takemewithu

Reporting live from Nafplio....

I'm writing this report while in Nafplio, the second leg of our journey in Greece. We just completed a 3 night stay in Santorini. I'm just going to mention highlights and casual observations on places we have visited as there's a wealth of very useful information and tips that have been posted on here. If there's also any questions I can ask for anybody on here while I'm here in Greece, I'd be happy to attempt to ask or find out for you.

Santorini:

- I'm very happy with the decision to rent a car for the 3 days we were there. We might have even saved on transfers to and from the airport to our hotel since we picked up and returned the rental from the airport. One way taxi fare would have cost us between 15-20€. I paid a total of $108 for the rental with no surcharge for airport pickup and return. I rented from Kemwel ( they match any competitor's price ) and quite pleased with the condition of the car and their professionalism. We drove to Akrotiri, Kamari, Pyrgos, Oia, Imerovigli and truly enjoyed exploring the backwoods and narrow lanes and some residential neighborhoods.

- Ana, from our hotel suggested a TJMaxx kind of store,as my hubby and I needed to buy
some clothes because we did not arrive in JTR with our luggage. It would be 2 days before we were united with our luggage. Our original Lufthansa flight from the US was cancelled and our luggage did not make it to the flight we were put in. The small clothing store is along the main highway going to the airport, south of Thira, next to a pharmacy. It has 2 Chinese red lanterns hanging outside the store front and I think it's owned by a Chinese family. The store sells most clothing articles, luggage, bags and some accessories. The price is similar to what you would pay at a TJMaxx store and the clientele is mostly locals.

- Akrotiri: we joined a guided tour for 10€ per person. It's hard to imagine ( at least for me ) how anyone can appreciate and enjoy the museum without a guide putting things and the sights into perspective. The tour was an hour long, about 30 minutes of it is lecture. This made the ruins come alive. I can't wait to see some of the original frescos at Athens Natl Museum, the last leg of our tour, We had a great, small group - hubby and I and a another family of four. The guide ended up spending almost an hour and a half with us because some of the good questions asked. It was an engaged and very interested group and I think this motivated our guide to include more details than usual, in her commentary.

- Akrotiri is open until 8 pm. If you're staying in town, might be better to time your visit after the cruise ship visitors have returned to their ship, maybe sometime after 4 pm if you're averse to crowds.

- our best meal was at Mataxi Mas in Exo Genia. The restaurant is out of the way from the tourist trail. You need to take a cab or have a car to get there. Great food, setting and ambience for a very reasonable price. The grilled octopus is very tender. Appetizers, aperitif (raki, similar to ouzo) dessert and liqueur are on the house!

- we also enjoyed Salt & Pepper Seafood Restaurant in the north tip of Thira, it's seems as though it's in Firestofani. It's along the main road after the hustle and bustle of the tourist hub of Thira, the owner's husband buys the fish and seafood at dawn everyday so their seafood is always fresh. And your taste buds can tell. The portions are generous too, so definitely share-able.

- the gyro and souvlaki at Lucky's Is indeed very good. The owner (Lucky) is one great entertainer and will be visiting Houston, TX at the end of the year. He kept us entertained by his wonderful stories about everyday life in Santorini. We talked to him about his construction projects and real estate in Santorini.

- I thought the Oia sunset was a bit overrated. I'm not sure if it's just because of the time of the year or some other factor but I didn't find anything special about the sunset. We perched ourselves in one of the higher spots in Oia, slightly north of the ruined castle. Judging from the size of the crowd that congregated there, I think we picked the right spot.

- our newly discovered favorite dessert: ekmek kataifi (sp?). We've had it almost everyday since we "discovered" it. It's creamy white, with ground pistachio nuts topping on a bed of the string-y, wheat frost like base, then drizzled with honey. great with coffee.

Nafplio leg, next....

travelerjan

Glad you managed to hook up with a guided tour in Akrotiri ... the signage there isn't all that good. I've been a student of Minoan history for years, and even for me, it was confusing to explain to my companions. I agree with your food tips -- and also your assessment of the "oia sunset". This has been over-hyped to the max. I keep repeating, the sun sets all along the west side of that island (and every island!), and many other plces can be enjoyed without standing-rooom only on the Oia rim path.

