Mykonos “Eureka!” as Archimedes would have said had he been a villa agent – At last, we have been given a drop-dead glamorous house with private access to the sea – mind you, you have to be a strong swimmer to cope with the waves, but on a calm day, total bliss, and the house … Read More
October 6th One of the closest Cycladic islands to Athens and just a hop away from Mykonos, Andros is ripe for discovery. Real estate prices are bucking the downward trend, fuelled by demand from the Greek island connoisseurs who prize the wonderful fresh and local produce, the rich and subtle cuisine, the tidy and picturesque … Read More
I have been clinging to my status as a bridge beginner for the last 20 years, to avoid being bullied by my bridge-mad husband into serious games where you are not allowed to ask what 2 clubs means and someone tells you off when you forget how many trumps there are in a pack. The … Read More
Finally, over a hundred years since Schliemann, convinced he had found the location of Odysseus and Penelope’s home, first excavated the site of Aetos on Ithaca, a team of architects from the University of Yannina have uncovered a three storey Mycenean building that corresponds to Homer’s famous description. Odysseus clearly valued panoramic views – either for strategic or … Read More
July 24th 2010 Those who don’t know any better think that this means donning sunglasses and a Liz Hurley bikini and carving a bit of space out for yourself on a Riviera beach in August, while wrinkled brown bodies step over you and kick up sand in your face and into your warm and fly- … Read More
July 17th A shipowner friend arrived on his yacht yesterday – his newest toy, which is a Viking 45; small, smart, fast and sporty. Since the sea has been like a dusty mirror stretching all the way to Italy, we set off for the beautiful beach of Afales with its towering white cliffs and tiny round … Read More
July 4th Fittingly for July 4th, we have here at Villa Skinos, a house full of American guests – a press officer from the State department, a CBS producer and two actors from California, so at every meal time, before we sit down, someone says “Off the record…” followed by something outrageous. We are desperately … Read More
June 29th The Five Star Greece office has moved for 3 weeks to Ithaca with me – at this time of year everything is easier from Greece, as our role becomes more pastoral than commercial, looking after clients rather than taking new bookings. Well, that is the excuse.
June 22 No, this is not a catalogue of last-minute offers on Five Star Greece villas, although of course there are plenty to be had even on our top VIP luxury Greek villas with pools. (Yes, I admit, I have had my first SEO lesson..sorry about that…) We are far too elegant to trumpet that sort of … Read More
June 18th I had dinner yesterday with the President of the Greek Chamber of Shipping (oh, all right then, my cousin…), and we both agreed that the failure of our Hellenic lawmakers to make reasonable laws that normal people would be more or less happy to comply with , as happens in normal countries, was … Read More
June 11th I finally managed to view the villa where a group of Russian clients, (not ours) were staying; they very kindly let me have a quick scoot around. I brought out my best schoolgirl Russian and told them that dark night lay over the hills of Georgia, that the River Aragva was foaming far … Read More
