Greek Travel Website Reviews

What an amazing site you've developed! Thank you Thank you Thank you! We are
going to Greece this August (bad timing we now realize) for our honeymoon
and to see my dear friends in Athens (who are taking us to their home islands of
Lesvos and Syros) before we take off to Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes and now possibly
Sifnos because of your fantastic info and the tale of Adonis. Your wit and
lively descriptions are a true delight and we can't wait to go! Any additionaly
tips you have would be enthusiastically appreciated and we'd love your newlsetter
(assuming that it's on-line). Bravo to you for developing such a magnificent site - the Greek tourism bureau should be paying you if they're not! Many thanks!

...Yours was the most informative site I found. Have you
thought of applying to the Greek Tourist Office for a job, they really
need someone like you. All the best and THANK YOU...

"Matt has a very special way of making you feel as though he is taking you by the hand, walking with you through Greece, telling you about the places he has found.  Whenever I read his pages, I sense I am there with a friend.  The photos help also, giving you a visual picture of the places you are "visiting."  I enjoy the site because he is imparting knowledge he has learned over the years -- and in the end, helping you have a better time while there.  I used his Athens guide and found it extremely helpful while in Greece last year."
Coleen

Hi THANKS A LOT!! :)
with all this info of yours, you have made me feel as I have already
been there!!
That's really amazing. I do appreciate your kind and warm help based on
all your knowledge about Greece. This is really something not-so-usual
these days. Truly am grateful, will say it again :)
And will certainly take many of your advices, thank you.
Yours truly,
Oleg Zvirik
from Tallinn, Estonia

Great site... I have planned our first ever famil summer holdiday in greece
this year, with the help of your we site. Information there , i FOUND TO BE
THE BEST AVAILABLE, better so than some if the things sent out bt the
tourist board etc ....

THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT INFO, AND YOUR QUICK RESPONSE.YOUR WEB SITE WAS THE BEST IVE SEEN. I HAVE SPENT COUNTLESS HOURS ON THE WEB LOOKING FOR SITES TO GREECE. YOURS CAME UP TO ME AS THE ONE WITH MUCH MORE INFORMATION AND THE HONESTY OF THE WEB PAGE. IT WAS STRAIGHT FORWARDING.I ASLO THOUGHT THE LAYOUT WAS GREAT TOO. THANKS AGAIN.

We will be in Sifnos on/about May 23rd for a stay of about 10 days,
probably in Kamares hope to stay at the Hotel Stavros - based on your
description of it.  We also hope to run into you along the way, at one
of the restaurants you describe, a local taverna or a path ... and
certainly at the travel agency.

Thank you again for writing lucidly ...

Your newsletter is beautiful. You don't get information like that in a
travel guide. I'm visiting Greece from Poland via Israel for the first time
in early June. I can't read the travel guides I find here (I can't read
Polish) so your web site is valuable to the point of being essential. I have
contacted the agents that you recommend via email and I hope they are as
helpful as you say, because I want this trip to be perfect. I am meeting my
girlfriend in Tel Aviv (she's on vacation there now) and taking her to
Greece to propose to her before we return to Poland together. You see why I
want everything to be perfect and I appreciate your efforts to make my trip
(and those of everyone who finds your page) better.

Thank you,

My husband and I are planning a trip to Greece the beginning of September.
I have visited your web site and have printed EVERYTHING!  I also emailed
Kiki Zikou also.
Your web site is fantastic and I know I will be using all your information.
thanks, rhon

I continue to use his site even after having printed in all out for my file.
I have passed it on to my local travel agent for her use as well.  His site
is highly organized and very user friendly.  If I had to pick one site out
of all the ones I've used for travel, this would be my choice.  Matt should
get the BIG #1 in my opinion.

