Memories of Greece (Astypalea, Amorgos, Koufonissi, Mykonos, Ikaria, Samos and Chios):
Over four weeks in Greece. Here are our most vivid memories, in no particular order
- the sunsets (and sunrises), particularly in Ikaria and Chios -
- traveling with Bill and Linda, sharing experiences, laughs, and sometimes food
- the dramatic west coast and beaches of Chios
- surprisingly how much we enjoyed Chios
- Prygi - the etched buildings; and the elderly
- the military 'training' on Chios (and military presence on Samos)
- returning to southwest Samos where we camped on a beach 39 years ago
- fresh orange juice
- Mary Mary - our go to restaurant in Ikaria
- Ikaria wines - the best house (Mary Mary), the worst house (Karkinagri) and a nice wine tour (Afianes)
- Scam Cat (and Scam Cat Too too)
- the dramatic west coast of Ikaria
- our lodgings (Kalderimi, Pano Gitonia, Pambelos Lodge, Toxotis Villas, Armonia Bay Hotel and Volissos Holiday Homes) - we chose well
- a number of memorable restaurants -
- lots of windmills (Astypalea, Amorgos, Koufonissi, Mykonos, and Chios)
- the experience of being invited into the kitchen at Anna's Taverna in Nas, just like the old days
- being 'stuck' in Amorgos for a couple of extra days due to the winds cancelling ferry crossings; our 'sleep over'
- returning to Pano Gitonia
- the village of Lefkada (Amorgos)
- Alex
- the beaches of Koufonissi (in particular Pori and Finikas)
- the views of the sea from our rooms -
- swimming nearly every day in beautiful turquoise waters
- returning to Pambelos Lodge
- picturesque Chora in Astypalea
- Anna and the rest of the staff at Kalderimi
- the many travelers and lodging staff we met along the way, including among others
- great breakfasts
- the mushroom risotto at Armira in Koufonissi
- wonderful Greek food - the Greek salads, moussaka, aubergines and village sausages
- did we mention the sunsets?
Expenses (based on average exchange rate 1 euro = $1.52 Cdn):
Here are the costs of the Greece portion of the trip
$ 641 airfare - internal flights only (Athens to Astypalea and Samos to Chios)
$ 360 ferries
$ 4,443 lodging (100 euros or $152 per night)
$ 1,759 food (38 euros or $59 per day - primarily dinner including wine)
$ 1,075 car rental ($894 or $36 per day for the 25 days we had a vehicle) and fuel ($181)
$ 269 miscellaneous ($232) and entrance ($37)
$ 8,547 for 30 days
Reflecting only internal airfare within Greece (Athens to Astypalea and Samos to Chios) the average cost per day (internal Greek flights, ferries, lodging, food, entrances, vehicle and miscellaneous) was $285, our least expensive trip in a long while.
The airfare re this trip is difficult to compare to others in that we took
- a one-way flight from Halifax to Athens (via Montreal) for $1,284 (somewhat expensive) for the both of us,
- a separate flight from Athens to Astypalea - $373 total,
- then another from Samos to Chios - $267 total,
- and finally Aeroplan ($638 plus 115,000 Aeroplan points for two Business class seats) home from Izmir to Halifax (via Istanbul, Vienna and Montreal).
Food and wine, keeping in mind most breakfasts were included in the lodging cost, was less than previous trips to Greece - only 38 euros ($59) per day. This represents a few supplies for a few breakfasts, e.g. coffee, yoghurt, oranges for juice etc. and the cost of dinners, generally including a glass of house wine / retsina each. Note all food costs include tax and tips. As one can no doubt assess from the food photos we ate very well.
Lodging ranged from a low of 75 euros to a high of 155 euros a night. All except Pano Gitonia included breakfast. Here is a list of where we stayed, the amount we paid and the website.
113 euros Kalderimi Villas Astypalea www.kalderimi.gr
75 euros Pano Gitonia Amorgos www.amorgos-panogitonia.gr
80 euros Pambelo Lodge Koufonissi www.pambeloslodge.gr
113 euros Aeolos Hotel Mykonos www.aeolos-hotel.com
104* euros Toxotis Villas Ikaria www.toxotis-ikaria.gr
157 euros Armonia Bay Hotel Samos www.armoniahotels.com
81 euros Volissos Holiday Homes Chios www.volissosholidayhomes.gr
* 10% discount for staying seven nights
It is our practice not to using any booking agency, e.g. Booking.com but rather book online directly with each place we stay, after having contacted them through email. In this way we save the establishment the booking commission and are familiar to the staff when we arrive.
The average lodging cost was again at the low end of elsewhere in Europe, at 100 euros ($152). As previous trips this is exceptional value for the quality of lodging / breakfast we enjoyed.
160 euros - 2017 Spain (Andalucia, Sierra Nevadas and Majorca)
146 euros - 2018 Spain (Pyrenees, Catalonia and Menorca)
146 euros - 2019 Spain (Seville and Andalucia)
140 euros - 2012 Slovenia and Croatia
139 euros - 2014 Portugal/Spain
136 euros - 2013 Spain
129 euros - 2018 Italy (Tuscany and Umbria)
122 euros - 2013 Northern Italy
109 euros - 2014 Corsica/Provence
106 euros - 2016 Sicily
106 euros - 2018 Greece (Dodecanese)
100 euros - 2019 Greece (Cyclades and Dodecanese)
97 euros - 2017 Greece (Cyclades and Peloponnese), and
79 euros - 2015 Greece (Cyclades and Crete).
- vegetable preserves, jams, soups, chicken, duck, and rabbit (Egypt),
- smoked foods (Morocco),
- desserts such as Turkish delight, puddings, soft drinks and Turkish coffee on the Aegean coast (Turkey), and
- liqueurs, beverages, chewing gum, sweets, desserts, breads and cheese (Greece)
Greek Islanders Construct Huge Flag in Defiance of Turkish Overflights
A gigantic Greek flag was installed recently (reported October 17, 2019) on the slopes o a hill overlooking the island of Oinousses in the eastern Aegean, just a stone's throw from the Turkish coast as a sing of defiance against continued provocations by Ankara.
Two Turkish F-16 jets flew over the barren Greek island recently, being intercepted and chased off by Greece's National Defense. Illegal Turkish overflights are almost a daily routine for the few hundred permanent residents of the small Greek island.
It took almost two months of manual labour moving stones to a hill above the island's main town, to lay out the parameters of a giant flag and then to paint the stones in the blue and white colours of the Greek flag.
The large flag, situated on 0.4 acres, can be clearly seen from Chios and the air.
Rather we continued a ways to Limnionas Beach where one can drive down and easily park adjacent to the beach. Although the sun was starting to recede we did go in the water for a short swim. This stretch of coast brought back many fond memories. We then ascended the mountains for the drive across to Karlovassi and then again along the coast to our hotel. Although not that common these days we did encounter a goatherd with his tribe and goat dog. As we crossed over the top of the mountains and descended to Karlovassi the land was dominated by vineyards.
Upon returning we decided to go into the nearby village of Kokkari for dinner. Most of the restaurants are on the beach side, with tables that would provide wonderful views during the day. Unfortunately it was night / dark so there was nothing to see at the restaurant we chose - Samia . This was no doubt the most unhealthy meal of the trip - fried onion rings, fried small spinach pie, fried cheese balls and fried french fries with my lamb souvlaki. So good but so wrong. Not exactly a Michelin * meal. We returned the 3 km to Armonia Bay Hotel and called it a night.