Looking forward to your Nafplio report... IMHO, the sunsets seen from the Nafplio seafront, while ensconced in the comfort of a cafe cushioned loveseat, are my all-time faves (and I've visited 25 Greek isles. Hope u enjoy them too!

DebitNM

Very timely, arriving Santorini tomorrow.

Makeithappen

We are here in Santorini as well. We are staying at the Apanemo Hotel in Akrotiri. This is an awesome hotel with a breathtaking view of the Caldera. Beds are a bit hard but accommodations and staff are great along with the view so it really make the bed feel less important. We arrived on the 6th and will be leaving on the 10th. So not ready to leave.

Our first night we got a really good sunset at Enelos Restaurant which is less than a five minute drive from the hotel. The food was really good...needless to say we have eaten there more than once. We did the volcano, hot springs and Thira tour one day and just been exploring the rest of the time. We enjoy just sitting on our balcony looking at the view. We have had some nice weather. Last night we drove to Oia and enjoyed the views but to be honest the only addition to the sunset was the beautiful white and blue cave houses...stunning view.

Takemewitu...I will need to find your dessert.

We are flying back to Athens tomorrow and drive to Kastriki for one night and heading to Nafplio afterwards. We started off in Athens for 3 days at the top of our trip and it wasn't bad at all. We accidentally walked up ALL the steps to Lycabettus Hill...thought we were heading in the direction of the trolley that takes you up...interesting walk up but we took the trolley down.

Well back to enjoying Santorini

yipper

Love greece. Thanks for the live reports.

takemewithu

Nafplio:

- staying at the Marianna Hotel for 5 nights. I completely agree with the excellent reviews on Tripadvisor et al. The hotel is full of charm and the Zotos brothers who own and manage the property are such fine hosts, great examples of Greek hospitality. There's sincerity about the way they treat their guests, we felt like we were their house guests. Nothing is too much trouble for them. Ran into quite a few Rick Steves readers at breakfast and on our first day, there were some guests from Rick Steves tour group. We chatted with one friendly couple from this group who wasn't so impressed with the RS tour.

- Nafplio is such an easy place to like. The few "must see"/check in the box attractions, museums etc make for a relaxing, laid back vacation. The whole town itself is the attraction. It's charming, atmospheric and easy to navigate. It feels safe here, parking is easy and we like the laid back vibe. The main square (Syntagma Square ) has the ambience of Rynek Glowny in Krakow. The shops, restaurants and bars are open very late, some are open until midnight.

- we have done a fair amount of shopping, blame it on the shops being open so late. The price of gold jewelry here seems to be quite good compared to what we would pay for something comparable, at least by weight and gold purity, in the US plus the design and workmanship if far better. Bought a few of Byzantine-inspired pieces. I can give the name of the shop if anybody is interested. They seem to have prices that are not inflated for the tourists and we noticed the local ( or maybe Greeks from Athens at least ) clientele who seem to know the shopkeepers quite well from repeat business.

- there was no guided tour in Mycenae. It would have been nice if there was a guided tour we can join (like in Akrotiri), I think we could have better appreciation of the ruins and artifacts if there was a guide, despite the fact that were some brief explanation of the sections in the sight.

- we unfortunately ended up eating lunch in Epidauros. The restaurants that line the road leading to the ancient sight cater more to big bus tour groups. The lunch we had at one of these restaurants was totally unremarkable and ok if you just want to fill up. I would strongly suggest having lunch somewhere else.

- Hydra is a cute town that can be easily explored in about 3-4 hours. We drove to Metochi to take the ferry. Be aware of the ferry schedule if planning to go there via Metochi.

- driving so far has been less daunting than we have previously imagined. The one thing that struck us more is the desolate feeling about driving in the places we have been to, specially the road leading to Metochi. A lot of times, we were the only car in a long stretch of road. We wouldn't want to do this drive when it's already dark as it can be spooky. And another thing, we relied more on the road signs than our Garmin which was quite confused many, many times. Our Garmin was most useful in getting us out of the center of the town to the main highway. But once on the main highway, we relied more on the road signs and a 1:250,000 scale map we bought from one of the many souvenir shops in town.

