Greek Hotels Association http://greek-hotels-association.org Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:05:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 en ANNOUNCEMENT http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/10/22/announcement/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/10/22/announcement/#comments Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:46:07 +0000 martin World http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/10/22/announcement/


]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/10/22/announcement/feed/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/10/22/322/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/10/22/322/#comments Mon, 22 Oct 2007 14:41:11 +0000 martin World http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/10/22/322/
]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/10/22/322/feed/ The Board of Directors of ATTICA HOLDINGS S.A. announce that on behalf of its subsidiaries http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/09/04/the-board-of-directors-of-attica-holdings-sa-announce-that-on-behalf-of-its-subsidiaries/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/09/04/the-board-of-directors-of-attica-holdings-sa-announce-that-on-behalf-of-its-subsidiaries/#comments Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:19:17 +0000 martin World http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/09/04/the-board-of-directors-of-attica-holdings-sa-announce-that-on-behalf-of-its-subsidiaries/ Superfast Ferries and Blue Star Ferries deposited today at the Bank of Greece the amount of Euro 150,000 to the account of the Special Relief Fund for the benefit of the victims affected by the recent fires in Greece. 

 

]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/09/04/the-board-of-directors-of-attica-holdings-sa-announce-that-on-behalf-of-its-subsidiaries/feed/ Welcome to Greece,You are in the page Hellas hotels http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/24/welcome-to-greeceyou-are-in-the-page-hellas-hotels-you-are-in-the-page-hellas-hotels/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/24/welcome-to-greeceyou-are-in-the-page-hellas-hotels-you-are-in-the-page-hellas-hotels/#comments Thu, 24 May 2007 15:03:19 +0000 martin World http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/24/welcome-to-greeceyou-are-in-the-page-hellas-hotels-you-are-in-the-page-hellas-hotels/ Welcome to Greece
You are in the page Hellas hotels Web: http://www.hellashotel.gr/

Here you can seek and find some of the best Greek hotels from regions all around Greece. This catalogue gives you the opportunity, of visiting on line the hotel read a small description and more over you could lead yourself in it. Thus you could see the hotels analytic presentation, photographs from rooms and the additional benefits that it offers. You can also make your reservation, directly with the hotel.
All Hellenic regions are presented with maps so that you have an easy to follow briefing, on certain regions of Greece that probably you don’t know.
The regions of Greece are:
Attica 2 destinations: Athens, Rest of Attica
Crete 4 destinations: Chania, Heraklion, Lassithi, Rethymno
Cyclades Islands 19 destinations: Amorgos, Anafi, Andros, Antiparos, Folegandros, Ios, Kea, Kythnos, Milos, Mykonos, Naxos, Paros, Santorini, Serifos, Sifnos, Sikinos, Siros, Small Cyclades, Tinos Dodecanese Islands 14 destinations/islands: Astipalea, Chalki, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Kassos, Kastelorizo, Kos, Leros, Lipsi, Nissyros, Patmos, Rhodes, Symi, Tilos
Epirus 4 destinations: Arta, Ioannina, Preveza, Thesprotia
Ionian Islands 7 islands: Corfu, Ithaki, Kefalonia, Kithira, Lefkada, Paxi, Zakynthos
Macedonia 12 destinations & 1 islands: Chalkidiki, Drama, Florina, Grevena, Imathia, Kastoria, Kavala, Kilkis, Kozani, Pella, Pieria, Serres, Thasos, Thessaloniki
North Aegean Islands 8 islands: Agios Efstratios, Chios, Fourni, Ikaria, Lesvos, Limnos, Psara, Samos
Peloponnese 7 destinations & 1 island: Achaia, Arcadia, Argolis, Elafonisos Island, Ilia, Korinthia, Lakonia, Messinia
Saronic Islands 6 islands: Angistri, Egina, Hydra, Poros, Salamina, Spetses
Sporades Islands 4 islands: Alonisos, Skiathos, Skopelos, Skyros Sterea 5 destinations & 1 island: Etoloakarnania, Evia Island, Evritania, Fokida, Fthiotida, Viotia
Thessalia 4 destinations: Karditsa, Larissa, Magnisia, Trikala
Thrace 4 destinations: Evros, Rodopi, Samothraki, Xanthi
Greece allocates more from 2500 islands, and also many beautiful parts in the central country. It is an amazing experience to visit Greece as someone could combine tourism as well as excursions. Greece has many beautiful monasteries and Museums that someone should visit.
As you know in Greece there are many archeological sites that culture, arts, letters has begun from. In this beautiful country birth was given to the democracy. Greece is a beautiful country and the main colors are blue and white. Each region has its own culture. This is proven by the archaeological spaces, Vergjna birth place of Great Alexander in Macedonia, Mycenaes Epidaurus, Delos, Knwssos, Sparta, and Athens.
You can visit Greece all around year. As it have improbable parts to visit, thousands of small and big islands, beautiful places in Peloponnese, amazing places in Chalkidiki, and beautiful parts of Continent. Come in Greece, and you can visit Athens where Olympic Games took place with great success in 2004. Try the Greek traditional recipes, skewer, tzantzjikji, lahanontolamades and many other amazing recipes. We wish you a happy staying in Greece. We wish you to have happy relaxed holidays.
Friendlily the Hellas hotels team. Best Regards
Write by Web: http://www.hellashotel.gr/ 

]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/24/welcome-to-greeceyou-are-in-the-page-hellas-hotels-you-are-in-the-page-hellas-hotels/feed/ Greece,The Sea and the Islands http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/17/greecethe-sea-and-the-islands/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/17/greecethe-sea-and-the-islands/#comments Thu, 17 May 2007 11:13:22 +0000 martin World The Greek Islands http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/17/greecethe-sea-and-the-islands/ The Sea and the Greek Islands
It is the sea which determines the islands, and the thing which distinguishes one island or group of islands from another is the quality of the sea. Scientists may find it difficult, if not impossible, to distinguish between one stretch of salt water and another. The travel¬ler knows better, and so does the sailor. The North Sea has an entirely different character from the Caribbean. The Mediterranean, in tem¬perament at any rate, is only a distant relation of the Red Sea or the English Channel.
Even scientifically the Mediterranean has points of difference from the others, for it loses by evaporation two-thirds more than it receives from the rivers which drain into it. This loss is replaced by a steady inflow of water from the Atlantic through the Straits of Gibraltar. The effect of steady evaporation on this almost landlocked sea is that the Mediterranean has a higher salt content than most other seas in the world. The swimmer in the waters round the Greek islands soon appreciates this. The sea is buoyant. It lifts him up as confi¬dently as did the dolphin which carried Arion on its back in safety to Taenarus, or as some say to the island of Lesbos.
