Easy peasy 45-minute turbo prop flight on Sky Express from Samos to Athens. A very small airport and as flight departures are few no passengers ahead of us at security so through that in a flash. As this was a domestic flight no need to suffer passport control at Athens Eleftherios Airport. Our baggage wasContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version:16September2026: Stop the Welcoming Verbal Onslaught, I’m Tired! Athens”
Tag Archives: Greece
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: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: On the way: More airline pig slop and 9 1/2 hours of boredom Toronto to Athens 9September2026
On the way: More Airline Pig Slop and 9 ½ Hours of Boredom Toronto to Athens: 9September2026 I was last in Greece three years ago to cover the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. I have been visiting Greece since 1971 and the Greece of 1971-73, before the tourist boom, envelops my fondest memories. In the faceContinue reading “2026 GREEK TRAVEL ADVENTURE: Short Attention Span Version: On the way: More airline pig slop and 9 1/2 hours of boredom Toronto to Athens 9September2026”
The 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: “Together We Stand”: It Was Not I But We
The 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival screened from 6-16March2025. “Together We Stand” is a Greek documentary focusing on the 1973 occupation of the Polytechnic University in Athens in protest against the military dictatorship in Greece that seized power on 21April1967 and surrendered it on 23July1974. Through archival news footage, photographs, interviews of the participating studentsContinue reading “The 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: “Together We Stand”: It Was Not I But We”
RKS Literature: The Timeless Excellence of Wine from Samos, Greece (Voltaire)
“He immediately approached them, greeted them, and invited them to come eat at his inn to eat some macaroni, Lombardy partridges, and caviar, and to drink some wine from Montepulciano, from Cyprus and Samos and some Lacrimae Christi.” Voltaire, “Candide or Optimism”, 1759.
The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 44: Cooling My Heels in the Greek Eastern Aegean
I spent three days in Vravrona, a short distance from the Athens airport, enjoying the ocean and eating plenty of grilled octopus, fresh fish, stuffed vegetables and Greek Salads. I researched my island destination of Samos a relatively small island in the Eastern Aegean at points as close as six kilometres from the Turkish coast.Continue reading “The Penniless Pensioner: Misaligned, Maligned but Marvellous (The Final Version):Chapter 44: Cooling My Heels in the Greek Eastern Aegean”
RKS 2024 Wine: Agiorgitiko Greek Supermarket Champion
When travelling in Europe I usually visit supermarkets for various items particularly bottled water. Supermarket prices for cheese in Paris would reduce you to tears with just how inexpensive French cheese can be. Almost like a staple whereas here in Canada it is a luxury. I always look at wine prices too and in PortugalContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine: Agiorgitiko Greek Supermarket Champion”
