Greece - some practicalities
Jun 29th, 2009, 05:16 AM
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Greece - some practicalities
Just some practical tips from a trip in May that I didn't find in the guide books.
Breakfast: If the hotel caters to northern European and American tourists, it may offer a breakfast buffet which is a hearty meal - juice, yogurt, cereals, eggs of some kind and breakfast meat of some kind, cheeses and olives, bread/toast/rolls, butter, and coffee and tea. Otherwise, a bakery is a good bet where you can usually find milk, juice and yogurt, as well as pastries and rolls. Another bakery item that worked well for us at breakfast was a sandwich (pre-made), which at 2.5 € was a good deal, and meant we could skip the pastry route.
We ate exclusively at tavernas – almost all outdoors – so these observations don’t apply to more upscale restaurants. If you like a place, go back and you will get a huge welcome!
Fish: When we saw the prices on the menu for fish, we were horrified – up to 50€ ! But what they are showing is the price per kilo (2.2 pounds). The serving portion will be under half a pound, so you can estimate something closer to 12€ to 15€. Meat is generally served with potatoes, but fish isn’t. So if you want potatoes, you have to order them.
Since the Mediterranean is fished out, lots of items like shrimp, octopus and squid (calamari) are often only available frozen nowadays. Restaurants seem to be required to indicate if it's frozen on the menu. The menu can act as a guide, but especially at small places frequented mostly by Greeks, it’s easier to just ask what’s fresh (fresca) - especially at the seaside tavernas that specialize in fish. Sardines (sardella) and tiny whole fresh anchovies (gavros) were delicious everywhere. At an outdoor type taverna most times you can go look at the tray of fresh fish on ice and pick out what you want and then they cook it.
Salads and greens are ordered for the table to share, so don’t order a salad for each person unless that’s really what you want. Horiatiki, what we know as Greek salad, is more expensive than other salads because it is served with a sizeable portion of feta. Lettuce salads or tomato salads are less. If you want serious greens, ask for “horta” which looks like spinach, but is really whatever green is in season. (Greeks ask what kind of horta are available that day.) Boiled and served with lemon and maybe a touch of olive oil they melt in your mouth and were delicious every where we had them.
Almost everyplace serves bottled water when you ask for water. Tap water is fine, served in a carafe, so learn how to ask for that unless you really want bottled. Retsina, which I fell in love with the first time I was in Greece 30 years ago, generally is no longer available – not the real stuff, anyway. These days, wine making in Greece is done on the same large scale and is just as sophisticated as wine making everywhere else – no need for the small scale local production in kegs which lent the taste of resin.
In May we had no trouble finding hotels without reservations outside of Athens. It’s standard practice for a hotel to show you the room before you agree to take it. If you are over 5’ 11”, check whether the bed is long enough for you. My companion didn’t mind legs dangling over the edge, but many beds have foot boards which make that impossible.
We stayed at hotels charging between 30€ ($50) and 100€ ($140) per night. Every single one had a fridge. Two had hair dryers. Several had kitchenettes. One had a bath tub. The shower configurations were endless! Good luck!
Almost every place (including the private home we visited) asks you not to flush the toilet paper. A little lidded garbage canister is provided. I weighed the idea of not complying and then tried to imagine explaining in Greek that our toilet was stopped up, and decided to do as asked.
Many places have a type of window we’d never seen before. Maybe you can figure it out, but we had to be shown. When the handle is in the down position the window is closed and locked, in the up position it opens fully, in a right angle position the window angles out at the top to open a few inches to let air in and still be locked at the bottom.
I can give high recommendations to two hotels in out of the way places: Hotel Pegasus in Kala Nera on Pilion, an incredibly scenic peninsula near Volos, (fantastic location, clean, excellent value) and Hotel Archontiko Mesohori in Kastraki perched among the monasteries at Meteora (individually designed suites, fantastic location). Check the web.
Plan on using cash for almost all transactions. Credit cards aren't welcome at most local tavernas and even some hotels outside of Athens don’t want cards -- ether debit or credit.
