Hi

Water is fine - it is potable as they say. On the coffee issue - I'm an addict for a strong white. However I found it to be really strong in Greece. I love my fluffy whites (even after 10am - I hope there are no Italians reading this). But I just couldn't drink it there. Is there an Arab connection to the stuff?

Hello,

Keeping with the drinking questions in Greece, I would just like to add that the milk did not taste very good. I tried and tried to like it, but it just tasted awful.

Robbyn

Christine27 - I'm going to Greece for the first time in May, and I have a question about the coffee. In the US, I drink it black (no sugar, no milk, no cream). What is the equivalent in Greece? What do I ask for?
Thanks.
((S))((*))

kamahinaohoku
i presume that you drink 'filtered' coffee black, right?
If so, you won't have a problem because the filtered coffee, they bring it black and if you want, you add sugar or milk by yourself!

Thanks for all the updates--still note quite sure if coffee with milk is regularly offered for breakfast--how about a direct answer on that--is breakfast cafe au lait offered routinely? Thanks!

Take care,
Robyn France

Water - I still say it varies greatly from island to island.
Wine - Greek winemakers emulate every type of wine with reasonable success. Some of it is very good. Only retsina seems to travel. Try retsina with lemonade for a very refreshing drink that lets you into the distinctive taste gently.
Milk - fresh milk is not always available. It tends to be what is known in the UK as UHT or long life. It has a bit of a "cooked" taste.

yuk on the cooked milk--is that what is offered at breakfast? Sounds like a good idea to bring along coffee creamer. Thanks.

Thanks Christine27 - definitely got to have my caffine fix! Now I know what to do.
((S))((*))

Well--now we have some very helpful info here--many thanks to all--just wondering if most hotels offer breakfast coffee with milk, cooked or uncooked but sort of a cafe au lait beverage--any thoughts there--I too love my morning coffees--perhaps a jar of coffee creamer would do the trick. Thanks again--I welcome any additional thoughts.

Take care,
Robyn France

Hi RobynFrance

<just wondering if most hotels offer breakfast coffee with milk>

Yes they do. It's self service so you you have it anyway you like. It's not the milk that bothered me (I'm lactose intolerant so I hate the stuff anyway -it's just coffee whitener to me!). It's the variety of coffee used. It's very strong.

See ya

Robyn: Unless you are going really up-scale, Greek hotels do not served cafe au lait, or lattes, or anything of the kind. You can mix milk into your coffee, but as mentioned it will most likely be UHT milk. You can also order a frappe with gala (milk), which is nescafe shook up into a cold drink and then topped with evaporated milk. I enjoy frappes very much, but it may be an acquired taste. Instead of having our morning coffee in hotels, we tend to buy a newspaper at the closest kiosk, and then find a nice coffee shop where we can sit and drink our coffee and read the paper and watch the people and enjoy the commodious climate. At most coffee shops, at least in Athens, you can get coffee anyway you want: espresso, cappucino, cafe au lait, fredo (like a cold latte -- yum), etc. etc.

On tea, most hotel breakfasts have hot water and tea bags available, as to most coffee shops.

As for wine, whites from Santorini are nice pleasant drinking wines, and go perfect with food and a nice day. More like a sauvignon blanc that a chardonnay. Boutari also has some decent whites that are available country-wide, and then we always ask about excellent local wines and have enjoyed many of them. I don't like retsina and never drink it. Another thing you see greeks doing is pouring coca cola into retsina. Don't like that either.

Eleni--thank you so much--your response offered just what I needed to know! I will ask about local wines--that's what we always do in France and Italy--and I will also look forward to the coffee shops for a relaxing stop.

Many thanks,
Robyn France