Ursula’s Travels in Sunny Greece

Aegina

My dear readers, Aegina

this post is dedicated to a very nice island that is very close to Athens, in the Gulf of Saronic. It’s only 30 minutes trip with the speedy boat and it really worth even a day-trip!

This island is Aegina – or as I now use to call it …. l’isola delle Gine, in honor of my dear friends Sara & Sara that came from Italy and visited this island with me – we really had great fun !

Some info about Aegina – ελλ. Αίγινα

Aegina is a very small island, located in the Saronic Gulf, with Spetses, Poros and Hydra.

Due to the very proximity to Athens this small island attracts many tourists and also Athenians for a day trip :) – mostly in Summer for the nice beaches, the blue sea and relaxing environment – don’t forget even if it is so close to Athens Aegina is still an island … so different from the chaos of the city ….

It’s quite green with lot of olives trees and …. this island is very famous for its pistachios ! in Aegina you can find a countless way to cook, prepare and eat them in the nice “van-shops” at the port of Aegina ! after an all day spent under the sun you will come back to Athens full of sands and of pistachios !!! impossible to avoid it :)

The town is very characteristic, with beautiful neoclassical buildings – that have been partially renovated. The port too is very nice, and all around it you can find nice shops, nice kafenio, and of course the Church

Apart from the beaches, where the most famous is Agia Maria, Aegina is famous also for a Archeological Temple (that unfortunately I never visited :( ) of Athena Aphaia – on the way to Agia Maria Beach..

Let’s go to my trip

Actually the first time I went to Aegina was with a friend of mine Maria and her boyfriend – that introduced me to the island. Ι spent a very relaxing day with them :)

But I am going to talk about the second trip I did with my Italian friends – Sara&Sara that came to visit me because despite it was only a day-trip – we really experienced everything :)

missing the boat
risking to be invested in the port
experience real Greek kamaki
discuss with a Greek giagia’
take a taxi
enjoy fantastic day on the beach + fantastic lunch
shopping shopping shopping

Our trip started in Piraeus, one Saturday morning ……

Our trip seemed to start in the wrong way … we were about to miss our boat “nave del broccolo” due to some very impolite people that were not doing the queue .. but after we insisted and I spoke my super fluent Greek …. we got the tickets and were ready to leave …..

Then we pretty risked to be invested by a car in the port … because we were running since we were late ..…. please don’t be stupid like us / me and NEVER RUN IN ONE PORT …. mostly in Piraeus .. you can really hurt yourself !

But finally we were on board ! ready to leave for Aegina !

The trip with the ferry was very nice, the weather was fantastic and we relaxed so much !! Both Sara and Sara were wondering why I used to call classical ferries as “nave del broccolo” that means boats were you can “meet” greek kamaki and after a while they soon realized it :) there were already many Greeks interested in these 3 lonely and innocent Italian tourists ahhahah ! ready to provide any kind of information and of course asking to spend the day together ahahah !! that was fantastic and very funny ! I will never forget Sara&Sara faces !!

When we landed in Aegina of course I did my shooting session to my friends and then … we were ready to take the taxi to go to the beach !!

The Taxi … well I already posted a post on taxis in Greece…. but I should also write about giagia’ γιαγιά– Greek grandmothers. … the more terrible grandmothers of the world. …

Despite there were 20 people queuing under the sun, French, Greeks, Italians etc .. a Greek giagia just jumped in the middle of the street and tried to take a taxi complaining about something… but the taxi driver didn’t pick her up and she was waiting (on first line of course) until finally a taxi came and she left ….. no way to politely ask her to respect the queue …..

Finally it was our turn and we decided to stop not on Marathon Beach (where I have been the previous time) but on Aeginitsissa Beach – a very small nice beach with lot of trees that reached the sea. We spent our day there, having fun, talking, gossiping under the sun and staying hours in the sea :)

We had a lovely lunch in a very nice tavern close to the beach ….. and finally at around 5pm that taxi came to take us – as agreed.

SUGGESTION if you are going to Aegina and you move with the taxi I strongly suggest you to agree with the taxi about an hour for him to come and pick you up – back to the port :)

While we were waiting to leave we did shopping – we bought pistachios and fresh fruits (I forced Sara & Sara to eat all grapes I bought ahahhahah on our trip back to Athens ) – we visited the church and then … we came back to Athens ……

I will always remember this fantastic day with my friends ! I really had great fun and they really enjoyed this day trip too!

If you are in Athens for some days and you are tired about the city I strongly suggest you to visit the small and nice island of Aegina ! for me now you know … … l’isola delle Gine ….

Ciao !

φιλακια

Kymi

My dear readers this time I would like to dedicate a post to the chorio’ of my husband – the very nice town of Kymi, in the island of Euboea

Some info about Kymi – ελλ. Κύμη

The nice and green town of Kymi is located in the island of Euboea – at about 2 hours of car from Athens. You may have heard about Kymi since from there you can reach the Sporade island of Skyros – on a daily basis – and in Summer there are direct connections with Alonissos, Skiathos and Skopelos, usually twice a week.

The island of Euboea is the second biggest Greek island, after Crete – and it is connected with the Mainland (Attiki) with a bridge. Therefore in order to reach Kymi you don’t have to take a boat but you can easily come with your car. Still there is a quick way to get there – taking a boat for 20’ from the port of Oropou to Eretria. From there you still have about 1h of trip.