Speaking Greek: I was disgusted to find that the guide books that give you some basic Greek phrases don’t include accent marks. It’s critical to stress the correct syllable in Greek and taking your best guess usually isn’t going to be right. Emphasize the wrong syllable and you may be saying something completely different. In any case, people will almost always correct you, but why not start right?
In Athens and the islands people had no patience with my pidgin Greek, because everybody speaks English well, but outside the major tourist areas, a few words of Greek will get you far – and certainly build a lot of good will. It’s not necessary to speak whole sentences, so edit down the elegant phrases in the phrase books to the few critical words and use a lot of expression in your voice. But even if you are going to speak in English, greet people with kalimEra (good day) or kalispEra (good afternoon/evening) for basic politeness. Waiters and merchants often write numbers down if there is any language confusion which is usually not a problem because a printed receipt comes with everything.
Driving: I kept reading how dangerous it is to drive in Greece and it’s true I would never ever want to spend another minute driving in Athens, where like every big city the craziness intensifies, but driving outside Athens was no problem – with a few caveats.
First, a small car is immensely easier to navigate in crowded streets and narrow roads than a large car. Even though I hadn’t driven a stick shift for 25 years, it turns out that’s it true that you never forget how to handle a clutch. On steep and winding roads being able to control the gear, especially downshifting instead of relying on the brakes was critical.
The first principal is to get out of the way if you are not driving as fast as the guy behind you. Greeks only need a couple of extra inches to pass, so pulling over to the right, even a small amount, givens them space to get by. On the hairpin curves near Meteora I quickly learned how I could pull over on an inside curve for the second it takes a car to pass. (Let them risk falling off the cliff!)
At gas stations, there’s no self-service and everybody, everywhere understood the word “full.” (By the way, did you know that there’s a little arrow on the gas dial of every car that indicates which side of the car the gas tank is on?)
Directions. Get a good map, preferably a large scale map of the region you are in. We had the Michelin map of the whole country and we really needed something that gave us more detail for where we were. Road signs are in roman letters, as well as Greek – sometimes on the same sign, sometimes a few hundred feet beyond. Warning however: The roman version doesn’t always get transliterated the same way as your map. So keep a sharp eye for general pronunciation – and if you can read Greek letters, it’s even better.
Road signs are generally good, until they aren’t. Maybe you’ll have a different experience, but in built up areas we would follow the signs to the next town and get maybe three quarters through town and discover there were no more signs. Now we’re lost. Asking someone on the street was tough. They understand the question, but you get an avalanche of instruction – totally unintelligible. If you stop at a gas station, go inside to the office. Unlike US stations, there is usually a manager type there who speaks some English.
Communication: Some hotels have a PC or two for guests to use (we never had to pay). But, you may have to wait and take your turn with other guests. In one hotel an employee let people use his personal laptop. On Santorini the government tourist offices had state-of- the-art PCs for a small fee (one even had skype!).
Phones: I would never travel in Greece again without a cell phone. My US phone card (calling an 800 number in Greece) worked as promised from the hotel in Athens, but from nowhere else. I still don’t understand the 800 number situation in Greece; the numbers were viewed with enormous suspicion by every Greek. Once a staff member in a hotel let me use her personal cell phone to make a long distance call (no charge) and once a taxi driver let me use his personal cell phone – but both of them refused to dial an 800 number. The manager at another hotel charged me 5€ to make an 800 call. I bought a Greek phone card which turned out to be only for pay phones – which, when you find one, usually had all the wires hanging loose in the breeze. I gave it (unused) to the cab driver on the way to the airport.
Boats and Trains: Ferries leave on time, on the dot (and get off promptly too, or you will end up on the next island.). On the islands you can buy tickets almost everywhere – and in May we could buy them 5 minutes before departure (literally). Peak of the summer, they may get booked. However, I had a heck of a time finding someplace in Athens to buy the tickets, and I didn’t get particularly useful advice at the hotel or from the guidebooks. If you are taking a Blue Star ferry the best bet is their office on Amalias across from the National Garden.
