Greece in winter. On the day of arrival, at 6 pm, the weather was +16. We were met at the airport. First, we rode a big bus with those who were on a sightseeing tour to some other hotel of the Dolores chain (the Dolores chain has 4 hotels, including ours), and then we transferred to a pickup truck that took us to our hotel.
… More ▾
Greece in winter.
On the day of arrival, at 6 pm, the weather was +16. We were met at the airport. First, we rode a big bus with those who were on a sightseeing tour to some other hotel of the Dolores chain (the Dolores chain has 4 hotels, including ours), and then we transferred to a pickup truck that took us to our hotel.
4 people went to the King Jason Hotel: my husband and I and another father and daughter from Novosibirsk. The hotel on the Internet goes both as 2 *, and as 3 *, and as simply category B. But he suited us perfectly. Cozy room - 2 beds moved together (we wanted a 2-bed, but the room with 2 was much smaller), bedside tables, cosmetic table, chair, bathroom; shampoo, bath foam and soap every day put new ones in disposable packages. Towels (we had 5 of them for two) were changed every day, bed every 2-3 days. They clean your room when you are not. They don't touch anything. There is a safe in the closet with a password that you set yourself (I kept a fur coat there).
There is a bar under the TV, but we didn’t take anything from there, because it’s clear that you have to pay for it, and water, which costs 50 cents on the street, costs 2 euros at the reception. There is a balcony. Air conditioning. By the way, they do not know Russian at the reception, English is required. When we asked about a Russian channel, we were told that there was none, but before leaving we found a Russian channel, I think, on 95.
We had a tour with breakfast included. On the first day I didn’t eat anything - I didn’t like it, but on the rest of the days I already had breakfast. Breakfast is always the same: fresh buns, bread (by the way, bread is a different story - in Greece they love it very much; when you eat in a cafe, it is served without fail for free and, of course, everything is fresh; and all sorts of buns are sold everywhere and you can often meet people who chew it on the go), cheese, bacon, sausage, sausages, scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, honey, sour cream, peach in syrup, chocolate mass.
There is a box with bags of different types of tea, pour boiling water into the teapot yourself; there was also hot chocolate, juices (probably diluted sachets). In short, a buffet, you type what you want.
The hotel has an elevator, the hotel is 5-7-storey (we just lived on the 2nd floor, we didn’t go up).
By the way, the hotel has free parking nearby! In general, everyone is friendly and welcoming.
The location of the hotel is not the best, as the quarter nearby is "occupied" by all sorts of visitors - this is Sokratus Street. Everyone gets out there at night, around a prostitute, it’s better not to get there, we somehow wandered in a car - we barely drove through.
It’s just better to get to the hotel along illuminated roads, not to walk through back streets. 15 minutes walk to the center - to the left. Not far from the metro - this is if you go to the right as you exit the hotel.
They live in Greece according to a special routine. There is such a concept "siesta", which the Greeks observe unquestioningly.
Shops open at 9-10, from 12 to 14 lunch.
And then they open at 17 and work until 9 pm - but this is not always, only Tuesday-Thursday. And we must also take into account that we were during the sales period (January-February), and at this time they work longer.
Plaka and Erma are streets lined with shops. And there are also many Hondos Centr shopping centers - there were also sales there, you can buy autumn boots and bags cheaply. There are no winter boots and things - since they are not needed in Greece.
In general, in Athens there are the same fashionistas as in any other capital, so there are a lot of clothes.
Separately, about fur coats. In Athens they are expensive. It is better to go to Paralia, it is near Katerinis (450 km from Athens).
We rented a Kia Pikanto for 3 days at the international company Hertz.
This pleasure cost us 95 euros without a mileage limit, plus 650 we left a deposit (you can use a credit card, but, firstly, we had a debit card - it doesn’t work, and secondly, we were afraid to block the amount on the card, since you read on the Internet that the blocking is not removed later, and you are already in Russia and you are unlikely to be able to do anything); in 3 days we drove 1500 km for about 100 euros. In general, we wanted a car for 2 days, but we were told 95 euros for at least 2, at least 3 days, and that's it. Of course, the contract indicated 3 days. By the way, all communication, the contract is in English, therefore, if you do not speak English at all, then it is better not to go to Athens alone. Gasoline cost about 1.2 euros per liter. When the car was issued, they marked in the contract all the scratches on the car, and when they accepted it, apart from the speedometer and radio, they did not check anything. Without any problems, our 650 euros were returned to us, we signed for the consumables and that's it.
