2nd STI International Offsite 2009

26th-29th of May 2009, Kalamaki, Crete, Greece

The STI International offsite is meant as a unique annual event to support the building of the worldwide STI community and to strengthen established relationships between the members. It gives individual STI members from different countries and institutions the opportunity to get together in an inspiring environment and to shape the future development of STI and its operation.
The offsite is organized as a four days event and covers a mixture of technical and networking activities, as well as invited talks on topics of general interest. The result is a generally improved understanding and acceptance of the overall mission and objectives of STI by the various members, a naturally evolving corporate identity of the network as well as established relationships and collaborations between individual institutions.

Kalamaki, Crete

Agenda

Day 1 – May 26th, 2009

Day 2 – May 27th, 2009

The winning team of the STI International
Football Tournament 2008, Tenerife, Spain

Day 3 – May 28th, 2009

Day 4 – May 29th, 2009

Excursion possibilities: Phaistos Palace or the Caves in Matala

Day 5 – May 30th, 2009

Venue and Travel

This year's STI International Offsite will take place in Kalamaki, a small coastal village in the south of Crete, about 70 km from Heraklion.

Accommodation in Kalamaki

The stay in Kalamaki will be organized in three hotels (Kostas Hotel, Hotel Alonia, Hotel Philharmonie), which are all in the center of the village. A reservation form for the hotels will soon be available online.

Generally, the prices range from 20 - 50€ per room per night.

Kostas hotel

Philharmony hotel

Alonia hotel

Arsinoi hotel

Travel to the island of Crete
There are three international airports: Heraklion airport, Akrotiri airport close to Chania and Sitia airport. For international flights you will usually have to fly via Athens, except for charter flights or a few companies that fly directly to Crete. Another way to travel from Athens is by ferry from Pireas, the port of Athens.

Airplane
There are daily flights to Crete from all major cities in Greece and from many European cities as well. The closest airport to the conference site is the Heraklion international airport, 5 km from the city of Iraklio, the largest city in Crete. International delegates may need to fly through Athens, which is serviced by all major airlines. Flights from Athens to Heraklion are approximately 50-60 minutes. Flights from London to Heraklion are 3 hours 45 minutes
Airlines:

• Aegean Cronus Airlines - best choice in terms of quality and service
• Olympic Airlines (national airline)

Airports:

• Heraklion International Airport in Crete (Code: HER), Tel: 0810-397129, 397136 (info 24hrs)
• Athens International Airport Eleftherios Venizelos (Code: ATH)

Boat
It is also possible to travel to Crete by ferry from Pireas, the port of Athens. The trip takes approximately 9 hours on standard ferries and 6 hours on the high-speed Knossos Palace and Festos Palace (of the Minoan Lines fleet). An overnight ferry from Pireas, Athens will arrive in Iraklio, Crete between 5:00 and 6:30 in the morning (departing approximately 19:00).
Each ship offers very good standards of accommodation in Luxury First and Second class cabins, most with private toilet and shower. Every ship also offers a deck class offering aircraft type seats.
Fleets:

• Minoan Lines
• ANEK

More information on Ferries, please click here.

Travel on the Island (prices from December 2008)

• Taxi: around € 102,00; € 1,50/km
• Bus and taxi from the airport: € 4,80 from Iraklio to Mires, then taxi to Kalamaki. Mires is approximately 20 km away from Kalamaki. A bus schedule is available at http://www.cretetravel.com/Bus_schedules/
• Rental cars: from € 35,00 per day, petrol € 0,93/Liter, Diesel € 0,95/Liter

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