Desert Whale said:

I am thinking about holidays in Europe next summer. Please, recommend something interesting in your country for a guy of European origin coming there for one week, up to 10 days. Thx in adv.

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Desert Whale said:

I am thinking about holidays in Europe next summer. Please, recommend something interesting in your country for a guy of European origin coming there for one week, up to 10 days. Thx in adv.

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Mystras and Monemvasia, the great Byzantine castles of the Peloponnese, remain alive and convey to visitors all the story of the past.

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Η Αθήνα είναι μια πόλη κρυμμένων «θησαυρών». Μπορεί να μην έχει την προφανή ομορφιά και τη μεγαλοπρέπεια άλλων ευρωπαϊκών πρωτευουσών, όμως διαθέτει χαρακτήρα και πολλές μικρές και μεγαλύτερες γωνιές, καμιά φορά άγνωστες, που αξίζει τον κόπο να τις εξερευνήσει κανείς και τελικά να εντυπωσιαστεί. Εξίσου συναρπαστική με την ανακάλυψη νέων τόπων όμως είναι και αυτή των γεύσεων, οι οποίες επίσης μπορούν να μας ξαφνιάσουν ευχάριστα και –γιατί όχι– να μας ταξιδέψουν ακόμα και πίσω στον χρόνο. Λαμβάνοντας αυτά υπ’ όψιν, η εταιρεία Big Olive του Γιάννη Ζάρα, η οποία δραστηριοποιείται στον χώρο των θεματικών, σεμιναριακού τύπου ξεναγήσεων στην πόλη, εγκαινιάζει τον κύκλο ειδικών διαδρομών Ιστορίας και Γαστρονομίας.

Πόσοι άραγε από τους κατοίκους της Αθήνας έχουν ανέβει ώς το δάσος της Καισαριανής και τη βυζαντινή μονή που βρίσκεται μέσα σε αυτό; Βρίσκεται μόλις λίγα λεπτά με το αυτοκίνητο από το κέντρο της πρωτεύουσας. Περνώντας εκεί το μεσημέρι Σαββάτου, καλεσμένοι της Big Olive για ένα preview του περιπάτου «Του Υμηττού το Μέλι» –ο συγκεκριμένος επιλέχθηκε από το περιοδικό πτήσεων της Iberia και βρέθηκε στη διάθεση 1,5 εκατομμυρίου επιβατών–, μπορέσαμε κι εμείς να εκτιμήσουμε τη φυσική ομορφιά καθώς και την ιστορικότητα του τόπου· ταυτόχρονα απολαύσαμε ένα μενού γεύσεων με αγνά υλικά και άρωμα βυζαντινό.

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Things to do in Athens

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Why I Love Greece
By Korina Miller, Writer

I first visited Greece as an 18-year-old, sleeping on the decks of slow-moving ferries, living on olives and feta, and constantly salt-crusted from swimming in the deep blue Aegean. But it was a starlit performance at the 3rd-century BC Theatre of Epidavros that sealed my love of the country. Watching the ancient Greek drama unfold before me as I sat on stone seats worn smooth by thousands of years of use, I felt caught in a moment that seemed to sidestep time. I love Greece because magical moments like that one aren’t so hard to find here.

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11. Ios, Cycladic Islands, Greece

Now we’ve all signed up to save the planet, a few people have to physically make this happen. A Greek philanthropist and philosopher-king has just bought a third of the unspoilt Cycladic island of Ios – to preserve its staggering natural beauty and to allow people to love the living of life, luxuriously and responsibly. Some 95 per cent of the land is going to remain untouched.

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13. Peloponnese, Greece

Old and new can make intriguing bedfellows. And there’s no doubt that the Peloponnese delivers when it comes to “old”. This colossal peninsula, swelling for more than 8,300 square miles at the south-west corner of Greece, was the arena in which many of the country’s ancient dramas played out.

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7 Fakistra, Greece

More of a cove than a beach, backed by cliffs and dense woods, with white sands and pebbles and clear blue waters – is Fakistra on the Pelion peninsula (mainland Greece), below Tsagarada village. It’s a steep walk down but it’s the sort of place that, apart from in July and August, you may well have to yourself.

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BEST IN EUROPE FOR FAMILIES
13 St George Beach, Naxos, Greece

Greece has no shortage of gorgeous beaches, but when it comes to accessible and child-friendly options, the Cyclades island of Naxos is hard to beat. One of the best bets for families can be found within a five-minute walk of Naxos Town (Chora). The warm, shallow waters of St George beach are perfect for paddling and snorkelling but there’s plenty to keep older children happy, too. At the Flisvos Sport Club, you can sign up for windsurfing, wakeboarding or waterskiing, hire a mountain bike, or play a game of beach tennis or volleyball. The beach is lined with laid-back tavernas and beach clubs which hire out sun loungers.

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Most diving destinations around the world offer an opportunity to explore marine nature. In Greece, diving also offers a look into modern history.

From the Gulf of Evia to the Saronic Gulf, both close to Athens, and the Ionian Sea in western Greece, to the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea, Greece’s seabed is a vast museum of modern wrecks. Offering more than just rusted metal sheets, each wreck carries its own unique history.

Fighter planes that once tore through the skies, World War II naval submarines and destroyers that engaged in major battles, cargo and passenger ships that sailed the seas, lie sunken and preserved in good condition following their inglorious ends. Plunging into the waters and counting the meters is like counting the decades backwards until you reach these sunken ships and planes.

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