The Ionian and the Aegean are very different seas. If the Ionian is female, the Aegean is male. One is soft, enveloped often with that gauze-like haze which hangs so frequently over the Italian landscape. The other is clear and precise. The Aegean engenders an air in which sentimentality and woolly thinking are impossible. The Greeks, with that curious accuracy of theirs which seems to have been as much the result of intuition as of deliberate thought, ’sexed’ these two seas by calling one of them after Io, priestess of Hera, who came here to escape the anger of her mistress for having an affair with Zeus, and the other after King Aegeus of Athens. The names have stayed un¬changed over the centuries, and so have their separate qualities.
The Ionian is the central basin of the Mediterranean, and is bounded on the west by Sicily and the toe of Italy, on the east by Greece. In a few places it is as deep as two thousand fathoms. In classical times its importance lay in the fact that the trade routes between the mainland and the new colonies in Sicily and southern Italy ran across it. From Corfu vessels had an open sea crossing of little more than sixty miles to the heel of Italy. Following the coast-
The Greek Islands
line of the Gulf of Taranto they came to the rich colonies of Sybaris and Croton, and then to the straits of Messina. Syracuse lay only a little southward down the coast of Sicily.
The character of a sea is determined by its winds and weather, just as these again determine the character of its islands and islanders. In the Ionian two winds predominate, the Sirocco and the Gregale, or the Bora as it is known in Corfu. The Sirocco which blows from the south is a warm, even a hot, wind which originates in north Africa. By the time it reaches the islands it has often picked up a high humidity which restrains physical activity, deadens thought and exac¬erbates the nerves. Fortunately it is not as virulent on this western coast of Greece as in Malta or Sicily. In Sicily indeed it is said that at one time, if the Sirocco had blown for over ten days, all charges of inexplicable violence and passion were dismissed. Such crimes were considered not to lie within the doer’s rational cognizance but to owe their origin solely to the south wind.
The Sirocco blows mostly in spring and autumn, but its counter¬part the Gregale is a winter wind. Springing off the mainland moun¬tains, the cold air rushes down to take the place of the warmer air rising off the Ionian. The Gregale is the most dangerous wind in this part of the Mediterranean, though its full effects are fortunately not felt in the Greek islands. It is on the far side of the sea, on the eastern coasts of Sicily, Malta and Gozo, that the full fetch and thunder of these winter gales is felt. This was St Paul’s tempestuous wind called Euroclydon, which drove his ship helplessly across from Crete to ground in the Maltese bay that bears his name.
In winter the small-boat sailors and fishermen of the Ionian do not venture far, for apart from the principal winds heavy squalls often descend off their mountainous islands. But in spring and summer the sea round this western coast of Greece is often calm and practically windless for days on end. It is now that the offshore fishermen bring in the excellent fish which make eating a pleasure in these islands. Apart from the magnificent lobsters of Corfu, usually the clawless Mediterranean variety {astakos in Greek), the Ionian is rich in mullet, tunny, ray, swordfish, octopus and squid, as well as many others whose names only the locals know.
The Aegean, the island-studded sea of the Greek archipelago, is entered either round Cape Matapan, the ancient Taenarus which con¬tained the entrance to the Underworld, or more often nowadays through the rocky slit of the Corinth canal- Since most cruise ships come first to Athens through the canal, giving travellers their first
The Sea and the Islands
introduction to the Aegean world, a few words about it will not be out of place. The emperor Nero, when he visited Greece in AD 66, saw what an advantage to commerce a canal would be, and ordered work to begin on one. His death two years later, as well as the technical difficulties encountered, prevented any further attempts to unite the Aegean with the Ionian by way of the Gulf of Corinth. In classical limes ships wishing to cross the isthmus of Corinth, avoiding the long and stormy route round Cape Matapan, could be hauled over the narrow neck of land on rollers. Traces of the tracks used for this purpose have been found, and the position of Corinth astride the isthmus gave it a maritime importance and ultimately a prosperity to rival that of Athens.
It was not until nearly two thousand years after Nero’s death that Ihc Corinth canal was opened in 1893. It is a little over three miles long and sixty-nine feet wide at the base, affording passage for ships of up to twenty-two feet in draught. It took twelve years to complete, and by the time it was opened it was not deep enough for the greatly increased tonnage of the merchant ships then being built. Neverthe¬less for the yachtsmen bound from one coast of Greece to the other I he Corinth canal serves a very useful purpose, and the saving in distance is considerable for vessels bound from western Greece for ports in the Aegean and the Black Sea. From Sicily, western Italy and the south of France it is of little use.
At the far end one emerges into the Aegean. The tragic death of Aegeus, father of Theseus, is permanently recorded by the name of the sea. Theseus, triumphant after his conquest of the Minotaur, had left Ariadne behind him on Naxos and was hastening for the shores of Attica and his father’s kingdom of Athens. Unfortunately he forgot his promise to hoist the white sail which should have announced his safe return, leaving instead the dark sail which told that the king’s son had perished in the Labyrinth of Knossos. Seeing a dark-tanned sail (such as Greek fishing boats still carry) on his son’s ship, Aegeus was overwhelmed by grief; he threw himself into the sea from a high rock and was drowned.
The sea to which he gave his name is an arm of the Mediterranean thrust between Asia Minor and Greece - the sea which cradled west-cm civilization and the arts of navigation. It must never be forgotten that the Aegean was the birthplace of Greek seamanship, and hence, directly or indirectly, of almost all western maritime enterprise dur¬ing the past two thousand years. Out of the Aegean has also come a word that is now part of the English language, ‘archipelago’. This has
The Greek Islands
come to mean any large group of islands, but originally it meant the sea which contained the Aegean islands. The word itself is found nowhere in ancient or mediaeval Greek. Pelagos is the poetic Greek word for sea, but whether the prefix archi- means ‘chief or ‘main’, or is a corruption of Aegei, has not been finally resolved.
The character of this sea is formed principally by two factors: its geographic position and its climate. Geographically it is the sea which divides Europe from Asia, and yet at the same time - because the islands lie like stepping-stones across it - it is not so much a moat between one world and another as a bridge. The closeness of island to island meant that in the infancy of ship-building and navigation man was able, during the clement seasons of the year, to maintain communications across a watery world. Scudding between the rocky islands, traders were able to exchange the goods of one civilization for those of another. Because a ship is hardly ever out of sight of land for more than a few hours, it was possible for these early navigators to bring their cargoes safe to port without compass, chart or sextant.
