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13K views 68 replies 11 participants last post by  Bentex 
#1 ·
Discuss about whatever you want.:)
 
#3 ·
As to your first question, I have no idea.

In regards to your 2nd question, that all depends. Are you looking for a beach vacation or historical? Perhaps a combination of the two? Are you on a budget?

Myself I've always loved the Ionian islands. Corfu is a nice green islands with a lovely main town which has a Venetian flavour and is known also for its club/nightlife.
 
#4 ·
I am not on a budget, unless a vacation in Greece costs 1000 Euros per day.:D

A beach vacation ( some place with clean sea water and no british drunks running amok:D ), even through I am interested in history sights, but probably more or less every place in Greece has some interesting historical sight in it's vicinity.:)

Where do you vacation?:)
 
#5 ·
#7 · (Edited)
Corfu and Zakyntos are indeed nice, but, Corfu in particular, is so damn expensive. Both have great sea though, especially Zakynthos. If you want something less fussy than the likes of traditional tourist places like Mykonos, Malia ect, you should try Rodos Island or Pylos (if you go there you should try the beach of Voidokoilia). No drunks or gays there, just beautiful places with cultural vibes. Nafplio (one of my favorite destinations) would also be a good choice, I usually go there with my girlfriend, its only 130 miles away from Athens.
 
#10 ·
#11 · (Edited)
Thank you very much Icarus.:)

One more question about the alphabet, are the letters always pronounced the same? Do you have those letter combination's like the Germans do? Sch = sh(š) tsch = ch(č) are the examples I can think of. Does the Greek language have that?
 
#12 · (Edited)
OK this is a quick guide.

1
The Greek alphabet


1st column: The letters
2nd column: How the letters are pronounced in the words

(Α - α) – (as in A-tomic NOT as in A-nd)
(Β - β) – (as in V-olcano)
(Γ - γ) – (as in Y-eti NOT as in Pla-y)
(Δ - δ) – (as in Th-e NOT as in Th-ink) opposite of (Θ - θ)
(You can pronounced it as the English D if you want to, as most foreigners do)

(Ε - ε) – (as in E-pic NOT as E-than)
(Ζ - ζ) – (as in Z-oo)
(Η - η) – (as in I-taly)
(Θ - θ) – (as in Th-ink NOT as in Th-e) opposite of (Δ - δ)
(Ι - ι) – (as in I-taly)
(Κ - κ) – (as in K-ey)
(Λ - λ) – (as in L-etter)
(Μ - μ)– (as in M-an)
(Ν - ν) – (as in N-o)
(Ξ - ξ) – (as the “cc” in A-CC-ess or “x” in e-X-it)
(Ο - ο) – (as in O-minus)
(Π - π) – (as in P-arty)
(Ρ - ρ) – (as in R-esident)
(Σ - σ) – (as in S-ex)
(Τ - τ) – (as in T-rain)
*(Υ - υ) – (as in I-taly)
(Φ - φ) – (as in F-antasy)
(Χ - χ) – (as in H-ard)
(Ψ - ψ) – (as “ps” in ecli-PS-e)
(Ω - ω) – (as in O-minus)

Don’t be confused
(Η - η)
(Ι - ι)
(Υ - υ)
All as in I-taly.

Example
Ήλιος - Ilios
Ιταλία - Italia
Ύστερα - Istera

*(Υ - υ)
BUT as in V or F when not the first letter in a world.

Example
Υλοτόμος is pronounced as ilotomos
BUT
ευνοϊκός as evnoikos
and
εύκολο as efkolo

Both
(Ο - ο)
(Ω - ω)
As in O-minus.

Example
Τόπος - Topos
Τώρα - Tora
______________________________

2
Correct Stressing


In Greek language we use a symbol to indicate the letter a word is stressed at, it’s similar to the dot above the letter “i” in the English language. I’m I going to bold the letters a Greek word is stressed at so you can understand it.

1: For example, we say «τόπος», so the word is stressed in the first «ο».
2: To pronounce the word «τόπος», you have to stress the word in the first «ο».
3: This symbol (ό) indicates that the word «τόπος» is pronounced as «topos» and NOT as topos.

So in addition to what most people call the club, Παναθηναϊκός it’s actually called Panathinaikos and NOT Panathinaikos, the same with Ολυμπιακός – Olympiakos ect.

Example:
Χώρος – Horos
Μέσα – Mesa
Άρης - Aris
______________________________

3
Combinations:


3.1
(ΕΙ - ει)
(Οι - οι)

The above combinations are also pronounced as in I-taly.

Example
Εικόνα - Ikona
Οιωνός - Ionos
_____________

3.2
(Αι - αι)
This is pronounced exactly like (Ε - ε).

Example
Αιτία - Etia
Απαίσιο - Apesio
___________

2.3
(Ου - ου)
This is pronounced as in (S-u-san)
NOT as in (U-p)
NOT as in (U-ser)

Example
Πουθενά – Puthena
Ουρανός - Uranos
______________________________

4
Combination splitting


So we have
1: (ΕΙ - ει)
2: (Οι - οι)
3: (Αι - αι)
4: (Ου - ου)


In Greek language we use a 2 dot symbol (similar to the German umlaut) to indicate the split between the above letter combinations, for example:

This is why Παναθηναϊκός, even though it has an (Αι - αι), is pronounced as Panathinaikos and NOT as Panathinekos.

The combination (Αι - αι) is spit into two autonomous letters, it’s ΝΟΤ (Αι - αι) anymore, it’s (Α/ι – α/ι). Autonomous «α», autonomous «ι».

Example: (the bold here indicates the splitting/non splitting not the stressing)
Παιχνίδι - Pexnidi
BUT
Παναθηναϊκός - Panathinaikos

Ενοίκιο – Enikio
BUT
Απλοϊκός - Aploikos
 
#17 ·
#22 ·
what does Ouzo taste like?

What's the difference between 5 star and 7 star Metaxa? Is there a noticeable difference in taste?
Ouzo tastes like Ouzo, can't compare it with something else :D. It's a pretty strong drink though.

Metaxa 5*:
Brownish colour, has a soft smell of honey, fruits, oak and roses. Has a soft taste of fruits and a little bit of wood. It comes from distillates older than 5 years,


Metaxa 7*:
Gold colour, smells like wood and wine. Has a flavour of wood and vanilla.
Better shape of bottle, looks like an ancient hellenic vaze. It comes from distillate (?) older than 7 years.
 
#26 ·
He's probably trying to visit the country and wants to know if it's true that Athens is still filled with boyloving philosophers so he can avoid the city :D

Yeah low stuff but I had to do it, I couldn't resist :D
 
#31 ·
Greek cities are in general quite a mess but Athens is the worst of them all :D
Igoumenitsa, Chalkida, Ioannina, Patras and Serres are the more better cities I've been in. Serres was actually quite cool but more dead city is hard to find :D

But don't visit Athens, you even find more beauty in Chisinau :D

And also, every goodlooking greek girl comes from the north! :strong:
 
#33 ·
Yeah you should, you ex-northener, betrayer of mankind and all that other things :D

Damn, I must visit Greece soon to take care of our house there but still, got things to do and I hope when I come down that it isn't that cold because when it's cold in Greece, then it's really freezing, houses aren't made for that :D
 
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