Athens – Frankfurt – Croatia

Today we’re travelling again. This time, it’s a mixed journey that started at seven in the morning with a flight to Frankfurt. It’s always a fun thing to do, fly over your destination on the way to somewhere else and then turn around and come back. Lack of direct flights to Split was the cause. We could have gone to Zagreb and taken a train but booked with Expedia and so took the most reasonably priced option including all flights. On the way up to Frankfurt, I had a good view from the window, and it was clear to see that we were heading for a cold climate.

Frankfurt airport wasn’t too bad in terms of transfer time, as we had a good couple of hours to kill. Just as well really because to get from A to B (literally as those were our arrival gate and departure gate areas) took 45 minutes, and yet the gates were directly opposite each other about fifty feet apart. Plenty of distractions along the way, shops, cafes and policemen with guns kept us entertained as we took advantage of the travellators to whisk us along. We stopped for a rest near our departure gate, and I salivated over some typically German sausages in buns. The last time I had one of those was in Berlin in 2007, and I was long overdue a Bratwurst, but I resisted, knowing that we would have lunch on the plane. We did, and an hour or so later landed in Croatia.

It was closed.

Well, it wasn’t, but we had the distinct feeling that we were the first tourist arrivals in Split. The airport is being extended, which bodes well for tourism to Dalmatia, were Split is, and I later found out that tourism is definitely on the increase there. Our taxi driver, Erin (male) who had been booked for us by the hotel, took us and our luggage to his swanky car and whisked us off to as close to the hotel as possible. That trip cost €40.00 which was, frighteningly, cheaper than the online offers I’d seen. It was also easier than taking the bus. We were met at the Riva (the frontage of cafes outside the old palace walls by the sea) by a helpful young chap from our hotel who accompanied us through the underground entrance to the old palace, through the Peristyle and around the corner to our hotel.

This place, the Hotel Murum, is less than half a minute’s walk from the cathedral and city museum, and very handy for everything within the palace. This palace, in case you don’t know, was the summer retirement home of the emperor Diocletian, and over the years has been developed from its Roman origins and now looks more like a walled, medieval city, albeit a small one. We checked in with the young and friendly receptionist (everyone at the hotel was young and friendly, mainly students gaining extra income while studying complicated subjects, or saving to head to the yUK for some reason), and our room was perfect. (See my hotel review on Trip Advisor.) That done, it was still early afternoon, and so an orientation walk was in order.

This is when it felt like we were the first to arrive. The Peristyle (where you gather to hear singing, enter the cathedral and bell tower) was deserted, as was the Riva, just about, and many of the winding, tunnelled, narrow streets of the old town. I’ll call it an old town rather than the palace, so you don’t think we were staying with royalty or anything. It was also cold. There was snow on the surrounding mountains, and we wore our thermals. After a good wander, we stopped for a glass of wine at a Riva café – a bit posh. One of those places where the glasses are big enough for a bottle of wine, and they give you a spit of the stuff somewhere towards the bottom. Very nice it was, mind you, and only €3.40 each, with acceptable modern music played against incongruous videos from MTV.

More walking, and, later, a shower and change of clothes, and a dinner at The Oil Bar, a place that makes its own olive oil and salt, and also sells it. I tucked into pumpkin soup and a dish of Pašticada, a traditional Dalmatian stew. That’s a beef stew from the region of Dalmatia, not a stew made by Cruella Deville. Neil had a bruschetta the size of a submarine, followed by a mass or pork, all with homemade bread and local wine. There was a quiet, warm atmosphere and friendly staff. Dinner for two here cost just under €50.00 including a €17.00 bottle of wine. There was none of that handy half-litre jug business we get here in Greece.

After that, a nightcap and a well-earned sleep. Tomorrow, we’re doing more Split exploration. See you there.

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An Afternoon In Athens

This is day two of our recent trip and, before I go on, perhaps I should explain two things. One, I am posting about our holiday/honeymoon because many friends were generous enough to contribute to our honeymoon (rather than give wedding gifts) and so sent us on it, and we said we would let you know what it was like when we got back. Two, why Paddington? He was given to us when we went to Peru in 2007 and now comes on most holidays with us, for fun. He’s been to Lima, Machu Picchu, Quito, Galapagos, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Belgrade (and all stops in between), and now Athens and Split. He is currently in Athens again, acting as a tour guide to Jenine and the godboys on their holiday.

So, here we are in Athens on a Tuesday afternoon, with hours to kill until our next flight at seven on Wednesday morning. What do you do? Well, we landed just before midday, checked into the hotel and then checked into our flight for the next day. We wanted to see the Acropolis Museum and the easiest way to get there was by train. The entrance to the train station is just over the road from the airport arrivals where a long-ish walkway (with travellator) takes you to the booking hall. Helpful staff and machines see to tickets and route maps, and we had a three-minute wait for our train. The train (overground/underground (Wombling free)) was clean, on time, looked after and comfortable, and we were at Syntagma Square in about 40 minutes.

We decided to walk from there, wanting to have lunch in the Plaka beneath the Acropolis before seeing the museum. So, after a walk following the map, we soon found ourselves slightly off the beaten track and having a decently priced lunch at a street café in Plaka. Thus fortified, it was a short walk to the museum. This is just below the Acropolis and is definitely worth a visit if you have time. We were there for over two hours and could have spent longer. There is a lot to read, see and learn, a café for a coffee break and plenty of places to sit and view and ponder. You also have great views of the city through the glass walls.

