR ART/HISTORY LOVERS: The National Art Gallery and the National Museum of Contemporary Art house collections of contemporary Greek painting and art. There is also the National History Museum for those who want to get acquainted with the medieval and modern Greek history.
FOR CHILDREN: In the Hellenic Children’s Museum, children can combine playing with learning, in the Goulandris Museum of Natural History they will come in contact with the elements of the natural environment whereas in the Museum of Touch they will have the chance to touch every single exhibit. There is even a Museum of Children’s Toys.
VARIOUS: The Museum of Islamic Art, the Jewish Museum and the Numismatic Museum are considered to be among the best of their kind in a global level.
So, if you want to scratch the surface of the city in order to reveal its real self, visits to the museums are definitely recommended.
For a list of the museums of Athens, you can check: www.athens-greece.us/athens-museums/
Mykonos is the queen of entertainment. So, anyone who visits Mykonos should try at least once go to a really cool bar to dance till the first morning hours and drink some original cocktails.
I think that the bar El Pecado is an excellent choice. It is considered to be one of the hot spots of the island and a must-visit bar. We were sent there by a local when we asked him for a good place to drink nice liquor and dance like crazy!
We were very satisfied by what we saw. It has a medieval-style decoration, reminding of a church, with Argentinean and Spanish elements. There are also wall paintings representing Adam Eve. We stayed the first hours on the balcony, feeling the breeze of the Cycladic wind and looking the lights of the port. Then, when we felt ready for partying, we entered in the main clubbing area and danced mostly Latin music but also some popular mainstream songs.
“El Pecado” means “sin”, and you should know that it was not named like this at random. We left when the sun had already risen and I wish I had taken my sunglasses with me, because I definitely needed them when I got out of El Pecado…
I recommend to everyone visiting Mykonos and wants to feel a little –or, actually, a lot!– of its party spirit to go to El Pecado for an unforgettable, “sinful” night!
For a list of Mykonos bars, check www.mykonos-hotels.info/nightlife.asp
This amazing free art space in Santorini is housed in two wine cellars, a rake distillery and the large caved space of the old winery, carved into the pumice rock.
For sightseeing on a budget, you couldn't do better - check out some contemporary art and sculpture from Greek and foreign artists.
Then when you've worked up a thirst, head over to the modern winery for a tasting. Specialities include the delicious Vino Santo, a sweet dessert wine, and Tsikoudia, a drink made from grape pomace, the solid remains of the grape after pressing.
It's far cheaper than touring vineyards in Tuscany, and you get a dose of edgy art on the side!
Exo Gonia, 84700 Santorini, Greece
Antonis Argyros
www.artspace-santorini.com/
Mykonos oozes chic, but this cute and quirky guesthouse is an oasis of affordable, but comfortable, rooms amongst the boutique hotels and super-luxe villas.
Perched on a hillside, the guesthouse is located above the School of Fine Arts, and is solar-powered. So far, so Mykonos.
But inside it's a far less trendy affair, a jumble of cosy rooms with traditional whitewashed walls and splashes of bright decor.
With a pretty terraced garden, sweet sleepy cafe and rooms opening out to the sea, the location is peaceful but only a few steps into the town center.
The lovely owners will offer to pick you up from the airport, and you can hire bikes to explore the surrounding countryside.
Perfect for a laid back and romantic island escape.
School of Fine Arts, Mykonos Island, Cyclades, Greece 84600
Book on www.hostelbookers.com/hostels/greece/mykonos-island/10117/
Lefkada is a fantastic and relatively unknown island. The small tourist strip of Nidri is not the most attractive part of it, but if you head down to the pretty harbour front you can rent a motor boat for the day and live out those James Bond fantasies on the cheap. We paid sixty euros all in - very good value considering that a boat can hold six people.
You then have about twenty square miles of sea and several gorgeous islands to call your own. We spent a very pleasant day cruising between them, stopping off at a small harbour-side cafe on Meganissi for a frappe, anchoring in various deserted bays for a spot of snorkelling, and inspecting the Onassis family's private island of Skorpios.
We used Trident Hire and found them to be reliable and good value, but there are two or three other companies at the harbour offering similar deals.
Trident Hire
Tel: +30 697 798 8610
www.tridenthire.com
It doesn’t have to be all beaches and boats. For an alternative Grecian experience, take the train inland from Athens to Kalambaka, the end of the line west. A short taxi ride to Kastraki village brings you to the heart of the spectacular Meteora region, famous for the monasteries impossibly perched on top of the dramatic rocky outcrops.
Stay at the modest but charming Doupiana House hotel and wonder at the stunning sights from the veranda. But don’t stop there, get walking and follow the winding road up to the highest monastery for the cheapest and most rewarding journey you’ll ever make.
Doupiani House, Kastraki (nearest station Kalambaka)
The best and cheapest way from Athens airport to Piraeus, where all the ferries go from, is the E96 bus. It departs every 15 minutes from airport arrivals, direct to the ferry quay. €3.50 (The Metro is interesting but you have to change at Monastiraki)
Budget (or indeed any) travellers to Greece should look out for evening 'summer cinemas' where locals sensibly sit outside to watch films, rather than sweat it out inside. They're also great value (although you might want to spray yourself with insect repellent first). The most spectacular has to be the rooftop Cine Paris right in the historic centre of Athens where the action on screen has to compete with the magnificent view of the Parthenon. Wonderful.
Plaka Square, Athens
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