MyGreeceTravelBlog.com
Photos & memories from our trips to Athens, the Peloponnese, mainland Greece & Greek Islands — plus profiles of places we would love to visit

  • Sleek new Athens International Airport website is a cool & inviting digital travel gateway to Greece

    Share

    Athens International Airport new website announcement

    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.

     

    One of the Athens airport website's time-lapse videos shows a dramatic sunset scene at Cape Sounion

    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.

     

     

    CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

  • Pic of the day: Seeing red on Samos

    Share

    Bold red bougainvillea cascades above the entrance to Hotel Helen in Vathi (Samos Town) on Samos

    A canopy of bold red bougainvillea above the entrance ensures that it’s easy to find Hotel Helen on Grammoy Street in Vathi on Samos island

     

  • Patmos international film festival starts Wednesday

    Share

    International Film Festival of Patmos (IFFP) promotional poster

    More than two dozen feature films, documentaries and shorts will be shown this coming week during the third International Film Festival of Patmos

     

     

    Reel thing: One of my favourite Greek islands, Patmos, is perhaps best known for the historic Monastery of St John the Evangelist, which is visited by scores of pilgrims, tourists and cruise ship passengers each year. But for the next seven days, the scenic Dodecanese island will be in the spotlight for an altogether different cultural attraction — the third International Film Festival of Patmos (IFFP).

    More than two dozen documentaries, shorts and feature films — including the current Hollywood hit Before Midnight, for which scenes were filmed in Messinia, Pylos and other parts of the southern Peloponnese of Greece — will be screened during the weeklong event, which runs July 24-31.

    Venues include the 400-seat Cinema Under the Stars, an open air theater at the School of Skala where feature films will be shown, and the 200-seat Documentaries and Shorts Hall at the Patmos Aktis Suites & Spa luxury hotel at gorgeous Grikos Bay.

     

    This 90-second clip is the official trailer for the International Film Festival of Patmos (IFFP). It offers an “eclectic tour” of Patmos, the IFFP website says, and gives “a glimpse of the island’s unique lifetstyle” by peering at scenery through foliage or from unexpected angles.

     

     

    CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

  • A quick video visit to Thessaloniki

    Share

    Here’s a short videoclip I discovered on Vimeo that offers a brief overview of and informative introduction to Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece. It features commentary by food journalist/TV personality David Rosengarten and was produced, directed and edited by Daniel Boneville.

     

  • Pic of the day: A geranium gateway on Ios

    Share

    a gate on Ios

    Brilliant red geraniums extend a colourful welcome at the entrance to a private home on the hillside above Gialos port on Ios island

     

  • Olympic Air offers fast island hopping alternative for travel between Mykonos, Santorini & Crete

    Share

    Olympic Air photo of an Olympic Q400 F2 aircraft

    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.

    CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

  • Mykonos food and drink 2013: Where to find the best summer beach parties and special events

    Share

    High on Heels at Guilty Beach Mykonos

    The High on Heels all-female collective of DJs, musicians and vocalists gave a live performance June 24 at the Guilty Beach restaurant & bar at Panormos beach

     

    [This is one in a series of reports about the Mykonos restaurant and bar scene this summer. The first part reviewed popular restaurants in and near Mykonos Town, while the second featured the top beach restaurants and tavernas. This post profiles venues and special events at Mykonos beaches.] 

     

    Beach bashes: The names of some of the top party venues on Mykonos — including Skandinavian Bar, Paradise Club and Cavo Paradiso — are practically household words in many parts of the world. But those aren’t the only places on the island where tourists and locals love to kick up their heels and party to music by top-flight international DJs or live entertainers.

    There are dozens of popular bars and clubs in the heart of Mykonos Town and several more at some of the island’s major beaches, while even a few upscale hotels and restaurants participate in the party spirit by hosting special entertainment events during the peak months of July and August.

    Here’s a look at the most popular Mykonos party beaches this season, with a peek at promotional posters for upcoming events as well as some parties that have already taken place (to illustrate the scope and diversity of the island’s summer entertainment program).

     

    Paradise Club Mykonos poster for Carl Cox event

    From the Paradise Club Facebook page, a promotional image for DJ Carl Cox, who headlined at the Paradise beach venue on July 19. The party lasted right through the night, with Carl Cox spinning until sunrise.

     

    CONTINUED ON PAGE 2

  • 50th annual Aegean sailing regatta starts today

    Share

    Aegean Sailing Rally poster

    The promotional poster for the International Aegean Sailing Rally, an annual competition that takes place from today through July 29.

     

    Milestone event: Competitors from around the world will set sail today in the International Aegean Sailing Rally, the most prestigious sailing regatta in Greece.

    Organized by the Hellenic Offshore Racing Club, the event was founded in 1964 and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

     

    CONTINUED ON PAGE 2