A short tour of Greece. Part V. Kefalonia, Lassi

23 January 2020 • Travel time: with 23 august 2019 on 27 august 2019

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Small tour of Greece. Part IV. Kefalonia, Sami >>>

Day 13, Friday 8/23/19

MOVE TO LASSI (Λ Α Σ Σ Η )

Buses in Argostoli that day were at 8:00 (too early), 9:45 (the least of all evils), 16:00 (too late) and 18:00 (very late). In general, we had to get up quite early that day: after all, it was necessary to collect the remaining things and reach the bus stop, and without haste, with which we, in general, did a good job. The bus goes to the same stop as all buses, at POSIDONOS 16. Tickets cost 4 from the nose, and the trip took almost an hour: although the island itself is quite small, the roads there are narrow and winding. But the views are gorgeous, it’s a pity, you can’t take a lot of pictures through the glass of the bus.

View from the bus Sami - Argostoli

Next, at the bus station in Argostoli, we changed to a bus to Lassi, which runs, in my opinion, every half an hour. And if a comfortable bus runs from Sami to Argostoli, then the bus from Argostoli to Lassi (costs 1.8 per person) is already a cattle-carrying type: it makes regular stops, so there are a lot of people on the way. Apparently, they traveled from Argostoli to the beaches or, after a walk around the capital and other places, returned to their bunkhouses. It’s good that now there are applications such as GPS maps, so we didn’t miss the stop we needed.

ACCORDING TO MARINOS APARTMENTS

Entrance to the hotel MARINOS APARTMENTS

Entering the territory of the rooming house. . .

Hotel area

. . . with a rather large swimming pool (where, by the way, almost all the seats were occupied), we began to look for a receptionist. A young man ran out to me from the bar (as it turned out later, the owner of the establishment named Janis, i. e. simply Vanya in Russian) and asked a standard question in English if he could help us with anything. I told him in Greek that we had a room booked. He was surprised that I speak Greek, and switching to it almost immediately, he said that he would go to see what was happening with the room (by the way, check-in there is provided from 14:00, and when we arrived there, it was about half 12th). While we were waiting, a pleasant barmaid approached us and brought us a glass of freshly squeezed orange. By the way, this bartender never anglicized with me. Probably, foreign languages are not her element. No, most likely, she knew something in English, but if the client speaks Greek, then why bother?

Then Vanyok came back and said that the room would be ready in a chirp in a minute: you have to clean up there and all that. While we waited and talked, he, of course, asked where my Greek came from, I answered him that I like to study foreign languages, and we go to Greece quite often, so there were opportunities to practice. He also asked if we would like to rent a car and gave us a leaflet with simply indecently attractive prices, however, he immediately explained that these were off-season rates, but in which case he promised to make a good discount. These cars, by the way, were right there, next to the bar, so in case something happened, they could be parked there (but, to be honest, we somehow didn’t want to bother with trips, because the place is already so good). Then he took us to the room.

ROOM IN THE BODYHOUSE

The room turned out to be extremely spacious, bright and comfortable. . .

General view of the room

. . . overlooking the pool.

View of the pool from the balcony

Of the minuses, perhaps, only two can be noted: heavy wooden chairs without any heels on the legs. . .

. . . that's why they make a rather unpleasant noise when moving (probably audible to the neighbors, by the way; it's good that we lived on the second floor, and there are only 2 of them), and the fact that the maid brought us all sorts of bumblebee gels is by no means not regularly (maybe once during our entire stay), but this minus was not very significant for us, because. it was good with us and with us. On this, perhaps, all the minuses end, some pluses begin. The bed is soft and comfortable.

Bed with bedside tables

There was still some kind of sofa there. . .

Sofa

. . . probably, if someone came to visit and stayed so long that he was no longer able to go home. There was also a basin under the sink in the kitchen, if anything : )).

Basin. A great helper for washing, as well as for people who have gone through it

In the closet there is a free-key chest, an iron, an ironing board and a hair dryer - quite modern, with a "cold" button.

