Greece | GlobalSalsa: travel writer Belinda Jackson

Jul

Hotel Review: Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino, Greece, Dream by Luxury Escapes magazine

The dream assignment: go to Greece, stay at the new Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino, on the Peloponnese coast. Reader, I acquiesced.

The hotel is about 3.5 hours’ drive south of Athens – hello, hire car/wrong side of the road/wrong side of the car dramas! But I’d seen the photos of this luxury hotel, and I knew I could survive Athens’ traffic jams to get there.

It was worth it. The location, its history and its mythology pervade all aspects of the first Mandarin Oriental hotel in Greece, from its spa to the ultra-Hellenic breakfasts, even the hotel’s architecture. Despite being a global group, it’s as Greek as yiayia’s meatballs.

I wrote about the new hotel’s opening for Luxury Escapes magazine, take a look.

For more great travel inspo, head to https://luxuryescapes.com/inspiration/

Apr

Mainland, not mainstream: hotel review Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino: Sydney Morning Herald

The blue eye dangles from my key ring as I drive south from Athens. The mati, as the amulet is known in Greece, wards off envy and jealousy.

Almost four hours later, I’ve driven across the much overlooked, history-making Peloponnese peninsula and, pulling my little rental car in to the Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino’s porte cochere, the view is initially underwhelming. But stepping out of the blinding sun, I realise we’re on a hilltop, and walking into the open-air lobby reveals a perch worthy of a goddess.

I recently had the chance to review the Mandarin Oriental’s first foray into Greece and guess what, it’s not on an island.

To read my story in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspaper’s Traveller section, click here:

https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/forget-the-greek-islands-paradise-exists-here-on-greece-s-mainland-20250321-p5lle7.html

Mar

Train travel through Greece & Bulgaria with Eurail

Dream assignment: train travel through Greece and Bulgaria with the sole purpose to eat, think and travel deeply and slowly.

This journey started in Athens and ended in Ploviv, Bulgaria, with European rail pass company Eurail. With chef Ella Mittas and photographer Sarah Pannell, no mouthful went uninspected or undocumented. Also with us on the trip was videographer Paulo Magalhães , who has just released the trailer for his upcoming documentary about the furthest corner of eastern Europe. We visited restaurants, farms, vineyards, villages and the primary and secondary towns of the neighbouring countries.

The short for Paulo’s upcoming documentary is now out, and I love it! To keep the story going, Ella cooked a menu inspired by the journey for a group of media here in Melbourne at Julie restaurant in Abbotsford Convent last week, using trahana, a fermented grain and yogurt and a fabulous moussaka, which as its own, fascinating backstory.

You can also get a taste of our travels from my recent story for adventure.com https://adventure.com/off-the-eaten-path-slow-food-bulgaria/

Feb

Best things to do in Thessaloniki, Greece: Sydney Morning Herald

I have left a little piece of my heart in lovely Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city, close to the border of Bulgaria.

Greek Orthodox Church at Thessaloniki train station. Credit Belinda Jackson

Mind you, I took away a couple of kilos thanks to its excellent dining scene, so it’s a fair trade, yes?

A mish-mash of architecture, one minute it is Greek, then next, Balkan, a third moment and its Ottoman past is showing. And then, its artistic, modern face smiles at me.

I wrote about Thessaloniki for the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers’ Traveller section – to help you explore its food scene (the city gave the world Greece’s best-known street snack – the souvlaki skewers, the pita-gyro and even bougatsa. And it was the birthplace of frappe only the Greeks could make instant coffee taste so good).

I took a train from Athens to Thessaloniki – about five hours – with a little stop for lunch in the lovely university city of Larissa. And from there, I headed up into Bulgaria, to Sofia. For disclosure, I was a guest of Eurail, which supplies European rail passes that are simple to use. Check them out at eurail.com

And to read the article in the SMH/The Age, visit
https://www.smh.com.au/traveller/inspiration/nine-must-do-highlights-of-thessaloniki-greece-20250113-p5l3sc.html

Dec

Travels in mainland Greece with ABC Radio

Whenever anyone talks of holidaying in Greece, the islands tend to get all the glory. But what about the mainland?

Athens has everything to offer as a global city and holiday destination, but to my mind, the real story is Greece’s second city, Thessaloniki. The home of souvlaki, bougatsa and the frappe, Thessaloniki has done the impossible and makes instant coffee taste good! It’s the birthplace of Kamal Ataturk, and has been corralled into empires from the Hellenic to Ottoman, so expect great history, fantastic food and a waterfront location designed for post-prandial perambulation.

I joined Philip Clark on ABC Radio‘s national evening program, Nightlife, to tell of the wonders of mainland Greece. You can listen to our chat here, and tune in to ABC Radio every Monday night for his Monday Night Travel segment, which goes out to the world from 10pm.

