A short tour of Greece. Part II. Patras
A short tour of Greece. Part I. Athens >>>
ASTIR 4* HOTEL
Hotel Astir
We were lucky with the location of the rooming house - it is located next to the Patras bus station. 4 * to take in Greece is not entirely reasonable, but this rooming house turned out, in our opinion, to be the best in terms of quality / price ratio (price 70 per day with all fees, breakfast included): the center is nearby, and the bus station, and the port, from where we later we were going to go to Kefalonia... and even a swimming pool with a bar on the roof. : )
Bar next to the rooftop pool
Although it would be possible to take a good three-ruble note with a fairly convenient location for about 45 per night, but in such rooming houses that we saw on Booking, for some reason there was no chest at all, and this was critical for us - in the first those days of the trip, when there is still a lot of cash. The room is good, spacious, comfortable. . .
General view of room II, humpback TV
General view of Room III
. . . a balcony overlooking the sea.
View from I balcony
There are even two chairs on this balcony, however, quite shabby with life. . .
Chairs on the balcony, one of which, apparently, is very battered by life
. . . but there is no table. Fault, however: where to put a bottle with glasses? You can, of course, put the bottle on the floor and hold the glasses in your hands, but this is somehow vulgar. The TV is small and old-fashioned, humpbacked, but we have not been interested in such a miracle of technology for a long time. But the phone is more modern than in Athens.
Phone
Free code chest (code up to 6 digits). . .
Free coded chest in the closet
. . . but it wasn't working when we arrived. The remote from the air conditioner is built into the wall, and the regulator is fixed at around 24 ° C. And that, in my opinion, is quite a comfortable temperature. The hotel has free Wi-Fi (as, indeed, in all the others mentioned in this report), but there was also a computer in the lobby on the first floor. . .
Comp
. . . which is much more convenient to use than a mobile phone, even with the widest screen (someone may object that there is also a tablet, but I will answer that it is not very convenient to carry it with you). The plumbing is already more interesting than in the previous rooming house: a bath instead of a shower cabin. . .
Bath
. . . there is even a bidet.
Toilet with bidet
The hair dryer, however, is antediluvian.
Antediluvian hair dryer
SOLVING THE CHEST PROBLEM
When I realized that the chest was not working, I called the reception and reported the problem. I was promised to solve it. After about 5 minutes, an employee of the rooming house came, looked and said that the batteries needed to be changed. I asked when they would be changed, to which he replied something like "today or tomorrow. " We have never been satisfied with such a situation, and I went to the reception to sort it out, they say, chezan. He even suggested that they drag us a chest from another free room, and put it there and then fix it. They told me that it was impossible, because the chest was fixed on the wall, but I said, they say, no, I saw that it was not so. However, they offered me another solution - to put valuables in one of the cells at their reception and gave me the key to it. Okay, I think the dog is with them, agreed. And already, in my opinion, on the same evening they informed me that the problem with the chest was solved, and, most importantly, it turned out to be true!
POOL AND ROOFTOP BAR
Bar next to the rooftop pool
There is a pretty cool pool on the roof of the doss house with free sunbeds and a bar nearby. The beer there, however, is not cheap - 4.5, and this is only 0.4 liters! Well, okay, sometimes you can afford to show off. I swam in the pool, talked there with an Italian family in their native language, while my wife was sunbathing on a sunbed. Then we drank beer with my wife, then changed clothes in the room and went to look for a car for rent.
CAR RENTAL OFFICES
Searching for a rental car in Patras turned out to be by no means an easy task: one office was closed, and the building was for sale, another did not have an employee, but a phone number was left where you can contact and negotiate, the third is open only until 2 pm... in short , then the clamp broke, then the driver crap. And this despite the fact that we had previously found local rental offices on the Internet, found out their addresses and opening hours. There were also international companies (AVIS, Europcar, etc. ), but we try not to contact them. And then I heard that when you forgot to think about this lease, they can give you a surprise in the form of writing off a fine from your card for a violation recorded by a video camera. However, we went to one of the offices of Avis, but during the conversation it turned out that they have a franchise in the amount of as much as a mower, but this did not suit me at all.
