The Park Hotel Piraeus

Visit Pasalimani bay for a...

by Tsamopoulos

Visit Pasalimani bay for a coffee, Mikrolimano bay for seafood and Kastela hill for the spectacular view. Walking round the Freatida area, looking at the calm blue waters and the little boats, and the refreshment of a cool Ouzo drink during the afternoon.

Aegina Island

by Kuznetsov_Sergey

Aegina lies almost in the center of the Saronic islands and is the closest island to Athens with the exception of Salamina, just a few kilometers away.
Aegina is roughly triangular in shape, approximately 15 km from east to west and 10 km from north to south, with an area of about 87 km².

Two thirds of Aegina constitutes an extinct volcano. The northern and western side consist of stony but fertile plains, which are well cultivated and produce luxuriant crops of grain, with some cotton, vines, almonds, olives and figs, but the most characteristic crop of Aegina today (2000s) is pistachio.

The southern volcanic part of the island is rugged and mountainous, and largely barren. Its highest rise is the conical Mount Oros (531 m) in the south, and the Panhellenian ridge stretches northward with narrow fertile valleys on either side.

You may watch my high resolution photos of Aegina Island on Google Earth in Piraeus according to the following coordinates 37º 46' 12.62" N 23º 37' 43.84" E
or on my Google Earth Panoramio Aegina Island.

A Pleasant Surprise

by cpiers47

"Misunderstood"

I had read and heard rather awful things about Piraeus. I heard about the pickpocketing, the ugly buildings and the poor quality hotels. Traveling with a group of my students, I warned them many times that Piraeus might not be the most beautiful place to stay; that they would have to be extra careful of their wallets; that it was just a stopping point.

I love Piraeus.

It was beautiful during our night walk from the hotel to the pier. It didn't feel any less safe than the city. The train station was beautiful...and the green line gives easy access to Athens. Our hotel was recently redone, and I would stay there again, in a heartbeat.

We shopped along Tsamadou Street - where our hotel was located. And we loved the view of it from our balconies. Along the street there were retail stores small and large, a candy shop and even a fruit market. Somewhere nearby, there was a bar playing Greek pop music. Even that added to the atmosphere.

The metro station and the aforementioned green line were our 1 euro ticket into the city. The metro was clean and the stations fascinating. It seems to be one fantastic leftover from the Olympic renovations to the city.

PIREAS

by Christianne

The main port of the Country and one of the most important in the Mediterranean Sea,it is the starting point for the sea transportation to the islands.It is also is the most important shipping, industrial and transport centre of the country.Themistoklis was the first to realise how much important was Piraeus to the city of Athens and turn it into the city's main port, instead of the Gulf of Faliro, which was used by the Athenians until the 5th century B.C. He wanted that Athens had a fortified port. He built therefore the wall of Piraeus, the construction of which took from 493 to 479 B.C. Later Perikles completed the fortification by building the Long Walls, which were to protect both sides of the road.
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The music you are listening to, is from our famous song Ta Paidia tou Pirea (The children of Pireaus), which was composed by Manos Hadjidakis and was sung by Melina Merkouri in the film Never on Sunday.