Hubby & Wifey's Big Fat Greek Adventure
Dec 3rd, 2005, 10:40 PM
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Hubby & Wifey's Big Fat Greek Adventure
My husband and I, 30-something vegans, took a 2-week vacation to Greece from 9/30 to 10/13. Our visit included Crete, Santorini, and Athens (in that order). We planned this as a "last hurrah" before starting a family. Needless to say, "Baby" should arrive in Summer 2006.
Thanks to all the Fodorites, who helped me pull this thing together.
9/30-10/1: We flew KLM from Phoenix to Detroit to Amsterdam to Athens. Whew! Then we took Olympic from Athens to Chania. They lived up to their bad reputation by running over an hour late, due to staffing issues or something. When we arrived in Chania, we took a taxi to the charming Palazzo di Pietro Hotel, and were warmly welcomed by Christine. She is a very gracious, hard-working, detail-oriented hostess (I think I've met my Greek alter-ego). She gave us a spacious suite, along with the "honeymoon treatment." We had a late dinner at the taverna next door. Johnny, our waiter, spoke good English, and took good care of us.
10/2: We slept in, ate a delicious lunch at Tamam Restaurant, napped, planned a couple of excursions, then had a late dinner at Ela Restaurant. There was a trio playing at Ela, which we really enjoyed. The food was good too. We planned to return to this charming spot.
10/3: We had a string of disappointments this day. We set out at 5:30am to take the bus to Samaria to hike the gorge, only to discover that it was closed (it had rained over the weekend and some rocks had fallen on the trail). Then our bus took off and left us at the gorge entrance! Luckily, we got taxi with 2 Australian girls, who also got stranded. Once we returned to Chania, we wandered around town, bought our ferry tickets to Santorini for Friday (instead of Thursday), which was another disappointment. So, we spent an extra day in Chania and cut our Santorini visit by a day. There were no ferries running on Thursday. Fortunately, both hotels in Crete and Santorini were understanding and accommodating. We returned to Tamam for lunch, and window shopped. We napped into the evening, and met a nice couple from SF on our way to dinner. We had a good veg dinner at Amphora, on the water, which they recommended to us. We were pleasantly surprised. We set up a double date with this couple for the following night.
10/4: We took the 8:30 bus to Kastelli, then taxied to Kisamos Port to take the Gramvousa Island/Balos Lagoon cruise. This was not on my agenda, but our hostess recommended it. It was a nice, relaxing, and scenic day trip overall. The turquoise water was amazing! We took the bus back to Chania in time to meet our SF friends for dinner at Ela. We enjoyed the food, music, and conversation for hours - and they treated us! On the way back to our hotels, we exchanged info, and agreed to keep in touch.
10/5: We took the 8:30am bus to Samaria, since the earlier ones were cancelled, to hike the gorge. We saw several people from Monday's fiasco. Once we arrived, we hit the trail immediately. We hiked the entire thing in 4.5 hours so that we could catch the 3:45pm boat from Agia Roumeli to Chora Sfakion, and take the bus back to Chania relatively early. The path was very rocky, and best hiked in boots. We managed it in running shoes, although Hubby fell twice. The experience and scenery were amazing, and what a great workout! We arrived at Agia Roumeli at 2:45pm, bought our boat tix, and ate at a taverna. We decided not to swim, as other tourists did. The clear blue water did look inviting though. We made the 5:30pm bus to Chania, and were "home" by 7:30pm. I tried to book a Knossos day tour for Thursday, but no luck. We enjoyed dinner and live music at Konaki Restaurant, and relaxed in our room. We were already feeling the effects of our "power hike" through the Samaria Gorge.
10/6: We slept-in, shopped, ate lunch, and hung out in Chania. We visited the Cretan Folklore Museum, which was very simple. Hubby thought it was a joke. We shopped around town and I bought a mask of Venus, 6 "blocks" of Cretan olive oil soap, and some postcards. Hubby bought Greek God figurines for his co-workers that related to their roles within the company. I thought this was clever. We dined at Konaki once again before retiring to our room. We enjoyed our time in Crete, and our stay at the Palazzo di Pietro. However, we looked forward to visiting Santorini.