There are a lot of shops with fur coats in Paralia, you leave one and immediately enter another. We had little time, because we wanted to see Meteora, Olympus ...- it's nearby, along the way.
It is better to buy a fur coat where the owner himself is Greek. If there are Russian girls in the store (and there were a lot of them), then the prices are the same as in Athens - expensive, they don’t bargain (they live on this). We eventually took a Greek from the owner, who sews them himself. He immediately told us the final price of 1650 for my fur coat (but this was already the real price, since we had heard at least 2200 before). The coat is black, blackglama, to the knee, according to the figure, with a belt, with a hood. All seams are neat, the lining is made of expensive material (similar to silk). In short, we had to persuade him before 1450, but it was hard morally, since the man was very good and explained to us that this fur coat could not cost so much, he seemed to apologize to us, felt guilty. As a result, we persuaded him by offering a purchase without a receipt.
He tore off the label from the fur coat and we said goodbye. Coat - class!!!!! ! By the way, I have a small size 42-44, and this, as the sellers say, is very difficult to find. I wanted a light fur coat, but not white or blue, but the color of baked milk or something interesting. But due to the size in Paralia, it was unrealistic to do so. In general, Paralia is for those who want a more classic version of a fur coat, and it is better to look for an exclusive at an exclusive price elsewhere.
I carried my fur coat on myself, no one had any questions at the airport.
By the way, we could also buy a Chinese fur coat in another store, also from a Greek owner, for 1300, or maybe cheaper, but her hem was sewn up, and when we ripped it open, we saw a nightmare there - everything sticks out. But he told us that dozens of these fur coats were bought from him for sale in Russia.
Also at the airport there was a group on a fur coat tour, so they were called in turn to some room.
On the way back we stopped at Meteora - these are monasteries carved in the mountains, acting, you can get inside until 3 days on certain days.
And in general, you go on the road - everything is beautiful. Castles are visible. Olympus was close. We passed the holy spring - they collected water, very tasty.
On the second day we went to Mycenae - the old capital of Greece, we didn’t get inside - it’s also open until 3, but we took a picture through the bars. We stopped by a village where vineyards are everywhere and the inhabitants make wine. Each has its own variety. Equipped mini-factories. The people are very nice. We went to the first winemaker who came across, gave us a taste of wine, bought a bottle for 8 euros. The wine is exceptionally delicious.
On the third day we accidentally got to the zoo. It is located near Athens. Very interesting. Parrots are cool, they want to communicate, repeaters. They like it very much when they are stroked, scratched. They kiss.
We climbed some mountain - the view is awesome, there is some kind of chapel. You can even see the airport.
We went to the sea.
Pure, pure, blue. We took pictures.
About roads. The movement, as befits the capital, is fast. But there are also bottlenecks. In the city, the streets are narrow, mostly one-way traffic. If there are at least some signs in the center, then in the sleeping areas there are practically none, sometimes we could not understand: we stopped in Athens or were still going to the suburbs.
There are many paid entrances and exits on the roads outside the city, it costs from 2 to 2.7 euros.
Now about the subway. There are only 3 branches, and the transitions are not like in Moscow - they are small. The ticket cost 80 cents. Trains run every 10 minutes on average. At the Acropolis station, before entering the city, there are interesting exhibits on display. And the Acropolis is a separate story, this is the place where Greece began, a lot has been preserved there.
In general, it’s okay if the entrance is closed, since you can walk around it, there is still Mount Muses (for sure, not far from the Acropolis you will see something similar to a gate on the nearest rock - go up there, it’s not difficult, you will see everyone along the way there are a lot of cool things, there are also benches)…
When we were in Athens, there was a festival of hearts, everywhere there were big hearts in different styles - beautiful.
You can walk endlessly in Athens. We really liked Greece. It was very convenient that it was +16-20, no heat, but nevertheless my face got a little sunburnt. By the way, it's good that there were no tourists either. The weather was gloomy for only 2 days, with intermittent rains - but we knew about it even before the trip thanks to the weather on Yandex, so these days we went shopping.
About food. You can eat for 10 euros for two in some Gudis or for 20 in a cafe. Portions in Greece are huge.
You can easily eat one serving of salad and the second one together (it will no longer cost 25, since 25 is the price for 2 servings).
And in winter in Greece it's time for oranges, tangerines and lemons. Oranges are very sweet, pear-shaped.
When we were in Athens, we were stunned by the huge number of orange trees right in the center. They even plucked an orange - but it turned out to be not ripe, sour. In general, it’s somehow not customary to pick an orange on the street and eat it wildly.