- another sweet treat we "discovered" is bougatsa. It's firm custard (not too sweet) wrapped in phyllo and lightly dusted with confectioners sugar.

- one more night in Nafplio then on to Delphi...

takemewithu

- proof read my post...misspelled site ( vs sight ) . Just have to correct that one.

chris45ny

Your report is bringing back memories of my 2011 trip. Looking forward to reading more. Thanks for posting.

takemewithu

More on Nafplio:

- we explored the east (New Town) part of town and enjoyed hanging out where we are the only tourists. If you have time, don't miss this part of Nafplio. You can easily reach this on foot. The east side of Singrou, the major street to the east of the Town Hall, is where the new town begins. Lots of pastry shops, cafés, shoe stores, etc. - very local scene. We perched ourselves at a sidewalk table at one of the coffee shops at the eastern tip of the park, a few hundred yards from the National Art Gallery ( yes, Nafplio has a national art gallery ). We had yet another fabulous Greek dessert - Galaktoboureko with our coffee. We chatted up the young lady from the coffee shop until almost closing time at 11 pm and learned more about today's Greece than what we can read in any tour guidebook.

- another find in the New Town is a restaurant that caters to mostly locals, Trendy Grill. It's along the main road leading out to destinations outside Nafplio i.e. Epidauros, Ermione. It's right next to the police station. We had a great meal here of stuffed eggplant, grilled sausage and gyro pita for €7. Very local scene as well. Portions are big, we couldn't finish what we ordered. They have tables overlooking the main road and fun to watch the 3 guys take turns delivering orders in their bike. No helmets too, It's probably not required by law or just not enforced like the parking situation in the center of town. Gotta love the Greeks' friendly, anything goes attitude.

- Fogaro is an art museum with rotating exhibits, located about 200 meters from Trendy Grill on the same side of the street. The building is in a converted tomato canning factory and currently exhibiting bridal gowns by Greek brides over the years. Free to enter the art museum but they collect €2 for the special exhibit. There is also a restaurant inside.

- we visited another cute town today - Poros. It's about an hour by car and the coastal drive is very scenic. Some parts of the route have sharp turns but nothing hair-raising as the roads are well paved and there are very few cars. Have to take a ferry with car from Galatas. The ferry leaves on the half hour and takes less than 10 minutes.

- observed since Santorini : Tha Romans, Venetians, Ottoman might have conquered Greece but It had not given in to Starbucks and McD invasion. Haven't seen a Starbucks, McDonald, Burger King since the day we arrived. Go Greece!!!

HelenG

Thank you for taking the time, while on vacation, to post. We will be staying at Pension Mariana next September and was very happy to read yet another glowing review. I just love Bougatsa...it is my favorite Greek dessert and am looking forward to having it again. Have also added the names of the restaurants to my notes. Have a wonderful time. Greece and its people are beautiful!,

HelenG

Hello again..I hit the submit button too fast. I also read your other post regarding car rentals. Can you share the name of the car rental that you utilized from Athens airport to Nafplio? We will be doing similar road trip next September. Thank you.

HelenG

takemewithu

Helen, We rented from Kemwel, a sister company of Autoeurope and booked online at Kemwel.com. They are a broker and deals with the major car rental companies like Avis, Hertz, Enterprise and matches the competitor's price. They matched the rate I found online with another rental company. Our car was from Enterprise, easy airport pick up and return. Upon arrival at Athens airport, we just walked up to the Enterprise counter and presented our voucher. We were directed to the car lot within walking distance from the arrivals area. Return process is just as simple, the car return lot at the airport is open 24/7.

We are having a great time in Greece. You will love Nafplio.

HelenG

Thank you very much for this information. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

DebitNM

Make dinner reservations for Salt and Pepper, only 13 tables. They were booked full last night, we waited too late to get in.

takemewithu

Delphi:

- it took us about 5 hours to get from Nafplio to Delphi, with a quick coffee stop in Livadia. We drove in the national highway to Elefsina then cut across north to Theba on E 962, then west to Livadia until we reached Delphi. It was an easy drive and there were very few vehicles on the road.