10/7: We took a 5:30am bus to Iraklion, to catch the Flying Cat to Santorini. We almost got our feelings hurt, and our plans messed up, when we realized that the travel agent printed the wrong date on our tickets! There was no way we weren't going to Santorini - we'd already been inconvenienced once. So, after Hubby plead our case, and Wifey shed some tears in front of the nice officers, we were seated on a bench facing the entire front section of the boat. It was hellish. I was so afraid of getting sick in front of an audience. I prayed, clung to Hubby, and ate gobs of organic peppermints for the 2 hour ride - and I made it! Our taxi was waiting to take us to Esperas Hotel in Oia. The ride was very twisted, and took longer than I thought. A porter carried our suitcase down steep flights of stairs to our studio. The room was small, but comfortable, and full of amenities. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. We trekked down the cliff to Amoudi Beach, and ate lunch at Sunset Taverna, which was great. We walked around town, napped, and missed our first sunset. We did, however, enjoy a great, romantic dinner at Ambrosia. It seemed like our table could tumble into the sea at any moment. An amazing experience, not to be missed.
10/8: We slept-in, ate breakfast at the hotel, and chatted with a couple from TX. We decided to skip the volcano and hot springs excursion, and take it easy. We took the bus to Fira, visited the museum, walked around, ate lunch at Nikolas Taverna, and shared some baklava from a family bakery. We window shopped, and caught the 4pm bus back to Oia. We sat on our patio and watched the Santorini sunset, sipping our complimentary wine, and contemplating dinner at Thomas Grill. We took some incredible pictures at sunset. It was truly romantic! After dinner, we rented a movie from the reception and relaxed in our room by candlelight.
10/9: This was our last day in Oia. We stored our luggage, walked around town, lunched at Thomas Grill, and took some pictures. We returned to Esperas to relax and wait for our taxi to the airport. Once we arrived at the airport, Olympic came through again with an hour delay. We made it to Athens, and took a taxi to Hotel Attalos. We had a tiny but clean room on the 6th floor of this small, friendly hotel close to the Plaka. It was the least charming place of our trip, which I figured, but it was doable. We went out for a late snack at a nearby taverna. Nothing special, but it was food, and I was hungry. We returned to the hotel and booked a 1/2 day tour to Corinth. I looked forward to our time in Athens.
10/10: We visited the town of Corinth, the museum, and the archeological site. As we wandered around, and listened to our guide, I wondered what it would be like to be in the midst of this ancient city when it was teeming with people. The tour went pretty quickly, and ended with a cheesy pit stop at a market place. We returned to Athens at 2pm, and walked around the central market. Amazing! We drooled over all of the fruits, veggies, nuts, and olives. We committed to return to this produce paradise. We walked to the Plaka and had lunch at Eden Vegetarian. We loved it, and vowed to return. We visited the Acropolis for the remainder of the day, then dined at Hermion Restaurant, which was very nice. We decided not to book any more tours, and to just hang out and enjoy Athens. As we retired to our hotel room, I secretly wished that we were staying in a nicer, more romantic place.
10/11: We made the decision to leave Attalos, and upgrade to something more romantic and luxurious. After a few calls, we moved to the Grande Bretagne at 10am. We got a standard room with a terrace facing the Parliament for 2 nights. It was small but well-appointed, comfy, quiet, and romantic. It was worth the splurge to us, and we enjoyed the hell out of that room! We went out to continue our exploration of the Acropolis and Plaka areas. We lunched at a crazy-busy taverna, bought a runner for our hallway at the Loom, took a rest at our hotel, then went to Alexa's Taverna for dinner. There we ran into a couple from our Santorini-Athens flight, and hung out and talked for hours. After dinner, we retreated to our room. Sigh...
10/12: We slept-in, which was heavenly, then ventured out to the central market to buy some fruits and nuts. We returned to our room and enjoyed our treats on the terrace, as we watched a protest in front of Parliament. Later, we toured the hotel, and took a couple of hours to enjoy the facilities. I swam a few laps in the indoor pool, while Hubby worked out. Then we tried the thermal rooms. Heavenly! We had pleasant conversations with a local politician and a writer. It was cool to hear them share what they love about their country. We changed and headed to Eden Vegetarian for our last supper. Afterwards, we picked up a couple of gifts for our friends, then headed back to our room to rest before our early departure.
