2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:17September2026: Athens: Plaka Good and Bad: The Ancient Agora of Athens: “Ruins Fatigue”

No doubt you may have heard about the Plaka District in Athens. The main shopping drag is a drag for me. Overrun by tourists drawn in by its proximity to the Acropolis and yes the cruise ship gangs poking around the touristic shops. T shirts, coffee mugs, postcards and over Greekified nick-nacks. Plenty of uninspiringContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:17September2026: Athens: Plaka Good and Bad: The Ancient Agora of Athens: “Ruins Fatigue””

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:17September2026: Athens: Woken up by construction noises at 07:42 at Anthology of Athens

Geez woken up so very “gently” at 07:42 with hammering noises and a drill. Apparently they are constructing a few more additional rooms at Anthology of Athens. Not exactly the way to be woken up at a five-star hotel! I noticed from the rooftop terrace the hotel’s “swimming pool”. It doesn’t strike one as aContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:17September2026: Athens: Woken up by construction noises at 07:42 at Anthology of Athens”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 17September2026: Athens Imagine What Was! The Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum: Am I Watching Some Vulgar Television Show “The Two-Ton Family”?

A 10-minute walk from our hotel Anthology of Athens we are at the foot of the Acropolis and as luck may have it no human swarms. Probably beat the cruise ship locusts that destroy “touristic hot spots”. Passengers must not miss all you can eat post breakfast pre lunch buffet “with authentic Greek hamburgers andContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 17September2026: Athens Imagine What Was! The Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum: Am I Watching Some Vulgar Television Show “The Two-Ton Family”?”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 14September2026: Pythagorio, Samos: Embarrassing Reluctance Being a Tourist: Get Those Cruise Ship Daytrippers Outta Here!

Tourism is enormously important for Greece generating approximately a third of its GDP. Given the swelling mass of tourists I have encountered in this visit Greece faces a potential overtourism problem that must be managed to avoid a negative boomerang. Given the inability of Athens Eleftherios Airport to manage passenger flow, one enters and leavesContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 14September2026: Pythagorio, Samos: Embarrassing Reluctance Being a Tourist: Get Those Cruise Ship Daytrippers Outta Here!”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 14September2026: Pythagorio, Samos: Difficulty Parking and the Motorcycle Accident

Although Doryssa Seaside Resort’s main building and its rooms may need tender loving care (such as my room 277) the buffet breakfast retains its lustre. My favourite this time were two large bowls, one filled with segments of orange the other with grapefruit. In season and absolutely stellar! There are local pastries both sweet andContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 14September2026: Pythagorio, Samos: Difficulty Parking and the Motorcycle Accident”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:13September2026: Thessaloniki and Samos: The Rapidly Ageing Doryssa Seaside Resort

After a long flight transporting you to different time zones one thinks of sleeping like a baby but for me that is rarely the case. I had a restless sleep waking up at 03:30 and tossing, turning and dozing thereafter. That afternoon nap might have backfired on me. Down to a wonderful breakfast at 10:00.Continue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:13September2026: Thessaloniki and Samos: The Rapidly Ageing Doryssa Seaside Resort”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 12September2026:Thessaloniki. Greece: Thessaloniki Museum of Photography: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: “Light Play”

Always a mandatory stop when I am in Thessaloniki is the Thessaloniki Museum of Photography. Intimate and never crowded. A relaxing café and bar overlooking the ocean if you are in the mood. Hungarian László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) has been a prominent figure of the modernism that exploded in the visual arts in the first decadesContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 12September2026:Thessaloniki. Greece: Thessaloniki Museum of Photography: Laszlo Moholy-Nagy: “Light Play””

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 12September2026: Thessaloniki, Greece: MOMUS Experimental Center for the Arts

Headed to the old port area an enjoyable 20-minute walk from Daios Luxury Living, our hotel. The old wharf’s structures have been restored maintaining its flavour as a port with warehouses converted for cultural purposes. It reminds one, at first blush, of the Distillery District in Toronto. One can always expect an interesting exhibit atContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: 12September2026: Thessaloniki, Greece: MOMUS Experimental Center for the Arts”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead?: Finally in Thessaloniki!

11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead: Finally in Thessaloniki! Was it a two hour or 4 hour “sleep” at Sofitel Athens Airport Hotel. Having finally crawled into bed at 01:00 and setting the alarm for 04:00 it was 3 hours in bed and itContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:11September 2026: Are the clouds behind me now and can I look to bright sunshiny days ahead?: Finally in Thessaloniki!”

2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:10September2026: Frustration With Sky Express and the $815 Four-Hour Hotel Bill

Plans that went askew! I was to meet up with dearest F at Athens E Venizelos International Airport when her ITA Airways flight from Rome arrived at 18:35 and then take a Sky Express flight at 20:35 to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city. The arrivals board simply said her flight was “Late” with no estimatedContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:10September2026: Frustration With Sky Express and the $815 Four-Hour Hotel Bill”