Trains – well, next time I’ll follow the advice in the guidebook which says to buy the tickets a day ahead. The problem wasn’t tickets, it was getting an accurate schedule. I mistakenly trusted the typed out schedule I got from the Athens Government Tourist Office which didn’t match info I got at the station. One of them was right, but I would only have known by actually buying a ticket.
Athens: Given that my companion couldn’t walk for long, a half day tour including the Parthenon seemed like a good way to cover some ground, but the tour bus dropped us at the bottom of the Acropolis climb which is about where we would have started on our own. And we wouldn’t have done it at high noon on our own. (The guidebooks aren’t kidding when they recommend doing the Acropolis early or late. The midday sun reflecting from white marble is brutal and all the tour buses apparently arrive at the same time so, even if you can elbow through the crowds, you are sharing the view with thousands of other tourists. You think I’m exaggerating?)
I succeeded in getting a bus and trolley map from the Government Tourist Office. One tip: Where the map shows the route number, that’s where the stop is. I mistakenly assumed that there would be a stop every other block or so like in New York. No. Stops can be very far apart.
TV and News: There are a lot of American shows on TV with Greek sub-titles, so you can watch Desperate Housewives and some movies in English if it pleases you. The rest of it is endless talk shows in Greek, so bring a book. There are lots of American movies playing in Athens (indoors and outdoors), usually in English. The international Herald Tribune is wonderful … readily available in Athens and other places tourists frequent. Thanks to its listing of events we were able to attend an outstanding outdoor performance of Aida at the Herod Atticus theater on the Acropolis.
Breakfast: If the hotel caters to northern European and American tourists, it may offer a breakfast buffet which is a hearty meal - juice, yogurt, cereals, eggs of some kind and breakfast meat of some kind, cheeses and olives, bread/toast/rolls, butter, and coffee and tea. Otherwise, a bakery is a good bet where you can usually find milk, juice and yogurt, as well as pastries and rolls. Another bakery item that worked well for us at breakfast was a sandwich (pre-made), which at 2.5 € was a good deal, and meant we could skip the pastry route.
We ate exclusively at tavernas – almost all outdoors – so these observations don’t apply to more upscale restaurants. If you like a place, go back and you will get a huge welcome!
Fish: When we saw the prices on the menu for fish, we were horrified – up to 50€ ! But what they are showing is the price per kilo (2.2 pounds). The serving portion will be under half a pound, so you can estimate something closer to 12€ to 15€. Meat is generally served with potatoes, but fish isn’t. So if you want potatoes, you have to order them.
Since the Mediterranean is fished out, lots of items like shrimp, octopus and squid (calamari) are often only available frozen nowadays. Restaurants seem to be required to indicate if it's frozen on the menu. The menu can act as a guide, but especially at small places frequented mostly by Greeks, it’s easier to just ask what’s fresh (fresca) - especially at the seaside tavernas that specialize in fish. Sardines (sardella) and tiny whole fresh anchovies (gavros) were delicious everywhere. At an outdoor type taverna most times you can go look at the tray of fresh fish on ice and pick out what you want and then they cook it.
Salads and greens are ordered for the table to share, so don’t order a salad for each person unless that’s really what you want. Horiatiki, what we know as Greek salad, is more expensive than other salads because it is served with a sizeable portion of feta. Lettuce salads or tomato salads are less. If you want serious greens, ask for “horta” which looks like spinach, but is really whatever green is in season. (Greeks ask what kind of horta are available that day.) Boiled and served with lemon and maybe a touch of olive oil they melt in your mouth and were delicious every where we had them.
Almost everyplace serves bottled water when you ask for water. Tap water is fine, served in a carafe, so learn how to ask for that unless you really want bottled. Retsina, which I fell in love with the first time I was in Greece 30 years ago, generally is no longer available – not the real stuff, anyway. These days, wine making in Greece is done on the same large scale and is just as sophisticated as wine making everywhere else – no need for the small scale local production in kegs which lent the taste of resin.