The interior of the cabinet: a free-key chest, a hairdryer, an iron, and a large number of hangers

Hung on the wall was a Samsung flat-screen TV with a fairly large screen (see photos to the north). There was also a conditioner. . .

Conditioner

. . . with a normal remote control, however, it turns off when the entrance or balcony door is open. There was also a kitchen in the room with everything you need (fridge. . .

Refrigerator with free bottle of water

. . . microwave. . .

Microwave

. . . breadbasket. . .

Kitchen

. . . kettle, toaster. . .

Toaster with kettle

. . . electric stove with 2 burners. . .

Hotplate

. . . turk, pots, pans. . .

All sorts of pots, cezve, ice molds, cutlery tray

Frying pan. Can be used for both cooking and self-defense

. . . detergents for dishes with a sponge. . .

Sink with detergent

. . . and kitchen towels, ant repellent, although we didn't see them, as well as all kinds of plates, cups, glasses and cutlery, even beer mugs were present).

Various kitchen utensils

Tableware

Various kitchen utensils

There was a one and a half liter bottle of mineral water in the fridge (see photo to the north), but we were even more pleased with the bottle of red wine left especially for us on the kitchen table with a note that it was a compliment, as well as two glasses and a heaped corkscrew next to it.

A compliment to the guests

On the balcony, which is also quite spacious, there is a table with as many as 4 chairs, so there is room to turn around.

Table on the balcony

There is also a clothes dryer.

Hanger on the balcony

Plumbing in the room is quite modern, serviceable: sink. . .

Washbasin

. . . toilet. . .

Throne for philosophical reflection

. . . a shower cabin separated from the toilet by a glass partition.

Dushkabin

On the other side, there was neither a door nor a curtain, so a puddle constantly formed on the floor, but it quickly left through a special drain in the floor.

NEAREST SUPERMARKET

While my wife was sorting out her suitcases, she asked me to go to the nearest supermarket, located, as it turned out, 100 meters from the rooming house. A good kind of supermarket, I bought everything I needed, only the staff there for some reason likes to anglicize, even though I speak pure Greek with them, which is annoying. There, some saleswoman was talking to a repairman who was fixing a refrigerator, from which I had to take something. The saleswoman asked me in English (well, for the first time she says goodbye), they say, do you need something from the refrigerator? I answered in Greek what I needed, and took it, and she, continuing everything in the same English (this is already annoying, especially since I uttered a rather difficult question for a foreigner, where the expiration date of milk is indicated), decided to start a conversation with me, like where am I from, etc. Hearing that I was from Russia, the repairman also joined her, asking how life is in Russia, how is it there... well, in general, one well-known politician. I answered him in Greek that this very politician... in general, is mainly engaged in personal enrichment.

Then he asked me:

- Well, what politician doesn't steal?

I answered:

– Dead.

Thus, having amused them a lot.

By the way, some of their products were on the verge of expired, which I pointed out to them. The saleswoman answered me, they say, this is milk until the 23rd, and today is just the 23rd, so today you can still drink it, but if you want, then here it is fresher. Of course, I took it fresher, otherwise xs, in what conditions it was stored, what happened to the refrigerator there and how soon they began to repair it, after it turned off, or maybe even covered itself. And their beer pricing is amazing. There are actually not many varieties there: Mythos, Amstel, Alfa, Alfa Weiss, Fix, the rest are less common. Alfa Weiss, by the way, was not in that supermarket, but there were 4 other varieties. at prices ranging from 1.40 to 1.50 per can. Sets of 4 cans were also sold there, however, I did not understand for what... this very thing. In general, on a block of 4 cans it is written that there seems to be some kind of savings. I looked at the price tag of this block - 5.50, while one can of such beer costs 1.40. Those. saving only a dime! A block of another sort, one can of which costs the same 1.40, costs 5.90 in general! It's never profitable at all! Therefore, I took “in bulk” 4 cans of 1.40 each, and for some reason only 3 were struck at the checkout. Well, 3, so 3, do not argue with them because of some trifle. : )

