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Post by Baz Faz on Mar 28, 2023 23:24:25 GMT 2
We have been thwarted in trying to visit Greece for the past few years. Either problems with my foot or Covid have upset our plans. Now we are daring to think we can make it soon. We can't go in June because we shall be dogsitting so it is going to be in the second half of May.
We fly to Athens then do what we have done several times in the past. We go to the port of Rafina, spend the night there, going to the taverna on the port that we always go to because it has the most Greeks eating there. Next morning we take a ferry to Tinos (we stayed there 3 years ago and we can have lunch there) then catch another ferry to Syros. We haven't been there before. It is not well known to foreign tourists (no international flights, just one flight a day to Athens) but it is the administrative capital of the Cyclades so it doesn't close down in winter.
We'll be 3 nights in the main town then 5 days at a small coastal village. There are no big hotels. We are renting a small house right by the beach. The sea won't have properly warmed up but there are nice walks to take and tavernas which have good reputations. Then it will be taking the daily flight back to Athens.
Something to look forward to.
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Post by shrjeff on Mar 29, 2023 5:15:42 GMT 2
sunday we are flying to heathrow and then continuing on monday to fly to haneda, arriving on tuesday, from which we will fly to osaka where we shall meet up with jeff's cousin and husband and transfer to our hotel in kyoto... it will be a bit of effort as wendy will be in a leg brace with crutches and a wheelchair. like the bazes, we are back to traveling in spite of the limitations...
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 29, 2023 9:22:07 GMT 2
very best wishes to both the Fazes and Jeff and Wendy. With all my love.
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Post by Baz Faz on May 15, 2023 18:12:23 GMT 2
Suddenly the day of our departure for Greece (Friday) is very close. We are flying Aegean Airlines. This is a first for us but the flight departs from Bristol, our local airport.
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Post by auntieannie on May 17, 2023 22:25:58 GMT 2
safe flights! much love!
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Post by Voy on May 18, 2023 0:20:30 GMT 2
And we look forward to your travelogues and Mrs Faz;s pics - have fun !
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Post by sophie on May 18, 2023 5:09:07 GMT 2
Safe travels!
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Post by Netsuke on May 18, 2023 11:40:26 GMT 2
Suddenly the day of our departure for Greece (Friday) is very close. We are flying Aegean Airlines. This is a first for us but the flight departs from Bristol, our local airport. Oh lovely, have the most wonderful time there Baz and Mrs Faz. All images I’ve seen of Greece look superb. Did you ever watch “Shirley Valentine” ? A heartwarming tale of an English woman who goes to Greece and finds herself. And Costas of course. (Boat is boat) |
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Post by Baz Faz on May 18, 2023 13:14:29 GMT 2
Suddenly the day of our departure for Greece (Friday) is very close. We are flying Aegean Airlines. This is a first for us but the flight departs from Bristol, our local airport. Oh lovely, have the most wonderful time there Baz and Mrs Faz. All images I’ve seen of Greece look superb. Did you ever watch “Shirley Valentine” ? A heartwarming tale of an English woman who goes to Greece and finds herself. And Costas of course. (Boat is boat) Strangely enough we met a woman in Greece who had thrown her life in England away and come to Greece. She seemed to be living with 2 waiters. She told me she couldn't understand why people referred to her as Shirley Valentine. Now I am battling with ferry tickets. On Saturday morning we are taking the ferry from Rafina (closest port to Athens airport) to Tinos. No problem with that. We have 4 hours in Tinos so we can have lunch. Then we use a different ferry company to go from Tinos to Syros. These tickets are already bought but we have to check in on line first. This can only be done during the 48 hours before departure. Bureaucracy. You used to just buy a ticket and wander up the gang plank (I have done this once eating a lobster because the ferry had arrived early). So I have been doing this or trying to do this. But I found the ferry company had sent 2 reservation numbers and 2 access codes. I used the wrong ones first. More bureaucracy. Then I used the correct ones and got a message I could only check in 48 hours before the sailing time which in 15.00. I assume they mean Greek time so I must wait until 13.00 UK summer time. Why do they make it so difficult? Don't they want people on their boats? I remember the American airline called People Express. I bought tickets for London-Newark-London in the normal way. On the return leg I was astonished to see someone board just before the doors closed. A stewardess came round checking tickets and he had none. He got out his credit card and paid right there after take-off. |
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Post by Baz Faz on May 30, 2023 10:57:04 GMT 2
Safely home and nothing went wrong. Two flights had their points of interest. We flew from Bristol to Athens. A man came on board with a cat in a basket. The basket just fitted under the seat in front of its owner. So the cat didn't have its own seat but it still cost £65 for its flight. The cat never miaowed once. The man was going to work for 6 months on the island of Kos so thought he would take his cat with him.