Finally, luck smiled at us, and we found the office "Avance Rent a Car Patras" at Agiou Dionisiou 29-31, where we were offered "Fawn-208" ("Fawn, of course, in the automotive sense, and not in hunting and non-prison slang) for 55 per day. But there was also a franchise there, however, already in the amount of 600. I asked if it was possible to get this “Fawn” on full risk terms, and they answered that yes, but only for an additional chirp per day. Thus, this trough cost us 325 for 5 days (65 per day). Yeah… in Crete it would be possible to rent the same car cheaper and for 8 days, but it's still better than going to Crete for the 4th time in a row. In short, I left a deposit of 100, shook hands and agreed that I would pick up the car every other day at 12 o'clock.
DINNER AT CUCCUVAIA RESTAURANT
After agreeing to rent a car, we went for a walk around the city center, at the same time looking for a place where we could have dinner. So, it should be noted that even with this there is quite sour. Everywhere there are coffee houses, eateries and other rygalovki. We finally found a restaurant called Cuccuvaia (or, as they call it, Owl Wine Bar Cuisine), which seemed like a decent place to us.
Cuccuvaia Restaurant
There are stands with three buttons on the tables: one for calling the waiter (CALL), another for asking for the bill (PAY), and the third one for canceling the previously entered command (CANCEL).
Remote control in Cuccuvaia restaurant
There, they immediately brought us bread and butter for a Jew per person and a liter of water for 2, although we did not order this. But on the other hand, they also brought a compliment in the form of some kind of rocket salad, cherry tomatoes, capers, cheese cubes and ham.
Bread and not very healthy salad
Not the healthiest set of ingredients, but you can eat it. We also ordered a shrimp salad there (12.50). . .
Shrimp salad
. . . salmon steak with stewed spinach in cream with pine nuts (15). . .
Salmon steak with spinach
. . . piece of kurfile (8.50). . .
Purple like
. . . and 2 mugs of Kaiser draft beer, 4 each. But the beer somehow didn’t really work for us, so we also looked through the menu for bottled beer and, among other things, found Schneider there.
Schneider beer
And this is a thing, I must say! And comparable to my favorite "Franciscanner". Such a bottle was already worth half a chip, but for the quality you can overpay a little, right? And in the end, they brought us another compliment - a bottle of Limoncello (about 100 g) and the same bottle of liqueur with honey and cinnamon.
Cinnamon liqueur, limoncello, and some water brought to the load
In the end, the bill was 63, and we threw 3 more on top as a tip, which was too generous for them, as we later realized. Still, as Comrade Lukashin from the famous Soviet film said: “We need to drink less”... Well, okay, we will correct this mistake the next day. In fairness, it is worth noting that the portions are large, so it would be enough for two to take one hot dish or even a salad + a hot dish.
Day 3, Tuesday, 13.08. 19
ANNOUNTING SITUATION
When I woke up the next day, I could not find my pressure gauge, which I use regularly. The fact is that I have long been haunted by an affectionate killer (as the doctors called her) named Hypertension. And in order to prevent her from getting too close to me, I have to control my blood pressure and take appropriate drugs. Having carefully searched all the luggage, we realized that we had forgotten the pressure gauge in the previous rooming house. And that's not all - we also forgot there almost all the drugs that I need to take. It was necessary to somehow correct the situation, otherwise a stroke (it is also a stroke, or, as it was called before, an apoplexy) can already occur at a systolic pressure of 160 mm Hg. Or if the difference between systolic and diastolic pressure is more than 65 mm Hg.
I wrote a letter to the previous rooming house (fortunately, I have the Greek layout on my phone, although, of course, I could write in English) and asked if they had found my pressure gauge (by the way, the tonometer in Greek is called π ι ε σ μ ε τ ρ ο , if anyone is interested). Then, in order not to waste time, I called them on the phone (a minute of conversation with Athens cost 18 kopecks there), and they answered me that they had indeed found my pressure gauge along with the drugs. Then we started thinking about how to solve the problem. Go to Athens for a pressure gauge? But this is the loss of a whole day, and tickets... It's easier and cheaper to buy a new one on the spot. More difficult with drugs. As far as I knew, it is only in Russia that you can buy almost any drug without a prescription, while in a European dredge without it you can only buy some aspirin, burn cream, a tube of toothpaste or a pack of birth control gum. However, we decided to try anyway. I made a list of the Latin names of the active ingredients of the drugs I needed with the appropriate dosage, and we went to the nearest dredge, which, by the way, you can even chew with your ass. These are such establishments with the inscription Φ Α Ρ Μ Α Κ Ε Ο and, as a rule, with a large green, sometimes luminous cross.
