A travel guide to Athens and to the Grand Resort Lagonissi
Easter Holidays
Like a defeated movie villain, who isn’t quite as dead as we're all led to believe, just as we all thought winter was done for another year, Easter 2018 arrived trailing a coup de grace in the form of an arctic blast aptly named 'Beast from the East', marketed by the met office in the similar way to the bad guy from Rocky IV.
As social media platforms became flooded with people’s snow-covered back gardens and status updates rejoicing in snowfall. The novelty of consecutive snow days quickly wore off as one by one, public services grounded to a halt. It’s all fun and games until amazon stops delivering, and the panic shopping begins.
“Nope, I don’t particularly want to build another snowman”
Of course 4 days of snow obviously means an emergency trip to the supermarket to buy up all the bread, milk and loo roll available should the beast from the east bring about a second ice age; the term 'Snowmageddon' was bandied around a lot, particularly in the Daily Express, personally I preferred the friendlier sounding Frappa-pocalypse.
This unforeseen Arctic weather bomb threatened to kibosh the small matter of a live event for 300 delegates in Athens, Greece in just a few days time; You can't run a live event in Greece from a grounded flight in a Wetherspoons at Gatwick Airport. All eyes glued to various weather sites, checking every few minutes for signs that things would improve by the time we were scheduled to fly out. As luck would have it, the Beast from the East's destructive path would be kiboshed by developing storm Emma, who tamed the beast with her own destructive path of torrential rain in time to clear the runway for our flight. Ordinarily, the running of this event would rest upon my shoulders, but on this occasion given the size, scale and grandeur of the event, I'd be taking the whole team along for the ride. It would be my first trip to Greece, in preparation for the trip, I got down to some Googling and discovered so much more to its rich history, and customs. There 's so much more to Greece than the commonly associated customs of plate-smashing, Ouzo, Taramasata, pitta, Minotaurs, olives, ruins, and boozy-brits clubbing abroad, and Demis Roussos.
Before long, the prior uncertainty of the trip was left behind with the inclement weather as we all took to the skies soon to be landing in weather conditions the polar opposite of what we were leaving behind, albeit for a few days.
Visit Greece
Greece - officially the Hellenic Republic, and historically known as Hellas is located in Southern Europe, with a population of approximately 11 million as of 2016. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence between the 11th and 7th millennium BC.
Athens is a global city and one of the biggest economic centres in Southeastern Europe. It has a large financial sector, and its port, Piraeus is both the largest passenger port in Europe and second largest in the world. City of Athens has a population of 664.046 (in 2011) within its administrative limits and a land area of 15.04 square miles. The urban area of Athens (Greater Athens and Greater Piraeus) extends beyond its administrative city limits, with a population of 3,090,508 (in 2011) over an area of 159 sq miles.
Athens Weather
Athens has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The dominant feature of Athens' climate is an alternation between hot and dry summers and mild winters with moderate rainfall, with an average of 416 millimetres of yearly precipitation, rainfall occurs largely between October and April. July and August are the driest months when thunderstorms occur sparsely once or twice a month. Athens holds the World Meteorological Organisation record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Europe at 48°C in July 1977.
Places to visit in Greece
Acropolis - The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon.
New Acropolis Museum - The Acropolis Museum is an archaeological museum focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis of Athens.
Plaka - In the shadow of the Acropolis and its ancient temples, hillside Plaka has a village feel, with narrow cobblestone streets lined with tiny shops selling jewellery, clothes and local ceramics. Sidewalk cafes and family-run tavernas stay open until late, and Cine Paris shows classic movies al fresco. Nearby, the whitewashed homes of the Anafiotika neighbourhood give the small enclave a Greek-island vibe.
Anafiotika - Anafiotika is a tiny scenic neighbourhood of Athens, part of the old historical neighbourhood called Plaka. It lies in the northeast side of the Acropolis hill.
Santorini is one of the Cyclades islands in the Aegean Sea. It was devastated by a volcanic eruption in the 16th century BC, forever shaping its rugged landscape. The whitewashed, cubiform houses of its 2 principal towns, Fira and Oia, cling to cliffs above an underwater caldera (crater). They overlook the sea, small islands to the west and beaches made up of black, red and white lava pebbles.
Mount Lycabettus/ Church of Lycabettus - Mount Lycabettus, also known as Lycabettos, Lykabettos or Lykavittos, is a Cretaceous limestone hill in Athens, Greece at 300 meters above sea level.