Afterwards, we walked back to Syntagma Square for a beer in the last of the afternoon sun before heading back to the hotel on the train. The train cost us €10.00 each, each way, but you can save €2.00 if you buy a return. (There are no trains after 23.35 at night.)

The Acropolis museum is open every day apart from five days per year, stays open late on some nights and stays open until midnight on the August full moon and the European Night of Museums. Click the link, and you can get to the opening hours and tickets page from the museum’s website for all the details. Admission is €5.00 with reduced-price tickets also available in some circumstances.

Back at the airport, we suffered that dire meal I told you about yesterday and then cheered ourselves up with a €22.00 bottle of wine at the airport hotel. (That was the cheapest bottle on the list; it’s a hotel that caters for people with expense accounts, I fancy.) The next day, there was an early start involved but, as our room was ten feet from the baggage drop-off – or so it felt – that was no hassle. Awake, shower, re-pack your rucksack because last night you wanted to find something that was right at the bottom and now the room looks like an explosion in an Oxfam shop, check you’ve not left anything, check-out, cross the road, drop your bags and get on a plane. It’s the convenience you pay for at this hotel, and it is worth it in the end.

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Symi to Athens

To begin the week, I thought I’d start you off on our recent journey to Split, in Croatia. Our trip started with four days in Rhodes. Why? Well, the weather has a lot to do with it. We were flying on the Tuesday morning and had our annual health checks arranged for Monday. These are done through a private insurance scheme, but previously we arranged them ourselves and, as you may know, seeing specialists in Greece doesn’t have to be expensive. (Roughly, €50.00 for a consultation and you can arrange to go at your convenience and not wait for months, if going privately.) The thing was, the weather was forecast to be rough on the Sunday when we intended to travel.

This meant, to be safe we should go earlier, just in case the Dodecanese was cancelled. The latest boat we could take was on Friday, and so we went over on the Blue Star. We stayed at the hotel Angela this time, and it cost us €98.00 for four nights. It’s a decent enough hotel, helpful staff, not much on the walls but everything was clean, and it all worked. There is no breakfast, but there are free coffee and cakes in the morning for guests. It’s also right opposite one of the airport bus stops and so very handy. As it turned out, the weather was bad on the Sunday, and the boat didn’t go so, had we not gone over early, we would have missed our appointments, and probably worried that there might not be a boat on the Monday and so missed our flights.

Our four days of wandering Rhodes wondering what to do were worth it. We ate at Mythos Symi, Stavros’ new place (with the previous owners of Indigo) not far from the Plaza. We had a drink at Koukos, a lunch at the Lebanese restaurant, a drink at the Plaza, toured the old town (again), saw our jeweler about engravings on our wedding rings, but his workshop was still closed so he will do them for free next time we are there, and went for a drink at the Symi café in the old fish market. That’s not every day, you understand, but over the four days.

On the Tuesday, we took the bus from Rhodes to the airport (€2.40, I think it was, and took 35 minutes), checked in, sat in the sun for a while and then flew up to Athens. It’s one of those journeys where you take off, grab a sandwich and a cup of coffee (included, as this was with Aegean Airlines) and the next thing you know, you’re landing. We stayed the night at the Sofitel at a gulping €170.00 for the night but well worth it. Not only is it really handy for a 7.00 a.m. flight, which we had on Wednesday, but it’s rather posh. You have three showers in your bathroom, and a bath, gowns and slippers and lots of interesting things in bottles that Neil daren’t use because of his allergies, coffee and a TV and soundproofing. It’s a bit costly for us to eat there, so we made the mistake of eating at the airport over the road. A bit of cold pizza, a dodgy pasta something and two glasses of wine between us and that’ll be €40.00 thank you very much.

So, from Symi to Athens involves: One boat, possibly up to four nights in a hotel, one bus, one flight and another hotel. Later in this story, which will run for a few days, I will tell you about the boat back from Athens. Overnight on the Blue Star with a la carte dining, Paddington and a dead goat bagpipe from Kalymnos. But for tomorrow, we should be in Athens with some info about the Parthenon Museum and airport to city centre travel.

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Symi Saturday Photos

After two weeks’ holiday and then Easter (Happy Easter from Symi!) it’s time to return to the usual blogging – you know: Chatting about this and that (mainly that rather than the other), with a bit of something else, and usually a lot of weather, and much self-publicity and occasional bits of something interesting; that kind of thing. So, before we launch into the old routine on Monday (assuming I remember to prepare a post on Sunday), here are some photos taken over the last couple of days. These are lazy shots, really, taken from the desk (through the glass), or from the roof, but I wanted to give you an idea of the weather and how pleasant it is at the moment. It’s sunbathing weather actually, not that I’m doing any of that. Don’t want to scare anyone. Anyhow, enjoy the photos, and I’ll expect you here on Monday (don’t be late).

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Farewell to Wendy

Today sees the funeral for Wendy who many people will know from Symi Visitor and her work with Solidarity Symi. The funeral will take place at one o’clock, Greek time, at St George’s church in Pedi, should you wish to take a pause at that time in your time zone wherever you are.

I will be back on Saturday with some of my usual Symi photos and return to my more usual blogging on Monday.

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