Greek Food

The Mediterranean diet is known to be one of the healthiest in the world although the exception is breakfast in Greece which tends to be five cigarettes and two cups of very strong coffee!!One of the great delights of visiting Greece is to eat the local food and try the regional dishes.  The over-riding problem facing most English speakers reading a Greek menu is that half the menu is full of spelling mistakes and most of the descriptions of the dishes are sufficiently obscure as to make it almost impossible to know what you are eating.  This problem was brought home to us in an ouzeri on Alonissos.  When asked whether they had wild greens (horta) the lady serving us replied “Yes, we have dandelions”.

Obviously if you can read a bit of Greek is helps because you can get the real name of the dish and a proper description of the food.  However, if you have to suffer the English section of the menu we have put together a listing of the more unusual dishes that always prompt the question to the waiter “Well, what exactly is it?”

You can find more on http://alonnisos.atspace.com (English)

For Reviews you can trust on : http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g189498-Alonissos_Sporades.html

General Travel Information

The island of Alonissos is not the easiest place to access although is much better connected by sea than many of the islands of the Cyclades and Dodecanese.  Due to the absence of an airport the final part of the journey will be a sea crossing.  Depending whether the winter or summer schedules are in force you will find a difference in the number of available flights and sailings.During the winter month’s independent travel to Alonissos means a scheduled flight to Athens followed by an internal flight to Skiathos, 4½ – 5 hour train or coach journey to Volos or a 2½ hour coach journey to Agios Konstantinos.  There are ferries and hydrofoils to Alonissos from both Volos and Agios Konstantinos although you should make provision for an overnight stop if there are adverse weather conditions.  In the summer months there are charter flights from London and UK regional airports to Athens, Skiathos and Volos in addition to the scheduled flights to Athens.

Hellenic Seaways are the major players for sea travel to Alonissos via their Hellas Flying Dolphin hydrofoils and ferries. Hellas Flying Dolphin hydrofoils make the trip from Agios Konstantinos to Alonissos in around 2¾ hours.  In 2002 GA Ferries put Jet Ferry 1 on the Sporades run to Alonissos from when Hellas Flying Dolphin’s ferries withdrew their service.  The cost is the same as the dolphin, however the ferry is more comfortable but takes almost twice as long.  Your preference will depend on whether you were built for comfort or speed.

Hellas Flying Dolphin hydrofoils make the trip from Volos to Alonissos and the journey time is almost the same as from Agios Konstantinos.  In 2004 a company called Vospo started running hydrofoils from Volos to Alonissos in a yellow livery similar to the old Ceres hydrofoil colours.  Hellas Flying Dolphin’s run a ferry service from Volos to Alonissos which takes around 5 hours journey time.

In some years a Hellas Flying Dolphin catamaran service links Alonissos with Thessaloniki and this provides an alternative means of access to the island.  Information on taxi and bus travel to and from Athens can be obtained from our “Travel Alonissos” menu.

Public Transport on Alonissos

The bus service starts early June with a restricted service from Patitiri to the Old Village and Steni Vala in the morning and then in the evening after siesta  The timetable changes again in July and a full service throughout the day operates in August and September.  A restricted service comes into operation again in September and around the end of September the bus service stops.  Tickets are purchased on the bus from the bus driver and try to have change for him if at all possible.  The timetable is updating year by year and published on the bus stations.  The bus now stops opposite the Alkyon Hotel and the taxi rank on the harbour.

Specialist Leisure Activities

Further Homoeopathic Education with George Vithoulkas in Alonissos, Greece
Language & Culture Summer Programme Organised by the European College System
Painting Tuition with Chris Hughes at Painting Alonissos
Sailing with Trekking Hellas around the Sporades
Seamount:  Sea Kyaking in Greece
Walking in Greece:   Alonissos -  Skopelos -   Skiathos
Yoga and Complementary Therapies on Alonissos at Kali Thea

Scheduled Flights from London to Thessaloniki

A number of airlines fly direct and indirect scheduled flights from London airports mainly Heathrow and/or Gatwick to Thessaloniki Airport all year around.  Ryanair are however different and are flying from Stansted Airport.  The main UK and Greek based carriers are shown below.  Click on their icons below to access their websites:        

Scheduled Flights from Athens to Skiathos

There are no direct scheduled flights to Skiathos Airport from the UK or other european capitals only charter flights during the summer.  There is only one airline that flies a scheduled service between Athens Airport and Skiathos Airport.  Click on the icon below to access their website:
 

 

Scheduled Flights from London to Athens

A number of airlines fly direct and indirect scheduled flights from London airports mainly Heathrow and/or Gatwick to Athens Airport all year around.  The main UK and Greek based carriers are shown below.  Click on their icons below to access their websites:        

(Ελληνικά) Ποίημα του Γκίντερ Γκρας για την Ελλάδα Διαβάστε το ποίημα του Γερμανού συγγραφέα, Γκίντερ Γκρας, με τίτλο «Η Ντροπή της Ευρώπης»