By the way, there is such a nuance in the Greek language: “φ ρ μ α κ ο ” is “medicine”, and “φ α ρ μ κ ι ” is already “poison”, so do not inadvertently confuse. And by the way, most drugs really turn into poisons if you exceed the dose. And even if it is not exceeded, because almost any drug, as they say, heals one thing - cripples another. In general, we went into this dredge, and what do you think? There they sold me all the necessary drugs without any problems, except for one, which was simply not there in the right dose! True, I had to pay for them 23 + another 39 for a new pressure gauge, by the way, quite convenient and compact (though with the alarming name "microlife" : )). Then we went into another dredge, where the missing drug in the required dose was also not found, but on the other hand, in the third dredge, happiness smiled at us. True, such a smile cost 6.40, and in Moscow this drug would have cost me 3-4 times cheaper. In general, we usually very carefully examine various bedside tables, wardrobes, drawers, before moving out of the hotel, but after all, as they say, there is porn about the old woman.
WALK IN PATRA
Having solved the problem from the previous section, we went for a walk around the city. We visited the central square. . .
Central Square
Central Square
. . . with statues of puking lions and some other monsters above them.
A fountain with vomiting lions against the background of the central square
Fountain with vomiting lions
Fountain with vomiting lions
We walked along the surrounding streets.
One of the streets of the city
One of the streets of the city
One of the streets of the city
We also wanted to visit the Roman Stadium. . .
Roman Stadium
. . . but it turned out to be closed on Tuesdays, so all that was left to do was walk around it.
Roman Stadium
Roman Stadium
A small nook near the Roman stadium
We took a picture of another templar, it looks nothing like that, by the way.
Some kind of temple
Some kind of temple
And on one of the streets, with a trained eye, I copied the emblem of my favorite "Franciscanner", hanging by a pub called "La Bodegueta". The pub, however, was closed, well, it was not surprising, because it was still children's time - somewhere around two. However, we firmly decided to return there in the evening, having previously looked at the opening hours on the Internet - from 19 to 5 in the morning, which we did, but we broke off abruptly: although the time was already quite late, it was still closed. So xs, either it was just closed that day, or even closed to hell.
TRIP TO THE NEAREST BEACH
There is also a railway station in Patras, from which it was previously possible to get to Athens, and not only.
Local Railway
Who and why needed to dismantle the railroad is not clear, but the fact is that only a miserable stub with 7-8 stations remained from the railroad. Electric trains run there every hour, a ticket costs 1.40. And there was also an announcement at the station that these tickets are also sold in grocery stores. In general, we bought tickets and calmly went to the beach Κ Α Σ Τ Ε Λ Ο Κ Α Μ Π Ο Σ (Kastelokampos), which seemed to us the most decent after studying the photos on the internet. Drive there about 20 min.
True, when we arrived at the station we wanted. . .
The railway station near the beach
. . . we were surprised to find that there are no cash registers as a class.
Then I saw a grocery store nearby (they are called Π Α Ν Τ Ο Π Ω Λ Ε Ι Ο there; there is also its synonym Μ Π Α Κ Α Λ Ι Κ Ο , but I don’t remember anything with stores with that name), we went there and asked if they sold train tickets, what Received a solid response from the seller. We asked where you can buy them, but he told us that he had no idea. Well, okay, we bought Alfa Weiss from him for 1.70 per can and went to the beach, located 200-300 meters from the station. While walking, we looked around in search of a taxi, but where is there, who will go to such a hole... The beach is wild, pebbly, but quite pleasant, you can swim.