But when we went by car to Meteora, we passed orange orchards, there are awesome oranges!!!!! ! They are collected and sold right there. Well, we managed to pick up ourselves
Write if you have any questions.
On the day of arrival, at 6 pm, the weather was +16. We were met at the airport. First, we rode a big bus with those who were on a sightseeing tour to some other hotel of the Dolores chain (the Dolores chain has 4 hotels, including ours), and then we transferred to a pickup truck that took us to our hotel.
4 people went to the King Jason Hotel: my husband and I and another father and daughter from Novosibirsk. The hotel on the Internet goes both as 2 *, and as 3 *, and as simply category B. But he suited us perfectly. Cozy room - 2 beds moved together (we wanted a 2-bed, but the room with 2 was much smaller), bedside tables, cosmetic table, chair, bathroom; shampoo, bath foam and soap every day put new ones in disposable packages. Towels (we had 5 of them for two) were changed every day, bed every 2-3 days. They clean your room when you are not. They don't touch anything. There is a safe in the closet with a password that you set yourself (I kept a fur coat there).
There is a bar under the TV, but we didn’t take anything from there, because it’s clear that you have to pay for it, and water, which costs 50 cents on the street, costs 2 euros at the reception. There is a balcony. Air conditioning. By the way, they do not know Russian at the reception, English is required. When we asked about a Russian channel, we were told that there was none, but before leaving we found a Russian channel, I think, on 95.
We had a tour with breakfast included. On the first day I didn’t eat anything - I didn’t like it, but on the rest of the days I already had breakfast. Breakfast is always the same: fresh buns, bread (by the way, bread is a different story - in Greece they love it very much; when you eat in a cafe, it is served without fail for free and, of course, everything is fresh; and all sorts of buns are sold everywhere and you can often meet people who chew it on the go), cheese, bacon, sausage, sausages, scrambled eggs, scrambled eggs, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, honey, sour cream, peach in syrup, chocolate mass.
There is a box with bags of different types of tea, pour boiling water into the teapot yourself; there was also hot chocolate, juices (probably diluted sachets). In short, a buffet, you type what you want.
The hotel has an elevator, the hotel is 5-7-storey (we just lived on the 2nd floor, we didn’t go up).
By the way, the hotel has free parking nearby! In general, everyone is friendly and welcoming.
The location of the hotel is not the best, as the quarter nearby is "occupied" by all sorts of visitors - this is Sokratus Street. Everyone gets out there at night, around a prostitute, it’s better not to get there, we somehow wandered in a car - we barely drove through.
It’s just better to get to the hotel along illuminated roads, not to walk through back streets. 15 minutes walk to the center - to the left. Not far from the metro - this is if you go to the right as you exit the hotel.
They live in Greece according to a special routine. There is such a concept "siesta", which the Greeks observe unquestioningly.
Shops open at 9-10, from 12 to 14 lunch.
And then they open at 17 and work until 9 pm - but this is not always, only Tuesday-Thursday. And we must also take into account that we were during the sales period (January-February), and at this time they work longer.
Plaka and Erma are streets lined with shops. And there are also many Hondos Centr shopping centers - there were also sales there, you can buy autumn boots and bags cheaply. There are no winter boots and things - since they are not needed in Greece.
In general, in Athens there are the same fashionistas as in any other capital, so there are a lot of clothes.
Separately, about fur coats. In Athens they are expensive. It is better to go to Paralia, it is near Katerinis (450 km from Athens).
We rented a Kia Pikanto for 3 days at the international company Hertz.
This pleasure cost us 95 euros without a mileage limit, plus 650 we left a deposit (you can use a credit card, but, firstly, we had a debit card - it doesn’t work, and secondly, we were afraid to block the amount on the card, since you read on the Internet that the blocking is not removed later, and you are already in Russia and you are unlikely to be able to do anything); in 3 days we drove 1500 km for about 100 euros. In general, we wanted a car for 2 days, but we were told 95 euros for at least 2, at least 3 days, and that's it. Of course, the contract indicated 3 days. By the way, all communication, the contract is in English, therefore, if you do not speak English at all, then it is better not to go to Athens alone. Gasoline cost about 1.2 euros per liter. When the car was issued, they marked in the contract all the scratches on the car, and when they accepted it, apart from the speedometer and radio, they did not check anything. Without any problems, our 650 euros were returned to us, we signed for the consumables and that's it.
There are a lot of shops with fur coats in Paralia, you leave one and immediately enter another. We had little time, because we wanted to see Meteora, Olympus ...- it's nearby, along the way.
