Category: Popular Posts

The most colourful hotel in the Cyclades

Eye-popping colours greet guests at the Sun of Mykonos Studios in the Klouvas area of Mykonos island, as this image from the studios’ Facebook page illustrates

Kaleidoscope of colour: A brightly painted hotel on Mykonos catches plenty of attention from motorists driving the highway from Mykonos Town to Ano Mera village and many of the island’s famous beaches.

With its bold red, blue, orange, yellow and green doors, shutters, handrails and decor accents, along with landscaped grounds bursting with brilliant bougainvillea blooms, geraniums and other flowers, Sun of Mykonos Studios is a veritable kaleidoscope of colour that turns the heads of many people passing by on the island’s busy main highway.

But I’m surprised that its reasonable rates don’t stop more people in their tracks or draw a waiting list a mile long.

Although Mykonos is one of the most expensive tourist destinations in Greece, Sun of Mykonos offers 35 air conditioned studios at amazingly affordable rates.

From September 1 to 15 of this year, for example, the standard nightly rate for a double room was €40, while a triple was €60 and an apartment for 4 persons was just €80. Even in August, which is the ultimate peak season for travel to the Greek Islands, a room was still available for €85 per night.

The Sun of Mykonos Studios has a swimming pool with sunbeds and a poolside bar. The property is only 900 meters from Ftelia beach.

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September 28, 2013
Flipping over Firostefani & cartwheeling above the caldera: Art of Motion event returns to Santorini

The spectacular Santorini caldera scenery provides a breathtaking backdrop for amazing acrobatic maneuvers by freerunners Ryan Doyle and Bartje van der Linden. Extreme photographer Predrag Vuckovic captured the pair in midair action at Andronis Luxury Suites in Oia during a photo shoot to promote this Saturday’s Red Bull Art of Motion 2013 competition

Santorini somersaults: Whenever I book a trip to Greece, I practically bounce off walls with excitement. The thrill of returning to my favourite holiday destination is so strong, I almost have to restrain myself from jumping for joy, shouting from rooftops and turning cartwheels in the street.

Coincidentally, that’s exactly what 18 acrobatic athletes will actually be doing on Santorini this coming Saturday afternoon as they participate in the third annual Red Bull Art of Motion 2013 freerunning championship.

Cheered on by thousands of spectators, the young competitors will jump, flip, roll and hurl themselves over roofs, walls, streets and steps on the cliffside of Firostefani village while a panel of judges scores their tricks, stunts and style.

Freerunning is an artistic offshoot of the sport of parkour. Freerunners, also known as urban body artists, creatively express themselves by running, vaulting, tucking, twisting and rolling over objects in their path — which, in Firostefani, will include a series of whitewashed cliffside hotel buildings, steps, paths and walls.

The Art of Motion event was first held on Santorini in 2011, and a second championship took place last September.

This week, competitors were showing off their stunts and style at photoshoots, demonstration events and qualifying rounds held at various places on the island, including the Andronis Luxury Suites in Oia.

This Red Bull promotional poster illustrates the freerunning course that the Art of Motion competitors will negotiate in Firostefani on Saturday afternoon

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September 12, 2013
Sleek new Athens International Airport website is a cool & inviting digital travel gateway to Greece

Athens International Airport new website announcement by the site’s creator, Mozaik Integrated Digital Marketing Agency

Digital travel: Athens International Airport has launched a striking new website that helps enhance the airport experience for travellers and establishes an impressive “digital travelling gateway” to Greece for business and leisure visitors alike.

Designed by Mozaik Integrated Digital Marketing Agency, the sharp-looking new website is clean, crisp and easy to navigate, offering quick-to-find information about virtually everything any traveller might need to know about the airport’s services and facilities — and how and where to find them.

From real-time flight arrival and departures to airport access and transportation services, from corporate and business information to guides to duty free shops and tourism services, the website has it all — in a fun and dynamic presentation that features vivid time-lapse videoclips of scenes from the airport and Athens area.

This screen capture from the new Athens International Airport website shows one of the time-lapse video sequences that greets online visitors. This particular clip shows part of a dramatic sunset scene at spectacular Cape Sounion.

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July 25, 2013
Olympic Air offers fast island hopping alternative for travel between Mykonos, Santorini & Crete

An Olympic Q400F2 in flight. Image provided courtesy of Olympic Air.

Air hops: Two new Olympic Air routes give travellers an appealing and much faster alternative to ferry travel if they’re island hopping between Mykonos, Santorini and Crete this summer.

The routes, between Mykonos and Santorini, and between Santorini and the city of Heraklion on Crete, will operate three days per week only until September 15.

The inter-island flights each take 35 minutes or less and are offered on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. The new routes were introduced on June 30 to coincide with peak travel season in Greece. The flights are not offered at other times of the year.

The routes enable travellers to move between the islands in about half the time it would take on highspeed ferries, and in some cases offer considerably more convenient morning departure and arrival times.

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July 22, 2013
Jackie O’ Beach Club is a classy new addition to legendary Super Paradise beach on Mykonos

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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July 2, 2013
Aegean & Olympic Air introduce low fare calendars

Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air have both added low fare calendars to complement their online reservation systems

Look way ahead: Two Greek airlines have enhanced their online booking systems with new calendars that make it easy for travellers see the lowest available airfares for the next 11 months.

In their regular weekly email updates this week, Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air both announced their new low fare calendars, which provide at-a-glance information on the cheapest airfares being offered over the course of the following 11 months.

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June 26, 2013
All eyes on tonight’s ‘super moon’ above Greece

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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June 23, 2013
Island sail tour is a must for Milos visitors

A poster at the Adamas marina advertises the daily Milos tours that J & J Yachting offers on the sailboat Joanna I

Milos must-see / must-do: One of the top tourist activities on Milos in the southwest Cyclades is a day trip that actually takes place off the island — on a sailing yacht or tour boat cruise along the marvellous Milos coastline.

Created by 3 million years of volcanic activity, Milos boasts some of the most impressive landscapes in all the Greek islands, including dozens of breathtaking beaches and a spectacular 139-kilometer-long coastline.

The stunning coastal scenery is best viewed from the sea, of course, and a variety of sailboat tours and day cruises are available from Adamas, the main port town on Milos. Excursions typically depart the Adamas marina between 8 and 10 a.m. in the morning, and return by sunset. Many of the sailboat tours take sightseers past western Milos as far as the dramatic cliffs at Kleftiko, near the island’s southwest tip, while other excursions travel completely around Milos. Some tours offer trips to Antimilos, Kimolos and other nearby islands.

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June 18, 2013