We  have just done a new photo shoot and are delighted with the results, many visitors had told us the previous photos just did not capture the feeling of tranquility or the incredible views. ” Stunning Vista” and ” Amazing Views” are some some of the much over used descriptions on many rental villas. In this case it is definitely true.

The Villa Owners live in Texas but are from the local area.. When asked what influenced their decisions when locating and building in this particular area.

The Villas are only newly built and the first guests only started enjoying the Villas late in the 2009 season. The reaction so far has been extremely positive and already promises of return to the villas.

Donkey Rock Fest was initially held on Meganisi in 2010.The purpose of the festival is to provide a stage to upcoming bands and artists, to present their work to the public.The first effort was supported by the Municipality of Meganisi and was a great success.This year under the auspices of the municipality of Meganisi along with 10 amazing bands, Donkey Rock Fest is promising two special nights out of the ordinary.

Meganisi Rock Concert

Friday 29th of July :

Kontomaniko Blues : Kontomaniko Blues were formed in the fall of 2008.Consisting of friends that make music in their free time on Nikolas Lyrics.They have a lot of very well worked songs and enough live shows this band of friends is opening the first day and the festival with their own unique way.

Members : Lagdas Vasilis – guitars
Kallis Nikos – bass guitar
Billis Stauros – drums
Botinas Nikolas – guitars, vocals

Mr Highway : Mr Highway (Johny), worked on his songs for over two years.He finally managed to record enough and he ‘s ready to present them.His influences come from jazz, blues, 60’s & 70’s rock.He was number one in public votes to open Bon Jovi’s concert.

Members : Mr Highway(Johny) – guitar, harmonica
Gregory – vocals, percussion
Thimios – guitar
Dennis – bass
Alex – drums
Anna – synthesizer

http://www.jumpingfish.gr/Mr_Highway

http://www.myspace.com/mr.highwayjohnny/

Crazy Cow : Crazy Cow is a band since 2008.Their influences come from blues, punk, rockabilly.They already have a demo cd with 8 tracks and many live shows in their hometown Ioannina and not only there.Great energy, great songs and a voice screaming Lemmy.

Members : Andreas : Vocals/Bass/Harmonica
Giorgos : Drums
Kostas : guitars

http://www.myspace.com/crazycowgreece

http://www.reverbnation.com/crazycow

Stihovoli : Stihovoli were formed in 2010 in Ioannina city.Their musical journey contains elements from the greek traditional music, greek folk music along with psychedelic blues – rock influences.Their song “I Volta”(The walk), won the 7th place in the Greek Song Guitar Competition 2009.

Members : Maria Manifava – Vocals
Kostas Basdanis – Vocals, Acoustic guitar
James Basdanis – Electric guitar
Christos Zindros – Saz, Oud, Traditional Percussion
Sami Hasme – Drums
Giannis Papandronis – Electric bass
Michalis Piperis – Accordion

http://www.stixovoli.tk

http://www.myspace.com/stixovoli

V.I.C.(Villagers of Ioannina City) : V.I.C. is a band from Ioannina that combines 70’s rock music with traditional greek music and psychedelic music. The result is a mix of the traditional sounds of Epirus, with the modern sound, with psychedelic improvisations, keeping the rock culture of the 70’s, and at the same time the “tense” of today. Finally , their music is an alloy of sounds of all over the world, filtrate through their own perspective, traveling from yesterday to today having as a destination the music of tomorrow…

Members : Alex – Guitars/Vox
Akis – Bass
Aris – Drums
Jiannis – Clarino

http://www.myspace.com/vicity

Saturday 30th of July :

Blodrod : A band from Agrinio city which consists of young boys.They were known as “Forget It” until recently.Melodic alternative progressive metal with many influences from many bands of the genre and not only.

