Why Holiday in Evia, Greece?


Dafni Beach near Paralia Politikon
Greece offers the entire holiday package – sun, sea, sand and soaring temperatures – but unlike other holiday resorts, the area also boasts a rich and vibrant history. This level of culture, juxtaposed with impressive scenery and effervescent entertainment, is what keeps holiday makers coming back for more year after year.
When you choose to holiday in Greece, you benefit from a great deal of choice. The mainland and each of the islands within the archipelago offer their own unique personality, allowing you to choose from the energetic shores of Crete to the small unspoilt fishing villages of Kephalonia.
However, for a combination of the two extremes, visitors flock to Evia, the second largest of Greece’s islands (after Crete) and an exceptionally beautiful place to stay.

What does Evia provide?
The ocean is an almost constant presence in Greece, and nowhere is this truer than the island of Evia – where green and lush landscape appears to topple into the deep blue sea. The island is renowned for its grand, imposing mountains which run almost to the shore of the Aegean Sea and the Evoikos Gulf. In many areas all that separates these expanses of glorious green and azure blue are the strips of yellow sand that make up the area’s beaches – the ideal location for an island getaway.
The sea offers a wealth of possibilities during your stay on Evia – even without considering the bountiful feast that can be harvested therein. Here is a place to relax as you lie on a lilo, explore the astonishing underwater environments with a snorkel, or indulge in something a little more extreme – like watersports.
Inland, the mountainous regions are the ideal backdrop for the avid outdoorsman or woman. Here, you will find a variety of different activities, from horse riding and climbing to hiking and mountain biking. As opposed to the usual holiday resorts with their busy streets and built environments, Evia offers the space to escape it all. Here, lovers of nature can satisfy their passion for exploration, with a number of forests to dive into and explore, in addition to the well-established tourist resorts.

Cultural activities in Evia
Evia holds a range of sites of historic interest, with ruins dating back to the early Hellenic period. However, there is evidence that parts of the island were lived on right back to the Paleolithic era. In days gone by, Evia also established colonies all around the Mediterranean.

Getting around Evia

Today, two bridges link Evia to the Greek mainland, so transportation is simple from airports to mainland Greece. To witness the entire area, including some of the best beauty spots off the beaten track, car hire is encouraged. 




The most secluded beaches and inland mountainous areas are not covered by public transport links, so driving can provide complete freedom of the island and the Greek mainland should you choose to visit it.
Remember, if you are travelling from the UK, European vehicles may take some getting used to. Left hand drive cars make driving on the right side of the road easier but they take a little practice. Consider making a couple of laps around the airport carport before embarking on busy roads if you are a novice.
It is also useful to learn the rules of the road for Greece as they can differ slightly from country to country. Firstly, to hire a car you must have a valid license in a language that uses the Roman alphabet or an International Driving Permit. You must carry your license with you at all times. The legal age to get behind the wheel is 18 but car companies may restrict the hire of vehicles based on your age – or make you pay a higher fee.
As in the UK, car seats are required for babies and young children. Adults must wear seatbelts by law when travelling in the front seats. Children must always wear seatbelts, wherever they are seated. You should also note that radar speed camera detectors are illegal and drink driving is not tolerated – punishment can be anything from a fine to imprisonment.

In Greece, the level of car accidents is relatively high – more than 260 people are killed every year. Do not feel the need to be reckless and drive as you may see others doing. They have likely grown up using these roads and are used to the conditions. By driving safely and making sure you understand the rules of the road, your holiday in Greece will be more pleasant.

What is an ideal holiday?

The ideal holiday is synonymous to freedom and choosing to spend your summer vacation in a self catering accommodation offers freedom. Why?

  • Because it’s your home for a week, two weeks, or for however long you’re staying there. You can come and go as you please and you don’t have to follow any special program or timetable. You can have a beach party all night long and get up in the morning when you like. You do not have to be up at the crack of dawn to be present at preset time in restaurant for breakfast, or meet with the rest of the group for a tour.
  • Because you have more control over what you eat. You can plan your food according to your appetite and needs and you are not tied up to the specific menu of a hotel. 
  • Because self catering properties are ideal for touring bases. If, for example, you choose our beach cottage, you can spend each day discovering all the different corners of beautiful Evia island. It is true that Evia has a lot to offer. There are many unspoiled areas, being a fairly undiscovered, to many, island. But if you feel tired for a tour, the news are even greater! You can stay in and relax in the garden or at the beach.
  • Because the sense of privacy is much greater in a self catering accomodation compared to the privacy someone has in a hotel. Our cottage is spacious enough for a family to enjoy privacy. Privacy from other people, like those someone meets in a hotel, and privacy from other family members. Each member of the family can plan their activities independantly, due to big space and many rooms, but join in the family room or in the garden sitting areas for communication and sharing when they feel like it.
Summer happens only once a year, so do summer holidays. Being bound to a tight program the rest of the year, wouldn't it be better to feel free during your holidays?


