No fur coat - come on Meteora! :))
About the next off-season lazy walks of the Vorobeychikov family.
Our school has switched to a modular system of education - this is when they study for five weeks, rest for a week, that is, five! vacations for a year, we don’t even count summer holidays. When I announced this historic decision of the school administration to my husband, he answered briefly: “There is no money. ” Then, of course, he realized (and where to go) that you can’t be so categorical: “Good, but not for every vacation” : ))
For the first autumn holidays in October, I really wanted to go to Turkey, but the price tag for the hotels I liked was not at all suitable. Not pleased and the cost of Crete and Rhodes. Either prices have risen, or we have become impoverished... In general, since the soul has already lathered for the trip,
then we decided to go, albeit not to the hot Thessaloniki in Greece, but to a comfortable hotel on an all-inclusive basis and for an inexpensive price. The sea splashes, there are palm trees, they pour champagne, you don’t need to cook food - that’s nice.
We, in general, are lovers of off-season beach holidays - when it is still (or already) warm enough, but already (or still) there are not a lot of tourists. Yes, at this time the set of hotel services is often truncated, but you don’t have to look for a place on the beach, push around in a restaurant, etc. , you don’t have to spend a lot of time and effort on smearing your bodies with a 3-cm layer of non-stick coating, you can get by with one centimeter : )). Yes, and all sorts of cultural and educational outings are more comfortable to make.
A few examples of off-season beach work:
October Turkey "March with children from the village of Tekirova to the ruins the ancient city of Phaselis»
October Island Rhodes « Rhodes interesting things through the eyes of adults and children»
May Island Crete «CRITICAL vacation - unplanned and unplanned. Around Ierapetra with children»
Or here is Turkey in February, and even the beach turned out «Spring ahead of schedule! »
We settled in the hotel Bomo Olympus Grand Resort 4* (more about the life of the hotel in separate review), which is located in Paralia Katerinis (Pieria) at the foot of Mount Olympus. They say the Gods live there, but they don't choose bad places)).
Gods live there
Olympus in the rays of the rising Sun
And the Gods favored us. In spite of the already cool times, we had a good swim and sunbathed. Whether autumn summer,
is it summer autumn. . .
Yes, sometimes the sky frowns, the sea darkens, but this also has its charms. It's beautiful.
But what's good about bad weather in southern countries is that it ends quickly. And again you can bask in the sun
The cool off-season is comfortable for cognitive trips outside the hotel fence. Of course, I planned everything. Even in the depths of my soul, I timidly dreamed of rushing to Kastoria (if someone doesn’t know, they make fur coats there. They say that it’s cheap : ). Just in case, I started pre-processing my husband on the topic that it’s somehow already indecent at this age for a lady to run to parent meetings in a down jacket : )). Our hotel is located somewhat away from the village of Leptokaria. It was not possible to rent a car in advance on the Internet, somehow there was not a single company in Leptokaria that was ready to provide a car for a given period of time. I don’t remember, if there was a rental at the hotel, then at an insane price. We went to the village to look around. Were on the 10th of October - the village died out. Excursion and rental offices are closed, most of the shops too. Tourists met a couple of times, too, like us, crazy from the desert on the streets.
Muscle memory remained from childhood, it would have been something to pull behind the neighbor's fence : )
We went to the station. I clicked on the schedule of electric trains in case we still get together somewhere to broaden our horizons. We didn’t gather : )) I’m sharing with you, maybe it will come in handy.
According to the cashier, the cost per child (we showed on our own) is half of the indicated
In fact, if we didn’t have children with us, we would definitely rush somewhere by train, to Thessaloniki for sure. They are bred with us, I can call them trained educated, but when they are alone, but together, this is already a gang.
Many have probably seen the cartoon about Masha and the Bear, here in the series where they shared everything and quarreled with the panda visiting Mishka - this is about us : ))
In general, there is no car, no fur coat... But I must at least fulfill some of my plans! It was absolutely necessary for me to take a look atMeteora - a monastery complex on the rocks of the same name in the Thessalian mountains. Meteora means soaring in the sky.
This miracle of miracles is located 150 km from our location.
The husband categorically refused to go on a tour by bus. The better and easier for me. We went on an excursion from the tour operator with my daughter (my girlfriend has finally grown up). We left the hotel at 8 am and returned by 4 pm. The one way trip was about 3 hours. Great bus, great guide. Everything went smoothly and not tiring. With organized excursions, there are some nuances, in our case we did not experience a lack of time at all, the guide did not rush us, did not drive us. Yes, there are crowds of tourists, but I think they are still not the same as at the height of the tourist season))
Meteors… If you have the opportunity, you should definitely see it. Already at the foot you understand that something unimaginable awaits you ahead.
View from the bus window
For some, the main thing is visiting monasteries. Monasticism flourished in the 14th-16th centuries, when monks from monasteries devastated by the Turks found refuge here.
Once upon a time, 24 monasteries were scattered over the rocks, not counting individual sketes, at times, monastic farms even quarreled with each other, fought for supremacy and significance. What to do, the power of power and money is not canceled in church life either... At present, only 6 monasteries are functioning. All of them are available for visiting, but on different days of the week and at different times, the cost of visiting is 3 euros per person, children under 12 years old are free.
The network has a lot of information about the history of monasticism on the rocks of Meteora, about the schedule for the availability of monasteries for pilgrims and just curious tourists, but here, for example, at least here .
Of course, it is difficult for us now to imagine that once access to the monasteries was only with the help of ropes.
Bridges and stone steps to the monasteries appeared only in the 20s of the last century. The first roads were laid in 1958. And a new stage in the life of this region began - tourism.
Meteors. . . For some, this is a miracle of nature, another planet.
The secret of the formation of these picturesque rocks definitely cannot be solved until now. The most popular version is that this is the place of the river delta, which once flows into the lake. Those. all these bizarre forms are river sediments, already processed by the sun and wind after the water recedes. Of course, this is not the result of one day, presumably the lake covering the modern Thessalian valley “ran away” through tectonic faults 25-30 million years ago.
Whether it was exactly this way or somehow differently, probably, a simple man in the street is not so interesting. But the fact that the panoramas of this region will not leave anyone indifferent is for sure!
It's breathtaking! A miracle of nature framed by human hands…
It was very important for me how my companion would react to everything. After all, you involuntarily feel responsible, especially when you acted as a leader or something... Yes, my child was with me, but in this case she became not just a daughter with her mother, but a companion on a journey, albeit small. In addition, before that, on trips with children, I shared responsibility with my husband in half, and here he, you know, sits out with his son in hotel, so there is no one to send with endless questions : )).
My daughter was impressed! Until now, at every opportunity, well, for example, when discussing some kind of travel in companies, it sounds: "Do you remember, mother, Meteors... "
Of course I remember…
This is all I need: if you are in those parts and relative reach, do not miss the opportunity to admire the rocks of Meteora. It’s better to spend 2-3 days on this whole thing, but a one-day trip will leave in your memory the most vivid pictures and positive emotions!
Happiness is not in a fur coat : ))