Hi Matt,
  I am so excited that I found your website.  I live in CA and I am married
to a Greek.   We are going to Greece this May, my first time, and we are
taking our 3 year old son.  We will be there 4 weeks.  Out of all the of the
books that I have bought, your guide is the most informative and
down-to-earth, and makes the scary prospect of traveling to Greece for the
first time, esp. with a young child, not so scary.  My printer ran out of
ink printing pages off your website!  Your essay on "strollering" hit the
spot.  We will be "strollering" too.  Any other info you have in snail mail
form I would love to have, so please put me on your mailing list.  Your
guide is so detailed and geared towards the type of people like me that
don't like to find things out the hard way!  Thank you!

Dear Matt-

I was in touch with you a few months ago about your Greek guide. My
husband and I just got back from spending our honeymoon in Greece, and
it was wonderful!! The people are just great, and so was the Ouzo (just
like you said). My husband and I spent our first and last night in
Athens and your guide really saved us. We took all your recommendations:
we ate at the Byzantium, stayed at The Adams Hotel, and tried all the
food and experiences we had time for.

We also sailed the Dodecanese islands for a week and stayed a week on
Santorini. Patmos and Samos were particularly beautiful. Although we
were there during the off season, each island seemed to have enough good
tavernas and views, yet still retain its local character. And of course,
Santorini is magic!!!

I just wanted to thank you so much for providing such a practical and
informative guide. It was definately worth the $10. We didn't even open
the Fodor's guide in Athens. Best of luck to you!!!

Kia Ware

I really enjoyed your Greece Travel Guide on the web, especially
www.athensguide.com
I'm really impressed by the friendly tone and the chatty style - so
different from the many guide books. We've got Lonely Planet and Rough
Guide and one or two others which are useful in their own ways, but none of
these captures your enthusiasm and personal detail which makes it come
alive so well....

...THANKS so much for the info that you forwarded to me with reference to Greece!!  (The check is in the mail.....actually my CHEAP husband said it would be well worth the $10.00).  We made our trip from October 6 to October 19.  We had a fun, informative and VERY interesting trip, thanks in large part to your information....

I just wanted to tell you how incredibly helpful your guide has been.  I'm
a University of Chicago undergrad and will be studying in Athens from late
March until early June.  Your site answered so many of my questions that I
just wasn't finding the answer to anywhere!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Matt,
I had the oportunity to visite Athens last week-end together with my wife and some friends. Half of the group did attend an international medical congress, while the remaining 3 of us could enjoy Athens.
I found your Athens Guide on the Internet and foud it VERY good and useful.
We used your Restaurant Guide.....
We tried some of your recommended greek food......
We used "your" taxi-driver George for transport to the Congress Center, sightseeing in and around Athens (VERY good) and transport to an early flight back home......
We visited "your" rock in the front of Acropolis.....
We followed your guide through Plaka......
We visited the Flea Marked.......
We followed your recommendations through the City Market.......
I baught jewlery by Byzantino for my wife......

In other words...... You see we covered it "all" thanks to your excellent guide.
Thanks for your contribution to a unforgettable week-end!

Thank you for sending the newsletter. I stumbled across you a few days ago and have been reading everything in  'athensguide.com' ..........I absolutely love it; it is so informative, casual, earthy, readable, not the normal 'touristy' information.
My first trip abroad; feel somewhat prepared after reading so much information about Athens and the islands.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  I am getting really excited and really looking forward to visiting your Greece.

Dear Matt,

It was purely by chance that I decided that I wanted to go away and sample some Greek culture and life after I came across your 'Guide to Athens' on the web last year.

Well, I had a fantastic week, meet so many friendly and interesting people and saw virtually all of Athens!

Now I am planning to go to Lesvos during June. It seems like such a fantastic island I can't wait!

I just wanted to say a very BIG thankyou. Your guides are so well written. Down to earth advice, interesting stories, tips on the best places to go and the people of Greece. I hope that you manage to gut your guides into print becuase they are one of the best, if not the best information sources on Greece!

