My cousin Carine and I are back for new adventures abroad!
As you know, because of the lockdown, not all the trips we had planned for this year could take place. We had planned to visit Dubai in March, Greece in May and Cuba in October-November. We were able to go to Porto in August as you read in my previous article.
Today, I am announcing that our trip to Greece could take place, not in May of course, but for the All Saints' Day period (the last week of the All Saints' Day holidays and the first week of November).
I have been wanting to go to Greece for a very long time, it is on the short list of countries I absolutely want to visit. The countries in question are: Greece, Egypt, Australia and Peru. For the moment, I've been lucky enough to go to Egypt and Australia, so Greece is next and only Peru will be left.
I can assure you, these are not the only countries I want to visit, there are many others, but these four were/are my priority.
We preferred to go to Greece rather than Cuba as originally planned because it was much easier to go to Greece than Cuba at this time of health crisis.
Day 1
Let's get back to business!
On this Sunday, October 25, 2020, my cousin and I are flying to Greece. We have planned to do the Cyclades (Santorini and Mykonos), the Ionian Islands (Corfu) and finally Athens (obligatory passage during a first stay in Greece of course).
To be more precise, here are the dates for each of the cities: Santorini (Sunday 25 to Thursday 29 October), Mykonos (Thursday 29 October to Sunday 1 November), Corfu (Sunday 1 to Tuesday 3 November), Athens (Tuesday 3 to Friday 6 November).
For the first time in our lives, we had no delays on our flight, the plane even took off early, something so rare! However, we left with a low-cost company, Transavia.
We therefore took off before the announced departure time (14:40) from Orly airport.
Little anecdote of the day: the barcode on my boarding pass was not working. I couldn’t scan it when we checked our luggage autonomously.
My cousin’s boarding pass worked perfectly, so a hostess told us to use hers to check my baggage in the hold.
Unfortunately, my boarding pass didn’t work either when I scanned it to board.
So we had to go back and get another pass printed. We asked two super nice and fun hostesses for help and it turns out they’re brothers. They made us laugh by joking that we had to pay 1000€ for them to reprint the pass.
Once the problem was resolved, we were able to board.
Good to know, it is necessary to complete an online PLF form at least 48 hours before your departure to Greece, on which you must provide information about your place of residence and other personal information. This document is checked upon arrival in Hellenic territory
The flight went smoothly apart from the turbulence at the start of the flight and we landed 20 minutes early.
Before collecting our luggage, most of the passengers had a salivary test for the Covid-19.
Once again, there was a problem with the QR code of one of my documents, my PLF, which was scanned without any problems in Paris.
The first agent of the Santorini airport managed to scan it but not the second agent. He had to manually add the information contained in my form to the form that appeared when he scanned the PLF with his scanner. Still, it took him at least 20 minutes before he decided to fill in the fields by hand.
In order to make it easier for us to get to our Abasa Suites hotel located in Fira, the capital of Santorini, we booked a taxi through Booking.com before our departure in order to not to be worried once we arrived in Santorini. The taxi driver was waiting for us outside the airport with a sign with my cousin’s name.
The journey to the hotel took 15 minutes.
The “room” that has been allocated to us is magnificent! It was a family suite consisting of two bedrooms, one of which also had a bathroom.
In reality, it was more of a small apartment than a hotel room because there was also a living room and a second bathroom. We also had a balcony on which we could enjoy the sun by having lunch or sipping a glass of fresh juice.
Having landed a little before 7pm local time (there is a 2h time difference with France in summer and 1h in winter with the time change applied in France), we asked Eleni, the receptionist (a really adorable girl), if it was possible to order food. Thanks to the flyers she provided, we ordered delicious pitas (lamb for me and pork for my cousin), succulent French fries and Greek beer (Mythos beer).
Day 2
The day before, Eleni gave us a sheet to fill out about breakfast served in the room (there is one sheet to fill out per day). On this sheet, we had to indicate when we wanted breakfast to be served, what food we wanted to eat and how much.
After breakfast, we went to the city centre, about 20 minutes walk from our hotel.
The city centre is very charming, full of pretty alleyways with immaculate white buildings and small cobblestones.
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, there were very few tourists, most shops were closed and restaurants were almost empty; It wasn’t to displease us.
The weather was fine today, very pleasant, about twenty degrees (warmer than 20°C in France).
So we strolled around the city and stopped at the Classico Cafe Fira to sip a cocktail: Piña colada for me and Mojito with passion fruit for my cousin.
We had a great view of the sea and the volcano Néa Kaméni, still active.
We then continued walking and then we landed at La Scala to have another drink and enjoy the beautiful sunset.