The climate has played an equally important part in the develop¬ment of Aegean civilization. Apart from the proximity of island to island, the weather conditions were favourable for primitive naviga¬tion. The Etesian winds, as the Admiralty Pilot calls them, blow from a northerly direction over this sea for most of the summer months. Without these prevailing winds it is hardly an exaggeration to say that Greek culture would never have spread so widely as to embrace not only the whole mainland but also the coast of Asia Minor. The name derives from the Greek etos, meaning ‘year’, because they can be relied on to blow regularly every year.
Flowing down from Bulgaria, Turkey, and beyond them from Russia, prompted by the hot air rising over the Mediterranean, they carry on southwards all the way to Egypt. It was upon these regular seasonal winds that the Greeks of antiquity based their sailing prac¬tices and their navigation. Their ships were hauled ashore in the autumn and were not launched again until the start of the ‘prodroms’ (or ‘forerunners’) - the variable winds of spring which herald the return of the Etesians. It was with the Etesians astern that Mycenaean merchants could sail from Argos or other ports in the northern Aegean down to Crete, while from Crete the sailors whose trading had enriched Knossos and Phaistos could run down to Egypt and the Nile delta. Usually a cargo would be taken down during the height of the summer season, and another brought back during the following spring before the Etesians had set in.
The Sea and the Islands
However one travels through the Aegean it is impossible to ignore this summer wind. Even the most unobservant landsman cannot help remarking on the extraordinary clarity of the sky, which is unlike any other sky in the world. It is here that one sees at once the difference between the Ionian and the Aegean seas - a difference which is reflected in their respective islands. Even in midsummer there is a briskness in the Aegean air. The blue of the sky is sharp, and broomed by the wind. The softness, the hint of trailing mist over the sea or in the upper reaches of the sky, which is to be found in the Ionian, is absent from the Aegean.
In particular, during July and August the winds which the modern Greeks call meltemi begin to blow every day at dawn, reach their maximum about noon, usually dropping off at sunset. The word may derive from the Venetian bel tempo, and it is their cool invigorating rush which dissipates the bugbear of so many Mediterranean lands -the noonday lassitude and the high humidity which curb thought and action alike. At midday in an Aegean island one can stand on a rocky peak or sit in a quayside taverna and feel, in a shade-heat of ninety degrees, the stimulating wind which brings freshness to sultry places.
Equally, the meltemi can be a source of frustration and even of danger for the unwary. When they are at their noonday height, move¬ment on foot can be difficult and it is as well to look for sheltered places to walk or sit. When at anchor in a north-facing bay it is wise to get under way early in the morning, or to make sure you have enough cable out to stop you dragging in the coming blasts.
Unlike the Ionian, the Aegean is not generally speaking a deep sea. Only in a few places, notably just north of Crete, does it attain a depth of more than a thousand fathoms. The islands which raise their craggy shoulders out of the sea are remnants of a land mass connect¬ing Europe with Asia Minor. They are peaks of old hills, or the summits of mountain ranges long submerged, and a glance at a map shows how they splay out from Greece or Turkey to follow the lines of the main ranges on either side of the dividing sea. Because it is predominantly shallow, the Aegean can be a very treacherous area, and a dangerous breaking sea can quickly be kicked up on the rocks and shallows round the islands. It is not difficult to understand why the ancient Greeks called a halt to maritime activity during the winter months.
Of the many creatures which share these seas with man, the por¬poise or dolphin is the most engaging, playing constantly around the bow waves of ships. They rise close alongside to breathe - that half
snorting sigh - and then dive and tumble in the disturbed water. Squeezed along by the water pressure in front of the bows, they will stay there effortlessly just as long as it suits them. Then with a quick flurry they will all be gone. In calm spring weather one of the loveliest sights in the Aegean is the wheeling, planing and banking of a pair of shearwaters, the sharp tips of their wings almost touching the water as they turn and dip. Above all, the Aegean is a clean sea, except where conglomerations of mankind pollute it, and the fathoms-deep sea-bed can be as clear as if seen through glass.
The sea is Greece. Where the first images of other European
countries that come to mind may be rural or urban - the Loire or the
Champs Elysees, the Lake District or Hyde Park Corner, the image of
Greece is the sea. Even the inland shepherd knows it is there, and
never far out of sight. From mountain or moorland he can see the
shining inlets where the sea marches into the land, or look across a
deep blue strait to his nearest island neighbours. Yet Greece is not a
romantic land such as the poetry of Keats may suggest. It is a harsher,
stronger and more brilliant world, especially in the islands, where the
atmosphere - even in Corfu or Rhodes — is never sugared but always
astringent.

]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/17/greecethe-sea-and-the-islands/feed/ Greek food ,salads and more from Greek Hotels Association http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/17/greek-food-salads-and-more-from-greek-hotels-association/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/17/greek-food-salads-and-more-from-greek-hotels-association/#comments Thu, 17 May 2007 11:06:38 +0000 martin World Greek Gastronomy http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/17/greek-food-salads-and-more-from-greek-hotels-association/ Food and Drink
The first objective of this chapter is to refute the criticism so often heard of Greek island food - that it is monotonous, dull and of poor quality. Obviously no cramped little kitchen in an island village can produce the range of food offered in a French provincial town; equally the refinements we may be used to in the presentation of food at table would seem pretentious and even ridiculous in the happy-go-lucky atmosphere of a quayside restaurant. Quality can certainly vary, but what the Greek kitchen has to offer is food derived mostly from the resources of the island; it is only when the owners try to meet the tastes of less discriminating visitors by using a variety of imported products - which may have been frozen on the way - that their standards fall. From their mountain slopes, from the green val¬leys between, and above all from the rocks and the seas which surround them, the islanders can produce one of the healthiest and most appetising diets one could wish for.
The almost universal custom of inviting the customer to see ‘what’s cooking’ before they choose is an excellent start. In all but the smallest places an a la carte menu is provided, but the best use for this is to check the price of a dish; the important thing is to know what you are getting. Once behind the scenes you need never be afraid to ask whether something not on display can in fact be pro¬vided. Local customers in the know will probably have already de¬tected it, and there is no need for you to be left out.
