Greece - Chalkidiki - Nea Kalikratia
We rested in the small town of Nea Kalikratia, which is about 40 km from Thessaloniki. The town is beautiful, cozy and a bit boring. Of the entertainment, mainly bars, beaches and fur salons (I can’t rate their coolness, because I’m not interested in fur coats). According to Greek law, all entertainment venues must be outside the city, so we had to take a taxi to the only available nightclub (more on that below). By the way, according to the same laws, all the beaches of Greece are municipal, so everyone who wants to sunbathe on them can theoretically free of charge. However, every hotel / bar that is located in the immediate vicinity of the beach puts its umbrellas and sunbeds there, and everyone who wants to relax on them should order some kind of drink. The beaches are generally clean (although they could be cleaned more often) and there are almost always free places.
There is one central pedestrian street in Kalikratia, which comes to life closer to 9 pm.
The vast majority of vacationers there are Greeks (I would say 80% percent), the second place is occupied by the Russian-speaking public (about 18%), well, and further on the little things. And such a large number of local people has its advantages. You seem to be immersed in the local environment, you can fully experience the Greek flavor. Personally, I really liked the local houses. You know, such a typical Mediterranean: stone, white walls, painted shutters. I thrive on this. I would even say that the Greeks, as a nation, have an innate sense of beauty in relation to their home. Even poor families try to decorate their home somehow. In addition, Greece has lush, rich vegetation. I have never seen more beautiful. And of course the Greeks are very nice guys. They are unobtrusive, friendly, can help if something is needed, and generally cause only positive emotions.
We were in Greece at the end of August and I had a firm conviction that this country has an ideal climate for life. Somewhere before 9 am and after 7 pm it is cool and pleasant there, hot during the day, but tolerable, the water is warm. Perfectly.
I would also like to say a couple of kind words about our hotel. We lived in Aegean Blue Hotel ****. It is new, stylishly decorated and very comfortable. The snow-white foyer has glass accordion doors almost along its entire length and in summer, when they are open, the space inside merges with the surrounding nature. You sit at a table or in an armchair, drink coffee or wine, surf the Internet or just admire the view. In short, this is how I imagined an idle life. The staff is friendly and a bit, I would say, "relaxed rolls". It seemed to us that this was a family business and that they were relatives or something, since they practically live there.
I would attribute the almost complete absence of decent restaurants to the shortcomings of Kalikratia. Of course, there are many catering places, but, firstly, it is usually fast food (you know, those vertical meat skewers in shawarma stalls, grill menus and all that), and secondly, the menu is almost always in Greek. Look at these scribbles for half a minute and go buy yourself some ice cream. However, we found 2 restaurants where we had dinner almost all the time.
In general, my vacation in Greece left me with an ambivalent impression. The main disadvantage that declares itself everywhere, wherever you are, is unreasonably high prices. Everyone has probably heard about the recent Greek events: the crisis, the falsification of financial statements, calls for the Greeks to "tighten their belts", strikes, and perhaps even about the fact that this summer it is very cheap to rest in Greece, even cheaper than in Turkey. So this is all nonsense. It's even kind of funny.
The guide who went with us on an excursion to Athens joked that the main industry in Greece is tourism. And this is true. They live at the expense of their history and cut loot on ordinary tourists on a grand scale and everywhere. It is interesting that 3 days a week they work until 13:00, that is, they do not overwork, I would say. But the Greeks love and know how to relax. These are mainly evening gatherings at the table in the fresh air in a friendly circle. And this, in my opinion, is a very correct tradition. Every house in Kalikratia has either a veranda or a huge balcony protruding about 2 meters (it's even scary for the reliability of the structure) so that it is convenient to "hang out" in the evenings. Young people usually spend evenings in bars.
The bars of Kalikratia have their own "traditions". First, there is no kitchen. i. e. you can’t eat anything at all, except for the simplest snacks. Secondly, they don't make cocktails, which surprises me personally. Thirdly, everything is very expensive there.