We finished the evening at Kaliya, a restaurant with a flowery decor, where we ordered as a starter an absolutely delicious tarama and burgers.
The quantities of food in Greek restaurants are impressive!
I asked the waiter to bring us two portions of tarama but he told me that one portion was enough for two people. He was not wrong because the portion of tarama he brought us was, in my opinion, for four people!
We then returned to the hotel where we were surprised to discover on the coffee table of our living room a pitcher of wine; delicate attention from our guests.
At about 11:30 p.m., while we were quietly talking with my cousin, the sound of the TV in the background, the electricity was cut off all at once. Only the night light was functional.
We were afraid because we then heard strange noises in the bathroom.
My cousin even pulled a knife out of the cutlery drawer to protect us!
It was funny, but the situation was pretty scary.
We didn’t even have a 4G network anymore and couldn’t call the hotel reception desk since there was no electricity. So my cousin tried to send a message via WhatsApp to Eleni who had given us her number, but without 4G and WiFi, it was impossible.
The 4G came back a few minutes later and electricity followed.
This happened several times during our stay in Santorini, so it was probably normal.
Day 3
We asked Eleni to order a taxi for us and it arrived 10 minutes later. We paid 30€ for two for the fare which lasted about 10 minutes.
We strolled around Oia, then, around 12 o’clock, we landed at Thalami Restaurant to sip a cocktail.
We then continued our visit to Oia and sent a message to Eleni to order a taxi to go to Pyrgos, another city she had advised us to visit in addition to Oia.
There wasn’t much to see in Pyrgos, especially due to the current situation and the fact that it’s low season.
There we had lunch at Agaze, a restaurant recommended by Eleni. We were the only customers and it was really nice.
The dishes we ordered were delicious!
We ordered Greek mezzé to share (fava (split pea puree thick as polenta), tzatziki, sausage rounds, large pickles, cantal-like cheese, mini Greek salad, fried tomatoes, pita breads, squid).
Eating these mezzé without anything else would have been enough because the quantities were gargantuan.
We ordered one dish each with the mezzé because we thought it was a small starter, but when we saw the mezzé platter coming, my cousin and I looked at each other with big eyes, it was huge! And the dishes that came after were also plentiful (linguine for my cousin and lamb with vine leaves and sautéed potatoes for me).
Everything was divine, but I couldn’t finish it all.
The waiter offered us cakes for dessert.
We again sent a message to Eleni to order a taxi to go to Kamari to see the black sandy beach.
We didn’t stay there very long and ordered another taxi via Eleni to go to the center of Fira where we did some shopping.
We then walked back to the hotel (no dinner for us that evening, the lunch, I mean lunch at 3pm, was enough).
Day 4
For this last full day in Santorini, we took a taxi to visit the ruins of Akrotiri (20 minutes drive).
We were lucky because the entrance was free that day (instead of 12€).
We then strolled to the edge of the Red Beach of Akrotiri.
We had lunch at The Dolphins Tavern where the waiter who took our order didn’t understand anything we asked him to do. We asked him for two lobsters and he brought us two cod. We told him it wasn’t what we ordered and he came back with lobster. The lobster was not seasoned and just served with lemon, no side dish like fries as was the case for cod.
My cousin had grilled sausages as a starter and I had grilled goat cheese. We had a Greek beer straight from the island’s volcano.
This restaurant was clearly a failure but the view we had from the inside of the sea was beautiful.
My cousin and I had dessert red wine and she ordered brownie with red fruit ice cream. The brownie was huge! You’d feel like you’re in the United States with these astronomical amounts of food!
We finished with iced teas (lemon and pomegranate) before returning to the hotel by taxi.
Day 5
Last day in Santorini for us.
After breakfast, we went to the reception desk of the hotel to proceed to check-out. We chatted with Eleni until the arrival of our taxi ordered via Booking.com.
When we arrived at the airport, the baggage check-in was done very quickly and we didn’t have to queue because we arrived early. The airport was almost empty.
We took the plane to make a stopover in Athens (35 minutes flight and 3h30 stopover). We then took the plane back to Mykonos (35 minutes by plane).
We had booked the free shuttle from the hotel (Fresh Boutique Hotel) to the hotel located not far from the airport.
The driver of the shuttle was lovely, he gave us lots of advice and made us laugh a lot. He spoke both French and English to make himself understood.
He dropped us off not far from the hotel because the area in which it is located is pedestrian. He gave us a map of the city and explained how to get to the hotel from the drop-off point.
Mykonos is a real labyrinth, we got lost in the maze of streets and a lady, seeing that we had passed twice in front of her, offered her help (she spoke French).
The lady at the front desk was very nice, she showed us the places to visit as well as the beaches and told us that it is not advisable to take a taxi here because they are very expensive.
