These flights are on the Norwegian Airlines site. I saw Gatwick to Santorini in June for £78 and in July £88, included taxes and fees. I searched three other of the big discount web sites and did not find Norwegian listed. Check out your city and destinations. Paros is an easy ferry trip from Athens, Mykonos and Santorini and not too bad from Crete.
Oh Yes, browse our economical villas for a full choice of dates.
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| Busy week day in September, Ag. Georgios, Antiparos |
That said, the evidence seems to be that the Brits and the Irish visitors were down this year. Americans are so few they don't register on the meter but are certainly appreciated by the islanders. I am encouraged by anything that shows Greece and the Greek islands in a good light to my fellow English speakers. So was pleased to hear about a concert tour that is designed to show the positive side of Greek culture.
More than a music show it will highlight poetry, video and paintings and feature some of the top names in contemporary music from Greece. Titled "The Other Side of Greece" it is one night only in London on 30 October. The performance is subsidized by the Greek National Tourism Organisation so tickets are only £10 for standing and £15 for seating. So if you are near London (or know anyone who will be) consider turning out for a night of celebrating the infectious Greek spirit.
More details on their Facebook page
As I wrote earlier we hosted the Paros Yoga Retreat in mid-September. I judge it successful because we frequently heard the comment, "It doesn't get any better than this!" Stella at Margarita Studios quickly became everyone's favorite "mom" because she took such great care of us. Every meal time was full of fake moaning and groaning about the quantity and quality of the choices available. As usual on Paros, we could taste the freshness of the locally grown ingredients.
The morning yoga sessions led by Bram Levinson were the start of days full of activities and serious beach time. After a sampling of several beaches, each person chose their favorite for frequent visits. The highlight of the tours and activities, if not the whole retreat, was the Antiparos boat trip with Captain Ben. That boat rocked!
For me it was a real pleasure to be surrounded by consistently happy, positive people. Everyone was able to put aside their pressures from back home and focus on enjoying the pleasure of a Greek isle.
For the yoga viewpoint I will refer you to Bram's blog.
"This retreat has been a really special one, in much different ways than previous ones. This group was the first to want to be together almost all the time. This group was the first to express the desire to have the classes brought to an intermediate level. And this group was the first that saw three people stay for the first week, and three more come for the last 4-5 days. Regardless of all of that, this group wasn't completely unique to past ones, as once again, a fantastic group of like-minded souls came together from different spots around the globe to bask in the soul-stirring energy that is only found in Greece."Read more from Bram
Attention Yoga Instructors: Together we can custom design your Greek island yoga retreat.
Attention Yoga Students: Investigate our personalized packages for your yoga journey.
When I think of old photos of Greece I am thinking of the period before tourism developed in the 1960's and 70's. Well how about 1903 to 1913! Check out this fabulous collection of "unspoiled" Greece.
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| The Acropolis in 1903 |
At my age those "Now I have seen everything!" moments usually apply to weird and wacky videos and photos on the internet. This week, however, I actually learned something new about ancient Greece.
Thanks to Greek Food by Sam(He used to write a good blog but now just Twitters occasionally: @greekfood) I discovered the Pythagorean Cup. Also known as a Tantalus cup it forces the user to drink in moderation only. If filled, it automatically siphons the entire contents out the bottom. Thus it can be used for practical jokes as well.
You might think this some modern gimmick using the ancient Greek theme but here is a photo of an apparently old cup. The photo is from Wikipedia where you also can learn more about how the cup works. Also shown are modern ones that you can find on Crete and Samos.