Members : Steve Tagios:lead guitar
Bill Sinapoglou:Drums percussion
Teo Goulas:Rythm guitar
Chris Nakas:Bass guitar

http://www.facebook.com/pages/BLODROD/127328757347974

Level3Three : Level 3 Three consists of four boys from Orchomenos.Thei influences come from Rock, Garage, Alternative, greek and universal music scene.The front cover of their demo single, which was released in 2008, was also voted among the 8 best of Schoolwave Competition in 2008.They’re planning on recording their first cd shortly containing their own songs along with some covers.

Members : George Kontopoulos – Guitar & Vocals
Basile Kontopoulos – Guitar & Vocals
Alex – Panos Doumas – Bass Guitar
Panagiotis Moutsanas – Drums

http://www.myspace.com/level3three

White Raven : White Raven is a heavy metal band from Patras with many thrash, power, and progressive influences.They already have a demo cd in their assets and many live shows despite the fact they were formed just 2 years ago.

Members : Chris G. – Vocals
Panagiotis K. – Lead Guitars
Panagiotis G. – Rhythm Guitars
Jim G. – Bass Guitar
Rick N. – Drums
George G. – Keyboards

http://www.myspace.com/whiteravenpatras

Black Mamba : Black Mamba is a three member band from the island of Chios, formed in 2006.An instrumental progressive fusion metal band, that need no voice.Recently they released their debut album called “Therapillusion” which received excellent critics from metal hammer 8/10, metal invader 4,5/5 and 85/100 metalholocaust.Unique music from an upcoming band that won’t be forgotten.

Members : Ignatios Stamatonikolos – Electric Bass
Kostas Aggelaras– Drums
Stamatis Frantzeskakis– Electric Guitar

http://www.myspace.com/blackmambagroup

www.jumpingfish.gr/bl

Holy Oath : Holy Oath is a Melodic Heavy Metal band from Patras.They formed 6 years ago with many live shows in Patras and not only.In the last couple of years they’ve been working on their own tunes and they are producing their first cd named “Run To Reach The Sun”.Many elaborate songs from a really notable band.

Members : Petros Haritos – drums
Panagiotis Papasimakis – bass guitar
Christos Debegiotis – guitar
Thimios Spiliotopoulos – guitar
Christos Kalpouzanis – Vocals

http://www.myspace.com/holyoath

Information :

http://donkeyrockfest.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/DonkeyRockFest

http://www.myspace.com/donkeyrockfestmeganisi

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=134957386540993

Interest has been boosted by lower prices resulting from Greece’s economic crisis, the newspaper said. Last year, prices of holiday homes fell 20 percent and those of luxury homes an estimated 45 percent,

Source Kathimerini

The day long festival also features the blessing of small boats and ships, and later on affords entertainment, music, dancing and food to all those present.

The Epiphany festival is said to have originated in the Eastern Orthodox Church, where it is also still recognized as the anniversary of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Western churches. Epiphany principally commemorates the revelation to the Gentiles of Jesus Christ as the Savior, as portrayed by the coming of the Three Wise Men. Most of the major festivities of Epiphany in Greece are held in the large Athens port of Piraeus, however, activities are also held in many towns and villages throughout Greece.

The mountain area behind Nidri, near the village of Karia has been on fire since yesterday afternoon.  You may well hear about this soon on the international news but we wanted to let people know that

A fire service plane battles the fires on Lefkada

everyone is ok and so far we are told that no lives have been lost.

Strong winds yesterday made the job of controlling the fire very difficult for the many fire fighters that have gathered from all over the island and extra firefighters have arrived from as far as Corfu and Patras.  One large helicopter and 4 sea planes were dispatched to help put the fire out and they had to stop at night but have continued again since dawn.

Some photos have been posted on Facebook and you can go to www.mylefkada.gr to see more photos.

The smoke from the fire caused zero visibility and could be seen from many miles away.  The fire has caused damage in an area that lies between the villages of Eglouvi, Vafkeri, Karia and Platystoma.  This is an area of beautiful pine forests and a few small settlements.