To listen to the interview, visit this link: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/nightlife/nightlife-travel—greece/104675428

On this trip, I drove from Athens airport south to the Peloponnese peninsula, to stay at the new Mandarin Oriental Costa Navarino – I’ll post a review here shortly. Then I drove back up to Athens (Athens traffic – ayeeeee!) and from there, joined Eurail, the European rail pass company, using their tickets to travel from Athens north to Thessaloniki, then crossed the border into Bulgaria, on to the capital, Sofia and then to its second city, Plovdiv. I have stories coming up in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, which I’ll post here as they’re published. To learn more about Eurail, visit eurail.com

Jun

Ten great car-free towns: from Hoi An to Hydra

Is there nothing better than a car-free town? I’m thinking those little hilltop towns dotted through Italy, the ancient marketplaces of the Middle East, the pedestrian zones of the otherwise honking, fume-laden roads of South America’s great cities.

My top 10 list includes such greats as Jerusalem’s Old City, the Princes Islands off Istanbul and beautiful Hydra, one of the Saronic islands in the Greek archipelago, which holds a special place in my heart for its donkeys and vast, opportunistic orange cat population. There’s also lovely Hoi An, Vietnam’s town of tailors and, of course, the most famous of them all, La Serenissima, aka Venice.

You can click here to read my list, published in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald’s Traveller section.

Just after it ran, I received an email from a reader telling me that Medina Malta should have made the top 10. Overlooking the fact he had an iconic Maltese surname, he’s definitely got a point – the so-called Silent City, which has been inhabited since 8th-century BC, was another beautiful film location for King’s Landing in Game of Thrones and a worthy contender. Do you have any suggestions?

Nov

New groove in ancient Athens

A magnet around which the city revolves, this is the view of the Acropolis from the top floor of my hotel, New Hotel in Athens.

It’s ironic that the more I travel, the less I post on my poor blog. I’m just back from nearly two months in the Middle East, working from my base in Cairo.

Cairo’s my second home: I’ve lived here, and return most years to watch it race toward change – some good, some absolutely dire. This year, I also took a walking tour through Palestine’s West Bank and a brief island hop in Athens and the beautiful island of Hydra, about 90 minutes by ferry from the main port of Piraeus.

I got a lot of love from the @Traveller instagram account, and just spotted this clip in the weekend papers of my shot of the Acropolis, which I took from the top floor of New Hotel, Athens, a chi-chi little design hotel.

Sure, you can book the penthouse to soak it up, but the breakfast room is also currently on the top level, so we can all enjoy one of the world’s great landmarks.

Dec

The 16 must-see new architecture projects for 2016

An artist’s impression of WTC transportation hub, US

In what’s becoming an annual story for the Sydney Morning Herald, here’s my round-up of next year’s great architectural openings. Thanks, as ever, to Sydney architect and founder of Sydney Architecture Walks, Eoghan Lewis.

Who doesn’t love an architectural icon? While rising prices and
global uncertainty have slowed many building projects around the world –
the ambitious Grand Egyptian Museum is once again on ice – eyes are
open for key cultural offerings in Hamburg, New York and London.

Sure,
the skyscraper industry isn’t going out of business any time soon –
just take a look at the new Trump Towers going up in Vancouver, while
skinny is inny as New York discusses the rash of slim skyscrapers
overshadowing Central Park and the first super-tall skyscraper has been
approved for Warsaw. However, take your head out of the clouds to see
what’s trending in the world of architecture.

“Analogue seems to
be coming back … less slick, less same-same,” says Sydney architect and
architecture walking guide Eoghan Lewis. “Authenticity is trending, and
there is a new focus on refinement and simplicity.” (see www.sydneyarchitecture.org)

Click here to see what we’ve named the top 16 architectural openings in 2016.

(This feature by Belinda Jackson was first published in the Sydney Morning Herald/The Age newpapers.)

Jan

Alice eats England, camping kids, and learning to love London: Takeoff travel news

KIDS: Colourful cubby

Let your kids take their imagination on holiday beneath
this colorful range of teepees. Available in eight designs including Cowboys,
Montana and the multi-stripe, they are made from durable cotton canvas with a
window and tie-down door. The teepees are 155cm high and come with five metal
poles that are easy to assemble, even for the DIY-shy. Cost $99.95. See mocka.com.au.

FOOD: Alice eats England

There’s something deliciously simplistic about this new food
tour with Masterchef 2012 contestant Alice Zaslavsky: eat Stilton in Stilton,
Bakewell tarts in Bakewell, eels in Ely. The tour goes back to the heart of
rural Britain’s great food traditions, and includes lunch in The Orchard
Restaurant at HRH Prince Charles’ Highgrove estate. Even London yields,
offering British produce at Borough Markets and a Bengali dinner in Brick Lane.
There’s also cider in Somerset, pie and mash in Walthamstow and Melton Mowbray’s
famed pork pies, in between visits to Stonehenge, 16th-century
coaching inns and a light shop at Fortnum & Mason department store. The
tour runs on September 4-11, 2015 and costs $3999 a person, twin share, including
seven nights in four-star hotels. Excludes flights. Phone 1300 836 764, see mastercheftravel.com.