The area of Kymi is very green and it really looks like all Sporades vegetations – the town is surrounded by old olive trees and cypresses and most of the houses are build with nice stones.

Kymi dominates the Gulf of Kymi from the hill and it is split into:

Kymi town
Paralia Kymi
Platana

The Town of Kymi is very nice, with nice houses and shops. The heart of the town is the Cathedral and it’s square – where kids play and all adult gather to drink coffee. There is a lovely shop there that sells handmade jewels and other handmade stuff – Koutelou. I love to do shopping there for myself and for presents at Christmas

Paralia Kymi is where you can find nice coffees, with view to the sea and as the name itself says – there you can find the beach of Kymi. The port of Kymi has been recently renovated and it is now very characteristic. I think that the municipality of Kymi is trying to push for making this small town a summer destination and the renovation of the port is one of the main step they should have done – I wish other are to come (like for example improving the beach of Kymi).

Platana is on the road that lead you to Kymi where you can find delicious psari-taverna (fish restaurants) . My favorite is the Koutelos – with fresh fish that they personally fish in the night. If you go there try also the fried bread …. my mouth is still watering :)

http://www.web-greece.gr/restaurants/koutelos/index.htm

Kymi is also very famous because the inventor of the Pap Test was born there – on the main square there is a monument of Georgios Papanikolaou

What to do in Kymi

I usually go to Kymi for visiting my relatives. Kymi is a town to rest and relax. The main activity in Kymi is to drink coffee (pame gia caffee) or in the main square of Kymi or down in Paralia Kymi. In Summer you can also enjoy the sea of Kymi – there is a long beach that honestly I don’t really like BUT I can strongly suggest to go to the fantastic beach of Kalamos – half an hour from Kymi.

Have a look at this site to understand how much beautiful is this beach

http://www.evia-guide.gr/beach/%CF%80%CE%B1%CF%81%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%AF%CE%B1-%CE%BA%CE%AC%CE%BB%CE%B1%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%82.html

And if you like trekking do not miss having a walk on the mountains surrounding Kymi – you will have amazing view to Skyros and if you are lucky to Alonissos too

If you are taking the boat for Skyros I strongly suggest you to plan a stop to visit the nice town of Kymi and to enjoy the very nice food :) at Koutelos taverna

Ciao !

φιλακια

ps do not miss the opportunity to have a delicious ice-cream on your way to Kymi or when you come back to Athens ….. a friend of mine recently informed me about the opening of an “italian gelateria” with daily fresh ice-cream in the small village of Oropou! Go to Ninnolo and enjoy it :)

Epidaurus

Recently I visited the nice city of Nafplio and I also took the opportunity to visit again the outstanding Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, since it was on the way and very close – about 30’ with the car.

Some info about Epidaurus – ελλ. Επίδαυρος

The Ancient Theater of Epidaurus is about 2 hours of car from Athens. It’s one of the most outstanding, impressive and also the biggest Ancient Theater with a capacity of 14,000 people.

It is one of the major attraction on Peloponnese and in Summer there are different events, such as Festivals and Theatrical performances since it is well known for the perfect acoustic.

Have a look at the official Greek Festival Calendar http://www.greekfestival.gr

In Summer mostly ancient Greek tragedies are performed and you need to book the tickets pretty much in advance in order to be sure to see this event :)

Let’s go to my visit

I must admit that Epidaurus was one of the first archeological site (after Acropolis) that I visited. I can understand why people are gathering there for visiting this place full of history.

First of all due to the beauty of this place ….. the Theater is hidden in a fantastic nature, forest – actually when you come to Epidaurus you really do not imagine where this huge Ancient Theater is located – there is such a nice walk in the forest ….. with the birds singing …. and a nice walk with steps … and magically … here you are ! Facing the beautiful ancient Theater of Epidaurus ……

Even if you are not going to see a Greek tragedy, you can enjoy the beauty of this place and understand the acoustic. Just in the middle of the arena, there is a round flat marble stone – please go there … put yourself right in the center of it .. and say something ….. everybody in the Theater will be able to listen to what you are saying ….. it’s really ….. terrific!

From the top part of the Theater you have an outstanding view of the forest and the sea ….. it’s really magic this place !

Last Summer I also had the possibility to see a Theater Performance and it was something I never experienced before ! I strongly suggest to go there and to see a Greek Tragedy or any performance ….. it’s really something different ! BUT be aware … you should come a lot in advance in order to take the tickets (despite they are telling you just half an hour before … ) otherwise you may risk not only to queue for hours but also to miss it … as it happened to me …….. (actually at the end we managed but we had a huge argument )

I strongly recommend to visit this Theatre to everybody ! to schools, to families, to young couples & friends !

Ciao

φιλακια

Travel to Greece

Travel to Greece – Dear all

I decided to dedicate a post about how to come to Greece – because actually this is the first questions any tourist is asking for and also the first step for planning your holidays

Following you will find the main important links in order to come to Greece and to move here, with the boats

EOT

http://www.visitgreece.gr/portal/site/eot/

http://www.ente-turismoellenico.com/

Athens Airport

http://www.aia.gr/

Athens Airport – Athens Center & Athens Airport – Pireaus taxi costs

http://www.aia.gr/pages.asp?pageid=988&langid=2

Planes

http://en.aegeanair.com/special-offers/flight-offers/

http://www.olympicair.com/Home.aspx?a_id=549

http://www.easyjet.com/asp/en/book/index.asp?lang=en