Γκίντερ Γκρας

Με τίτλο «Η Ντροπή της Ευρώπης» το ποίημα του Γερμανού συγγραφέα, Γκίντερ Γκρας δημοσιεύεται σε παγκόσμια αποκλειστικότητα στην «Καθημερινή», από κοινού με τη Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

Χρησιμοποιώντας τη φόρμα αρχαιοελληνικής ωδής, ο νομπελίστας απευθύνεται στην Ευρώπη και την προειδοποιεί ότι κινδυνεύει με πνευματική πενία αν αποπέμψει από τις αγκάλες της τη χώρα που τη δημιούργησε. Με αναφορές στην Ιφιγένεια εν Ταύροις του Γκαίτε, τον μύθο της Αντιγόνης και το έργο του φιλέλληνα Γερμανού λυρικού ποιητή Χέλντερλιν ο Γκρας διατρέχει την ελληνική Ιστορία, από την αρχαιότητα ώς τη χούντα των συνταγματαρχών. Καταλήγει δε με την απειλή ότι «η απληστία των τραπεζών, των επιτρόπων και των εγκαθέτων τους» θα προκαλέσει τη μήνι των ίδιων των θεών. Δίχως την Ελλάδα η Ευρώπη θα είναι φτωχότερη, μία ήπειρος φθαρμένη και στερημένη από οποιαδήποτε πνευματικότητα.

«Η Ντροπή της Ευρώπης»

Στο χάος κοντά, γιατί δεν συμμορφώθηκε στις αγορές· κι Εσύ μακριά από τη Χώρα, που Σου χάρισε το λίκνο.

Οσα Εσύ με την ψυχή ζήτησες και νόμισες πως βρήκες, τώρα θα καταλυθούν, και θα εκτιμηθούν σαν σκουριασμένα παλιοσίδερα.

Σαν οφειλέτης διαπομπευμένος και γυμνός, υποφέρει μια Χώρα· κι Εσύ, αντί για το ευχαριστώ που της οφείλεις, προσφέρεις λόγια κενά.

Καταδικασμένη σε φτώχεια η Χώρα αυτή, που ο πλούτος της κοσμεί Μουσεία: η λεία που Εσύ φυλάττεις.

Αυτοί που με τη δύναμη των όπλων είχαν επιτεθεί στη Χώρα την ευλογημένη με νησιά, στον στρατιωτικό τους σάκο κουβαλούσαν τον Χέλντερλιν.

Ελάχιστα αποδεκτή Χώρα, όμως οι πραξικοπηματίες της, κάποτε, από Εσένα, ως σύμμαχοι έγιναν αποδεκτοί.

Χώρα χωρίς δικαιώματα, που η ισχυρογνώμονη εξουσία ολοένα και περισσότερο της σφίγγει το ζωνάρι.

Σ’ Εσένα αντιστέκεται φορώντας μαύρα η Αντιγόνη, και σ’ όλη τη Χώρα πένθος ντύνεται ο λαός, που Εσένα φιλοξένησε.

Ομως, έξω από τη Χώρα, του Κροίσου οι ακόλουθοι και οι όμοιοί του όλα όσα έχουν τη λάμψη του χρυσού στοιβάζουν στο δικό Σου θησαυροφυλάκιο.

Πιες επιτέλους, πιες! κραυγάζουν οι εγκάθετοι των Επιτρόπων· όμως ο Σωκράτης, με οργή Σου επιστρέφει το κύπελλο γεμάτο ώς επάνω.

Θα καταραστούν εν χορώ, ό,τι είναι δικό Σου οι θεοί, που τον Ολυμπό τους η δική Σου θέληση ζητάει ν’ απαλλοτριώσει.

Στερημένη από πνεύμα, Εσύ θα φθαρείς χωρίς τη Χώρα, που το πνεύμα της, Εσένα, Ευρώπη, εδημιούργησε.

Scheduled & Charter Flights to Athens and Skiathos

Charter Flights to Athens and Skiathos
From May through to October charter flights are widely available from airports in the and UK to Skiathos, Thessaloniki and Volos, which are the nearest airports to sea ports with departures to Alonissos.  According to Charterflights.co.uk the departures for summer 2011 charter flights are:
 
SkiathosBirmingham
Bristol
East Midlands
London Gatwick
Manchester
Newcastle

 ThessalonikiEast Midlands
London Gatwick
London Luton
Manchester
Newcastle

 VolosLondon Gatwick
Manchester
 
For 2011 a new charter company TorAir has started flights from the UK to Skiathos via Volos in place of Viking which we believe went bust this year.

Alonissos island of Greece villas

Greek Villa Alonissos

Information about Alonissos island. The links to other useful webpages also provide the most useful information about the Greek island Alonissos. We supply a selection of beautifully appointed Greek islands holiday villas, from secluded waterfront cottages to large luxurious villas with swimming pool. All have full service for linen, cleaning and pool maintenance, and options include TV, music and air-conditioning to sleep comfortably through the hot summer nights.