BAR AND POOL AT THE BODYHOUSE

Next to the pool, which I already mentioned, there was also a bar. By the way, the reception was nothing more than Vankin's office, located to the left of the bar (and, to the right of the bar, there was a toilet, and quite a cultured one at that). For starters, we decided to go to this very pool, since we managed to find a couple of free sunbeds with an umbrella. The pool is like a pool, large enough (I swam across it in about 15 seconds, while not being a professional swimmer), sometimes deep, sometimes not very deep. During the break between swims, you can drink beer - draft or bottled - both of which are three times a day. Pleased that the beer is poured into frosted glasses. And having enjoyed swimming in the pool and beer, we decided to continue our entertainment on the beach.

NEARBY BEACH

Beach

The beaches there are very similar to those in Kurut (near the Giovanni Mare bunkhouse). While we were waiting for the room to be prepared for our check-in, Vanya managed to explain to me where the surrounding beaches are. To get to the nearest beach, you need to leave the rooming house, cross the road and go straight (the sea is visible). True, there you will have to go down the stairs, and already longer than in Kurut. If you go down the stairs into the scrap, then after crossing the road you can, instead of going straight, turn left and go down to the beach along the road. And if, he says, go to the left and further, then you can get to another beach - a small one, but, according to him, very beautiful, which, however, we saw only from afar, because we had to go there. In general, we came to the beach by going down the stairs. . .

Beach territory

Stairway leading to the beach

. . . there were sun loungers with umbrellas and a Blue Paradise beach bar. I asked one of the bar staff if sun loungers with umbrellas are paid, and he answered me that they are free for bar customers (as in the same Kurut). Free sunbeds, however, were not so easy to find, but after 20 minutes luck smiled at us. By the way, if all the sunbeds are occupied, it is recommended to sit at the bar, drink water, drink a beer or something stronger, and as soon as some sunbeds are free, quickly take them. After a while, the waiter came up to us and asked what we would order. I ordered a couple of beers (4), as it turned out later, with a capacity of 0.4 liters. Then I saw on the menu that there were three beers in small cans, and I realized that it was more expedient to take it: if 0.4 l costs 4, then in terms of 0.5 it will cost 5 already. If you buy 3 cans at 0.33, then it will be 9 per liter, i. e. 4.5 per 0.5 l.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT NEIGHBOR BARS AND LOUNGES

Going down the stairs, immediately to the right you will see the above-described Blue Paradise beach bar, with free sunbeds for customers. If you go further to the right, then there is another bar with sunbeds, but there is an announcement that free sunbeds are provided only with a minimum order in the bar for a chirp. And if you go left from the stairs, there will also be a bar. This bar has a lot more sunbeds and plenty of free ones, only they are all paid. Moreover, the price depends on the type of sunbed and its location. The closer to the sea, the more expensive. And there are different types of sunbeds - from ordinary sunbeds to four-poster beds, the latter, of course, are more expensive.

DINNER AT BLUE SKY RESTAURANT

There are quite a lot of restaurants in this area, and we decided to go to one of them, which we somehow liked. There we were served by some strange waitress in her 50s. At first, she Anglicized all the time, although I spoke to her in pure Greek. Then I asked if she was Greek at all and if Greek was her native language. She answered yes. I apologized and said that I asked her this question, because people who do not speak Greek often come to Greece to work as waiters (this is especially true for bars where mostly foreigners hang out), and in other countries there are similar situations. Then she began to speak cautiously in Greek, asking almost every word if I understood her, which was somehow a little insulting to hear. And then she generally suffered... into politics (an extremely unpleasant topic for me): she began to say something there about the fact that countries can be at enmity at the political level, but the citizens of these countries should treat each other with respect. I replied that I quite agreed, and asked who there treated her disrespectfully, to which, however, I did not receive an intelligible answer. We didn't go to this restaurant again. And why - I'll tell you to the south.