Regards,
Claire F

FABULOUS WEBSITE!
I'VE BEEN IN THE TRAVEL INDUSTRY FOR 20+ YEARS - YOUR WEBSITE IS THE "BEST" I'VE VIEWED FOR GREECE INFORMATION!  I'VE TRAVELLED MANY TIMES TO GREECE & AM ALWAYS LOOKING FOR OTHER IDEAS/THOUGHTS - ALSO DO PRESENTATIONS (HAVE ONE NEXT WEEK FOR GREECE).  YOUR INFO WILL BE BENEFICIAL. I LIVE IN ANNAPOLIS MD - HAVE YOU BEEN?  YOU'RE WEBSITE DOESN'T OFFER AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR MUSIC - JAZZ & BLUES ARE MY FAVORITE!
REGARDS,
SUSAN

Just wanted to drop you a congratulatory note on how wonderful I think your
site is!  A plethora of information creatively arranged and easy to follow.
Not to mention your information is right on and it definitely exudes
Greek culture.
Thanks for putting this together for us to appreciate.
I send it to my cousin a tour agent
She loves/raves about your site!

Dear Matt
I have been looking through your site for the last couple of days, and I
wanted to congratulate you for your work. I am actually Greek, currently
studying in England, and looking through your site I got even more
homesick than I usually am (especially now that I'm in the middle of
exams). I have to admit that your site is one of the best guides for
Greece that I've come across. Even from a local's point of view, it's
excellent. Most guidebooks usually get on my nerves because they only
deal with the touristy places and things to do, and do not get the point
of living in Greece. I particularly liked your Athens guide. It is
indeed a beautiful city when you get used to all the traffic and smog,
and in 21 years you can imagine that I've grown very fond of it,
especially now that I'm away. You are one of the few foreign people that
sees this.
As for the sections about other parts of Greece, I was amazed at all the
places you've visited. At last, a good guide that deals with more than
just the islands (with the possible exception of Lonely Planet, by far
the best guidebooks, they're the only reason that I made it through my
Inter-rail last year...).
Anyway, I just wrote because I felt I had to congratulate you after
managing to make me this homesick... Keep up the good work!
George.

Matt,

I came upon your site by a delightful accident and enjoyed it very much.
I can tell you love the country I was born and raised and I also learned a lot of things that we usually take them for granted when we are there.
A wonderful resource for anyone visiting Greece and the islands.

Stella

Adams Hotel, Sifnos and Santorini
Dear Matt,
This is a long overdue thank you.  We, my husband, 8 year old son and
I, visited Greece this summer..Athens, Sifnos and Santorini..and your
web site was our bible!  If it weren't for you, we would have never
discovered the beautiful island of Sifnos, would have never found the
absolutely wonderful Adams Hotel and would not have been prepared for
spectacular Santorini's tourist crowds.  I printed out your
information for each place and carried it with me.

I doubt very much that we would have enjoyed Athens so much if it
weren't for staying at the Adams Hotel.  Not only were Kosta and
Dimitri very kind and helpful (they let us check in our room at 8:30
a.m.!), but the location of the hotel is superb.  We were able to walk
to all the sights that we took in..the Temple of Zeus, National
Gardens, the Acropolis, and of course the Plaka, its shops and
restaurants and, best of all, the rooftop movie theatre.

We stayed 8 days on Sifnos, and you're right, we didn't want to
leave!  Of all the places we toured..in Greece, and also Rome,
Florence, Venice, Paris, and southern England, the island of Sifnos
was my favorite.  I fell in love with every single place we toured,
but Sifnos is a special gem, still able to keep its old charm and
traditions.

Also, I want to put in a good word for Aegean Thesaurus Travel, namely
APOSTOLOS DIMOPOULOS.  He was extremely helpful when we made our
booking, went out of his way to give us the ferry schedule and offer
other information.  AND, just recently, I asked for his assistance in
contacting the post office in Appolonia.  I mailed a package from
there (in July), a piece of Sifnos pottery, that never reached its
destination in the U.S..  I can't tell you how kind and helpful he has
been!  He even offered to buy another bowl for us and ship it, not
asking for a commission or anything, just the cost of the bowl and
shipment.