Of course there are bad restaurants as well as good ones. The most important test is whether the Greeks themselves go there with their families, and are not hopelessly outnumbered by tourists whose tastes are often responsible for lower standards of food and service. Look too for signs that the management - and the best are always a family team - is taking its customers seriously: look for proper straight-backed wooden chairs with rush seats; ignore places where deafening ‘music’ interferes with the quieter pleasures of the table, or the television set seems to be a bigger draw than the cooking. (Ex¬ceptions to this rule may have to be made when World Cup football is on.)
The Greek Islands
FISH AND CRUSTACEANS
This is and always has been the mainstay of Greek island food. King of the rocks is the Mediterranean lobster - the French langouste or the Greek astakos. He is sold by the kilo, as are all fish except the smaller varieties, and it is still possible to find (if previously ordered) a creature big enough for two for around £10. Next in esteem are the large prawns (garides), which as a separate dish tend to be expensive for their bulk but make delicious kebabs grilled on spits with pieces of onion, bacon and green pepper. Salingaria, or edible snails, are also delicious if you can find them, and the juices of the sea-urchin echinos are a marvellous aperitif when combined with ouzo - though neither of these delicacies is normally to be found in restaurants.
As for fish proper, there is an enormous variety, always good eating when fresh; it is not sensible to ask for fish after a day or two of stormy weather. On the whole the larger the fish the more expen¬sive they are by the kilo, because it takes more fuel to reach the deeper fishing grounds, and it is always wise to have your choice weighed and priced before ordering. The same is true of the red mullet (barbounia) even when small, for they too live in deep waters. Of medium to large size are the bream family (among them sina-grida), excellent eating; but the best value of all are the small inshore fish whose names are legion. These you can order by the plate or helping, and they cost absurdly little. For a first course (or even a main course if economizing) the infant mikra psaria which resemble whitebait, crisply fried with lemon, are uplifting, though they should be eaten the same day as caught.
The many-tentacled family is mainly represented by the conven¬tional kalamares, a medium-sized squid fried with the body cut into strips and the tentacles separate. Properly treated both before and during cooking it can be a very appetizing dish, but for real lightness and flavour the smaller tentacles (kalamarakia) fried in very hot oil are exceptional. The larger creature properly known as oktapous is best eaten cold after marination, and can be a delicious midday dish.
MEAT:The natural meat of the islands is lamb, especially in the spring, and if properly cooked it is far superior to any you find in France. Stewed lamb (ami) is always good, and so are grilled lamb cutlets (paithakia) provided they are cut fairly small. Beef is not natural to the islands; even if disguised as veal (moskari) it is usually tough or stringy - though stewed in red wine sauce, which is a traditional recipe (moskari kokkinisto), by expert hands it can be delicious. Pork is a safer choice, though better served as slices from a spit than as britsoles, or chops. Stews are the standby of the humbler restaurant, and few dishes are better than young kid (katsikaki) or rabbit (kouneli) slowly cooked in this way. Souvlakia (kebabs) whether of lamb or pork tend to be made from the tougher off-cuts and can be disappointing. If you like grilled calves’ liver (sikoti) you will find no better anywhere, but ask for it ligopsito (rare) or it will be hard at the edges. Kokkoretsi are indefinable strips of pork or lamb well sea¬soned and wound round a roasting spit, and quite delicious. Once a popular weekly Greek dish (when the butcher cleans up his scraps), it takes trouble to prepare, and sadly is less and less to be found.
Of the made-up dishes, the universal ‘meat-balls’ (kephtedes) can vary from delicious mouthfuls to stodgy affronts, while tsout-soukakia (sometimes confusingly called bifsteki) are a flatter form with the same ingredients. The best known Greek dish is probably moussaka, which too often turns out to be a soggy cube. To eat one properly made and cooked by a light-handed expert is a revelation rarely vouchsafed. Dolmades properly contain only rice and herbs within the vine leaves (not meat) and are served with a lemon sauce. Most of these dishes are Turkish in origin.
Local chickens seem rarely to be killed for eating, and most of those on offer in restaurants have been imported frozen.
VEGETABLES:This is where most islands score heavily. Runner or French beans (phasolakia), carob beans (banies), broad beans (koupia), spinach (chorta), carrots (karota), aubergines (melitsanes) and courgettes (kolokithi) are nearly always to be had, though not necessarily in the
same place at the same time. Except for the spinach they are usually served with light oil and tomato additives, which is by no means disagreeable. If you want either meat or vegetables kept hot and served in succession, say so.
SALADS:The Greek Salad (choriatika) is a great invention, and can be exactly what you want for lunch on a hot day. But Greek salads do not stop there. In many islands, and in season, a plain lettuce (marouli) or cucumber (angouri) salad with or without onions and green peppers is readily prepared. Then there are the flour-based dishes such as taramasalata, melitsanisalata and the garlicy skordalia, as well as the familiar tsatsiki with its creamy yoghurt, cucumber and garlic.
CHEESE AND FRUIT:The goat cheese is paramount, of course, and though the quality of tiri pheta varies, you can hardly improve on fresh goat’s cheese pressed that morning and eaten in a hill farm. Of matured cheeses the goat is very hard, but tiri kasseri is not unlike the French cantal and makes a change from pheta. Fruit is not often displayed or offered in a restaurant, but some Ionian islands specialize in wild strawberries (phraoules), and the melon (peponi) can be found for most of the year both on fruit stalls and in restaurants; it makes a lovely fresh finish to a Greek meal.
WINE:One of the sadder changes in the islands has been the disappearance of many of the local wines which used to be stored in or drawn from the wood (bareli). However, the quieter and more remote the venue the more likely they are to appear, whether served in carafes or in those gleaming copper cans which remind old sailors of rum issues in the Royal Navy. The truth is that these wines are still widely made,
but in small uncommercial quantities, so that not unreasonably the inhabitants tend to keep them for themselves, rather than casting them before tourists. By no means all local wines are resinated, and you can find excellent natural red wines in islands as far apart as Crete, Andros and Kea. The true red Samian, though, and the deep red mavro of Paros have vanished from the restaurants. There is a wide variety of bottled wines, resinated and unresinated, too wide to cover here, but the best of the whites come from Santorin, where viniculture is a big industry.
They say that retsina is an acquired taste, but there are few better dust-layers in a hot dry climate. The little metal-capped bottles of Kourtaki or Marko are just as good for the purpose as the more pretentious Boutari, and half the price. Ouzo, perhaps the most drink¬able of all the anise-based liquors, is another sovereign dustlayer, and incidentally goes marvellously well with strawberries. If you should come across tsikoudia, treat it with respect: it is a colourless grape distillation with all the qualities of a French marc or eau-de-vie only more so. The Greek brandies are limited to the Metaxa range, of which ‘three-star’ is as rough as they come, ’seven-star’ is distin¬guished only by its price, which leaves ‘five-star’ as an invigorating companion for the last hours of the day.
