On My Way

In five more days I will be back in my second home - my lovely Greece.

It's very exciting for it's been two years since my last trip. My friend in Athens says that things have changed a little after the financial crisis, but there is one thing you can't change - and that's the special ambience, and the spectacular scenery. And people don't really change, they just soldier on. For times are always a-changing and everyone learns to go with it, good and bad alike.

My itinerary reads like gypsy wanderings - Naxos, Santorini, Milos and Sifnos in the Cyclades; Parga on the West Coast with visits to Corfu, Paxi, Kefalonia and Ithaki in the Ionians; Hydra in the Saronics; then around Crete, back to Athens, and Nafplio, Sparti and Monemvasia in the Peloponnese. And the nice part is I'll be catching up with friends all the way.

So, until my return - Adio!

Booked, and Ready to Go...

It's a very satisfying feeling to know that the airline tickets for your trip are safely tucked away and your major hotels booked. Such it is with me for my coming trip to Greece.

I'm leaving Australia on May 5th with a pretty hectic schedule, and my major task is to make sure that my two companions enjoy the places I've selected for them. They asked to see the 'real' Greece, not just the touristy places. It's getting harder each visit, for one by one the lovely out-of-the-way spots are being glammed up for visitors! However I'm confident that I can fulfill their wish with one or two 'treasures' I've found over the years.

I'm also on a mission to update this website with new and much better pictures and to collect data for a new travel book. And... I have been lucky enough to be invited to the wedding of two dear friends in Athens! This will be so special for me.

So if you're thinking of a trip to Greece this year why not ask me first and I might be able to find some 'treasures' for you too!

Contact me at helen@greekpixandwords.com and let me plan your trip.

Planning a Trip?

YES!

I've been sitting at my desk looking at a photo taken of me with two Dutch travellers and our driver at the edge ( the very edge) of the Vikos Gorge in the North-west province of Epiros, Greece. And wishing I was back there...

That particular day was one of those "some days are diamonds" things. I was staying in the Greek Riviera town of Parga and the tour I had booked for had been cancelled due to bus breakdown. However the nice tour company decided to put on alternative transport, and ours was a driver and car. Consequently we were not tied to the tour itinerary and our driver opted to show us the very best places. Our destination was the Zagoria, sometimes called the Zagorohoria - the mountain hamlets of the Pindos Range, and the stunning Vikos Gorge which is the deepest gorge in the world.

Our journey started along the wonderful new motorway called Egnatia, most of which is hacked out of the very mountains themselves and is a roller coaster ride through tunnels and over stunning viaducts. The secondary road took us up, up and up onto the top of the world to a picture perfect little grey stone town called Monodendrio, where we walked to a very old tiny monastery where the gorge began.

Well! Views to die for! There I stood with nothing for a backdrop except sheer craggy walls of rock. Down below was - well, it was so deep it was hard to tell. Awesome. There was a track about two feet wide along the cliff face with the nothing-drop on the right, and I ventured along it, mesmerised by the stupendous vistas but tremulous with the sheer magnitude of the panorama. They had to drag me away!

That was just the start of that lovely day!

Yes - I'm now planning my return this year. Coming?

Contact me at helen@greekpixandwords.com and let me help you plan your trip!

Helen's 100 Travel Tips for Greece

Yassas!

Yes folks, at last my new mini ebook 'Helen's 100 Travel Tips For Greece' is finished and ready for a good read. It's taken me a while to complete but I'm sure you'll find it entertaining.

Like all countries, Greece has the good, the bad and the ugly, but fortunately most of it is good - the main problem being that if there is a difficult way of doing things - that will be the Greek way! The Greeks themselves are the first to admit it. The fun part is knowing how to make the difficult things easy, and therefore having a trouble-free trip. This is what I’ve tried to explain in this small booklet, and I hope my tips will help. I’m not a travel agent, so I have no intention of trying to sell you a trip, I’m trying to sell you a country!

Here's Tip 1 just to give you a taste of what's to come...

☼ Tip 1.

Here’s five good reasons why you should follow in my footsteps and travel to Greece:

1. Because you’ll absolutely love it.

2. Because it’s hugely historical and you do need a culture fix now and then.

3. Because Greece is an experience like no other. (Challenge yourself)

4. Because Greece is beautiful, and stunning, and amazing, and different.

5. Because in Greece you can really unwind. And it’s Seniors friendly, too.

It doesn’t matter whether you loathe ruins, hate beaches, get sea-sick, detest olive oil and are indifferent to moussaká, I guarantee that within one week you will be captivated by this incredible country.

Here’s a quote I wrote in my E-book Greece - Gleeful Glimpses: “You need to understand that Greece is not a pretty country - rather it’s stunning and at times awesome, and always fascinating. There is a magical quality to Greece - it's a place where you can have a sudden overpowering feeling of belonging on God's earth, where you can discover self-worth and well-being. Rugged mountains rise so high the clouds stick to their shanks like skirts. From pallet-box blue seas, dry rocky islands rear up like dragon’s teeth. Tiny towns, like spilt sugar cubes, cling precariously, scatter across, spill down, or cower between steep hillsides of grey stone. They pool into cities in the lush valleys, or spreadeagle at the edge of perfect bays.”

I asked two friends of mine what it was that drew them back to Greece not once, but many times. One said “It’s the amazing ambience.” The other said “It’s a step back in time.”

It’s all true...

As 'Helen's 101 Travel Tips For Greece' is not on the website yet you can contact me at helen@greekpixandwords if you want to order a copy. It'll cost you A$7.50 and you can pay through Paypal.