- about 10 minutes before we reached Delphi along the national highway, is the cute ski resort town of Arachova. The shops and restaurants seem to cater to both local and foreign tourists. We stopped here quickly to browse around then on to Delphi.

- our dinner in Delphi was unremarkable, similar to the meal we had in Epidauros. The restaurants
cater mostly to one nighters and are probably not counting on repeat customers so no real incentive to
improve the food preparation.

- 10 minutes into the scenic drive as we left Delphi, I realized I didn't have my purse. We went back to Taverna Gargadua for my purse which I left hanging in my chair. Thank goodness the young gentleman who served our lunch kept my big, red bag which contained my passport, cash and the jewelry purchased in Nafplio. We are truly impressed by the honesty of our server and would quickly generalize that Greeks in general, are honest people. We have observed this in several different occasions.

- another observation is Greeks seem to have sweet tooth. There's a lot of pastry stores, bakeries and ice cream shops that seem to do brisk business. And they surely know how their dessert. So far, we have not had any pastry or cake we didn't like. By now, our list of favorite Greek dessert is getting longer.

-,again, we were cautious with the Garmin directions. It seeks shortest distance ( which is not necessarily the fastest route ) by default so will take the driver to some back roads and unpaved roads. We caught on early with these quirks, so again we were not following its directions blindly. It was more fun following the roads we've travelled on the map purchased earlier, to see the progress we've made. It's also a great way to practice reading Greek alphabet. We are now able to read words written in Greek alphabet, however slow. We sound like first graders learning how to read.

- the archaelogical site is impressive, specially early in the morning before the crowd start arriving. We went at 8:30 am, shortly after the site opened for the day. It's easy to imagine being a pilgrim visiting the temple to consult the oracle for advice on something very important. Gives me the heebie jeebeez.

Next stop, Kalambaka for the Meteora monasteries...

takemewithu

The correct name of the restaurant in Delphi where I left my purse is To Patriko Mas.

travelerjan

Your observation about Greek honesty is widespread ... I do remember, on my first trip, when I mistakenly left a large gift bag on a bench by a restaurant in Heraklion... raced back in panic. The waiter told me, I didn't want to take it inside for fear I wouldn't see you return, but I kept an eye on it all the time, & no one even came near it.

On my first trip, it took me awhile (as a New Yorker) to relax about my possessions. I told a friend in Mykonos (American married to a Greek for decades) & she laughed and said, you have to understand that petty theft is not part of the Greek culture. After 11 trips, I know she's right.
(NOTE: recent years have seen pickpocketing in Athens, but arrest records show it's largely due to organized rings of illegal immigrants there).

takemewithu

Travelerjan, what a heartwarming story. Considering the effects of economic crisis, it's touching to see that the wonderful Greek trait of honesty, hospitality and friendliness remain largely intact. I hope they overcome the economic hurdles soon.

Shout out to Fodorites: put Greece in your immediate list of places to visit! It's beautiful, easy to travel to, relatively cheaper ( imo, the cheapest for goods and services than most Western European countries) specially the Peloponnese and central Greek areas. All the hotels we have stayed in so far cost less than €100/night, nice, warm weather and people and best of all we're able to help them out in our own small way. Whatever small amount of tourism $$$ we have spent here so far, goes a long way in helping out the locals. They appreciate it and show it, they love tourists. It's also a good excuse to do a lot of shopping like I tell the hubby-I'm trying to help the Greek economy because Greeks are such nice people!

mariha2912

Hello takemewithu, is it To Patriko Mas' food that you found unremarkable? In general it is one of the few taverns that locals consider a must! That said, Gargantouas is maybe the most favored tavern of all for locals, but food selection is very limited there, people prefer it in order to enjoy their perfectly grilled lamb chops and a Greek salad and that's it.

HelenG1

Greektraveler2014 - thank you for the suggestion. I will certainly put in my notes. I had to re-register.... due to new computer