This leaves Water, the most treasured drink in the islands, whose inhabitants will argue fiercely to assert the supremacy of their own product. The first act of hospitality is still to offer the visitor a glass of water, a sweet and a cup of coffee, to be attended to in that order. The water should be given the same attention as a glass of wine in the Mcdoc, and your approval will be well received. Although many islands have to depend on stored rainwater for practical uses, the organized water supply in hotels, towns and villages is perfectly drinkable (unless there is a notice to say it is not) while a monastery or a farm in the country will nearly always have its own well or spring for you to savour and praise.

]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/17/greek-food-salads-and-more-from-greek-hotels-association/feed/ Saronic Gulf http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/16/saronic-gulf/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/16/saronic-gulf/#comments Wed, 16 May 2007 08:40:38 +0000 martin World Islands of the Saronic Gulf http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/16/saronic-gulf/ Saron was a legendary king of Troezen, the most important of the early cities on the substantial peninsula which divides the Gulf of Argos from the Saronic Gulf. It seems strange that he should have given his name to the whole Gulf, when the name of Theseus is more vividly connected in legend and literature with both Troezen and Athens. All we know about Saron is that he was so fond of hunting that he chased a stag into this sea and was drowned in it. The adven¬tures of Theseus arc too well known to enumerate, but he was brought up in Troezen by his grandfather, and it was there that his son Hippolytus became disastrously entangled with his own stepmother, Phaedra.
The two largest islands in the Gulf, Salamis and Aegina, are closely connected in many ways with Athens, and both figure promi¬nently in classical history; the other three principal members of the group - Poros, Hydra and Spetses - arc geographically extensions of the Troezen peninsula and have little independent history. Several lesser islands could strictly be included, but Angistri and Moni are entirely dependent on Aegina, as is Spetsopoula on Spetses, while Dokos off Hydra is all but uninhabited. Methana, the ‘all-but-island’ of the southern Gulf, only fails to qualify by reason of a very narrow neck of land joining it to the Peloponnese.
The main islands are quickly and easily - some might say too easily — reached from Piraeus, and during the summer they get un¬comfortably crowded. That is not to say that away from the harbours there are no places of beauty and interest, and the sheltered waters around them are a profitable fishing ground and a marvellous play¬ground for yachtsmen. Ships of many centuries and many peoples have left their wakes here: Theseus on his way to Crete and back, Agamemnon’s fleet bound for Troy, Athenian expeditions against Sparta and Syracuse, invaders from Persia and Rome, traders from Byzantium and Venice, Saracen raiders and Turkish corsairs, Rus¬sian, French, German and British warships. Piraeus has become one of the great commercial harbours of the world, and now the cruise
liners of the west queue to enter the Gulf through the Corinth canal on their way to Athens, Delos and the other delights of the Aegean. More than anywhere on the mainland, more than Athens herself, these waters are at the heart of Greece.
channels to west and east of Salamis, at the same time occupying the | small island of Psittaleia midway between the Kynosura (’Dog’s | Tail’) peninsula and the mainland. This suited Themistocles, as it forced an engagement on his unwilling allies while the enemy fleet was divided, and in waters which favoured the more manoeuvrable Greek triremes - waters which were known to the Greeks as only seamen and fishermen can know a stretch of sea by which they have
been born and bred.
The Greek fleet, outnumbered by about two to one, feigned a retreat into the more open waters of the bay of Eleusis, but in fact withdrew only out of sight behind a convenient promontory. As the Persians advanced up the eastern channel, necessarily in close

]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/16/saronic-gulf/feed/ FIVE YEARS ANNIVERSARY OF F/B BLUE STAR PAROS http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/14/five-years-anniversary-of-fb-blue-star-paros/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/14/five-years-anniversary-of-fb-blue-star-paros/#comments Mon, 14 May 2007 14:25:32 +0000 martin Cyclades Islands Paros Island Greek News http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/14/five-years-anniversary-of-fb-blue-star-paros/ PRESS RELEASE
FIVE YEARS ANNIVERSARY OF F/B BLUE STAR PAROS
ON THE CYCLADES ROUTE
Blue Star Ferries is pleased to announce the completion of five years of continuous and successful presence with its fast, modern car-passenger ferry BLUE STAR PAROS on the Piraeus-Eastern Cyclades route.
The deployment of BLUE STAR PAROS introduced high quality services, contributed to the growth of the route in terms of traffic as well as inbound tourism at highly competitive times for the tourism and leisure industries and has continued to do so throughout its five-year presence on the route.
BLUE STAR PAROS commenced its service on the Piraeus-Eastern Cyclades route on 12th May, 2002, inaugurating a new era of sea travel to the Cyclades by substantially reducing the journey time required and upgrading the quality of on board services offered.
Blue Star Ferries performs daily departures to Cyclades, with F/B’s BLUE STAR ITHAKI, BLUE STAR PAROS and BLUE STAR NAXOS.
As from March 2007 and for the next three years, Blue Star Ferries will serve the islands Heraklia-Schinoussa-Koufonissi-Donoussa-Amorgos and Astypalaia, as per public service obligation contract awarded by the Ministry of Merchantile Marine and the Ministry for the Aegean & Island Policy.
In its five years on the route, BLUE STAR PAROS has charted a most successful course carrying over 3,258 sailings, 3.008.889 passengers, 335.936 private vehicles and 58.780 freight units, earning the reputation of the most popular vessel on the route.
Blue Star Ferries wishes to thank passengers and professional hauliers for making it their carrier of choice and will continue to offer its services for high-quality travel to the Cyclades.
Voula, 14th May, 2007
For more information please contact:
Mr. Dionissis Theodoratos
BLUE STAR MARITIME S.Α.
