Archive for the 'Destinations' Category
West Lake Hills, Texas for Vacation or Call it Home?
Brian Talley asked:
West Lake Hills, or MLS area 8E, or zip code 78746, is often touted as the most desirable neighborhood in Austin. With its waterfront and downtown views almost rivaling Mt. Bonnell across Lake Austin in altitude, its short commute to downtown and its celebrated Eanes School district, West Lake Hills is the destination for those who can afford it.
Bounded by Lake Austin to the north and east, Capitol of Texas Highway/360 to the west, and Bee Caves Road and Barton Creek Mall to the south, Westlake is often, mistakenly, considered part of a larger area due to its equally tony neighborhoods: Davenport Ranch to the north, Barton Creek and Lost Creek to the west and Rollingwood to the south.
The City of West Lake Hills was founded and incorporated as a village in 1953, and is currently comprised of 2,560 acres (four square miles), approximately 1,000 homes and 200 businesses. Driving from downtown, through Tarrytown via Lake Austin Boulevard, and taking the left turn on Redbud (past Redbud Isle, the crowning leash-free water park for dogs), the mood turns from city to waterfront community, to meandering drives circling Texas Tuscan to modern compounds rivaling those of the Hollywood Hills.
What grounds the area is the highly-acclaimed Eanes School District, considered to be the best school district in the Austin area, if not Central Texas. Every elementary school has achieved an Elemplary* rating, including the three that serve the Westlake region: Bridgepointe, Cedar Creek, and Eanes. Hill Country Middle School, a Recognized school houses a 17,000 volume library collection, rare for a Middle School of just 850 students.
Rivaling the best private schools in town is Recognized Westlake High, with its national accolades (Newsweek Magazine rated it the 97th best high school in the country in 2007), Blue Ribbon status and 95% enrollment rate. In addition to excelling in academics and arts, the Westlake Chaparrals possess a highly competitive athletic program, especially in tennis, volleyball, football and swimming.
The Village of Westlake Hills contains the retail and services hub of the area at the intersection of Bee Caves and Capitol of Texas Highway/ 360, hosting retail chains like Barnes and Noble and Macaroni Grill, as well as grocery and drug stores.
This idyllic neighborhood, with its short commute to downtown and celebrated school district comes with a significant price tag. With a median asking price in the $800’s for condos and houses, Westlake is not accessible to all. Even those wanting to build will find lots ranging from 1/3rd an acre to just over 4 acres with a median price in the upper $500’s.
Condo living, especially with lake views, has just started to erupt in Westlake with just a few recent builds. For those going the condo route, prices range from the mid $100’s on the outskirts of the region (yet still benefiting from city proximity and great schools) to the mid $2 million range.
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West Lake Hills, or MLS area 8E, or zip code 78746, is often touted as the most desirable neighborhood in Austin. With its waterfront and downtown views almost rivaling Mt. Bonnell across Lake Austin in altitude, its short commute to downtown and its celebrated Eanes School district, West Lake Hills is the destination for those who can afford it.
Bounded by Lake Austin to the north and east, Capitol of Texas Highway/360 to the west, and Bee Caves Road and Barton Creek Mall to the south, Westlake is often, mistakenly, considered part of a larger area due to its equally tony neighborhoods: Davenport Ranch to the north, Barton Creek and Lost Creek to the west and Rollingwood to the south.
The City of West Lake Hills was founded and incorporated as a village in 1953, and is currently comprised of 2,560 acres (four square miles), approximately 1,000 homes and 200 businesses. Driving from downtown, through Tarrytown via Lake Austin Boulevard, and taking the left turn on Redbud (past Redbud Isle, the crowning leash-free water park for dogs), the mood turns from city to waterfront community, to meandering drives circling Texas Tuscan to modern compounds rivaling those of the Hollywood Hills.