Syntagma Square - Syntagma Square is the central square of Athens. The square is named after the Constitution that Otto, the first King of Greece was obliged to grant after a popular and military uprising on 3 September 1843
Omonia Square - Omonoia Square is a central square in Athens. It marks the northern corner of the downtown area defined by the city plans of the 19th century and is one of the city's principal traffic hubs. It is served by Omonoia train station.
National Archaeological Museum - The National Archaeological Museum in Athens houses some of the most important artefacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity.
Monastiraki Square - Lively Monastiraki is known for iconic landmarks including the ruins of Hadrian’s Library, the Ancient Agora and the rebuilt Stoa of Attalos, with a museum exhibiting Athenian artefacts. Monastiraki Flea Market is a jumble of shops selling artisanal soaps, handmade sandals and souvenir T-shirts. The surrounding streets are crammed with traditional tavernas and restaurants, many with Acropolis views.
Three-and-a-half hours later we touched down at Athens International Airport, nicely swapping April showers for warmer Mediterranean climes, having boarded our flights dressed for a wet weather, we certainly felt slightly over-dressed coming into land in Athens Airport Greece with the mercury in the high-teens.
Shortly after the laborious chore of baggage reclaim and passport control, we were through to arrivals to make ourselves known to our driver who would be shuttling us 40km south to the Grand Resort Lagonissi to begin preparations for the event. Anyone who's ever tried to find someone who's simultaneously looking for you, add to the mix, both parties have no idea what the other looks like, and then have this impossible 'man-hunt' play out in a busy airport filling up with more people by the minute. Hatching a plan, we thought best if we stood firm in an obvious place, labelled ourselves and waited for the driver to find us. After a few minutes, and a couple of awkward incidences of mistaken identity (why dress like a chauffeur if you're not?) we were finally relieved to be being greeted by our driver.
Lagonissi – 35 mins drive from the centre of Athens lies the popular beach resort Lagonissi, the location where our grand event was to take place. Lagonissi is a seaside residential area in the southern part of Kalyvia Thorikou in East Attica. It is situated close to the shore on a peninsula by Saronic Gulf. Lagonisi Beach is located 40 km southeast of Athens and 35 km northwest of Cape Sounio. Lagonissi Beach is a gem in Sithonia with calm waters for swimming and a great view. The island Diaporos, a kilometre offshore protects this wonderful beach from winds and waves the area is abundant with luxury homes, sandy beaches as well as a 5-star luxury hotel located in the Saronic, it is one of the most expensive areas in Attica Prefecture. Restaurant facilities, cafeterias and bars are located mainly in the heart of Lagonissi, near Kalyvion Avenue; the main road that connects Lagonissi with Kalyvia Thorikou.
Grand Resort Lagonissi
Having all nodded off with the gentle rocking motion of the car journey, around 30 minutes later we pulled up to the magnificent setting of the Grand Resort Lagonissi - a luxury 5-star hotel encircled by the sea on a 72-acre private peninsula in the Athenian Riviera. The Grand Resort is a haven of beachside luxury on the south suburbs of Athens.
Glad to have finally completed our travels and raring to get event plans underway, there'd be no time for sightseeing and exploring on this occasion, being against the clock, just a very quick work focused lunch, and a few hours downtime to rest, get changed and freshen up, and unwind in the luxury of our villa, experiencing the renowned Greek hospitality against an opulent backdrop in the Mediterranean setting.
The accommodation was without doubt first class, with us travelling in a group, we opted for a villa, which could only be described as perfection. Due to conflicting schedules, we were but two-thirds of the group. We would get to work on the preliminary arrangements, ensure service providers were confirmed and poised to arrive in time for the event. To doubly make sure the event would run to plan a day prior to the big night, we drafted in our remaining events team to provide all hands on deck.
The welcome arrival of Lydia and Emma eased the pressure in getting things ready in good time. We were a complete team once again, with all hands on deck we had just enough pairs of hands to manage everything comfortably.
In sweltering but workable conditions the team mobilised like clockwork setting out to accomplish what we do best.
On the morning of the event after a hearty breakfast, we ventured down to the venue space to be met with the timely arrival of the equipment.
Arriving at the outdoor space, we were met with miles and miles of stage and lighting rigs, we made a start in the hall while the muscle, technicians and crew went to work to getting the stage set and lighting rigs up.
Being a well-oiled machine, it wasn't long before the staging rigs were up, secured and ready for us to get down to work dressing the stage as performers, caterers and guest speakers were scheduled to arrive.
As the different elements came together for the start of the event, there was a short respite for us to freshen up, get changed and into theme ready for guests to start arriving. I took the opportunity to slip into my nautical threads, serving you Love Boat realness.