Our room was really small, nothing to do with the luxury we had enjoyed in Santorini. We had a bathroom with toilet, a fridge and a small balcony.
We then went out to walk around the city and to eat at Casa di Giorgio.
My cousin had burrata as an appetizer and seafood pasta. I had beef carpaccio and seafood risotto.
Day 6
We went down at 9.35 a.m. to have our breakfast.
We then walked around the city to see the Little Venice of Mykonos, the six Mykonos windmills and the old port.
We had a cocktail at Pelican and booked an excursion to Delos Island for the next day.
Still sitting at Pelican’s, an earthquake occurred. I thought my cousin was moving the table and vice versa.
We walked again and had lunch at Raya’s: bruschettas to share, a huge burger and fries for my cousin and chicken skewers, fries, pitas and tzatziki for me.
We went for a walk and we were sitting on a bench to admire the sunset.
We then went back to the hotel.
We then went out for dinner at Katerina’s, a restaurant where we were able to eat on a balcony above fish and sea urchins with a view of the six mills.
I had a succulent sea urchin risotto (the first time I tried sea urchins) and my cousin had veal spaghetti.
In the evening, on the news, we learned that the earthquake occurred in the Aegean Sea and affected Turkey, Greece, Northern Macedonia and Bulgaria.
Day 7
We took the boat towards the island of Delos (departure at 10 am on the old port).
The journey lasted 30 minutes.
The ticket cost 20€ (we thought the ticket would allow us to visit the island but we had to pay 12€ more).
The island allowed to discover vestiges. There was also a small museum.
The boat left for Mykonos at 13:30.
We had lunch at Vento (delicious pizzas) then we landed at the edge of the water until sundown.
We then had dinner at Kazarma’s.
Day 8
We had a 7:30 stopover in Athens (normally we should have had a 1:30 stopover but when we checked in online the day before we left, I realized that our second flight had changed, we didn’t even get an email to let us know).
We did not have to pick up our luggage in Athens for the next flight to Corfu, they were transferred directly despite the long stopover. We didn’t have to put our luggage in storage.
In order not to waste our day at theAthens' airport while waiting for our flight to Corfu, we took a taxi to visit the Acropolis which was free that day (free on the first Sundays of November until March).
After the Acropolis, we went to lunch at Opos Palia Cafe Food; I had a moussaka and my cousin a sea bream. We also took grilled Greek cheese (talagani) as an entrance.
We then walked around the city for a while before reaching other tourist sites to visit.
We also visited the Agora and Hadrian’s Library also free.
We were able to save 36 euros each (admission to the Acropolis, the Agora and Hadrian’s Library combined).
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| Hadrian's Library |
After Hadrian’s Library, we ordered an Uber for the airport.
The flight lasted an hour to Corfu.
We had ordered a taxi via Booking.com to get to the hotel (8mn drive). The taxi driver told us we were his last clients of the season.
The Lady of Siora Vittoria Boutique Hotel was not particularly friendly and very fearful towards the Covid-19. When I approached her to tell her which clients we were, she asked me to step back and stand behind the small table she had set up 2 metres from her office.
Here too, you had to fill out a form for breakfast just like in Santorini.
After a few moments in the room, we filled out the breakfast form to hand it over to the reception desk on the way down and went to dinner outside at Persona Grata Cafe. I had beef carpaccio as an appetizer and my cousin had a mushroom and cheese appetizer. I then ordered a chicken and shrimp risotto and my cousin ordered a burger.
Day 9
After breakfast we visited the Fortress of Corfu (3€ entrance).
We stopped a bit at Paleo Frourio’s to sip a cocktail and eat an ice cream before leaving the fortress. My cousin ordered a lemon Mojito (yes, apparently it exists) and I ordered a classic Mojito. Quite frankly, they were not terrible and tasted more like water than alcohol; same for the ice cream that seemed to be really cheap ice cream as you can find in some restaurants where desserts are free.
Day 10
Last day in Corfu for us, we did not have time to have our breakfast at the hotel because our flight was in the morning. We had ordered a taxi the day before to drop us off at the airport.
As we went through the scanners to access the boarding lounge, an agent asked my cousin to remove her headband. We found it strange, did he thought she was hiding drugs or something underneath?
Anyway, after that, we went to the boarding lounge and I went to freshen up in the washroom. On my way back, I saw a man peering around the room and staring at my cousin and heading towards her. I got there at the same time as he did next to her. He asked her for her ID card and then another document proving her identity, such as her driver’s licence. He told us that a lot of IDs could be forged and that’s why he asked for her driver’s license. He then left and thanked us.