So why don't you choose self catered holidays for summer 2013 and enjoy the freedom you deserve for yourself and for your family?

Recipes| Tyropitaria of Evia

Tyropitari is a traditional meal of Evia Island. It is a kind of cheese pie. It is a fried pie, made in a pan, and it is fairly eazy and quick made. It can be served as an appetizer, or as a light meal.

Ingredients for 3 pies

1 kg thick rustic sheet cake
1 kg fresh soft cheese (ricotta or cream cheese)
7 eggs
4 tablespoons milk
olive oil for frying

Directions
Whip the eggs lightly with milk. Grate the cheese by hand or with a fork and when melted mix with eggs. Take one sheet and spread it into the pan, which we smear lightly with olive oil. The sheet should far exceeds in size the perimeter of the pan. Spread some of the cheese mixture and eggs and fold inward the sheet to make the first tyropitari. Spread over the second sheet and turn it upside down the whole pie. Sprinkle the filling and seal the foil left over from pan. Repeat this process so that folding the third sheet to include the other two tyropitaria. We turn carefully with a spatula to cook the pie us from both sides. Similarly prepare the remaining tyropitaria. Pulling them from the pan, let them draw briefly on absorbent paper and serve hot.






Another recipe for tyropitari, with hand made pastry is the following:

Ingredients

1 kg flour for all uses

a bit of salt
water as needed
200 grams. feta cheese, crumbled.
oil for frying

Directions
To make the pastry/dough: Mix in a bowl the flour with salt and add a little bit of water as needed to make the pastry in such a way that does not stick to hands.

For the tyropitari: Let the pastry aside covered for 30 minutes. Split it into pieces, and open them with a rolling pin into rectangular sheets 40-50 cm
Sprinkle each sheet with crumbled feta and slamming bringing the facing angles into the middle of the sheet, giving the pies circular shape.
Fry in hot oil on both sides until golden brown.
Leave them to drain on absorbent kitchen paper.

Bon appétit!!!

(Ps. I have to confess I am not so good in writting down the recipes. So if you want to try the tyropitari and you cannot understand how to make it, or you have any questions, ask me and I shall make my best to help you)


6 TOP Reasons for Booking your Holidays Early - 2013 Early Booking Offer

It is never too early to book your summer holidays. Just as someone returns from their vacations, it is TIME to book for the next year holidays. Yes, this is the truth, and it is a life best practise. So I give you here 6 top reasons why it is better to book your summer holidays as early as possible.

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1. Benefit from "early booking" offers. The majority of the accomodations have "early booking"   offers, so you can benefit from those and save money.


2. Benefit from time to choose more wisely. Since it is early, the majority of accomodation of any type it is available. So you have the luxury of choosing whatever you like, exactly in the period of time you want, and meet perfectly your personal and budget needs. You give exactly the money you want, and even less, because you avoid booking something more expensive just because all other accomodation is already taken. 


3. You can plan your budget more accurately. Having already decided about the fixed costs, you have the time  to save money if you feel like,  to spend it during the vacations for you and your family satisfaction and fun.

4. Learn about the place. You have the time to gather information and learn about the place and prices. 

5. Better excursion planning. You have the time to plan excursions, to draw the path you will take to reach your destination and plan more accurately the cost of each excursion.   

6. Most important of all, you have something to DREAM about, the whole year till next summer. More than dreaming, it is actually about designing and planning your days far away, and distract your mind, when anxiety strikes in winter time.
So decide early, book early, benefit early. 


Book early in our cottage and benefit from our EARLY BOOKING OFFER for 2013, which consists of:


1. Two bottles of beer.


2. One bottle of wine. 


3. Twenty four hour per day  free internet access PLUS free laptop use, during your stay. 

Mythos Beer

(PS In addition to those 6 reasons, there is a hidden bonus-reason: Ηaving early booked your holidays, and gaining all the benefits we talked about, you are so well prepared for holidays, that you start enjoying immediately. What I mean is that there is no time loss in holiday place to discover things, like prices and costs or having unpleasant surprices that prohibit you from relaxing.
So you actually prolong your holiday time)

Rain

Rain...

Today the day started with rain.
This summer is a very warm one, with high temperatures for a long period of time. And of course no rain at all. But today it was a surprise to us to wake up in a total different scenery, windy, cloudy and with rain.