As for the dinner itself, we took the following: chopped zucchini balls (4). . .

Chipped zucchini balls at the BLUE SKY restaurant

. . . tuna salad (6.50). . .

Tuna salad at BLUE SKY restaurant

. . . leg of lamb (11), potted beef (8.50). . .

Lamb leg and beef in a pot at the BLUE SKY restaurant

. . . wine (4.50 per half litre).

Day 14, Saturday, 08/24/19

WALK TO ARGOSTOLA

After spending quite a lot of time on the beach, we decided to rest in the room until the evening (until it gets a little colder) and go to Argostoli in order to buy a ticket to Athens in advance (or you never know, suddenly then they will stay only for an inconvenient time for us or even at all will not remain, then you will have to change the route). However, when we arrived at the bus stop, we noticed that the next bus would not be coming soon. Walk to the bus station to go only km 2, and some kind of physical education, too, will not hurt. In general, we went on foot. We took bus tickets from Argostoli to Athens on 08/27/19 at 11:00, because the journey was not close: it was also necessary to transfer from the bus to the ferry and back, and the whole thing, as I was told, takes 8 hours. Yes, these tickets cost 42.80 per person. These were not even just tickets, but sets of tickets: one ticket for the Argostoli-Athens bus, which indicated a fixed place, date, time, price 33, and the second one for the Poros-Kellini ferry, indicating the date and time, price 9.80. Then we walked around the city for a bit. . .

Coast in Argostoli

. . . incl. along the bridge connecting one part of the island to another.

Bridge in Argostoli

The bridge in Argostoli illuminated by lanterns

View of the evening city of Argostoli

There, some family of Italians asked us to take a picture of them together, to which we readily agreed. By the way, why not seize the moment by asking them the same? In general, they also did not refuse us. After walking along the bridge and the embankment and admiring the sunset. . .

Sunset in Argostoli

. . . we went to the bus station to go to Lassi, as we did not like any tavern for dinner. Yes, I’ll add something else for lovers of water sports: in the water part fenced off by a bridge, you can ride a water bike. . .

Pedal bikes in Argostoli

. . . catamaran. . .

Catamaran in Argostoli

. . . or even a motorboat.

Motor boat in Argostoli

FOOD AT LASSI

Since meals were not included in our boarding house, we cooked ourselves a simple breakfast: coffee, toast with some cold cuts or cheese, or an omelette. We had lunch on the beaches (we ate some barbecue or a sandwich), if we wanted to, and dined in restaurants. The first time in Lassi we went to the BLUE SKY restaurant (not counting the beach bar), the same trip to that restaurant was, alas, the last one. Why do you think? Because of the weird waitress? But no: we just found one unusual institution - more comfortable, and most importantly - cheap. And because it's unusual, I just feel it's my duty to talk about it in the next section.

TZOGIAS TAVERNA

We noticed this tavern on the first day of our stay in Lassi. We liked it for its interior, made of wood with lattice wooden partitions, in which plants are woven, and the floor is made in the form of large slabs, lying one below the other, so the tavern hall seems to go down to the sea. And although almost every first restaurant in Greece fits this description, it seemed to us somehow very comfortable here. In general, it is better to visit once. This is a family tavern, the hostess with her son serves the clients. The prices on the menu are not the lowest, but you should not pay attention to this, and further south you will see why. In general, we ordered some mushroom appetizer there (3.50). . .

Mushroom snack

. . . lamb in limsock. . .

Lamb in Limsok

. . . and beef in a pot (8.50 each). . .