For example, a beer costs 6 euros (for the sake of fairness, I’ll say that sometimes 2.5, which, in my opinion, is quite acceptable). For this amount, they will bring you a misted bottle of beer 0.33 l, a misted glass to it (cooling glasses is a great idea), as well as a bottle of water, a glass for water, nuts, and even (in one of the bars it was) a plate with sliced cucumbers and carrots) )) That is, to what you ordered directly, a ton of different garbage is attached. At what they serve salted nuts even with wine. You end up sitting sober all evening with water bottles all over your hotel nightstand.
As I said, dancing in Kalikratia was problematic. But we still went to the nearby Loka club. This is such an open-air institution (perhaps in the cold season it is covered with something). There is no dance floor, but tables, sofas and so on are everywhere.
Considering that most of the club's visitors are Greeks (the two of us were probably the only foreigners), one could conclude that the Greeks have fun exclusively by drinking, if not for the astronomical prices for alcohol. I noticed an interesting feature, although I don’t know how typical it is for Greece as a whole. It was like this: we came, took a sofa, ordered whiskey and cola and see what happens next. The people piled decently, rhythmic club music played, but no one danced. That is, no one at all! Then, around half past one in the morning, the music stopped for a couple of seconds, the lights were turned off, and then everything began to play even faster and cooler. And here the Greeks were changed: everyone moved, and the most nimble climbed onto the bar and began to rock on it. It seems like they clicked on a special Greek toggle switch. It's funny. And you know, in our clubs there are pretty girls who dance beautifully on the pedestals.
Well, to delight the eye and make you want to dance too. So there their role was replaced by ordinary visitors (of those who quickly climbed onto the counter). And by the way, it seemed to me that men in Greece are more relaxed than women. The strong sex played the first violin in this club. And here I note that we made attempts to find other clubs in the suburbs of Thessaloniki and in Kallithea, which, supposedly, is the party center of Halkidiki. Unfortunately, none were found, although they may not have searched well.
And I would like to say a few words about excursions. We were on two: a trip to Thessaloniki and a two-day Meteora-Athens. Firstly, like everything in Greece, they are unreasonably expensive, and secondly, the excursions themselves are too short. We arrived, ran and drove on. In Thessaloniki, the tour itself lasted an hour and a half at most.
In Meteora, we hung out for an hour in a store where we were "floated" with icons allegedly "painted by monks" (the fact that they were painted by hand is an outright lie) and even "prayed", and then we went into just one church. In Athens, we "managed" until 12:30 and then drove home for eight and a half hours. Although all these places deserve more than close attention. Thessaloniki is very beautiful and there is certainly something to see there besides the central quarters. Meteors are very inspiring, especially when you are alone, without a crowd with cameras. In Athens, you need to hang out for at least a few days. You know, in Athens I experienced something like an epiphany. Our guide led the group to the Parthenon very early (around 7 something in the morning), when there were almost no tourists there. For this he, by the way, the deepest respect. While everyone was organizing, we (me and the girl) decided to climb the hill next to the Parthenon (I don’t know what it’s called, there is still an iron staircase there).
And when I climbed it and saw Athens from this point, everything inside somehow shrank and froze with admiration. I have never seen such beauty. You know, it generally seems to me that if by the end of my life I have a “pack” of such “pictures” inside me, then I can say to myself that I lived well. There was also a Chinese couple in running suits. And looking at them, I thought about what a great idea it is: in the morning to go for a run to the Acropolis, when there is no one around, when it is not hot and indescribably beautiful around, and when you communicate with all this virtually exclusively, like the chosen one.
In general, I concluded that it would be better for us to immediately rent a car (as we did later) and go to all these places on our own. Moreover, in Athens, as in many large tourist cities, there are special sightseeing buses. By the way, the rental of the cheapest car (Daewoo Matiz) cost us 49 euros / day.
They drove her to the hotel and arranged everything without any deposit whatsoever.
Summing up, I’ll say that when deciding for yourself to go to Greece (mainland) or somewhere else, you need to clearly understand what you are looking for. Purely beach-party rest (beach, beach sports, drinking, disco) is lame there. At least in Kalikratia. In my opinion, the best way to spend time in Greece is to travel around it with stops for a few days in large cultural and historical centers. In other words, it is worth going there mainly for the sake of touching history and a lot of new experiences. Personally, I rather liked the rest and, of course, enriched it with vivid memories.