10/13: We got up super early (3:00am) to go to the airport for our flight out of Athens. We flew to Amsterdam and had a 3 hour layover. Hubby wanted to explore, so I checked my anxiety and obliged him. We took the train from Schipol to Amsterdam City Center, walked around, grabbed some snacks, and admired the interesting architecture along the way. I wished that we had a better sense of direction so that we could visit more sites besides the flower market. Nevertheless, we took pictures, and enjoyed as much as we could in a short time before returning to the airport for our flight. Once again, we stopped in Detroit before heading home to Phoenix. We really enjoyed our trip to Greece, but looked forward to returning home, savoring and sharing our experience, and preparing for parenthood.
Key Learnings:
-With our timeframe, we avoided the huge crowds. However, the weather was a bit cooler than I would have liked for swimming and such.
-Flight-wise, 2 stops was too many. I'd do 1 stop next time, even if I had to pay a bit more.
-Olympic Airlines sucks. Fly Aegean instead.
-Be flexible.
-Greece is vegan-friendly.
-In Athens, a luxurious retreat is worth the splurge, especially if you end your trip here.
-Looking back at our experience, I would have allocated 2 more days to Santorini, and spent 2 luxurious nights in Athens before departing.
-Gathering information from various sources is so helpful in planning a trip; but you should leave room to create your own experience.
-You don't necessarily have to see/do everything on vacation. There's nothing wrong with just hanging out and living like a local.
Thanks so much again for all who helped me plan this memorable trip. I hope that my experience helps others as much as you've helped me.
Wifeybug
Thanks to all the Fodorites, who helped me pull this thing together.
9/30-10/1: We flew KLM from Phoenix to Detroit to Amsterdam to Athens. Whew! Then we took Olympic from Athens to Chania. They lived up to their bad reputation by running over an hour late, due to staffing issues or something. When we arrived in Chania, we took a taxi to the charming Palazzo di Pietro Hotel, and were warmly welcomed by Christine. She is a very gracious, hard-working, detail-oriented hostess (I think I've met my Greek alter-ego). She gave us a spacious suite, along with the "honeymoon treatment." We had a late dinner at the taverna next door. Johnny, our waiter, spoke good English, and took good care of us.
10/2: We slept in, ate a delicious lunch at Tamam Restaurant, napped, planned a couple of excursions, then had a late dinner at Ela Restaurant. There was a trio playing at Ela, which we really enjoyed. The food was good too. We planned to return to this charming spot.
10/3: We had a string of disappointments this day. We set out at 5:30am to take the bus to Samaria to hike the gorge, only to discover that it was closed (it had rained over the weekend and some rocks had fallen on the trail). Then our bus took off and left us at the gorge entrance! Luckily, we got taxi with 2 Australian girls, who also got stranded. Once we returned to Chania, we wandered around town, bought our ferry tickets to Santorini for Friday (instead of Thursday), which was another disappointment. So, we spent an extra day in Chania and cut our Santorini visit by a day. There were no ferries running on Thursday. Fortunately, both hotels in Crete and Santorini were understanding and accommodating. We returned to Tamam for lunch, and window shopped. We napped into the evening, and met a nice couple from SF on our way to dinner. We had a good veg dinner at Amphora, on the water, which they recommended to us. We were pleasantly surprised. We set up a double date with this couple for the following night.
10/4: We took the 8:30 bus to Kastelli, then taxied to Kisamos Port to take the Gramvousa Island/Balos Lagoon cruise. This was not on my agenda, but our hostess recommended it. It was a nice, relaxing, and scenic day trip overall. The turquoise water was amazing! We took the bus back to Chania in time to meet our SF friends for dinner at Ela. We enjoyed the food, music, and conversation for hours - and they treated us! On the way back to our hotels, we exchanged info, and agreed to keep in touch.
10/5: We took the 8:30am bus to Samaria, since the earlier ones were cancelled, to hike the gorge. We saw several people from Monday's fiasco. Once we arrived, we hit the trail immediately. We hiked the entire thing in 4.5 hours so that we could catch the 3:45pm boat from Agia Roumeli to Chora Sfakion, and take the bus back to Chania relatively early. The path was very rocky, and best hiked in boots. We managed it in running shoes, although Hubby fell twice. The experience and scenery were amazing, and what a great workout! We arrived at Agia Roumeli at 2:45pm, bought our boat tix, and ate at a taverna. We decided not to swim, as other tourists did. The clear blue water did look inviting though. We made the 5:30pm bus to Chania, and were "home" by 7:30pm. I tried to book a Knossos day tour for Thursday, but no luck. We enjoyed dinner and live music at Konaki Restaurant, and relaxed in our room. We were already feeling the effects of our "power hike" through the Samaria Gorge.
