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elounda77
news - welcome to the 2004 season :-)
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Welcome to the Spring newsletter for Elounda77 rolling up all the news from the first three months of 2004 and looking forward to the start of a new season. Although the first charter flights from the UK started a few days ago and the island is definitely ready to welcome new visitors and returning friends I'll cover the Winter logisitics of travelling to Crete first as many of you seemed to be interested in the various routes on offer. Before Christmas I had used Air France (see previous newsletter) and found it quite a pleasant experience so in the New Year thought I would try a different carrier. Although I had a ticket with BA Manchester-Heathrow-Athens return departing 5th January (two hundred pounds) I had to forego it because of work and instead got a bargain Manchester - Schipol - Athens return with KLM for around a hundred and twenty pounds at the start of February. Even adding on to this approx one hundred and fifteen pounds, for the Athens to Heraklion return with either Olympic or Aegean, and the island still works out a viable option in the winter. I was setting off for Manchester airport at 3 in the morning and getting into Elounda at 6 in the evening. Not bad for two transfer flights. Leaving Elounda was at 6.30 in the morning arriving back in Manchester 8.30 evening. Lufthansa also do well priced flights changing in Frankfurt that kept coming up in flight searches. I flew with KLM again at the start of March on a similarly priced ticket - which has just taken me on its round trip back to England now at the start of April writing this overdue Elounda news roundup Anyone making the trip to Elounda during Winter 2003-4 will have found many establishments that have remained open for much of the period. For those people looking for long or short stays some places were found for the winter by 'friends of their friends' at very reasonable rates. Many more new and repeat visitors stayed at some of the privately owned apartments and studios that remained open and I had the good fortune to meet some very interesting people who were staying for a while and enjoying Elounda. For those living in Crete on a more permanent basis the nightlife may not be as hectic and varied as in the summer but it's fun and to most tastes. General and provisions stores stay open, and enough places to dine out keep up a winter trade, the pharmacy and the likes remain open and the resort constantly feels inhabited and alive. Having eaten out (the Ouzeria next to Utopia flower shop for meze - Hiona Bar for breakfast being just two) and spent many a late night in the bars (Bar74 - Evangelias) I'm looking forward to the start of the new season. All the summer only bars are open now - recent opening parties including Allygos and Camelot and most of the tourist shops and restaurants have reopened. Many places remain the same and some have undergone changes. The owners of Quick and Fresh are opening a snackbar where Il Sole used to be, Bar Bee has new owners and there is the new En Plo Bar. People have been out painting, places have invested in new screens, new furniture and the likes and summer is definitely in the air :-) So - best wishes to all for the start of the new season and see you April in Elounda - Mike ******************************************** I know that some of you thought I'd been messing with the photos but yes, that was genuine snow that you saw on the frontpage. It fell heavily on the night of the 13th February and the following morning the harbour, beach and hills were snowbound. Although it wasn't long before the main roads were passable some of the roads up to the villages remained 4 wheel drive territory for a number of days afterwards http://www.elounda77.net/publish/images/feb04/eloundavalentinesnow.jpg ******************************************** Malia carnival was a fun but cold affair by all accounts with a number of the expat crowd heading down there and coming back with the proof of frozen hands. I'm afraid I just cried off and went to Cafe Du Lac in Agios for a coffee with Sammy ******************************************** The Filozoikos have held a number of bazaars and raffles etc to raise funds at the hospitality of local businesses such as Mams and Hiona and have recently become involved in a national anti-poisoning campaign. Many dogs have been recued locally or relocated to Germany and some now even send back photo albums of their new lives!! ******************************************* Clean Monday (23rd Feb) was a breezy and fairly cold day - falling relatively early in the year. However brave souls still ventured down to the causeway and canal to fly their kites and barbeques were enjoyed by families and businesses throughout the town. ******************************************** Sunday March 7th was Election Day - I was stranded for three days in Athens (as all the flights to Heraklion were full) staying at the Cypria and so witnessed the Nea Democratia celebrations in Syntagma. For those of you in England who missed it in the news - they are the Conservative right and the new Prime Minister is Costas Karamanlis. ******************************************** Independence Day (25th Mar) - Big turnout for the annual parade by the town's youngsters in celebration of the start of the revolution against Ottoman occupation. Weather was good and people were out from early hours - day coincided with Olympic flame! http://www.elounda77.net/publish/images/mar04/elparade.jpg ********************************************* New or updated links added to the elounda77 lists recently include those for Driros Watersports, The Spinney at Plaka, The Elounda Palm Hotel plus Corali Studios and Portobello Apartments. Recently Featured Business Opportunities Bar 74 - 195k Euros - http://www.elounda77.net/mediapack/commercial/bar74/ Avli Restaurant - 65k GBP - http://www.elounda77.net/webcards/dining/avli/
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