In May we had no trouble finding hotels without reservations outside of Athens. It’s standard practice for a hotel to show you the room before you agree to take it. If you are over 5’ 11”, check whether the bed is long enough for you. My companion didn’t mind legs dangling over the edge, but many beds have foot boards which make that impossible.
We stayed at hotels charging between 30€ ($50) and 100€ ($140) per night. Every single one had a fridge. Two had hair dryers. Several had kitchenettes. One had a bath tub. The shower configurations were endless! Good luck!
Almost every place (including the private home we visited) asks you not to flush the toilet paper. A little lidded garbage canister is provided. I weighed the idea of not complying and then tried to imagine explaining in Greek that our toilet was stopped up, and decided to do as asked.
Many places have a type of window we’d never seen before. Maybe you can figure it out, but we had to be shown. When the handle is in the down position the window is closed and locked, in the up position it opens fully, in a right angle position the window angles out at the top to open a few inches to let air in and still be locked at the bottom.
I can give high recommendations to two hotels in out of the way places: Hotel Pegasus in Kala Nera on Pilion, an incredibly scenic peninsula near Volos, (fantastic location, clean, excellent value) and Hotel Archontiko Mesohori in Kastraki perched among the monasteries at Meteora (individually designed suites, fantastic location). Check the web.
Plan on using cash for almost all transactions. Credit cards aren't welcome at most local tavernas and even some hotels outside of Athens don’t want cards -- ether debit or credit.
Speaking Greek: I was disgusted to find that the guide books that give you some basic Greek phrases don’t include accent marks. It’s critical to stress the correct syllable in Greek and taking your best guess usually isn’t going to be right. Emphasize the wrong syllable and you may be saying something completely different. In any case, people will almost always correct you, but why not start right?
In Athens and the islands people had no patience with my pidgin Greek, because everybody speaks English well, but outside the major tourist areas, a few words of Greek will get you far – and certainly build a lot of good will. It’s not necessary to speak whole sentences, so edit down the elegant phrases in the phrase books to the few critical words and use a lot of expression in your voice. But even if you are going to speak in English, greet people with kalimEra (good day) or kalispEra (good afternoon/evening) for basic politeness. Waiters and merchants often write numbers down if there is any language confusion which is usually not a problem because a printed receipt comes with everything.
Driving: I kept reading how dangerous it is to drive in Greece and it’s true I would never ever want to spend another minute driving in Athens, where like every big city the craziness intensifies, but driving outside Athens was no problem – with a few caveats.
First, a small car is immensely easier to navigate in crowded streets and narrow roads than a large car. Even though I hadn’t driven a stick shift for 25 years, it turns out that’s it true that you never forget how to handle a clutch. On steep and winding roads being able to control the gear, especially downshifting instead of relying on the brakes was critical.
The first principal is to get out of the way if you are not driving as fast as the guy behind you. Greeks only need a couple of extra inches to pass, so pulling over to the right, even a small amount, givens them space to get by. On the hairpin curves near Meteora I quickly learned how I could pull over on an inside curve for the second it takes a car to pass. (Let them risk falling off the cliff!)
At gas stations, there’s no self-service and everybody, everywhere understood the word “full.” (By the way, did you know that there’s a little arrow on the gas dial of every car that indicates which side of the car the gas tank is on?)
Directions. Get a good map, preferably a large scale map of the region you are in. We had the Michelin map of the whole country and we really needed something that gave us more detail for where we were. Road signs are in roman letters, as well as Greek – sometimes on the same sign, sometimes a few hundred feet beyond. Warning however: The roman version doesn’t always get transliterated the same way as your map. So keep a sharp eye for general pronunciation – and if you can read Greek letters, it’s even better.
Road signs are generally good, until they aren’t. Maybe you’ll have a different experience, but in built up areas we would follow the signs to the next town and get maybe three quarters through town and discover there were no more signs. Now we’re lost. Asking someone on the street was tough. They understand the question, but you get an avalanche of instruction – totally unintelligible. If you stop at a gas station, go inside to the office. Unlike US stations, there is usually a manager type there who speaks some English.
