Here are a few items that I should have reported on earlier.

The archaeological excavations on Despotiko off the south coast of Antiparos produced major finds this summer.

While uncovering a wall of an archaic building they discovered half of a “kouros” that matches the other half found in 2005.  They found a head in 2010 that may belong to the same statue.  All of which are of excellent quality and are of a style used on Paros in the 500’s BC..

It is possible to arrange boat tours of Despotiko and adjacent Tsimintiri where other large ruins have been unearthed.  That is on our list of things to do this September.

Another positive achievement for 2011 is flat taxi and limo rates between the Athens airport and central Athens.  In the past this was a major sore point as many taxi drivers took advantage of unaware visitors.  So now you are aware of the following:

Fare for Taxis

DAY TIME FLAT FARE (05:00-24:00)

€35 AIRPORT TO ATHENS CITY CENTRE INNER RING

€35 ATHENS CITY CENTRE INNER RING TO AIRPORT

NIGHT TIME FLAT FARE (00:00-05:00)

€50 AIRPORT TO ATHENS CITY CENTRE INNER RING

€50 ATHENS CITY CENTRE INNER RING TO AIRPORT

1. The flat fare price depends on the time of arrival to the destination.
2. The flat fare includes all applicable surcharges (V.A.T., meter start, luggage, toll fee, and airport charge).

The fare to Piraeus is not fixed but under normal conditions it is officially indicated as €47 Day time and €72 night.  You still have to be aware of attempts at over charging or taking slow routes.  The best defence is to agree a rate in advance.

Finally be on the look out for Greece wines at your local importer.  Prior to the economic crisis 90% of Greece wines were consumed within Greece.  Read why I think this best.  But now sales are down by about 40% so winemakers have an incentive to export.  Undeniably the quality of the better Greece wines has increased over the last decade and are able to compete with the best from France, Oregon and other wine countries.  So help a Greek; drink a glass of wine from Greece.