It was very suspicious because he didn’t ask me to give him anything. Was it because of what happened with the scanner just before? We’ll never get our answer, but we think it was racism; it’s strange, because I’m also black, but the guy didn’t ask me anything.
A few minutes later, a traveller asked my cousin to put her mask on when he could see that she was eating; other passengers were also not wearing their masks because they were drinking. The man stood there waiting for my cousin to put her mask back on, but she pretended he didn’t exist and he ended up sitting further down.
It was definitely not the right day for my cousin. Corfu airport will have left her a painful memory.
After an hour flight we landed in Athens and took a taxi (ordered via Booking.com) to get to Golden City Hotel Athens. The receptionist was not particularly friendly, it seemed that she was disturbed at the slightest request from us. Because of Covid, we had to ask the reception to bring us towels and toilet paper if needed because the rooms would not be made during our stay (it was also the case in Mykonos and Corfu).
Our room was bigger than the one in Mykonos but the bathtub was tiny, it looked like a Playmobil bathtub.
Ah yes, we arrived in Athens at the time of semi-lockdown, that is to say that it was still possible to move freely but the tourist sites, bars and restaurants were closed. In the end, our extended stopover in Athens to get to Corfu served us well because without it we would have gone to Athens without being able to visit the Acropolis.
I close the bracket on this semi-lockdown and come back to the hotel where we were going to spend a few nights. It wasn’t far from the city centre but located in a very bad neighborhood in which there were a lot of drug addicts. My cousin and I thought we had to get back before nightfall after each of our walks because it was too dangerous.
We found a syringe in a park near a tourist site, it sucks anyway!
On that day, therefore, the tourist sites being closed, we walked around the city on the side of the Academy of Athens and the Library of Athens.
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| Academy of Athens |
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| Library of Athens |
After our walk, we went to buy pitas from Achileas and then went back to the hotel.
Day 11
On that day, after breakfast, we walked through the city centre through the Monastiráki market.
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| Monastiráki |
We then went for a walk in the National Garden of Athens.
Day 12
For that last full day in Athens, we walked around the city again.
For lunch, we bought a pizza from Tua Pizza and went to eat it in the shopping area.
Later, we took a small train in the commercial area of Athens which allowed us to tour the city and pass by tourist monuments in 40 minutes.
For the evening meal, we ordered Korean dishes through the Wolt app at Ikura Sushi Bar. Thanks to my instructions, the delivery man placed our order right outside the door of our hotel room.
Day 13
Last day in Athens for us, we left the hotel right after our breakfast.
In the elevator leading us to the reception of the hotel, we met a young French couple who were also returning to Paris and had the same flight as ours. They kindly offered to drop us off at the airport because they had rented a car but we refused because we had already booked a taxi through Booking.com the day before.
The flight to Paris went smoothly and we landed early as the pilot pointed out, which made all the passengers laugh.
During our flight, we flew over the Mont Blanc, which we could see very clearly from the plane.
Additional information and feelings
I found Corfu, Santorini and Mykonos very nice cities. The prettiest of them is Mykonos in my opinion, the streets are very cute and immaculate white just like in Santorini.
I was a little disappointed by Oia, I expected to see many more houses with blue roofs as seen on postcards; however, the city is still pretty.
Strolling through the streets of Santorini and Mykonos in low season is very nice because there were few tourists, very convenient for taking beautiful pictures.
I also found that there was very little to do in Mykonos and Corfu, one day is enough for both cities. I think people who go to Mykonos mostly go to party and go to the beach.
About Athens, I was very disappointed. I don’t think it’s a beautiful city. The historical monuments are very beautiful but that’s it. There are a lot of homeless people on the streets, a lot more than in Paris, it’s unbelievable; not to mention the drug-addicts in some areas. The city is very dirty unlike Mykonos and Santorini.
I found the people much more welcoming on the islands than in the Greek capital.
There are a lot of cats in Greece, there are cats on almost every street corner, especially in Mykonos and Santorini. In Mykonos, bowls are placed on the streets to feed cats.
I have noticed that tolls on motorways in Athens are different from those in France. Prices are not the same depending on the type of vehicle (cheaper for motorcycles and more expensive for trucks, for example).
In restaurants, the portions are very generous so it is better to order a dish or a starter for two. We have been fooled over and over again!
Wearing mask was not really respected on the islands, on the other hand, in Athens, everyone wore it except two or three recalcitrant.
Surprisingly, we did not suffer any delays on any of our flights, although we flew six times on that trip in Greece.
We returned to Paris in time because the Greek Government instituted a total lockdown in Greece on the Saturday after our return.
We hope to be able to go abroad again very soon because we already have a lot of projects, but shh, it’s a secret!
See you soon for new adventures!
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