10/6: We slept-in, shopped, ate lunch, and hung out in Chania. We visited the Cretan Folklore Museum, which was very simple. Hubby thought it was a joke. We shopped around town and I bought a mask of Venus, 6 "blocks" of Cretan olive oil soap, and some postcards. Hubby bought Greek God figurines for his co-workers that related to their roles within the company. I thought this was clever. We dined at Konaki once again before retiring to our room. We enjoyed our time in Crete, and our stay at the Palazzo di Pietro. However, we looked forward to visiting Santorini.
10/7: We took a 5:30am bus to Iraklion, to catch the Flying Cat to Santorini. We almost got our feelings hurt, and our plans messed up, when we realized that the travel agent printed the wrong date on our tickets! There was no way we weren't going to Santorini - we'd already been inconvenienced once. So, after Hubby plead our case, and Wifey shed some tears in front of the nice officers, we were seated on a bench facing the entire front section of the boat. It was hellish. I was so afraid of getting sick in front of an audience. I prayed, clung to Hubby, and ate gobs of organic peppermints for the 2 hour ride - and I made it! Our taxi was waiting to take us to Esperas Hotel in Oia. The ride was very twisted, and took longer than I thought. A porter carried our suitcase down steep flights of stairs to our studio. The room was small, but comfortable, and full of amenities. The staff was incredibly friendly and helpful. We trekked down the cliff to Amoudi Beach, and ate lunch at Sunset Taverna, which was great. We walked around town, napped, and missed our first sunset. We did, however, enjoy a great, romantic dinner at Ambrosia. It seemed like our table could tumble into the sea at any moment. An amazing experience, not to be missed.
10/8: We slept-in, ate breakfast at the hotel, and chatted with a couple from TX. We decided to skip the volcano and hot springs excursion, and take it easy. We took the bus to Fira, visited the museum, walked around, ate lunch at Nikolas Taverna, and shared some baklava from a family bakery. We window shopped, and caught the 4pm bus back to Oia. We sat on our patio and watched the Santorini sunset, sipping our complimentary wine, and contemplating dinner at Thomas Grill. We took some incredible pictures at sunset. It was truly romantic! After dinner, we rented a movie from the reception and relaxed in our room by candlelight.
10/9: This was our last day in Oia. We stored our luggage, walked around town, lunched at Thomas Grill, and took some pictures. We returned to Esperas to relax and wait for our taxi to the airport. Once we arrived at the airport, Olympic came through again with an hour delay. We made it to Athens, and took a taxi to Hotel Attalos. We had a tiny but clean room on the 6th floor of this small, friendly hotel close to the Plaka. It was the least charming place of our trip, which I figured, but it was doable. We went out for a late snack at a nearby taverna. Nothing special, but it was food, and I was hungry. We returned to the hotel and booked a 1/2 day tour to Corinth. I looked forward to our time in Athens.
10/10: We visited the town of Corinth, the museum, and the archeological site. As we wandered around, and listened to our guide, I wondered what it would be like to be in the midst of this ancient city when it was teeming with people. The tour went pretty quickly, and ended with a cheesy pit stop at a market place. We returned to Athens at 2pm, and walked around the central market. Amazing! We drooled over all of the fruits, veggies, nuts, and olives. We committed to return to this produce paradise. We walked to the Plaka and had lunch at Eden Vegetarian. We loved it, and vowed to return. We visited the Acropolis for the remainder of the day, then dined at Hermion Restaurant, which was very nice. We decided not to book any more tours, and to just hang out and enjoy Athens. As we retired to our hotel room, I secretly wished that we were staying in a nicer, more romantic place.
10/11: We made the decision to leave Attalos, and upgrade to something more romantic and luxurious. After a few calls, we moved to the Grande Bretagne at 10am. We got a standard room with a terrace facing the Parliament for 2 nights. It was small but well-appointed, comfy, quiet, and romantic. It was worth the splurge to us, and we enjoyed the hell out of that room! We went out to continue our exploration of the Acropolis and Plaka areas. We lunched at a crazy-busy taverna, bought a runner for our hallway at the Loom, took a rest at our hotel, then went to Alexa's Taverna for dinner. There we ran into a couple from our Santorini-Athens flight, and hung out and talked for hours. After dinner, we retreated to our room. Sigh...