Beef in a pot

. . . and 3 half-liters of wine at 3.50 each. Using simple arithmetic, we calculate the result and get 31. However, when we asked for the bill, the hostess us announced to us that we owe 23, while not providing any written bill! Okay, we didn't argue. By the way, everything was delicious. As for the language, at first the hostess spoke with us all the time (most likely out of habit), then she began to catch herself and duplicate everything in Greek. : ) This, of course, is commendable, but we were more interested in something else: whether there was a simple mistake in our favor, or whether the reason was some other. Here I want to break the chronology a bit and continue the section with a story about how we got there in the next 2 days. 08/25/19 we ordered an 8-leg (8) there (served some kind of 8-leg appetizer in batter - not the healthiest food, by the way) + separately vegetables, a dish called "stamna" - stewed beef in a pot ( 8.50). . .

8-legs in batter + vegetables, stamna (pot-baked beef)

. . . barnacles (8.50). . .

Gingers

. . . 2 half liters of red wine. . .

Vinishche

. . . and 2 whites - only 14. And again, simple arithmetic gives us 39, but we were told that we owe 27, while also not bringing any bill - neither cash nor handwritten. And then we realized that in this way dealers simply get away from extortions, or maybe they simply lure customers with discounts (or even both factors take place). Okay, let them go. This is their business with the state (especially not ours), so it does not concern us. As for the language, the hostess spoke to me only in Greek, but her son sometimes spoke English.

When we arrived on the third day, we asked if they accepted cards, because We were already running out of cash and we had to save it, to which we received an answer that there were no problems! We ordered a plate of grilled sardines (8). . .

Fried sardines

. . . beef steak (14). . .

Steak

. . . stuffed vegetables (6.50), laurel (which for some reason is firmly rooted in Russian as "sea bass", 9). . .

Lavrak (aka sea bass)

. . . one and a half liter bottle of water (1.5), 2 half-liters of red wine and 1 white wine (for a total of 10.50). And again, according to all the laws of arithmetic, the result is 49.50, but they demanded only 30 from us, which we paid by card. In general, it is profitable. In addition, each time before bringing an order, they bring delicious homemade bread and butter, at the end of the dinner, when visitors ask for a bill, they bring everyone a dessert (homemade cake). By the way, this time both the hostess and her son spoke to us only in Greek: he obeys, you see, his mother. : )

And now, returning to the topic of accounts, I want to talk about one of the features of local laws. And its essence lies in the fact that if you were not given a cash receipt for some product or service, you have every right not to pay for it. In the supermarket, the check was not broken - you take the bag with groceries for thanks. The taxi driver did not issue a check - he gave a lift for free. True, with regard to this particular tavern, I do not think that this is the case when you need to demand a check: a persistent client will most likely be given it, but already for the full amount. And why pay a tax to the state, and even from your own pocket, and at the same time also someone else's?

Well, one more pleasant moment that I want to talk about: a cat or even 2 runs around the restaurant.

Pussy

2 pussies

Pussy

I don't know how, but we love cats and always feed them.

Days 15-16, Sunday-Monday, 25-26.08. 19

These days we just spent on the beach, then walked, fed the cats and went to the TZOGIAS tavern. On the 26th afternoon, I paid Vanko for a rooming house (434 with all requisitions) so that I would not waste time when leaving, and asked him to call a taxi the next morning. I also asked him how much a taxi to the bus station costs, to which he replied that it was 6. And in the evening we sat in the bar of the doss house, drinking beer, cocktails (the latter cost already 6 each), and I told Vanya and other employees various jokes, of which they liked the joke about Socrates the most (like who the killer is; if anyone is interested, I'll tell you). As Vanya later wrote to me via Booking, his wife also really liked this anik. Communicated with other tourists, mostly British, there was also a Pindos who emigrated to England. In general, some kind of cultural program. : ) They also asked the bartender if they have a computer with a normal keyboard in the establishment to register for the flight, since it is inconvenient to do this on the phone. He replied that the office where the computer is located is closed, but he kindly agreed to lend us his tablet. Well, everything is more convenient than a phone.

(See end of Part I about Athens)

Translated automatically from Russian. View original