Beach
Beach
The beach and the bridge across the sea
There are even sun loungers with umbrellas and a couple of bars. After resting there, we decided to return back. Went to the same grocer to ask if he could call a cab. As for the taxi, he replied that it was not the best solution. And there just happened to be another customer who offered us 2 tickets, it is not known where she got them from. The seller advised to take them. I looked at them - the tickets seem to be normal, but the price of 1.00 versus 1.40 immediately caught my eye. Then I took a closer look and saw the inscription "φ ο ι τ η τ ι κ ". I say, they say, these are student cards, how will we go on them! To this, he replied that we should get to the final station (it was just the next one) and buy normal tickets there, and if suddenly there is a controller, show him student cards, and it should work. And if, he says, there will suddenly be problems, forget that you speak Greek, speak only Russian and pretend that you don’t understand what the problem is. So, he says, do many visitors from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Okay, we bought these 2 tickets, we drove without incident to the final station Rio, the train does not go further, although many maps show a couple more active stations after Rio. They already bought normal tickets and calmly returned back to Patras.
By the way, we never met controllers on this line. If anyone is interested, then in the other direction, from the central station of Patras, the train goes one stop - to Agios Andreas.
ABOUT CURRENCY EXCHANGE
If you suddenly need to exchange dollars for Jews (or vice versa), there should be no problems with this, because there are enough banks there (by the way, the bank in Greek is called Τ Ρ Α Π Ε Ζ Α ). On the scoreboard of one of them, we noticed that they even change rubles (only it was real or purely for appearance - xs). True, the kursets was still the same: when exchanging rubles for Jews, the exchange rate was 78.03, and if it was the other way around, then only 68.46.
SECOND DINNER IN PATRA WITH THE FIX OF THE PREVIOUS ERROR
Because La Bodegueta was a bust, we decided to walk around and see other places, including Beer Bar Q, a place seen on the Internet, but it was also closed, and also it is not clear whether permanently or temporarily. In general, not finding anything interesting, we decided to go to the same restaurant where we were the day before - CUCCUVAIA. There they immediately brought us bread (2) and water (2), but we said that we do not need water, because we are going to drink beer. The waiter nodded, took the water away and brought us the same compliment - a harmful salad. Then we ordered another appetizer there - Portobello mushrooms, baked in a pan, filled with minced meat under a cheese crust (+ there was also a small saucepan with the same meat - 9.50)...
Portobello mushrooms, baked in a pan, filled with minced meat under a cheese crust (+ saucepan with the same meat)
. . . pork chops with vegetables, tortillas and sauce (10.50), beef steak, which was served to us with a side dish of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, with sauce + in a small saucepan there was also an Olivier-type salad (18), only instead of meat there was a fish. . .
Zhrachka, in short
. . . and forgetting that the portions there are large, we just ate there. Under the whole thing, we ate several bottles of Schneider (half a chirp each). When the bill was brought to us, we discovered that water was still present there, that is, the goods for 4 Jews were necessarily slipped into the load. Well, yes, we have such opposition on this score - we subtract the load from the tip. And if last time we fell for compliments and left such a generous tip, then this time we decided that the tips that we salivated them last time would be more than enough for them. Moreover, I almost didn’t drink compliments in the form of Bukhara (by the way, if for the first time they brought 2 vials of different types of liquor, then this time only Limoncello), because the next day I had to drive, and before such a thing I I have a habit of accurately and even with a large margin to calculate how much I can drink the day before.
In short, they left the dough exactly on the bill. When we were leaving, one of the waiters, who had not yet seen how much money we had left, ran up to us and said something like “thank you, we will be happy to wait for you tomorrow. ” Yep, dreaming! And although... if we didn’t leave the next day, we would most likely go there (without fish, as they say, you’ll become cancer yourself), only we would be much more modest when ordering dishes.
Day 4, Wednesday, 14.08. 19
CALCULATION WITH HOTEL ASTIR
After having breakfast (I will allow myself not to describe breakfast either in this or in the previous rooming house, because it is nothing special, quite a normal breakfast) and packing up (this time carefully checking every corner, given the sad experience in previous rooming house : ) ), we went to the reception to pay. For some reason, we were not even required to pay 36 "kopecks" for 2 minutes of a telephone conversation with Athens, although these kopecks were included in the invoice. A trifle, but nice, however!