Thank you once again for all of the invaluable information that you so
generously share.

Happy holidays to you,
Linda Tucker
and Troy and Tyler Tucker..

Americans living in the United Arab Emirates

Matt,
Thank you so much for you advise and suggestions about traveling to Greece.
The Adams hotel was great and in a perfect location.  Your right the third floor was great.  We had all three rooms.
George was a great guide.  I hired him for many transfers and two full day excursions!  He told me to tell you hi and asked about your book.
Thanks again,
Bruce

Kalimera, Matt!
Well, got back last night from Athens...was NOT ready to leave, LOVED it.
Thank you so much for your help, your web site is awesome.
I stayed at the Adams on both ends of the trip, and cant say enough 'good
stuff' about it...Dimitri and Kostas are great hosts, and Nikos,too (those
late night philosophical conversations over ouzo)...anyway, they were all
very accommodating, helpful, and Dimitri was even good enough to spend the
night on the town w/ me on my last night there...I will miss him!
By the way, he wanted me to tote a bottle of brandy from Brettos over for
you ...very  potent stuff...so let me know how you would like me to get it
to you. I live in Chapel Hill,  and would be more than Happy to hand
deliver it to you or your wife.
I also carried a big wheel of Sifnos cheese  back, and would like to give
you a nice wedge of that as well!

Speaking of Sifnos, 'the Captain' sends his best, hes scratched out a
little note for you...he was expecting a new baby any day when we were
there a couple weeks ago, so I'm sure he's a Dad by now....

Write when you can, hope all is well with you and your family.

Byzantino Jewelery

I cannot tell you how helpful your guide was on my recent trip to Greece. I came back on Saturday, and miss it already. I loved it!! Your suggestions were so informative, from changing money to the best Ouzo. I went with my mother and she stated how helpful your walking tour guide was. We stayed at The Divani Palace, not too far from the plaka. We took your suggestion and went to Byzantino, what an experience. The jewelry is beautiful. We nearly left broke going crazy buying so much. One particular man, Kostos was extremly helpful, he even took us out to a traditional Greek restaurant for dinner. It was great. He told us all about your wife and how talented she is. I now feel I have a friend in Greece, I cannot wait to return. I would like to know if your wife has a catalogue of her  work, as I am interested in getting more 22k jewelry, specifically a bracelet and ring. Let me know if there is a s/h fee and so forth. Once again, I truly appreciate the time, effort and quality you put into your site, it's greatly loved.

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Dolphin Hellas

Hi Matt:
Just to let you know -- I just got back from Greece yesterday.  It was my first trip abroad and you helped me soooooo much!  Thanks for Dolphin Hellas.  Even though I couldn't hook up with Kiki, I dealt with Aliki and she was awesome!  She helped us so much.  When I arrived in Athens, I walked to their office and met her.  She's very gracious & professional -- it was a pleasure.  I took her picture with her permission -- as long as I didn't put it on the Internet!!

One question: I know you usually spend quite a bit of time in Greece when you go.  How in the world do you deal with coming back to the States???  I think I'll have to take Prozac just to deal with the depression of not being there anymore!!

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Matt:
I went to Greece in late September and your guide was a great help.
Dolphin Hellas (Kostas), which I found through your guide, did a great job
in getting things like a windmill house in Sifnos, hotel in Athens,
hydrofoil tickets, etc.  We went to many of the restaurants you mentioned
in Athens -- the waiter at the Europe was delighted to see the photo and
write-up of his restaurant, which I had printed out.  I left my copy with
him.