Communication: Some hotels have a PC or two for guests to use (we never had to pay). But, you may have to wait and take your turn with other guests. In one hotel an employee let people use his personal laptop. On Santorini the government tourist offices had state-of- the-art PCs for a small fee (one even had skype!).
Phones: I would never travel in Greece again without a cell phone. My US phone card (calling an 800 number in Greece) worked as promised from the hotel in Athens, but from nowhere else. I still don’t understand the 800 number situation in Greece; the numbers were viewed with enormous suspicion by every Greek. Once a staff member in a hotel let me use her personal cell phone to make a long distance call (no charge) and once a taxi driver let me use his personal cell phone – but both of them refused to dial an 800 number. The manager at another hotel charged me 5€ to make an 800 call. I bought a Greek phone card which turned out to be only for pay phones – which, when you find one, usually had all the wires hanging loose in the breeze. I gave it (unused) to the cab driver on the way to the airport.
Boats and Trains: Ferries leave on time, on the dot (and get off promptly too, or you will end up on the next island.). On the islands you can buy tickets almost everywhere – and in May we could buy them 5 minutes before departure (literally). Peak of the summer, they may get booked. However, I had a heck of a time finding someplace in Athens to buy the tickets, and I didn’t get particularly useful advice at the hotel or from the guidebooks. If you are taking a Blue Star ferry the best bet is their office on Amalias across from the National Garden.
Trains – well, next time I’ll follow the advice in the guidebook which says to buy the tickets a day ahead. The problem wasn’t tickets, it was getting an accurate schedule. I mistakenly trusted the typed out schedule I got from the Athens Government Tourist Office which didn’t match info I got at the station. One of them was right, but I would only have known by actually buying a ticket.
Athens: Given that my companion couldn’t walk for long, a half day tour including the Parthenon seemed like a good way to cover some ground, but the tour bus dropped us at the bottom of the Acropolis climb which is about where we would have started on our own. And we wouldn’t have done it at high noon on our own. (The guidebooks aren’t kidding when they recommend doing the Acropolis early or late. The midday sun reflecting from white marble is brutal and all the tour buses apparently arrive at the same time so, even if you can elbow through the crowds, you are sharing the view with thousands of other tourists. You think I’m exaggerating?)
I succeeded in getting a bus and trolley map from the Government Tourist Office. One tip: Where the map shows the route number, that’s where the stop is. I mistakenly assumed that there would be a stop every other block or so like in New York. No. Stops can be very far apart.
TV and News: There are a lot of American shows on TV with Greek sub-titles, so you can watch Desperate Housewives and some movies in English if it pleases you. The rest of it is endless talk shows in Greek, so bring a book. There are lots of American movies playing in Athens (indoors and outdoors), usually in English. The international Herald Tribune is wonderful … readily available in Athens and other places tourists frequent. Thanks to its listing of events we were able to attend an outstanding outdoor performance of Aida at the Herod Atticus theater on the Acropolis.
Jun 29th, 2009, 07:31 AM
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Astolat, every single tip is superb, the things I keep trying to tell people every single day, on these boards and elsewhere. Some additions to items:
DRIVING - about those signs ... keep alert! It's not like the US, where they know that we all have Attention Deficit, so they notify you of a turn at 1 mile .5 mile, 500yards, etc. In Greece, the notify you at 500 yards, so get ready to turn FAST.
DINING - U are right about the salads... and also about lots of other side dishes. Greeks' side dishes are ALL for sharing with at least 2 people (greeks do Not understand the concept of eating alone.. most Greeks probably NEVER have eaten alone). If you're on your own, for some reason -- or you & your companion find you've ordered too much -- you CAN ask for an unused portion to be packed up "to go", to put in your room fridge for snacking or picnics (i.e., stuffed grape leaves). But some tavernas still don't understand the "to go" concept. That's when the ZipLoc baggie is so handy!!. I discovered this on the evening I ordered a side dish of olives (a bargain at 2€) and received 38 olives, count 'em. Thanks to Ziploc, I had olives for picnics for DAYS.
