Author: admin (Page 63 of 109)

Mainland must-see: the Halkidiki peninsula

July 10, 2013 / admin / 3 Comments

Golden sand beach crescents in Halkidiki’s beautiful West Sithonia region. The photo is from the Greece in Photos Facebook page. Click on the picture to view a full-size image.

Marvellous Macedonia: I wish I had longer holidays so I could spend more time exploring mainland Greece. One of the regions I’m eager to see is Macedonia, home to the city of Thessaloniki and to the stunning landscapes and seascapes of the Halkidiki peninsula. Marathias (pictured above) is just one among scores of beautiful beaches in Halkidiki. The gorgeous 200-meter-long golden sand beach, with a separate smaller strand nearby, is situated about 4 km south of Toroni in the peninsula’s West Sithonia region. Below is a Halkidiki Tourism Organization promotional video that shows some of the sights, scenery and activities that draw visitors to this dynamic area of mainland Greece.

Jackie O’ Beach Club is a classy new addition to legendary Super Paradise beach on Mykonos

July 2, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

The Jackie O’ Beach Club & Restaurant opened July 1 at Super Paradise beach on Mykonos. The aerial photo below shows the new club’s location on the hillside overlooking the west end of picturesque Super Paradise beach. The pictures were posted on Facebook by club co-owner Carsten Stehr, who created the stylish new beach venue with business partner Michalis Sigounas. Click on the images to view them in full-size format.

Club class: A stylish new restaurant and bar has opened at Super Paradise, one of the legendary party beaches on Mykonos.

Featuring Cycladic sculptural design elements in an amphitheatrical hillside setting at the west end of Super Paradise beach, Jackie O’ Beach boasts a large open-air bar, a 150-seat restaurant, private lounge areas, its own beachfront, swimming pool, jacuzzi and even a church. A Sotris clothing and fashion accessories shop is also part of the complex, which opened on the site of the former Coco Beach Club (see my August 16 2011 post for a description of the old club, as well as photos of the location’s terrific views of Super Paradise beach and bay).

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Καλό Μήνα! July’s arrival heralds the beginning of the peak summer beach season in Greece

July 1, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

July marks the start of the peak period for the summer tourist season in Greece. And with daily afternoon temperatures soaring into the mid-30s Celsius across the country, it’s also the beginning of the busiest period for beaches. Above is Myrtos beach on Kefalonia, one of the popular Greek islands in the Ionian Sea. The picture originally appeared on the Greece in Photos Facebook page.

Pic of the day: A village street on Sifnos

June 27, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

Spiral stairs add a pop of colour to a street in Apollonia village on Sifnos

Pic of the day: Panagia Ekatontapiliani on Paros

June 26, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

One of the most famous churches in all the Greek islands, Panagia Ekatontapiliani in the Paros port town of Parikia is more popularly known as the “Church of the 100 doors” (probably because most tourists can’t pronounce the tongue-twisting Greek name.) But depending upon where you stand when you behold this beautiful building (it was constructed during the 4th Century), you will probably see more sections of stone walls and tiled roofs than doors.

SkyGreece to launch Athens flights in early 2014

June 25, 2013 / admin / 12 Comments

SkyGreece Airlines posted this photo of a Boeing 767-300ER on its Facebook page this week. SkyGreece says it will receive the recently-purchased 274-seat aircraft in Athens sometime in early August.

Slow startup: North Americans will have to wait until 2014 to travel on a new airline that is planning to offer direct flights to Athens from Chicago, Toronto, Montreal and New York.

Early last fall, SkyGreece Airlines S.A. launched a website and Facebook page with announcements that it would commence direct service to Athens from the four North American cities in “Summer 2013.” The sparse, single-page website featured the SkyGreece logo with the catch phrase “A Greek spirit in the air,” and promised “Legendary Greek hospitality from take-off to landing!”

That news was followed by a flurry of Facebook posts, in November, December, and January, announcing various appointments to the upstart airline’s executive management team. And on February 15, SkyGreece posted a photo shot inside a hangar at the Hellenic Aerospace Industry facility at Tanagra, Greece, saying that’s where the airline’s “heavy maintenance program will be executed.”

But then there was no further news — until this week.

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All eyes on tonight’s ‘super moon’ above Greece

June 23, 2013 / admin / 0 Comments

Anthony Ayiomamitis captured this gorgeous photo of a golden full moon rising above the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion in Greece on May 5 2012. It’s the featured photo on the Astronomy Picture of the Day website.

Moon event: You can be sure that a lot of people in Greece will keep looking skyward tonight as the biggest full moon of 2013 rises on its dramatic pass across the sky.

According to the Astronomy Picture of the Day website, the exact full phase of the moon will occur at 11:32 UT, shortly before the moon reaches perigee — the closest point to Earth in the lunar orbit.

Since this Full Perigee Moon will be the biggest and closest full moon of the year, restaurants, bars and clubs across Greece will be celebrating the big occasion with a variety of events, from quiet viewings over cocktails to special dinner menus and even some all-night-long dance parties with world-renowned DJs entertaining.

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