RENT A CAR
Then I went to the rental office to get a car, and my wife was left waiting for me in the hotel lobby with my things. The car was made out somehow for a long time (they are generally some kind of brakes). They removed the data of the credit card, about the need for which they warned on the day of the application (such as as collateral, and then all of a sudden there are some fines; but I then blocked this credit card and reissued it: I don’t want, you know, to get an unpleasant surprise when I already forget to think about this rental, as this, judging by the reviews, sometimes happens, since I exceeded the speed limit there quite often - if only for the sake of observing elementary traffic safety rules, one of which says that the safest driving is when you drive at a speed of about equal to the flow rate).
Finally, I paid the rest of the rent, received the car key and the contract. When renting a car, the lessor sometimes marks defects already on the car on a special diagram. So, in my case, there was no living place on this diagram, because there were all sorts of dents and scratches on all sides of the car, albeit small ones. In addition, the trough turned out to be a surprise, and not just one. True, an employee told me about one of them, pointing to a burning indicator of low tire pressure. He said that this is nonsense, at any gas station, tires can be pumped up. He further wished me a pleasant trip, and I went to the hotel to fetch my wife. Having quickly loaded things into the trunk, we went to see the local attraction - Patras Castle.
PATRE CASTLE
Entrance to Patras Castle
The entrance to this castle is free, the castle itself, I think, will be of interest to lovers of such old buildings.
Wall of Patras Castle
Loopholes
The territory of Patras Castle
Walls of Patras Castle
We liked it. True, walking around the castle in the heat, going up and down, is a rather tiring task. In front of the castle there is also a diagram explaining which part belongs to which period: the first, Frankish, Venetian, paleological or Ottoman period.
Scheme of Patras Castle
The castle towers offer a view of Patras, the sea. . .
View of the sea from the tower of Patras Castle
View of the sea from the tower of Patras Castle
. . . and mountains.
View of the mountains from the tower of Patras Castle
View of the mountains from Patras Castle
It turns out quite a beautiful picture. This castle is open for visiting from 8:30 to 16:00, Tuesday is a day off.
SURPRISES WITH A CAR
After visiting the castle of Patras, we went to Kuruta, to which we had to drive about 80 km. On the way, we naturally decided to stop by the nearest gas station to pump up the tires, and it didn’t hurt to refuel, because the tank was only 3/8 full. After the employee has filled the car (by the way, as for the cost of 95th gasoline without Pb (I wonder if anyone has ever seen gasoline with Pb on sale somewhere? : ) ), then it costs about 1.55- 1.7 per litre), I asked him to check the tire pressure. While checking the pressure with a pressure gauge, he informed me that one of the tires was leaking air, and pointed to the head of a screw stuck in the tire. I went inside the gas station and asked the employees to dial the number of the rental office from their phone (so as not to call from their mobile phone), to which they kindly agreed. I explained the essence of the problem to the employees of the office, and they recommended that I drive to the nearest tire shop to fix the problem, while asking me to keep the receipt and promising to compensate for the costs. They even tried to explain to me where this tire shop is, but somehow not very intelligibly, so I didn’t find it on the first try. The gas station itself did not know where it was. Then we stopped at another gas station, but they didn’t know there either. And one of the drivers advised me to address this question to some taxi driver, because they certainly know. But in the end, instead of a taxi driver, I got the 3rd gas station, where they told me that the tire shop was right next to them. We went there. We were warmly received there, the wheel was removed very quickly...
Our car at the tire shop
. . . they flattened the tire, dismantled it, vulcanized it, gave me the same screw as a souvenir, pumped up the wheel and installed it in place. The whole thing took chirp minutes, at most one and a half and cost 7. The check was issued, I didn’t even have to ask. However, when I started the engine, I noticed that the light did not stop burning. Then one employee dug into the on-board computer and pointed out to me that there was a system failure. However, the tire indicator light soon went out, and with peace of mind we headed for Kuruta. However, after a couple of days, when we were already in Kurut, this indicator lit up again. Then we drove to the nearest gas station, checked the tire pressure, and the indicator went out. But either the next day, or the same, he o5 caught fire! The on-board computer again showed a malfunction of the pressure indicator. Then I stopped the car and turned off the engine, waited a minute, and when I started it again, the indicator went out. But after the next parking it turned on again. And so it went on several times. And at some point, the air conditioner began to fail: either it worked normally, or it just started to drive hot air, and the temperature “overboard” showed minus.
A short tour of Greece. Part III. Kurouta village (western Peloponnese) >>>