FERRY TICKETS -- You can buy them at any travel agency without over-paying; the price is government controlled. Another nice thing -- if you are torn about getting a cup of coffee at the dock, or on board, wait til boarding. Coffee is price-controlled on ferries and markedly lower than at dockside cafes.
DRIVING - about those signs ... keep alert! It's not like the US, where they know that we all have Attention Deficit, so they notify you of a turn at 1 mile .5 mile, 500yards, etc. In Greece, the notify you at 500 yards, so get ready to turn FAST.
DINING - U are right about the salads... and also about lots of other side dishes. Greeks' side dishes are ALL for sharing with at least 2 people (greeks do Not understand the concept of eating alone.. most Greeks probably NEVER have eaten alone). If you're on your own, for some reason -- or you & your companion find you've ordered too much -- you CAN ask for an unused portion to be packed up "to go", to put in your room fridge for snacking or picnics (i.e., stuffed grape leaves). But some tavernas still don't understand the "to go" concept. That's when the ZipLoc baggie is so handy!!. I discovered this on the evening I ordered a side dish of olives (a bargain at 2€) and received 38 olives, count 'em. Thanks to Ziploc, I had olives for picnics for DAYS.
FERRY TICKETS -- You can buy them at any travel agency without over-paying; the price is government controlled. Another nice thing -- if you are torn about getting a cup of coffee at the dock, or on board, wait til boarding. Coffee is price-controlled on ferries and markedly lower than at dockside cafes.
Jun 30th, 2009, 08:30 AM
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"... We had the Michelin map of the whole country and we really needed something that gave us more detail for where we were... "
Try the "Road Editions" maps next time. Published in Greece, but the maps are bilingual (english & greek). The maps can also be mail-ordered ahead of time.
http://www.road.gr/road_en/index/default.htm
Try the "Road Editions" maps next time. Published in Greece, but the maps are bilingual (english & greek). The maps can also be mail-ordered ahead of time.
http://www.road.gr/road_en/index/default.htm
Jul 2nd, 2009, 05:50 AM
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astolat11- great infomation! I will print your advice and take it with us. Jan what are travel agencies called in Greek? How about tap water?
I agree --- I tell everyone I know about these forums! I could not travel without them! I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to add to our body of knowledge!
I agree --- I tell everyone I know about these forums! I could not travel without them! I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to add to our body of knowledge!
Jul 2nd, 2009, 08:27 AM
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They have signs outside in English & Greek and posters that say FERRIES FLIGHTS etc. If you want to buy tickets immediately upon arrival there are 2 agencies at the airport, Amphitryon and Pacific Travel, open 24/7.
Tap water?? All of it is 'safe' but some may disagree with you. There are some islands such as Santorini where tap water comes from desalinization plants; you use bottled water there. In my 8 extended trips, I've found a good rule of thumb; Buy or bring a small .5 liter bottle to the new destination. At your hotel, sample the tap water. If it tastes OK, chiill some in your room fridge (all rooms have mini-fridges) and refill your bottle from that. If you don't fancy the taste, buy one of those big 2-liter bottles for your fridge and use it for the refills; MUCH more economical. On islands where the taste-test is OK, then at dinner tell the water, a carafe of water please, NOT a bottle. They'll try to push bottles.
In a number of islands, I've seen waiters and residents filling bottles at some wayside faucets that come from springs. Hey, if they do it, let's do it. With the above practice I have NEVER had a stomach upset.
Lyn, btw, we love to give the tips that are NOT in guide books -- but PLEASE don't try to do all your research on forums. Too many people (I'm sure not you!) come here asking, how do I get from Athens to Santorini by ferry? When all they ave to do is Google "Greek Ferry Sites" and they can see the full schedules ... but many will not take the trouble. Also, despite thewealth of info on the Internet (there's TOO much!!) A good guidebook helps one to focus. I alway advise going to Barnes & Noble, browsing thru all the guides & finding the one(s) that work best for you. I also advocate borrowing from a Library and photocopying relevant pages. Even if the guidebook is outdated on hotel & meal prices, the landmarks and major highllights of an island or mainland destination do not change.
