Page 11 – Five Star Greece

Patmos

“We don’t call them pigeons, we call them “Twenty-twoooos,” because that is what their call sounds like,” said the old lady who runs Vangelis, one of the two tavernas in the main piazza in Chora, which turns into one large, elegant, open-air drawing room in August – Patmos is home to six princes, at least 10 counts, 7 famous designers, and various other notables. The clientele is fanatically loyal; visitors come every year and take the same houses and socialise with eachother. Mrs Vangelis wouldn’t let me take a photo of her, “as I don’t want to appear in any of those glossy magazines..”

Kos to Patmos Ferry

by Ileana von Hirsch

I can’t help it – I just love Flying Dolphins, those long tubular hydrofoils that skitter from island to island delivering packages, passengers and news and are a real life-line for the remoter islands. Patmos now has two, one from Samos and one from Kos, both islands with international airports, so Patmos is much easier to get to than it used to be.

Kos was our starting point, where the 24 year old daughter and I had time for lunch in a little Turkish village, and then a visit to the Asclepeion -a glorious setting of hills and cypress trees, framing the pale and sunbleached ruins of the ancient sanctuary of the god Asclepios. Columns lay around in the wild flowers, and water gushed from an old marble spout into stone basins that would have served the sick 2000 years ago as well, who patiently waited for Asclepios to visit them in a dream and cure them of their ills.

Postcard from Antiparos

by Ileana von Hirsch

I met Vangelis our new concierge for Antiparos; a charming young man with blue eyes in a brown face, and the longest eyelashes I have ever seen, so it was very hard to focus on what he was saying – couldn’t make up my mind if that was a good thing or a bad thing in a concierge…..probably a good thing.

He drove us the the airport in a very plush leather upholstered 7 seater, which is definitely a good thing.

We have added just a couple of new houses to our portfolio, even though I keep swearing we are not going to take on any more new houses.. but how can one resist a 7 bedroom beach house owned by someone in the media world, with sleek modern lines and a string of tiny sandy coves at the bottom of the garden?

May in Tinos

by Ileana von Hirsch

Red carpet treatment on Tinos

I urge you to discover Tinos for yourselves. My 24 year old daughter who is accompanying me on this trip, so far has only really seen the point of Mykonos and seems to have an in-built homing device programmed for Le Caprice; Now her plan is to buy a house on Tinos and go to Mykonos just for the weekends using the fast and frequent hydrofoil. A good plan actually…

What’s hot on Mykonos.

by Ileana von Hirsch

Mykonos of course pays no attention to general European malaise as it knows it will as usual, be full and buzzing all season . To celebrate summer 2012, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Enny Monaco have opened new and beautiful boutiques on Matogianni, so shopping on a Greek island has never been better.

Poros Yacht Show – the best yachts in Greece.

by Ileana von Hirsch

IMG00377-20120506-2013 — 50 metres of sleek luxury

6^th – 8^thMay

Poros Yacht Show.

The hot little Saronic Gulf island of Poros does not have quite the same ring to it as Monte Carlo, and yet, with the 40 or so yachts lined up on the jetty, ranging from 50+metre super yachts with gleaming sides, forests of satellites and radars above, deep pile white carpets below, mirror fronted TVS, convertible fly bridge roofs and garages full of jet-skis and toys, to classic schooners of the 1920’s with original hulls and brasswork, no wonder the cream of the International yacht broking community come from as far away as California to inspect the yachts and crews, test the mattresses and taste the menus (yes, the things we do for you…).

Time to go Island Hopping

by Ileana von Hirsch

Time to leave England and the wettest drought on record, the patter of rain, the sliding on mud and squelching through puddles, the over-flowing gutters and leaking roofs, the turning on all the lights at midday, gas company correspondence and the Leveson enquiry. It is time to go Island Hopping. Time to dry off, lighten up, blink in some dazzling sunshine, open up to the warmth, and sniff the dry sea winds of the Aegean and the heavy blooms of the lilacs and lilies of the Ionian. Yes, it is time for our May Villa inspection trip.

Greek Real Estate on the move again

by Ileana von Hirsch

The tiny island of Oxia, where we used to head to for overnight fishing trips from Ithaca as children, and in whose emerald green waters we used to snorkel, has been sold to Qataris for 5 million euros. It will have the Onassis island of Skorpios as a neighbour, Homeric Ithaca, the Gulf of Actium and and … Read more

The Essence of Greece

by Ileana von Hirsch

I was asked today by the highly intellectual and charming Serge Dive who runs the Pure Life Travel fair what tour or package or part of our activity was the one that offered our clients the purest essence of Greece. I thought for a minute and then said “We don’t offer any at all. Greece can’t be packaged – as soon as you package it into a tour it is no longer the essence of Greece. Greece just happens to you, and our job is to put clients into the right place with the right people around them, so it can happen to them as well.”

It was Serge’s turn to think for a minute, then he smiled and said “You are the best salesman I have ever met”

What to do on Santorini and why three days is not long enough.

by Ileana von Hirsch

The three day programme at Santorini 1V

I asked our sweet, clever and beautiful owner of fabulous Villa Santorini 1V for a list of her personal favorite things to do that she could suggest to guests staying at her house, and this is what she sent:

Dear Ileana, there are so many things to do on Santorini and some of them (our top 3 are the wine-tour, the Caldera cruise, and the Caldera walk) are not to be missed. On a three-day visit, the only thing guests would have time to do is sit by the pool and enjoy the view, so the four day minimum makes sense for guests!