S C H O O L • O F • A R C H I T E C T U R E • M C G I L L • U N I V E R S I T Y
S U M M E R • C O U R S E • I N • GR E E C E • 2003

Professor Ricardo L. Castro, MRAIC

IMPORTANT MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION

HOW TO GET TO THE DANAE HOTEL IN AEGINA IN CASE YOU MISS YOUR FLIGHT, YOUR FERRY, YOUR BUS....
.....and other relevant information.



When you arrive to the new Athens airport ask at the airport for the city bus to Pireas (the port of Athens). Be careful, there are two buses, one goes to Athens and the other to the port. Take the latter. The fare, is 4 Euros (about 6 dollars.) The buses run all day every 20 minutes or so.

Once you arrive at the harbour you will notice that the bus stop is located across from the cafe and tourist centre. You just have to continue walking with the traffic, along the street (to the North) where the bus stop is located. About 100 meters from the bus stop, to your right, you will notice a number of ferries docked and ready to sail. One of those is your ferry. You have to get the ticket in one of the booths located just across from the ships.

Sometimes it is possible to buy the ticket at the ferry ramp. Make sure that the ferry goes to the town of AEGINA. There are other towns in Aegina (Souvala and Agia Marina) with ferry service. If by mistake you find yourself in one of those towns you are only a short ride from the Town of Aegina.

When you arrive to the town of Aegina, there are two options to get to the Danae Hotel (our headquarters). As you come out of the harbour you should turn left (West). Walk on this street which becomes a road past the Kolona archaeological site to the left . It will take you about 15 minutes to cover the short distance to the hotel. The other option is to take a taxi which will charge you from 2 Euros .

If you spend a night in Athens, you can take public transportation. The subway called ELECTRIKOS, runs from Athens to Pireas (About 20 minutes from Omonia Square, the heart of Athens). This will be the cheapest way .

If you arrive in Aegina prior to the arrival of the group, or you stay after the end of the course you can stay at the Hotel and be billed for those nights. If you want to make sure you have a room before you arrive, we recommend you reserve it by sending a fax to:
Hotel Danae, Aegina 30-297-26 509. Mention your name, the night you need a room, and that you are a student in the McGill Summer Course in Greece.

MEALS

The only meal included in the fees you have paid is breakfast. You will have to take care of your other meals. There are restaurants in most of the sites which we will be visiting. You may also opt for buying your own provisions (fruits, fresh bread, great vegetables, juices, etc... are easily to obtain and reasonable in price).

MEDIA EQUIPMENT

You will not be required to work in any specific media. Watercoulour, pastels, pencils, ink, etc...or any media which makes part of your previous experience may be used in the development of your 81/2 x 10“portfolio, book, booklet. (Photographs may be included in the portfolio).

EMERGENCIES

We will be in constant communication with the School of Architecture at McGill University

You may leave the school of Architecture’s telephone number with your family. If there is an emergency at home, the can contact the School, and we will get the message to you as soon as possible.

School of Architecture
McGill University
Phone (514) 398 6700

David Krawitz, Assistant to the Director
(514) 398 6704

CORRESPONDENCE AND TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Air -mail from Canada or USA usually takes 5-10 days to reach Greece. Just in case this is the postal address of the hotel in Aegina:

c/o Hotel Danae
Nikou Kazantzaki Street
Town of Aegina
Greece

The telephone number of the hotel Danae is

30-0297-0022-424 or 425

The fax number: 30-0297-0026-509

Please limit the use of the fax number to emergencies.

Note: 30 is the international code for Greece, 297 is Aegina’s area code.

We will post the numbers of the other hotels where we will stay before departure.

TELEPHONE-COMMUNICATIONS

Internet cafes exist in most large Greek villages and cities. You will probably be able to stay in contact with friends and family through the net. Last year, the use of a terminal for an hour came to about CDN $7-8 dollars. Do not forget to get a hot mail, altavista, yahoo, etc. e-mail address. They will save a lot of headaches since through these type of free addresses you may also retrieve your po-box.mcgill.ca mail as well as mail you have in other accounts.

In many of the hotels where we will stay each room has a telephone with access to international calls. Long distance calls made trough the hotel switch board are usually very expensive. If you must call be brief, or you will be unpleasantly surprised by your bill.

One of the alternatives to call home is to use the Canadian International Operator. The other is to obtain a calling card when you get to Greece. It can be used from any of the numerous public phones throughout the country.

THE LANGUAGE

In Greece you will find enough people who speak English so you can get around comfortably. A phrase book and learning the Greek alphabet would be a good investment of time and money because they will make your stay even more enjoyable.