Delegates were welcomed to a warm VIP reception and escorted by Ancient Greek Spartans and Priestesses dressed in elegant flowing Grecian garments on a red carpet to dinner
Local Greek Drummers played traditional rhythmic beats as guests arrived and escorted down a red carpet into the main hall to their seats for a sumptuous 3-course evening meal
Over the course of the evening, guests were dazzled by a dramatic dance performance from an Ancient Greek Priestess dance company
Following dinner, guests were invited to continue their drinks and mingling, to the outdoor space specially created for the event with stunning panoramic views across the shore as the string quartet played on.
The location of the Grand Resort Lagonissi on the Grand Peninsula of the Athenian Rivera, meant an irresistible Instagram money-shot of the sun on the horizon, which provided the perfect backdrop for the rest of the open-air event as key speakers addressed delegates.
Following the speeches as the spectacular sunset over the Mediterranean became a clear night sky, The event drew to a close with an electrifying performance from a violin soloist against the back drop of the clear night sky and firework display reflecting against the still waters. Delegates and guests alike dazzled and gasped by the soloist's captivating closing performance. Providing the perfect big finale to a spectacular event
As the curtain came down on another highly successful event and after having seen the guests back to their hotels, with the sign flipped over and in the spirit of great tradition, it was time to congratulate ourselves on another job well done with a celebratory tipple, and few left-over canapés
L-R The SEvents Team: Sasha, Edouardo, Emma, Lydia, Phil, (several empty bottles conveniently removed from shot)
Just one more thing...
Observing the following etiquette tips and customs will ensure your visit is a positive experience to keep the locals happy, or don't; discovering things the embarrassing way often makes for a hilarious travel anecdote.
Travel tips
Don't bare too much flesh - Imagine the scenario, whilst part of a tour group visiting the sites of Athens, you're denied entry into an church on account of the state you're dressed. Mortified? Be respectful when considering your outfit for a day's sightseeing, the last thing you want is to spend the best part of a day stood outside of a church in your thong like a disappointed swimwear model, whilst everyone else gets to marvel at the impressive architecture inside the building. If you really must show off that beach-bod you've been working on since January, be prepared to cover up on entering these places, pack a shawl/sarong/pashmina/floor-length poncho to swish around the inside of churches; if you're deemed indecent to enter, some places may be able to loan you something to cover yourself up.
Watch your heels - Obviously, if you're planning a day of sightseeing around the ruins, you can assume that a fair bit of walking will be probably be involved, therefore, your choice of footwear will not only guarantee your comfort, (because... eurgh, holiday blisters!) but also ensure that your favourite six-inch Jimmy Choos don't wreck the ancient ruins as you sashay about the Acropolis.
Do carry cash - Charging everything on plastic might be convenient and work for you in the city but as a tourist, visiting remote places off the beaten track, smaller retailers, cafes and tavernas may only accept cash, so plan ahead and carry enough cash you're likely to need for the day.
Don't take photographs of military installations-In Greece, especially in the Aegean islands near the Turkish border, taking photos of military facilities is a definite no-no. Avoid trouble with authorities by respecting this rule.
Don't flush loo roll- Every single toilet in Greece is equipped with a bin, to avoid clogging the outdated sewage pipes with paper and throw it in the bin instead(remember, Greece is an old country). It might feel strange to begin with, but you'll soon get over it when the alternative is a hefty fine for bringing down the entire greek sewage system when authorities track the blockage down to your ensuite. If in doubt about flushing, check first before your first 'visit'.
Don't do the Moutza- the Moutza is a highly offensive hand gesture consisting of very deliberate outstretched fingers and an open palm thrust in the direction of someones face, regular waving is fine, but gesturing to hi-five someone in the face isn't. Careful when ordering 5 ouzos in a noisy bar.
Don't handle artefacts at museums and archaeological sites - this ought to go without saying but there are some who can't resist the urge to get handsy with the exhibits for the an amusing photo. Unless otherwise stated, do not attempt to handle any artefacts at archaeological sites or in museums. Most will be protected by glass or have specific rules (no touching, no flash photography)
Do try the olive oil - a bread basket is often served with a meal. Before asking for butter, remember you're in a country famous for its olives. Eschew the butter, and try the bread with olive oil instead, but don't double dip. Do as the Greeks do by tearing off chunks of bread before dipping. Nobody likes double-dippers.
Don't rely on fast food establishments - we all know THAT person who avoids the local cuisine whilst on holiday in favour of surviving off global fast-food giants. Don't be THAT person. Greece is famous for its delicious and healthy cuisine, it would really be a Greek tragedy to disregard all that for a sad burger meal from a creepy Scottish clown.
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