10/12: We slept-in, which was heavenly, then ventured out to the central market to buy some fruits and nuts. We returned to our room and enjoyed our treats on the terrace, as we watched a protest in front of Parliament. Later, we toured the hotel, and took a couple of hours to enjoy the facilities. I swam a few laps in the indoor pool, while Hubby worked out. Then we tried the thermal rooms. Heavenly! We had pleasant conversations with a local politician and a writer. It was cool to hear them share what they love about their country. We changed and headed to Eden Vegetarian for our last supper. Afterwards, we picked up a couple of gifts for our friends, then headed back to our room to rest before our early departure.
10/13: We got up super early (3:00am) to go to the airport for our flight out of Athens. We flew to Amsterdam and had a 3 hour layover. Hubby wanted to explore, so I checked my anxiety and obliged him. We took the train from Schipol to Amsterdam City Center, walked around, grabbed some snacks, and admired the interesting architecture along the way. I wished that we had a better sense of direction so that we could visit more sites besides the flower market. Nevertheless, we took pictures, and enjoyed as much as we could in a short time before returning to the airport for our flight. Once again, we stopped in Detroit before heading home to Phoenix. We really enjoyed our trip to Greece, but looked forward to returning home, savoring and sharing our experience, and preparing for parenthood.
Key Learnings:
-With our timeframe, we avoided the huge crowds. However, the weather was a bit cooler than I would have liked for swimming and such.
-Flight-wise, 2 stops was too many. I'd do 1 stop next time, even if I had to pay a bit more.
-Olympic Airlines sucks. Fly Aegean instead.
-Be flexible.
-Greece is vegan-friendly.
-In Athens, a luxurious retreat is worth the splurge, especially if you end your trip here.
-Looking back at our experience, I would have allocated 2 more days to Santorini, and spent 2 luxurious nights in Athens before departing.
-Gathering information from various sources is so helpful in planning a trip; but you should leave room to create your own experience.
-You don't necessarily have to see/do everything on vacation. There's nothing wrong with just hanging out and living like a local.
Thanks so much again for all who helped me plan this memorable trip. I hope that my experience helps others as much as you've helped me.
Wifeybug
Dec 4th, 2005, 12:53 AM
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Hi
Thanks for the trip report. Brings back memories!! We'll be flying Olympic from Istanbul-Athens-Paros then return to Athens. My knees are knocking from your report on this airline. We did fly Olympic from Santorini to Athens in 2003. 30 minute flight and one hour to collect our bags!
Cheers
Thanks for the trip report. Brings back memories!! We'll be flying Olympic from Istanbul-Athens-Paros then return to Athens. My knees are knocking from your report on this airline. We did fly Olympic from Santorini to Athens in 2003. 30 minute flight and one hour to collect our bags!
Cheers
Dec 4th, 2005, 05:38 AM
#5
Glad you had such a nice trip. That luxurious stay at the Grande Bretagne sounds wonderful too. I stayed at the Attalos with my daughter, though, so we weren't exactly looking for romance. We also enjoyed the restaurant Hermion.
Dec 4th, 2005, 11:57 AM
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worldinabag:
Be afraid... be very afraid. Seriously, there was always something with Olympic. And there was nothing more frustrating than sitting in the terminal waiting to leave, then having to sit back, and watch the Aegean passengers board their flight for an on-time departure without a hitch. Plus, OA makes sure that they give you little to no information as to why they're delayed. It's like a routine for them. The only reason that we flew on this problematic airline is because Aegean had no availability on their flights for the dates and times that we needed.
beanweb24:
The info that you provided in your trip report and other threads really helped me to pull things together. I think that you were the one who gave me heads up about tomato fritters, which we did try. Yum! Thanks much.
Be afraid... be very afraid. Seriously, there was always something with Olympic. And there was nothing more frustrating than sitting in the terminal waiting to leave, then having to sit back, and watch the Aegean passengers board their flight for an on-time departure without a hitch. Plus, OA makes sure that they give you little to no information as to why they're delayed. It's like a routine for them. The only reason that we flew on this problematic airline is because Aegean had no availability on their flights for the dates and times that we needed.
beanweb24:
The info that you provided in your trip report and other threads really helped me to pull things together. I think that you were the one who gave me heads up about tomato fritters, which we did try. Yum! Thanks much.
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