What grounds the area is the highly-acclaimed Eanes School District, considered to be the best school district in the Austin area, if not Central Texas. Every elementary school has achieved an Elemplary* rating, including the three that serve the Westlake region: Bridgepointe, Cedar Creek, and Eanes. Hill Country Middle School, a Recognized school houses a 17,000 volume library collection, rare for a Middle School of just 850 students.
Rivaling the best private schools in town is Recognized Westlake High, with its national accolades (Newsweek Magazine rated it the 97th best high school in the country in 2007), Blue Ribbon status and 95% enrollment rate. In addition to excelling in academics and arts, the Westlake Chaparrals possess a highly competitive athletic program, especially in tennis, volleyball, football and swimming.
The Village of Westlake Hills contains the retail and services hub of the area at the intersection of Bee Caves and Capitol of Texas Highway/ 360, hosting retail chains like Barnes and Noble and Macaroni Grill, as well as grocery and drug stores.
This idyllic neighborhood, with its short commute to downtown and celebrated school district comes with a significant price tag. With a median asking price in the $800’s for condos and houses, Westlake is not accessible to all. Even those wanting to build will find lots ranging from 1/3rd an acre to just over 4 acres with a median price in the upper $500’s.
Condo living, especially with lake views, has just started to erupt in Westlake with just a few recent builds. For those going the condo route, prices range from the mid $100’s on the outskirts of the region (yet still benefiting from city proximity and great schools) to the mid $2 million range.
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Greek Island Holiday in Symi
Stewart Palmer asked:
The Greek island of Symi (also spelt Simi) is a small island in the Dodecanese group, situated twenty four miles, or about an hour’s ferry ride, north-west of Rhodes.
Symi is just eight miles long and only five miles at its maximum width. But if the island’s size seems small when measured in miles; measuring it by the time it takes to get from one place to the next, presents a very different picture. This is because Symi is extremely steep and mountainous, its highest point towering over two thousand feet above the sea.
The spectacular nature of Symi’s steep coastline, combined with one of the most picturesque harbour towns in Greece, has for many decades, attracted artists, photographers and ramblers, many of whom have taken up residence on the island. Several writers have also made Symi their home.
Lovers of broad sandy beaches within easy reach of their holiday accommodation will be disappointed with Symi, as the mountainous terrain and steep cliffs mean that most of its beaches are small, pebbly coves. However, their natural beauty more than compensates for their lack of sand, whilst their inaccessibility is more than outweighed by the views from the water taxi trips which are required to reach most of them.
Symi is a great island for people who enjoy walking and several of its beaches can be reached within a couple of hours walk from either of the island’s main holiday resorts; Yialos and Pedi. Serious walkers with heads for heights, can enjoy challenging treks to the more inaccessible coves. The most demanding can take four to five hours so it is a good idea to start off early in the morning, spend the afternoon on the beach and then catch a water taxi for the return journey back to Yialos or Pedi. As well as the walks across the island to coastal destinations, many inland walks to monasteries, chapels, historic sites and beautiful valleys can also be enjoyed.
The picturesque harbour town of Yialos is the capital of Symi. It is connected to the Chorio (hill town) by Kali Strata, a street of comprising of four hundred steps. The walk up the Kali Strata is rewarded by passing many beautiful, preserved, nineteenth century mansions and by the wonderful views from the top. A medieval castle built by the knights of St John once stood proudly on the site of an ancient Greek acropolis but some imagination is needed to visualise how it would have once looked, dominating Chorio and the valleys below.
Yialos, also referred to as “Symi Town”, is a beautiful town by both day and night. Many of its colourful buildings have been carefully restored to their former glory and have a preservation order like the mansions on the Kali Strata. The picturesque and romantic quality of the place has put it on the map of stop off ports for cruise ships. As a result, restaurant and bar prices in Yialos tend to be a bit pricier than elsewhere in the Greek islands. However, several of the local restaurants offer a standard of cuisine more than matching the price.