Some Greeks have left the island to go back to Athens a little earlier than planned because of this but the same happened when the large earthquake hit the island back in August 2003.

The fire fighters  & military now have the fire under control and have done an amazing job to keep everyone safe.

It is sad to see that this has happened and we await news to find out how the fire started.

Nikiana , Lefkas ..a helicopter fills with water as tourists look on.

Greek tourism has also suffered the effects of the eruption of a volcano in Iceland, which spewed vast quantities of ash into the sky for days, blocking air routes.

“We are guaranteeing to pay any extra room and board any visitor in Greece pays even if stuck here because of a volcano in Iceland,” said Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos.

Mr Geroulanos said tourism seemed to be recovering, although it was too early to make accurate forecasts.
“The numbers are not really as gloomy as they were with the first cancellations,” he told a press conference
“Some destinations have suffered greatly due to the crisis, but others are doing better than before.”
The Greek government is imposing a swathe of austerity measures in return for a 110bn-euro (£95bn) bail-out from the EU and IMF.

The aim is to cut the country’s public deficit to less than 3% of GDP by 2014. It currently stands at 13.6%.
But strikes in protest at the measures have brought the country to a standstill on several occasions, closing airports, roads and railways.
Mr Geroulanos also unveiled a new internet drive to advertise Greece as a tourist destination.

Extract from BBC

Greece and Spain’s economic struggles have weighed on the strength of the Euro, and that means one thing for travelers: Greek Holidays  keep getting more affordable. Greek Island Villa Rentals have never been better value.

The Euro is down 15 percent compared to this time last year, add that to the price depreciation of the villas,yacht charter and restaurants, and the savings are 40-50 percent. That’s not a sales pitch – it’s fact.

The Greek National Tourism Organization has recently  announced that there has never been a better time for travelers  to visit Greece than summer of 2010.  Prices are lower for everything from hotel rooms and villa rentals to yacht charters and cruises to restaurants and attractions. Now, more than ever, Greece – one of the world’s most fascinating tourism destinations – is open and eagerly welcoming visitors to come and enjoy their own Greek Odyssey this summer.

“Greece is a destination where comfort, style and culture meet to provide an unforgettable vacation experience,” said Mr. Nicolas Kanellopoulos, President of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO). “The Greek tourism sector is investing in modernization of key facilities and historic attractions. We could not be more enthusiastic to welcome our new guests for the 2010 season.”

“We are planning a family trip for just a few days. That is my family, my brother’s family, and my other brother’s family. Our mother will be joining us, too. That makes four households, seven adults and six children all under three years old. Praise to my brave (foolish?) wife who has somehow volunteered to coordinate the arrangements.

Even reserving months in advance, we were unable to get four rooms adjoining at the hotel, all with the right view and on the right level. If we were going for longer, we would probably rent a house as we have done before. There are vacation rentals in almost every corner of the world, but they are particularly common in high-tourist areas like Greece and the Mediterranean countries.”

Here is my top ten list of why a family should pick a Villa rental (and specifically a villa rental home):

• 1. No hard work to find ideal, adjoining rooms.


Lots of space & private pool

• 2. Everybody gets privacy, without having to worry about where the kids are.
• 3. You don’t have to share the common area with strangers, but you can still lounge around together.
• 4. More than one bathroom. Need I say more?
• 5. Lots and lots and lots of more room. This is usually the main selling feature.
• 6. Private pool, in most cases.
• 7. Almost always cost less than hotels.
• 8. Store cold drinks, ice creams, fresh fruit or any other snacks you fancy, which is a huge cost saver.
• 9. Barbecue any time you want. You can still eat out, but you don’t HAVE to.
• 10. You don’t have to take home several weeks’ supply of dirty laundry.

Typical Villa Floorplan (2nd Fllor)

“There you have it. My top ten reasons to choose a villa rental.in Greece

Of course, I you still prefer a tent on a beach, but you might have some difficulty convincing my mother to join us there.”

John