I'm too selfish to send you the metal can of Brettos ouzo I lugged home,
but I am sending our leftover drachmas to you -- it's not a lot, but at
least a small thank-you for your great websites on Greece.
--Betty

---

When we first contacted you about 18 months ago we asked if you thought it would be possible for us to see Greece while using a wheelchair as a means of transportation.  Your answer was that you thought it would be difficult but mostly possible.  We have just returned from 2 weeks in Greece and it was wonderful.
Things worked out perfectly but only because of the hard work of Aliki.  Even though I am a travel agent here in Baltimore we decided to have her do all the arrangements.  After all, she speaks the language!    We visited Rhodes, Santorini, a car and driver outside of Athens for 5 days (Delphi, Olympia, Nauplion) and then Athens for 3 nights.  Our driver was outstanding (great English and a non-smoker) and in addition to educating us about his country he also imparted his love of his country to us.  We now have a new friend in Greece -- George.  When we got to Athens we met Aliki and even took a picture of me with her.  She is truly a special person.  While we were in the Plaka we bought gold jewelry from the shop you recommended.  (And told them why we were there!)   The trip was a very special one for us and we appreciate your Greece Newsletter's contributions to it.
Thank You!

---

 

George the Famous Taxi Driver

Before we departed Virginia, I came across your home page searching the web and printed out the information with George Kokktos's phone numbers. I took along these pages.  I was lucky. George was available. I pulledout the pages AFTER arriving in Athens early in the morning and showed them to our son and daughter-in-law after getting to the hotel.  I called George, referenced your home page, and, fortunately, he was available.  He came over two hours later and took us around Athens for about three hours.  He agreed to meet us at the hotel the next morning
and we took an all day tour to Corinth and several ancient sites in that portion of the mainland.  (Three of us took a bus tour to Delphi in 1986 and decided to go to some place different)  Since we had to return to the ferry on the evening of the second day, traveling around with George with our luggage in his trunk of his air-conditioned Taxi was great!  As you stated in your home page, it is cheaper to use George than a tour bus.  Besides, George is a pleasure to be with and we truly want to thank you for your home page information....

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...George met up with us early the following day, and we set out to tour the mainland.  The Corinthian Canal, Ancient Corinth, Ancient Mycenae, Naupoli (?) and finally to the Theatre at Epidaurus.  Quite a day.  George generously provided ice water, cold apples, and on the route home introduced us to fresh figs which he picked from a roadside tree.  We arrived back in Athens, the end of a great day.

One more day in Athens, mostly window shopping and a walk through the park before preparing for an early rise and sail to Sifnos.  Aliki  arranged our hydrofoil passage and George made sure we arrived on time.  He secured our boarding passes, toted our bags and before long were on route to places unknown.

---

...George was everything you'd said he would be, and MORE! He was right there on the pier, as he said he would be. He whisked us off to the Acropolis
before it got too hot and -- most importantly -- before any tour busses got
there. We went to the Plaka and visited Byzantino. Boy is that place
dangerous!! George was great about this too. He got us as close as he could
by car and then called the store on his cell phone and had them send someone to take us the rest of the way. He couldn't leave the car, but we got an escort in both directions. Such VIP treatment! Anyway, by the time we got
out of there we had done our bit to bolster the Greek economy, believe me!
The workmanship, as you had said, was outstanding. It was impossible not to buy something. I wound up getting three pairs of 22k earrings for gifts. One of the girls bought a gorgeous ring, and another bought a ring and a couple of gold charms. The people there were very gracious and attentive and I think they gave us some good deals also. They said that they always extend an additional discount to customers that you refer to them, so thank you.

George took us to this great little Greek taverna on the road to the Temple
of Poseidon for lunch. It was great food with a sensational backdrop!

All in all, it was a delightful day. The women will never stop talking about
George! I will certainly recommend him to anyone headed for Greece. Thanksso much for your great Athens Guide -- you perform a real service. I am sending a little "note" of appreciation your way....

I made most of our travel arrangements (except for Athens hotel) through Dolphin Travel who proved to be very responsible. I faxed George and though it seemed like a lot of money to pay a taxi driver for a ride from the airport, we did book him to pick us up, as we were arriving in Athens on a Saturday night at midnight, and needed to see a friendly English-speaking face.