Thw second point of interest was the flight from Syros to Athens on Sunday. It had taken us 2 ferries to reach the island so we thought we would fly back to Athens. Syros is the administrative capital for the Cyclades but its airport is small, so small that it cannot take jets. Hence it has escaped the mass tourism that has overwhelmed other Greek islands. Sky Express is the only airline that flies the Athens-Syros route. It has one flight a day - and not even every day of the week. The flight took 25 minutes and it was not a jet. When was the last time you took a commercial flight in a plane with propellers?
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Post by Netsuke on Jun 5, 2023 9:40:08 GMT 2
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 5, 2023 11:36:44 GMT 2
Last month when we were on the island of Syros we ate at a taverna which as the evening wore on developed into a rebetika performance complete with bouzouki. You would have loved it. |
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Post by Netsuke on Jun 5, 2023 12:42:17 GMT 2
Ah sounds wonderful Baz. The closest I’ve been to a Greek dream was Moussaka at a traditional Greek Restaurant, the owner - your typical Greek - asked would I like some ouzo, his own, not for sale he makes his own, very high alcohol content, I said yes and the rest as they say was history! If I’d been wearing panty hose, that ouzo would have blown a hole right through them and ripped them off sky high! It was strong, let me repeat, strong stuff. I was almost cross eyed. I felt like I could have taken on the whole world and won! The glass was a decent size, none of your piddling little ones!
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 5, 2023 18:21:15 GMT 2
Netsie, was the drink clear or cloudy?
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 5, 2023 18:37:46 GMT 2
Netsie, was the drink clear or cloudy? I think ouzo (like Frech aniseed drinks) is clear when you pour it but goes cloudy when you add water. There is a story of an American professor visiting Athens and delivering a lecture. By the lectern there was a table with a carafe of water and a glass already full. When the glass was half empty he topped it up from the carafe and it turned cloudy. The students applauded. |
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 5, 2023 18:50:53 GMT 2
yes, Baz... that's why I was asking Netsie, because I know people who drink "ouzo sketo" (no water) and it is clear, and I've been served ouzo with water on the side, to be added to taste. It is a bit entertaining to see the drink getting milky as one pours water into it.
I enjoyed an ouzo to sip slowly early evening as one whiles the hours away.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 5, 2023 19:11:39 GMT 2
Years ago I lived for 6 months on the island of Skoplos. We would go down to a waterfront café for an ouzo. It was a small glass, neat, with a tumbler of water on the side and a saucer with some grilled octopus. It cost the equivalent of a couple of pennies.
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 5, 2023 19:35:55 GMT 2
did you add the water to your small glass?
edited to add: oh, and grilled octopus... poof! I'm on a greek island!
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 5, 2023 22:57:43 GMT 2
did you add the water to your small glass? There was no room in the small glass for water. We drank it neat. |
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Post by Netsuke on Jun 6, 2023 0:24:42 GMT 2
The ouzo was clear. No water.
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 6, 2023 9:06:50 GMT 2
hmm... I can understand why you got spiffy with a large glass of neat ouzo, netsie.
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Post by OnlyMark on Jun 6, 2023 18:27:12 GMT 2
Squiffy, Annie.
Spiffy is something else.
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 6, 2023 20:47:23 GMT 2
oops! yes, of course. She got squiffy... and maybe wearing a spiffy outfit?
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