Τel.: +30 210 891 9820
Fax: +30 210 891 9829
e-mail: theodoratos@bluestarferries.com

]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/14/five-years-anniversary-of-fb-blue-star-paros/feed/ Minois Village Paros (Parasporos Beach) http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/13/minois-village-paros-parasporos-beach/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/13/minois-village-paros-parasporos-beach/#comments Sun, 13 May 2007 09:02:17 +0000 martin World Cyclades Islands Paros Island http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/13/minois-village-paros-parasporos-beach/ Minois village ,Paros ,first class traditional houses stricly respects the local character as well as the wonderful scenery. Settle into the comfort of our apartments with facilities to fullfill most expectations and enjoy your holidays! Let the tranquility and beauty of Minois Village embrace you. On a peaceful location by the sea stands this Holiday Complex of A’ Class Apartment and Studios. Cycladic architecture combined with modern facilities offers you a wide range of accommodation to suit every family or company. Sea water pool deserves a special mention since you may relax and get the sensation of well-earned rest! http://www.minois-village.com

]]> http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/13/minois-village-paros-parasporos-beach/feed/ Santorini Island http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/05/santorini-island/ http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/05/santorini-island/#comments Sat, 05 May 2007 12:02:03 +0000 martin World Cyclades Islands Santorini Island http://greek-hotels-association.org/2007/05/05/santorini-island/ Santorin
One comes to Santorin through a great circular bay whose shores are formed by Santorin itself and by the islands of Therasia and Aspronisi. The bay is a volcano’s heart, and the water which glows like a sapphire beneath a boat’s keel sinks down a thousand feet to the bottom of the ancient crater.
The earliest recorded name for the island is Kalliste, the ‘Very Beautiful’. Beautiful it still is, but it is an exotic beauty which has more than a little of the monstrous in its nature. To say that it is different from the rest of the Kyklades (to which it geographically belongs) is an understatement. Santorin is not like anything or any¬where else in the world. The first sight of the bay’s curving eastern rim is fantastic. The sheer cliffs, in places rising to a height of nearly a thousand feet above the sea, are striated in bands of coloured rock -red, purple, brown, black, with streaks of white and even green in places. Above the cliffs white houses straggle along the skyline, looking at first like snow, or icing on some rich and indigestible chocolate cake.
Once, as geologists agree, the whole of the bay (eighteen miles round its inner rim) was covered by a huge volcano. At some time during the Late Minoan age - perhaps between 1500 and 1450 BC-there was a tremendous eruption which blew to pieces the central massif. This explosion could have generated a tidal wave sufficient to destroy Knossos and the other Minoan cities of Crete. Such a fate overtook Krakatoa in the Pacific in 1883 - an inrush of sea water into a submarine cavity giving rise to explosions of superheated vapour. Krakatoa produced a wave fifty feet high which destroyed towns and villages hundreds of miles away. Santorin is only sixty miles from the northern coast of Crete.
In historical times there is plenty of evidence of volcanic activity. Strabo records that in 196 BC there was an eruption when flames and smoke rose out of the sea bed for four days. In AD 726 an island appeared in the middle of the bay. In 1570 the island of Mikra Kaumene arose, and in 1707 Nea Kaumene. Further activity in 1925-6 saw Mikra and Nea Kaumene merge. The last earthquake
was in 1956, when parts of the main island - in particular the town of Pyrgos - were badly damaged.
As you approach from the north and enter the bay between Santo¬rin and Therasia, you see ahead the dark, almost repulsive outlines of Palaia and Nea Kaumene, the old and the new ‘Burnt Islands’. The Admiralty Pilot advises one not to navigate in their vicinity, and although excursion boats take tourists to land there it would be a brave stranger who took his own boat close in. The sea is charged with freshly minted pumice, and the water is warmer than you would expect even in the midsummer Aegean. Sinister bubbles like malig¬nant boils break the smooth skin of the sea.
The ancient Greeks called the island Thera, after the leader of a party of colonists from Sparta, and one theory has it that this was Plato’s vanished paradise which he called Atlantis. It is still com¬monly called Thera by modern Greeks anxious to revive the classical name for their home, and they have adopted the spelling Phira for the principal town. It was not until the island became part of the Duchy of Naxos at the beginning of the thirteenth century that the modern name appeared, which is a corruption of Santa Irina, itself a Latiniza-tion of its Greek patron saint, Agia Irene.
The first of the Latin adventurers to rule Santorin were the Barozzi family from Venice, but in 1335 Duke Nicholas I drove them out and united it with the Sanudo family possessions, while handing over the principal castle of Akrotiri to their allies and feudal subjects the Gozzadini of Kythnos, later also masters of Siphnos. Four other castles were built on the island, and all five were still standing in 1577. Vines were intensively cultivated, and even cotton was planted on the vol¬canic soil. The Gozzadini castle remained intact long after the Turks had conquered the rest of the Aegean, finally falling with Siphnos in 1617 as almost the last strongholds of the Christian world there.
The objective of most travellers today will be Phira. Only small excursion boats and cruise liners now anchor below the town itself, leaving their passengers to tackle the six hundred or so steps which zig-zag all the way up to the top of the cliff. An army of mules and donkeys assembles down below when any big ship comes in, and this kind of transport remains one of the tourist attractions here. Nine hundred feet above the landing place, the town of Phira swings into the air. The terraced path of steps winds backwards and forwards, and if you lean over carefully from your donkey’s back and look down as you come to a bend, you will see the previous slope some thirty feet below.
Most visitors to Santorin now arrive by ferry at the new port of Athinios, where a large landing stage has been built about two miles to the south of Phira. The journey up by bus or taxi takes about twenty minutes, the first part a spectacular climb in loops to the top of the cliff. When you reach the town you will find it internally not greatly different from other much visited island spots, apart from its incomparable situation.
Phira is a fairly modern foundation, built mostly during the mid-nineteenth century when the old mediaeval capital at Skaros, a little to the north, became untenable after several earthquakes and minor tremors. It has an unbelievable eagle’s eye view of the world, and the air has all the rinsed taste of the wind. Along the bony spine that runs north from Phira, houses and churches clamber like goats on a moun¬tain track. The narrow streets crackle with that intense light one finds
only in the Aegean. So vivid is it that the moulding over a window a hundred yards away is like a detail under a magnifying glass.
In contrast around the bus stop, which may be your first view of the town, an ugly clutter of tourist offices, bars and ice-cream shops has grown up. The seaward streets are quieter and cleaner, but lined with shops selling the cheap (or not so cheap) jewellery and textiles which are turned out by mass production in Athens to feed the tourist trade. There is a handsome modern cathedral, though, and the view from the dizzy terraces over the deep blue sea-filled crater is un¬matched anywhere.