A holiday in Symi is best enjoyed sometime between April and October. Most of the island’s holiday accommodations are only available during this period and during the winter months there is always the risk of ferry services from Rhodes being cancelled because of stormy weather. Even as late as the end of May one year, we had to spend two days in Rhodes waiting for the weather to calm sufficiently for our ferry to set sail.
Although it is possible to reach Symi directly by ferry from Athens, sailing from the port of Piraeus, the journey takes twenty hours. Rhodes is a major Greek Island holiday destination with an international airport, receiving cheap flights from all over Europe including most U.K. airports. The ferry takes only one hour to get from Rhodes to Symi and a hydrofoil does it in half the time. Unless you are masochist or someone who fanatically enjoys inter island ferry journeys, there is little point in using the Athens alternative.
Nissan Pathfinder Suspension - Struts & Parts
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The Greek island of Symi (also spelt Simi) is a small island in the Dodecanese group, situated twenty four miles, or about an hour’s ferry ride, north-west of Rhodes.
Symi is just eight miles long and only five miles at its maximum width. But if the island’s size seems small when measured in miles; measuring it by the time it takes to get from one place to the next, presents a very different picture. This is because Symi is extremely steep and mountainous, its highest point towering over two thousand feet above the sea.
The spectacular nature of Symi’s steep coastline, combined with one of the most picturesque harbour towns in Greece, has for many decades, attracted artists, photographers and ramblers, many of whom have taken up residence on the island. Several writers have also made Symi their home.
Lovers of broad sandy beaches within easy reach of their holiday accommodation will be disappointed with Symi, as the mountainous terrain and steep cliffs mean that most of its beaches are small, pebbly coves. However, their natural beauty more than compensates for their lack of sand, whilst their inaccessibility is more than outweighed by the views from the water taxi trips which are required to reach most of them.
Symi is a great island for people who enjoy walking and several of its beaches can be reached within a couple of hours walk from either of the island’s main holiday resorts; Yialos and Pedi. Serious walkers with heads for heights, can enjoy challenging treks to the more inaccessible coves. The most demanding can take four to five hours so it is a good idea to start off early in the morning, spend the afternoon on the beach and then catch a water taxi for the return journey back to Yialos or Pedi. As well as the walks across the island to coastal destinations, many inland walks to monasteries, chapels, historic sites and beautiful valleys can also be enjoyed.
The picturesque harbour town of Yialos is the capital of Symi. It is connected to the Chorio (hill town) by Kali Strata, a street of comprising of four hundred steps. The walk up the Kali Strata is rewarded by passing many beautiful, preserved, nineteenth century mansions and by the wonderful views from the top. A medieval castle built by the knights of St John once stood proudly on the site of an ancient Greek acropolis but some imagination is needed to visualise how it would have once looked, dominating Chorio and the valleys below.
Yialos, also referred to as “Symi Town”, is a beautiful town by both day and night. Many of its colourful buildings have been carefully restored to their former glory and have a preservation order like the mansions on the Kali Strata. The picturesque and romantic quality of the place has put it on the map of stop off ports for cruise ships. As a result, restaurant and bar prices in Yialos tend to be a bit pricier than elsewhere in the Greek islands. However, several of the local restaurants offer a standard of cuisine more than matching the price.
A holiday in Symi is best enjoyed sometime between April and October. Most of the island’s holiday accommodations are only available during this period and during the winter months there is always the risk of ferry services from Rhodes being cancelled because of stormy weather. Even as late as the end of May one year, we had to spend two days in Rhodes waiting for the weather to calm sufficiently for our ferry to set sail.
Although it is possible to reach Symi directly by ferry from Athens, sailing from the port of Piraeus, the journey takes twenty hours. Rhodes is a major Greek Island holiday destination with an international airport, receiving cheap flights from all over Europe including most U.K. airports. The ferry takes only one hour to get from Rhodes to Symi and a hydrofoil does it in half the time. Unless you are masochist or someone who fanatically enjoys inter island ferry journeys, there is little point in using the Athens alternative.
Nissan Pathfinder Suspension - Struts & Parts