Πρωτοβρόχια - it is raining

It did not last for a long though!
Back to normal with high temperature and bright sun.
Summer goes on, and it is good for my guests, to enjoy sea and sun.

Politika Beach

Enquiries for next year 2013 have already started, so book your holidays in our cottage early!

Weekend photos

It is a very good season for the resort! Have in mind that July is the best month for holidays in Greece, and for this cottage, so book it early for 2013!

 Olive tree, it is a big and old tree,  makes beautiful shade!

 Pink flower in patio

 That is the blue colour of cottage! Blue sea, sky, and a bit of my nail :)

 The green!!! And a bit of my car  ;)

 Stairs for upstairs! Beautiful sea and garden view from first floor!
And again our sea, and a bit of my lovely nail

The Children' Bedroom


We painted a nice blue colour, one of the two upstairs bedrooms. We tried to find a colour that matches the colour of the sky and sea, and we painted the room. We call this bedroom "The children' " , though it is not only for kids. Fot the time being there are two normal size single beds in this room.
We also bought a new desk, for the laptop, or for someone to read / write/ paint etc. We think it is practical and comfortable. Someone can see out of the window when sitting there.
That is what you see outside from the window

The desk

You can take an idea about the blue colour of the walls

First floor terrace

Sea view from first floor terrace

Garden view from first floor terrace

Garden view from first floor terrace

West side

West side

Pergola for shade

Pergola for shade

Sea view from first floor terrace

Beach Cottage, sea, garden and village video

Have a beautiful summer!!!

September in GreekResort

September is a beautiful month in the beach cottage.
Book your late summer/early autumn holidays in GreekResort and enjoy sea, sun and relaxation in our garden, and enjoy a minimum of 30% discount.


One week for August

One week is still available for August: 25 - 31 of August 2012.
Hurry up and book it NOW!
Check our availability and prices.

Weekend amendments/additions in the cottage

Some new things in the cottage: 

 Two built benches in the garden, for resting and sunbathing. They are not ready yet, colouring is needed. 

new lights in the bedroom.
Also a new refrigerator, a new dvd player, a new cot, and many other things, like bed linen etc. We also found nice candle holders in IKEA. Very cheap and nice. We want visitors to enjoy their stay and they must have any small thing that may brighten their day and night!

Join us in Greece

Regardless of its economic situation, Greece is a beautiful and safe vacation destination.


Also to add at this point, that Greek people are nowadays as hospitable as they used to be:
" Xenia (Greekξενία, xenía) is the Greek word for "foreign" or "strange"/"stranger", or of foreign origin. The concept of hospitality, or generosity and courtesy shown to those who are far from home is "philoxenia"; the word "philos" meaning "friend" and the word "xenia" meaning "stranger", thus "friend of the stranger". It is often translated as "guest-friendship" (or "ritualized friendship") because the rituals of hospitality created and expressed a reciprocal relationship between guest and host."

"Take care of God's needy people and welcome strangers into your home." Romans 12:13






Up Greek Tourism Project see what the project is about (taken from Up Greek Tourism Project)

Project Summary

Managed by Greeks around the world on a voluntary basis, Up Greek Tourism is a private initiative aiming to promote Greece as a touristic destination.
To this date we have completed two projects:
Project A – New York City
•  Crowdfunding campaign. In just 20 days, we raised $20,352 from more than 330 private individuals. About 50 percent of the supporters were located outside Greece, including in Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Qatar, Russia Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, U.A.E, U.K. and U.S.A.

The crowdfunding campaign started on February 12th and was successfully completed on March 4th!


• Advertising campaign The electronic billboard in Times Square NY, which was on display for 30 days, reminded the public that, regardless of its economic situation, Greece is a beautiful and safe vacation destination.

The advertising campaign started on March 23rd and lasted for 30 days!

Project B – Washington DC
• Crowdfunding campaign. In just 15 days, we reached our minimum target of $10,000 from more than 72 individuals.

The crowdfunding campaign started on April 18th and was successfully completed on May 1st!


This advertising campaign runs now
• An advertising campaign in Washington DC, inviting Americans to visit Greece. The billboard, which will be on display for 30 days, will remind the public that, regardless of its economic situation, Greece is a beautiful and safe vacation destination.

The advertising campaign started on May 3rd and will last for 30 days!



Beach Cottage Garden| Spring time

A few shots from beach cottage garden, at the end of april 2012.









Beautiful tavern by seaside,  fresh fish and other homemade dishes
Tavern "Kyriakos" by the seaside, at Politika (Paralia Politikon)
Tavern "Kyriakos" by the seaside, at Politika (Paralia Politikon)