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...We arrived exhausted after a day of travel that had included a 5 hour layover in Zurich, and there was George with a big sign with our names on it. My boyfriend, who never believed that the people I talk to on the internet really exist, was astonished and happy. George took us to the hotel we had booked ourselves(as we always stay there in Athens) only to find that they had never received my deposit and had given away our room a few hours before. So there we were at 1:00 am on a Saturday night (Sunday morning now) in Athens. Any other taxi driver would have been long gone by that time - but George, who had helped us with the bags - had stayed, waiting to make sure we had a room. And it was George who ran around the Plaka until he found us a place to spend the night. We felt really cared for....My family and I traveled to Greece in summer of 98.

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Your quide was incredibly valuable and we thank you for it!  We printed it, read it and depended upon it while in Greece.

The night before the first day of really sightseeing, we got out George's
number but decided that it was too late to call him for the next day.  So we
went out on our own the next day.  At the end of the day we were walking by
the Grande Bretagne to see it again (from a previous trip) and hopefully to
grab a cab.  We needed to go to the office of a ferry company to pick up our
ferry tickets.

As we were walking by the Grande Bretagne a man called to us to see if we
needed a cab.  We said yes, expecting to go with the gentleman who summoned us.  Instead he directed us to another gentleman.  We jumped in our cab and took off for the ferry company.  When my husband went inside to pay for the tickets I was looking at our driver and he looked vaguely familiar.  I asked him if, by some small chance, he  had a web site and he answered no but that there was this man named Matt from the US.....etc. etc...  I pulled out my picture of George and his wife that I printed off the internet and he pulled out the original!!! Unbelievable!!!

We used his services that night as he drove my husband, me and our 2 small
children to Sounion for dinner and sunset.

He is a godsend in a city of smokers!!!  As with all the people we met, he
was informative, very friendly and genuinely nice.

We thank you for all your incredible tid bits of information.  It made our
trip quite pleasant.

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Just wanted to drop you a line to say how helpful your web page and newsletter were during our recent trip to Greece.  We had George pick us up from the airport and take us on a day tour to Delphi.  He was loads of fun and we will recommend him to our friends who plan to travel to Greece next May.
 

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After my first full day with George, I decided to use him a second day.  I also recommended him to a friend who tried to use him but George was already booked.

Greece is not the cheapest place to travel to.  I was going to rent a car for one of the days I was in Greece because I needed to go from Athens to Patras.  I told George this, and he said that his fee would actually be cheaper than a car rental.  Showing him a disbelieving face, he insisted that I compare and stopped at the Hertz counter.  He was right.  His services were cheaper than renting a car.  We are all in our own financially driven life style.  I enjoy paying a little more for something that is a little better because I can afford it.  But George was inexpensive to the other comparison I had.  Because he was such a good driver and because his fee was very reasonable, we tipped him extra, and I still feel like I should have gave him a bigger tip.  In fact I purchased him a Christmas present that I haven't sent yet.

George was very concerned about our comfort and safety.  He had a wonderful newer car with GREAT air-conditioning.  He insisted that I not touch any of my bags.  He let me spend many minutes (long distance I add) on his cellular phone.  He did not charge me for this.

I have traveled around the world and use personal tour guides often.  George is the best I have ever had.  He made sure we always had water and would bring food for us to munch on.  He always arrived early to be sure his windows were clean.

I found George to be reasonable and a very kind driver.

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Sifnos

I have been meaning to tell you that the trip my husband and I took in September based on your recommendation was OUTSTANDING.  We went to Sifnos and Santorini.  The best way to describe our trip is to say that my husband didn't really want to go and we both had tears in our eyes as we were leaving to return home.  We're already talking about returning to Greece next year.  Thanks for all the help and information.