From Phira you can walk a mile or so along the spine of the island to Merovigli, the old Catholic quarter. The best time is in the early evening when the light softens over the bay. If you return after dark, take a torch or try to pick a moonlit night. The streets and alleys are uneven and curiously unrecognizable in the dark. It is disconcerting to turn a corner and come upon a sharp drop to the sea, or walk down a flight of steps to find yourself in a ruined house which disappears in a crumbling slope.
Merovigli is sinking slowly into the stone from which its houses were quarried. Although a few sites have been cleared for new build¬ing or restoration, shadowed doorways still open upon empty court¬yards, and the grass grows round the ring-bolts where once the mules were ‘tethered. In the small plateia, so high that even Phira looks hundreds of feet below, a few trees grow, and there is a miniature promenade with iron railings through which one views the eastern
sea.Away from the great cliffs, the land slopes down in fields and vineyards, rich in volcanic earth that contrasts with the scarred sides of the ancient crater. Like the land around Vesuvius and Etna, the fields of Santorin are potent breeders of the vine. The vines are not trained on wires or regimented in rows, but grown low to the ground, the shoots trained in a circle like canes at the bottom of a basket. This is to help them to keep their heads down when the meltemi blow in from the north. The white wines of Santorin are among the best in the Aegean, and if you like a rosi you will like those too.
The bulk of the wine produced goes north in the big trucks which roll on and off the modern ferries. Another important export is the volcanic ash product, pozzuolana. This was the substance used by de Lesseps in 1866 to seal the walls of the Suez canal, and it is still quarried in quantity. You can see it pouring down the steep slopes above the jetties where the ships are loaded. As elsewhere, fish is no
 longer cheap in the restaurants, but vegetables of all kinds are plenti¬ful. The tomatoes, lettuces, cucumbers and onions raised on those eastern slopes or in tiny plots behind the houses are first class.
The Museum in Phira must not be forgotten. There are some fine geometric vases, as well as a certain amount of Minoan ware of rare quality. The wall decorations and other treasures found buried under the ash at Akrotiri have been taken to the National Museum in Ath¬ens, and will probably stay there. The Hellenistic and Roman periods are well represented, and there is a good collection of inscriptions. A weight-lifter’s weight, perhaps used in some Greek Games (and therefore suggesting there was a champion in Thera), bears the in¬scription EUMASTES LIFTED ME. It weighs about half a ton. Despite its pleasantly hedonistic atmosphere, Thera could clearly build athletes.
An attractive alternative place to stay is in Oia, where most ferries call first on their way into the bay. This has a little harbour where the depth of water is as much as 1200 feet in places. The big ships cannot anchor, and as the quay can take only smaller vessels alongside, their passengers and luggage have to be ferried quickly in and out in local boats. Even if you arc based in Phira it is worth taking the bus to visit it. The run takes about thirty minutes, and if you can manage to sit on the right going out or the left coming back it is a dramatic journey along the often dizzy elevation of the spinal road. Far down below, you see the cultivated slopes where the fingers of the lava flow spread out, subsided and finally congealed. Below again, the sea moves and sparkles as it never does in the landlocked western bay.
When you reach Oia, and the bus stops in a little open space where as often as not an informal football kickabout is going on, wander down the old alleyways which crown the cliffs to the west. There is a good deal of recent development in Oia, but there are still ruinous old houses, with now and then a handsome classical fa§ade. On a little headland jutting out to the south there is a ruined fort built in red stone, part of an extensive property which a notice warns you is private to the family of Leandros. On the seaward side below the fort are the ruins of a substantial three-aisled basilica church. The one column which survives is still faintly frescoed.
Below, the cliff face is honeycombed with caves, which form small houses or storerooms. The cliffs stoop down sheer to the sea, fascinating but frightening. The volcanic rocks assume the most fan¬tastic shades of colour, especially at sunset. The cliff wall to the left is split by a vivid band of arsenic green. Above and below it, the rock is
tinged with purple. Clumps of rose madder lift strangely out of screes of tufa, and the sea around can be full of pumice. Even the pumice of Santorin is strange, unlike those grey lumps we handle in our wash¬basins at home. Some pieces are the softest shade of pink, others streaked with red. One picked out of the water had a bar of cobalt on a field of pale green.
There are two other places which no visitor to Santorin should miss. The ancient capital, Archaia Thera, stands on a broad headland on the south-east coast. At sea level, a thousand feet below, is the modern resort of Kamari, with a long beach of volcanic black sand and a great many hotels and tavemas. There is a good road all the way from Phira as far as Kamari, and the steep climb from there is also practicable for cars, taxis and coaches. The last few hundred feet can be done only on foot, and once you have passed the caretaker’s hut (which is incorporated in the disused church of St Stephen) you can go back in imagination for two thousand years or more.
Archaic tombs found here date the town’s origin before 900 BC, but the visible remains are of the Hellenistic period, when Thera was under the control of the Ptolemies of Egypt. This may explain the pervasive charm as well as the few signs of decadence which you find here.
A path leads seaward along the ridge, once the Sacred Way for all who lived or came here. The first thing you will notice is a walled enclosure on your right, the wall beautifully carved with the symbols of an eagle, a lion and a dolphin. The eagle is for Zeus, the lion for Apollo, the dolphin for Poseidon, and between them is a medallion with a head in profile which records that the enclosure was built in honour of Artemidorus, an admiral of the Ptolemies’ fleet which was based in Thera.
A hundred yards further on you reach the centre of the town. Passing through the agora you have on your right the Stoa Vasiliki, or royal portico, a good forty yards long, with a row of column bases and two commemorative steles at the back. Beyond that on your right is the famous carving of a phallus with the surrounding inscription ‘To my friends’. As you walk on your realize what a superb situation the town enjoyed, and it is no surprise to find one of the best sites occupied by a charming little theatre, with a quite capacious audito¬rium facing a backdrop of limitless sea and sky. Several large cis¬terns, with the long slabs which supported their roofs still in place, provided an elaborate water supply for Hellenistic lavatories and Roman baths.
The path now drops a little towards the headland, and you find yourself in older and more evocative surroundings. The sixth-century temple of the Dorian Apollo Karneios, a big rectangle with much of the west wall intact, lies below you to your left. To your right is a terrace supported by a retaining wall built in massive blocks, best seen from below and further on. Here were celebrated the Gym-nopaidia displays of dancing and.gymnastics in honour of Apollo, and beyond is the gymnasium itself, an area where the teenage boys lived a secluded life which suggests the parallel of the English Public School.