Tap water?? All of it is 'safe' but some may disagree with you. There are some islands such as Santorini where tap water comes from desalinization plants; you use bottled water there. In my 8 extended trips, I've found a good rule of thumb; Buy or bring a small .5 liter bottle to the new destination. At your hotel, sample the tap water. If it tastes OK, chiill some in your room fridge (all rooms have mini-fridges) and refill your bottle from that. If you don't fancy the taste, buy one of those big 2-liter bottles for your fridge and use it for the refills; MUCH more economical. On islands where the taste-test is OK, then at dinner tell the water, a carafe of water please, NOT a bottle. They'll try to push bottles.
In a number of islands, I've seen waiters and residents filling bottles at some wayside faucets that come from springs. Hey, if they do it, let's do it. With the above practice I have NEVER had a stomach upset.
Lyn, btw, we love to give the tips that are NOT in guide books -- but PLEASE don't try to do all your research on forums. Too many people (I'm sure not you!) come here asking, how do I get from Athens to Santorini by ferry? When all they ave to do is Google "Greek Ferry Sites" and they can see the full schedules ... but many will not take the trouble. Also, despite thewealth of info on the Internet (there's TOO much!!) A good guidebook helps one to focus. I alway advise going to Barnes & Noble, browsing thru all the guides & finding the one(s) that work best for you. I also advocate borrowing from a Library and photocopying relevant pages. Even if the guidebook is outdated on hotel & meal prices, the landmarks and major highllights of an island or mainland destination do not change.
Jul 7th, 2009, 10:46 AM
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I have never had frozen octopus or squid in Greece. They are both readily available. The baby shrimp from Symi and served in Rhodos are local and delicious. I think it depends on the restaurant, but certainly you can get fresh, tasty seafood. The lobster, langoustines and some fresh fish are very expensive as the Mediterranean is overfished. Always ask the cost of any seafood where the price is not indicated on the menu to avoid any shock to the system.
Jul 7th, 2009, 11:38 AM
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Bottled water is so cheap in Greece, there's no reason to bother with tap water. A 1.5L bottle (they don't come in 2-liter bottles) costs from €0.60 in supermarkets, a little more on expensive islands like Mykonos and Santorini. For a real bargain, buy a six-pack of 1.5L bottles for around €2.40. 
Jul 9th, 2009, 01:12 PM
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Thank you for all of the good advice! Love the idea of taking a picnic dinner up to the Acropolis. We will be traveling in Greece in mid to late September. My daughter and others reserved and purchased their ferry tickets before they left home but it sounds like we can buy them from a travel agent in Athens. Correct? Do we need to make a reservation to visit the new Archaeological Museum before we leave home?
Jul 9th, 2009, 02:25 PM
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There are lots of empty seats on the ferries in the last half of September, so you will have no problem waiting until you get to Athens. You can even buy them at the airport from Pacific Travel or Amphitrion Holidays. Both are located at the Arrivals level near the exit to buses and taxis.
Aug 10th, 2009, 10:23 PM
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as for asking water in restaurants in Athens and Santorini...do we have to tell the waiter we want tap water specifically? How much are bottled water at restaurants? Is it safe to drink tap water at restaurants in Athens and Oia?
Aug 11th, 2009, 02:31 AM
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While tap water in Greece generally meets EU standards, high mineral/salinity content in some locations affects the taste. Why spoil a good meal with dodgy tap water? Most people drink mineral water, and it is very cheap. A 1.5L bottle of mineral water will cost about €0.75 in supermarkets, and €2-3 in tavernas. As with wine, prices may be higher in expensive restaurants.
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Marinos2006
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Nov 19th, 2016 05:40 AM
chuck
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Sep 22nd, 2002 08:58 AM