It is better to buy a fur coat where the owner himself is Greek. If there are Russian girls in the store (and there were a lot of them), then the prices are the same as in Athens - expensive, they don’t bargain (they live on this). We eventually took a Greek from the owner, who sews them himself. He immediately told us the final price of 1650 for my fur coat (but this was already the real price, since we had heard at least 2200 before). The coat is black, blackglama, to the knee, according to the figure, with a belt, with a hood. All seams are neat, the lining is made of expensive material (similar to silk). In short, we had to persuade him before 1450, but it was hard morally, since the man was very good and explained to us that this fur coat could not cost so much, he seemed to apologize to us, felt guilty. As a result, we persuaded him by offering a purchase without a receipt.
He tore off the label from the fur coat and we said goodbye. Coat - class!!!!! ! By the way, I have a small size 42-44, and this, as the sellers say, is very difficult to find. I wanted a light fur coat, but not white or blue, but the color of baked milk or something interesting. But due to the size in Paralia, it was unrealistic to do so. In general, Paralia is for those who want a more classic version of a fur coat, and it is better to look for an exclusive at an exclusive price elsewhere.
I carried my fur coat on myself, no one had any questions at the airport.
By the way, we could also buy a Chinese fur coat in another store, also from a Greek owner, for 1300, or maybe cheaper, but her hem was sewn up, and when we ripped it open, we saw a nightmare there - everything sticks out. But he told us that dozens of these fur coats were bought from him for sale in Russia.
Also at the airport there was a group on a fur coat tour, so they were called in turn to some room.
On the way back we stopped at Meteora - these are monasteries carved in the mountains, acting, you can get inside until 3 days on certain days.
And in general, you go on the road - everything is beautiful. Castles are visible. Olympus was close. We passed the holy spring - they collected water, very tasty.
On the second day we went to Mycenae - the old capital of Greece, we didn’t get inside - it’s also open until 3, but we took a picture through the bars. We stopped by a village where vineyards are everywhere and the inhabitants make wine. Each has its own variety. Equipped mini-factories. The people are very nice. We went to the first winemaker who came across, gave us a taste of wine, bought a bottle for 8 euros. The wine is exceptionally delicious.
On the third day we accidentally got to the zoo. It is located near Athens. Very interesting. Parrots are cool, they want to communicate, repeaters. They like it very much when they are stroked, scratched. They kiss.
We climbed some mountain - the view is awesome, there is some kind of chapel. You can even see the airport.
We went to the sea.
Pure, pure, blue. We took pictures.
About roads. The movement, as befits the capital, is fast. But there are also bottlenecks. In the city, the streets are narrow, mostly one-way traffic. If there are at least some signs in the center, then in the sleeping areas there are practically none, sometimes we could not understand: we stopped in Athens or were still going to the suburbs.
There are many paid entrances and exits on the roads outside the city, it costs from 2 to 2.7 euros.
Now about the subway. There are only 3 branches, and the transitions are not like in Moscow - they are small. The ticket cost 80 cents. Trains run every 10 minutes on average. At the Acropolis station, before entering the city, there are interesting exhibits on display. And the Acropolis is a separate story, this is the place where Greece began, a lot has been preserved there.
In general, it’s okay if the entrance is closed, since you can walk around it, there is still Mount Muses (for sure, not far from the Acropolis you will see something similar to a gate on the nearest rock - go up there, it’s not difficult, you will see everyone along the way there are a lot of cool things, there are also benches)…
When we were in Athens, there was a festival of hearts, everywhere there were big hearts in different styles - beautiful.
You can walk endlessly in Athens. We really liked Greece. It was very convenient that it was +16-20, no heat, but nevertheless my face got a little sunburnt. By the way, it's good that there were no tourists either. The weather was gloomy for only 2 days, with intermittent rains - but we knew about it even before the trip thanks to the weather on Yandex, so these days we went shopping.
About food. You can eat for 10 euros for two in some Gudis or for 20 in a cafe. Portions in Greece are huge.
You can easily eat one serving of salad and the second one together (it will no longer cost 25, since 25 is the price for 2 servings).
And in winter in Greece it's time for oranges, tangerines and lemons. Oranges are very sweet, pear-shaped.
When we were in Athens, we were stunned by the huge number of orange trees right in the center. They even plucked an orange - but it turned out to be not ripe, sour. In general, it’s somehow not customary to pick an orange on the street and eat it wildly.
But when we went by car to Meteora, we passed orange orchards, there are awesome oranges!!!!! ! They are collected and sold right there. Well, we managed to pick up ourselves
Write if you have any questions.
Like
You like
• 8
Show other comments …