SAILING: Island
hopping made easy

Greek island hopping just got a whole lot simpler with
the introduction of the new Attica Pass from Eurail. The pass allows two
international ferry trips between Greece and Italy and four sailings within
Greece – including Corfu, Santorini and Mykonos – on the Superafast, Blue Star
and Anek lines. All travel must be started within six months of its purchase
date, and be completed within one month. The new pass will be available through
Melbourne-based International Rail from January 1, 2015 and must be bought in
Australia beforehand. The Attica Pass costs from $195. Phone 1300 387 245, see internationalrail.com.au.

BOOK: Hidden London

Discover hidden London, from tiny cafes to unique boutiques
with London local Saskia Graville. Graville, who writes for Traveller, pounded the pavements to bring us the London Style Guide. Forget the city’s
big guns, she’ll send to you to the upcoming contemporary art scene in the East
End’s Bethnal Green, the foodie haunts of Bermondsey and tiny antique dealers cum tea gardens in the
A-listers’ Primrose Hill. The hand-picked list is complemented with the
favourite finds of a list of London lights, including interior designers, chefs,
boutique hotel owners and even tattoo artists – albeit, those who have
collaborated with Damien Hirst. Available from January 1, 2015. RRP $39.99
(hardback), see murdochbooks.com.au.

GEAR: Smart

It’s
time to face the fact that your
luggage may actually be smarter than you. The Bluesmart carry-on suitcase is
Bluetooth enabled, allowing you to track its progress via an iOs or Android
app. If you and your beloved bag are separated, it will lock automatically and
send you updates of its location. It also contains a battery charger
that will charge your smartphone up to six times, has built-in scales in the handle to prevent costly
surprises on check-in as well as waterproof zippers, four wheels and a padded
laptop compartment at the front of the suitcase for the quick security grab. If it sounds too good to be true, the suitcase, which is
being developed via crowdsourced funding, can be pre-ordered now, with expected
delivery of August 2015. Available in Graphite Black only. Expect to pay around
$300. See bluesmart.com/indiegogo.

TOUR: Tigers and other treasures

Travellers looking ahead of the pack should have
Bangladesh in their sights, says Peregrine Adventures, which is taking tours to
the country for the first time in 2015.

“Bangladesh is about to be discovered,”
states Peregrine’s Ryan Turner. Highlights include spotting Bengal tigers Sundarbans National Park, negotiating the
18 million-strong population of Dhaka and exploring the recently discovered
mosques in the archeological site of Bara Bazar.

The 12-day tour will
have four departures in 2015 and costs from $3090 a person. See peregrineadventures.com/india.

Edited by Belinda Jackson, Takeoff is published in the Sun-Herald‘s Traveller section every Sunday.

Jan

The ever-growing travel list: lodges to love in Peru, Tanzania, and Brando in French Polynesia

I’ve confessed already to being a list tragic, and now I have yet another new travel list, thanks to National Geographic.

Their new Unique Lodges of
the World collection has 24 good reasons to get out of town and head for the wilderness.

I stayed in Zhiwa Ling Hotel in Paro, at the foot of the Tiger’s Nest monastery in Bhutan, and it’s absolutely charming, with the most spectacular views from its windows, as you can see. Minimalists would have a hard time in this hotel, which is decorated in wildly colourful Bhutanese motifs, and built in amongst the rooms is a temple made from 450-year-old timbers from the Gangtey Monastery, and its resident monk. It’s also the country’s sole 100 percent locally owned five-star hotel.

It’s also pleasing to note that Australia is punching well above its weight, with three beautiful properties on board.

The full list of lodges is:

·
Fogo Island Inn, Canada

·
Grootbos Private Nature Reserve, South Africa

·
Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, Peru

·
Kapari Natural Resort, Greece

·
Kasbah du Toubkal, Morocco

·
Lapa Rios Eco Lodge, Costa Rica

·
Lizard Island, Australia

·
Longitude 131°, Australia

·
Mashpi Lodge, Ecuador

·
Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort, Canada

·
Pacuare Lodge, Costa Rica

·
Rosalie Bay Resort, Dominica

·
Rubondo Island Camp, Tanzania

·
Sabi Sabi Earth Lodge, South Africa

·
Sayari Camp, Tanzania

·
Southern Ocean Lodge, Australia

·
Sukau Rainforest Lodge, Malaysian Borneo

·
The Brando, French Polynesia

·
The Ranch at Rock Creek, Montana, United
States

·
Three Camel Lodge, Mongolia

·
Tierra Atacama Hotel & Spa, Chile

·
Tierra Patagonia Hotel & Spa, Chile

·
Tswalu Kalahari, South Africa

·
Zhiwa Ling Hotel, Bhutan

For more
information about National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World, visit www.nationalgeographiclodges.com.

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