Their sleeping quarters centred on a grotto dedicated to Herakles and Hermes, suitable examples of the bodily strength and fleetness of foot for which they strove. All around, scratched on almost every available rock surface, are rough graffiti which have been dated as early as the seventh century BC, and deciphered as tributes to favour¬ite boys from their admirers. Sometimes the outline of a boy’s foot suggests a champion runner, while a different outlet appears in the elegant outline of a ship’s prow with many oars. The boys would learn music here as well as dancing, for this was Apollo’s world. What a place to go to school in!
If you come by taxi, your driver may be anxious to stop on the way to let you see the monastery of the Prophitis Ilias, finely placed on a shoulder of his eponymous mountain. The monastery dates from 1711, and the buildings are not notable. You will be received courte¬ously, though, and the duty monk will show you an interesting collec¬tion of the original kitchen ware and implements used in the various trades.
To my mind the most vivid experience in Santorin is to visit the still only half excavated Bronze Age city of Akrotiri. This lies near the south coast of the long south-western peninsula, and is easily reached by bus from Phira. It was only in 1967 that Professor Spiri-don Marinatos (who died in 1974) began to explore the thick layer of pumice and ash created by the volcanic eruption which probably also destroyed the Minoan cities of Crete. You can imagine the excitement with which he saw street after street and house after house emerging in a state of preservation equalled only in the Roman towns of Pom¬peii and Herculaneum.
Akrotiri is more exciting than either of those, not only because it was built and lived in perhaps two thousand years earlier, but because its creators, while almost as sophisticated in practical matters were infinitely more aesthetically gifted than first century Romans. How
can we judge this? In the area so far excavated there are two large houses, both with walls and window spaces reaching to the third storey. In rooms on the first floor level were found intact some of the loveliest wall paintings to have come out of the ancient world. To quote Dr Christos Doumas, successor to Professor Marinatos:
Their subjects, whether geometric or abstract motifs, whether idyl¬lic landscapes or scenes from everyday life, are always chosen in a way which meets the requirements of the space for which they were intended. The diversity of themes is so great and their presen¬tation so rich that the wall paintings, apart from their artistic merit, constitute a unique source of information about the society which created them. Costumes, jewellery, male and female hair styles, the men’s armour, the craft of ship-building and sailing are imme¬diately made known through these wall paintings.
All these frescos (some of them executed in fresco secco, or tem¬pera) can be seen in a special section of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. There is a gorgeous young man with a stringful of lifelike fish in each outstretched hand. There is a graphic scene of a fight at sea. There are East African antelopes in black and white outline. There are blue monkeys (of a species found only in Ethio¬pia!) leaping from bough to bough. There are two boys squaring up to each other with boxing gloves. There is an elaborate sequence illustrating a long voyage up river in some distant land, probably the Egyptian Nile, with beautifully appointed and decorated boats, cities of departure and arrival, and the course of the river itself depicted with birds, beasts and flowers along its banks.
The most famous decoration was found in a small room on the ground floor. The walls were painted up to about fifteen feet with a design of waving lilies growing out of a rocky landscape, swallows darting in between the clumps - one pair beak to beak in a mating preliminary. The colours, as in most of the painting, are the deep browns, creams and ochres of the volcanic rocks, but most noticeable is a light sea blue which marks some of the special features like the boys and women’s hair, the monkeys and the fishes. It was outside this room that a double horn symbol was found, linking it with Cretan religious observances. It is a pity not to be able to see these marvels on the spot, but they are illustrated in the booklet by Dr Doumas, available at the door where you buy your entry tickets.
Nor is the artistry confined to the wall decorations. Nowhere in Knossos or Phaistos can you see such beautifully coloured and
decorated amphorae, cylindrical storage jars, jugs, ewers, and even a stone table standing on three short legs, decorated with dolphins and undersea life. The contrast with the vulgarity and crudeness of most of the Roman work at Pompeii could not be more marked. To live in such rooms, lit by large windows and cunning light wells, must have been a joy.
There are ground plans displayed at convenient points on your walk round the town. The endearing thing is that in contrast to the grid system of Roman streets you are following twisting alleyways on different levels between irregularly shaped houses. These open on to littleplateias which may be only roughly square and in one case is triangular. A complete ground plan would be not unlike any you can find in a Kykladic village today.
There is an eerie, even a ghostly feeling now as you walk those deserted lanes. Stone and unexcavated earth are all reduced to the uniform grey of the volcanic ash which has preserved it for more than three thousand years. In spite of that, a charm lingers which is different from the heavy authority of the palace at Knossos. The excavations continue between May and October each year, but tanta-lizingly slowly, because Dr Doumas will employ only a picked team of sixteen.
It was surely a grave setback for civilization when this and like communities were wiped out. There was a poignant twist to the ending when it came. Evidence found at Akrotiri shows that the inhabitants had had earlier warnings of disaster - probably severe earth tremors such as they or their ancestors had known in the past. On this occasion they were alarmed enough to leave the town and take to their ships. Meanwhile a certain amount of damage seems to have been done to the buildings, but when the tremors subsided they came back and set to work to repair it.
What finally happened is conjecture. The significant thing is that no human remains and very few personal belongings were found beneath the solid blanket of ash, not at all like the scenes uncovered at Pompeii. So - did the warning tremors come again? Did they once more take their possessions down the short distance to the beach where their ships lay, put off to sea and wait for the danger to pass? The force which must have hit them then was unimaginable. We know that no other shore received them, and indeed their ships could not have lived for a minute in that awesome upheaval.
About the fate of Knossos our feelings are ambivalent. There were features of that society which not many of us would regret. But at
Akrotiri there seems to have been no form of dynastic or religious tyranny. The citizens apparently organized themselves on a commu¬nal basis. No public or official buildings have so far been discovered, let alone a palace. Yet they could construct efficient drainage and sewerage throughout the town, as well as perfectly effective toilet installations; one of the latter was found intact in the largest house complex. So far no tablets have been found in Linear A, as one might expect. Did they take their archives to sea with them?
We may be wrong about Akrotiri, but my feeling is that we lost more here than in Crete. If this was Plato’s Atlantis, he could have agreed. But neither Ancient Thera nor Akrotiri, wonderful places as they are, compete in the mind’s eye of memory with the astonishing physical framework of Santorin today. The moment one remembers best from a visit to the island is when the sunset flares along the rim of the cliffs, just before the sun dips below the backbone of Therasia, leaving the dark central islets sinister in the gathering twilight. Santo¬rin and Delos are the two poles of this Kykladic world. On Mount Kynthos life begins with the birth of Apollo: the Burnt Islands of Santorin suggest how the world could end.

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