Vacation in Agioi Apostoloi, Kalamos

 In this new post a destination near to Athens will be briefly presented as an alternative to a daily excursion to the provinces of Attica; far away of the hectic life and the demonstrations of the busy city centre.

A view of the sea from the Panorama area

The place is called Kalamos,  its port Ag.Apostoloi  (the greek for Saint Apostles) and its distance from Athens centre is less than 50 Km, roughly an hour's journey by private car or public, fully air conditioned,  KTEL bus. You can find more about the geographical position here:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/8841766 I think the images of the sea speak for themselves.

A view from Kalamos Beach hotel

As far as accommodation is  concerned,  there are two hotels  in the Agona area by the beach: the newer and therefore more expensive Delphinia (Greek for dolphins) and the older but cheaper Kalamos  Beach, which now mostly hosts tourists groups from Russia and the eastern Europe. There also are  plenty of rooms, or flats to let by  the seaside, in addition to whole houses for rent. Prices are as low as 270 euros per month for a 100 square meters house. Many German pensioners live in the Agona area all the year round.
During the winter, there might be so heavy snowfall that the landscape resembles that of the Swiss alps. That might happen once in  five years. In such case, no traffic is allowed due to bad weather, one must have made beforehand food, fuel provisions  to last for a period of a few days. Having a power generator in case of a power outage or some extra wood logs for the fireplace is always a good idea. I am sure the locals will be suitable to offer you advice or help during the winter season.

Landscape during winter

When the weather is good, besides swimming, fishing or chatting with the anglers, sailing, sunbathing and enjoying the clean sea, one could visit the woods, the vineyards to consult with the expert wine makers, go sightseeing to the nearby site of Amphiarion which once served as an oracle, the monasteries, Oropos town or the island of Evia and so on. Finally,  a word of caution: during the  hot weekends, especially on Sundays; it is very crowded, there is difficulty in driving a private car in such narrow streets. Thus, during the weekend getting the bus is the ideal suggestion, for trouble free amusement. It is fully recommended to visit this place during working week days, for having your share of carefree fun in the sun!

Further references:
http://www.athensguide.org/blog/2008/11/ktel.html

Vacation in eastern Crete: visit the place of 'The Island' by Victoria Hislop!

In case you are fed up with programming and reading several books or manuals, this could be something of a break. This is a brief description of travel experiences in eastern Crete, or Kreta for German speaking people, that is Malia, Ag.Nikolaos, Neapoli, and finally Chersonisos. You can see the map on your left hand side, the position of the island of Crete in the Greek territory. If you have read, watched on television, or even heard of a book called 'The island' authored by Victoria Hislop: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Victoria-Hislop/dp/0755309510 printed in many editions, this  is the place mentioned in the text!
You can reach Crete by air, which is more convenient and a shorter trip, and by ship which  can last for 8 hours. Once you arrive, you certainly need a vehicle, because the island is big and there many places worth visiting, starting from...

Ag.Nikolaos
It is a crowded city, full of shops, traditional pubs, dancing clubs, restaurants etc. There is a fantastic salty  lake and a bridge linking the two parts of the city, which I very much enjoyed walking on. There is plenty of real estate property available here for sale. Pensioners or investors may make bargains. The place is most suitable for families and people who prefer a quiet vacation. In case you 'd rather a more hectic life, what follows might interest you more.

Malia 

It is a small notorious village in Crete, resembling rather more an English one. That is, it is full mostly of Britons having fun by the beach during daytime, or dancing, getting drunk and raving during the night. Please bear in mind that drunkards often cause riots there and the police arrest many people during the night. Apart from the nightlife, one can visit the archeological site of Malia and see the remains of the ancient palace, near the beach. You can see another picture of its beach below. As you can see part of it is sandy, while another part is rocky.

Chersonisos

This the place most loved by northerners. It is full of Scandinavian and German people wandering in its streets, visiting the jewelery, leather, pastry shops   and of course the beaches. The beaches there are mostly sandy and rather crowded. During the night the pubs are full of young people dancing and having fun. The nightlife is here more quiet and peaceful compared to Malia mentioned above.

Neapolis

Neapolis is a provincial town with old, traditional buildings, made mostly by stones. Its streets are narrow, there are only less than a handful   of cars crossing them, so this is  a chance  for you to exercise, by walking or jogging. There are naturally many old fashioned shops and modern department stores as well. The night life in Neapolis is quite peaceful and quiet. On your left hand side, is the view you see every morning outside the window, when you wake up. In addition to all the mentioned places, one can also visit the more high society, aristocratic Elounda and at last what so many people have been longing for: local authorities have announced that the island of Spinaloga will be now open to the public! 

Finally, as far as prices are concerned, some goods such as food and fuel are slightly more expensive than in Athens. On the other  hand, fruit, vegetables and olive oil are fresh, of high quality and at reasonable prices. Besides, the healthy Cretan diet is famous around the world. The people are hospitable, always obliged to the British commonwealth foreigner troops who helped them, all those having fought against the N.A.Z.I. invaders back in May 1941, organizing yearly memorials for the living, now over 90 years old soldiers to remember the ones who have fallen and express their gratitude. Furthermore,  there are plenty of ancient sites to see, lovely sea for sailing and swimming, fisheries and warm climate... Thus, visiting Crete might be an alternative suggestion one has to consider, before booking the  next  summer holidays! 

Estimate the taxi fare for your routes in Athens, Greece

Many people and mostly tourists, protest about the exorbitant fares paid to taxi drivers, especially in Athens, in greater Attica and other areas. In order to help the passengers in estimating beforehand their fare, I shall publish about  a Greek site, that is it has some text in Greek, I am afraid! So, you can visit the following blog url: http://www.zee.gr/taxi/ and click on taxi estimator to enter your starting point and destination, just by clicking on the map!