Van Athene tot de Egeïsche Eilanden: Lesbos & Samos

About the destination: Athens takes its name after the goddess of wisdom Athena, who is celebrated by the magnificent Acropolis, which overlooks the modern, cosmopolitan city that Athens is today. Athens is one of the world’s oldest cities and it is the birthplace of western philosophy, democracy and theater. Up to this date, the Greek capital remains a major worldwide centre of culture, with its historic centre, iconic classical sites and museums filled with ancient Greece artefacts. The Acropolis, crowned by the emblematic Parthenon, has been proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Cars were banned from the historic centre, which has become the most striking pedestrian promenade in Europe. In this archeological Park, visitors will witness the contrasting nature of this ancient metropolis being able to visit the New Acropolis Museum, a high-tech modern structure with light and airy exhibition spaces as well as the National Archaeological Museum, the largest archeological museum in Greece built in the 19th century and devoted to ancient Greek art. The Acropolis and Mount Lycavittos, the city’s highest points, are used as orientation since they are visible from most places in the Plaka, the old historical neighborhood. The Plaka is under the Acropolis and stretches almost to Syntagma, home of to the Greek Parliament. For a taste of the hedonistic Athenian lifestyle one should visit Monastiraki, where locals go to eat, drink and mingle. The night time belongs to Psirri, a vibrant neighbourhood known for its bars, live music venues and exciting nightclubs. Southeast of the city centre, a glorious stretch of coast affords dreamy views over the glistening blue Aegean Sea. Surely few European capitals can claim sandy beaches and clean water for swimming within such easy access. Athens therefore offers the best of both worlds – a fantastic city break as well as a lazy beach holiday. Athenians are surprisingly friendly and outgoing and their enthusiasm for life’s pleasurable pursuits is so infectious that even the stiffest traveler will take time out for endless coffees and evening strolls, dine out until late and enjoy the city’s nightlife, long after the rest of Europe has gone to bed.

About the destination: Lesbos is a Greek island that is part of a wide coverage of islands off the coast of Turkey (in the Aegean). Its capital is Mytilini. Along with some smaller islands, it is the peripheral unit of Lesbos. It is famous as the birthplace of Sappho, the poet of antiquity whose poems described their passionate love to her companions and gave rise to the modern term lesbianism. Moreover, the adjective in Spanish of the islanders is lesbian and lesbia. It is the third largest island of Greece (Crete and Evia outgrow) and eighth in the Mediterranean (after Cyprus, Corsica, Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca, and the two Greek that surpass it), with an area of ​​1,630 sq km and 320 km perimeter of coastline. The population is about one hundred thousand inhabitants, of which more than a third live in the capital Mytilini. Apart from the capital, major cities are Kalloni, Gera, Plomari, Ayassos, Eressos and Molivos (Molyvos old). Plomari and Molivos are tourist centers along with Ereso, very visited for being the birthplace of the poet Sappho.

About the destination: Samos is an island in the North Aegean Sea and one of the East Aegean Islands. Its capital is the town of Samos, formerly known as Vathi. Samos is an island ruled by legend and beauty. It is the island of the father of mathematics, Pythagoras, the astronomer Aristarchus and the philosopher Epicurus. It is the home of Hera and the land that hosted Herodotus and Aesop. An important center of trade in the Aegean and a major naval force in antiquity, it came into contact with important Mediterranean cultures. Its proximity to the coast of Asia Minor makes the island a ‘bridge’ between the two cultures, a difference that did not hinder the co-existence, cooperation and friendship of the two peoples living across the water from each other.