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I suppose we have you to THANK . You were a gigantic help. We took your suggestions --went to Santorini, Sifnos with a stopover @ Milos. Even Athens was great for us. We are now in love with Greece. We will always be indebted to you for your suggestions. We will stay in touch as we are ready to go again.
  JIM  AND   BONNIE
 

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Sifnos - what can I say !!  The sun, the sea, the sand, and to top it all off,
a lovely villa with a terrific view.  After much debate we opted to stay at
Alkyonis and no doubt made the right choice.  A beautiful 2 bedroom, 2
bathroom, traditional style villa, with nothing less than 3 terraces and 3
small balconies, each with their own special view.  Our hostess, Maria couldn't have been more gracious or warm and presented us both with ceramic plates glazed in the traditional island blue.  She shared island history, legend and myth and assisted in restaurant selections.  First class !!

We spent 6 wonderful days exploring the island on scooters, lying on the beach, reading, sleeping, drinking and eating.  Each day ending with a spectacular sunset viewed from our front terrace at the base of Kamares bay.

Our trip to Greece was the trip of a life time, thanks to you and your
newsletter!. How do we vote for your web site as the best?!
We spent one week in Athens, with trips out to the various historical
sites. We WILL go back after the Olympic fever has wained a bit. Your
advice, including a day with George, the taxi driver, was right on.
Thank you!

HAS ANYONE TOLD YOU
YOU ARE WONDERFUL
THE INFORMATION YOU SENT IS FANTASTIC
THANK  YOU

I'm traveling alone, so the information is even more helpful!

Barbara.

To Matt Barrett.

Having just  returned from a two week holiday on the island of Lesvos, I
thought I should congratulate you on your site - 'Lesvos. More Than Just
Another Greek Island'. I discovered the site about a month before I
travelled and as this was my first visit to Lesvos, I Ieft for the island
feeling well informed.

Lesvos is as beautiful as your site suggests and after looking at the site
again after my return I appreciate its content even more. I am sure to
return to Lesvos some time in the future, and to your site as well!
Well done once again.
From: Mark Styles

Matt,
It is absolutely beautiful. Web pages like yours justify the Internet's
existence.
Thank you.
Peter

I've just been looking at the Lesvos web site and boy have you been busy!
This is definitely the finest resource on Lesvos on the whole WWW.

Hi Matt,
Thanks for the quick reply and the info.  We'll bring a bottle of your favorite ouzo back for you!  Read more of your stories and enjoyed them--you're a great
storyteller and writer.  Thanks again,
Jennifer

Hi, I just wanted to let you know that I'm sitting in my dumb cubicle at work and I have your page w/ the stories bookmarked and I've read a few and they are really good. !! They brighten up my semi-dull work days! When things are slow in the office (or when I'm just plain bored), I read a few of your stories and I can see in my mind all the things you describe, and I remember my own funny experiences there. I am Greek-American, used to live in Athens... planning on moving back next year (getting married). That's my story in a nutshell. Anyway, just wanted to say that your website is cool, ... I haven't read all of it yet, but it sounds like you've had great experiences over there....
Well, "kales diakopes" and keep adding to your website!

I can't tell you what a joy it is to be reading and exploring your web
sites on greece. Your stories paint pictures,and make me feel that I was
there experiencing the same things. I want to know are the stories from
"Spear fishing in Skatahori" in a book? is it still in print? I asked about
it at a Barnes and Nobel Book store last night and they said that they
didn't carry it.

Hi, as it so happens, my name is Matt, too.  :)   I'm a senior in a high school in MD, and was assigned a very large project in one of my classes.  We had to plan every detail and aspect of a fake trip to anywhere in Europe, using the internet for most of our research.  Having an aunt from Greece and a close friend who's father was born there and visits every summer, I thought it would be interesting to do my project on Greece.   Well, finding things to fill the minimum 2 week fake stay was very difficult. However, once I found your site, I had so much information, I couldn't possibly fit it all!  I have to really think about what I would like to do since I couldn't cover it all in two weeks.  Your web site is outstanding and has been such a lifesaver for me.  It's my last big assignment before I graduate and I had been agonizing over it for some time.  I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful information and to let you know that without your web page, I don't know what I would have done.  Thank you!
               Sincerely,
                  Matt