This was my second time to Greece, after 1999 visit to Athens and Samos Island during backpacking around Europe in summer holiday when I was a student.
That time, I had bad memory about Greece, since I got sick, most probably due to food after eating oily fried seafood in Samos Island. I had to be on my hotel bed in Athens for 3 days, with fever, nausea, vomit and diarrhea, not to mention the unbearable hot weather in summer.
This time, part of family trip, was much more enjoyable.
We visited Athens, Santorini, and Zakynthos islands.
I wanted to visit Santorini for long time, after seeing many beautiful views of this island from internet photos and movie scenes.
Though a bit cold, I think winter was the good time to visit due to less crowded.
We stayed in Dana Villas, a cave (carved on the cliff, common in Santorini for earthquake mitigation) hotel in Firostefani, a bit north of the main town, Fira.
The view of caldera sea was nice from the hotel, basically I was happy with the hotel, but our Mom with bad legs complained the access through many stairs.
We rented a car and drove around the island almost everywhere.
We enjoyed also the sunset moment at the famous Oia town, also in a parking lot in Firostefani where the blue dome church was located.
We liked also the restaurant called Pelican Kipos in Fira town.
We allocated only one day for Athens this time, and agreed we should have stayed longer in this town.
We loved the apartment we rented, located wonderfully in front of Hadrian Arch.
From the front window, we could see the Temple of Zeus, and from the back, the Acropolis hill.
It was well furnished with three bedrooms and the owner was nice too.
It was very close to main attraction, and we walked to Acropolis and strolled the pedestrian streets.
We enjoyed the shops and restaurants in the touristic area in Plaka district.
On our last day in Greece, we visited again Athens and with funicular, we climbed Lykavittos hill to see the sunset.
From the hill, we walked down to the center, watched the guard changing in the Parliament at Syntagma Square, had a short stop at the shopping street Ermou, then had a nice dinner at the very popular restaurant Mani Mani.
We visited Zakynthos, only to see the famous Shipwreck Beach.
Zakynthos was popular for tourist during summer for its beaches, but in winter, many places were closed.
We wanted to have a boat trip to the blue caves and the Shipwreck Beach, but there was no boat. The hotel informed somebody could arrange the boat, but it was too expensive for us. We tried to go to St.Nicholas port, but also there was no boat.
We drove to the view point cliff to see the Shipwreck Beach from above and was happy with the view.
Then we drove to a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, as recommended by Lonely Planet.
We were quite shock finding the restaurant was closed, but was informed by a local, an alternative restaurant nearby.
We were happy to dine in the rustic restaurant Ampelostrates, located uniquely in a vineyard. The access was not easy, but many local people dined there.
Zakynthos city center was small with a big square, museum and many shops and restaurants.
I was happy with our decision to dine at Yard of the Taste restaurant in our last night on the island.
That time, I had bad memory about Greece, since I got sick, most probably due to food after eating oily fried seafood in Samos Island. I had to be on my hotel bed in Athens for 3 days, with fever, nausea, vomit and diarrhea, not to mention the unbearable hot weather in summer.
This time, part of family trip, was much more enjoyable.
We visited Athens, Santorini, and Zakynthos islands.
I wanted to visit Santorini for long time, after seeing many beautiful views of this island from internet photos and movie scenes.
Though a bit cold, I think winter was the good time to visit due to less crowded.
We stayed in Dana Villas, a cave (carved on the cliff, common in Santorini for earthquake mitigation) hotel in Firostefani, a bit north of the main town, Fira.
The view of caldera sea was nice from the hotel, basically I was happy with the hotel, but our Mom with bad legs complained the access through many stairs.
We rented a car and drove around the island almost everywhere.
We enjoyed also the sunset moment at the famous Oia town, also in a parking lot in Firostefani where the blue dome church was located.
We liked also the restaurant called Pelican Kipos in Fira town.
We allocated only one day for Athens this time, and agreed we should have stayed longer in this town.
We loved the apartment we rented, located wonderfully in front of Hadrian Arch.
From the front window, we could see the Temple of Zeus, and from the back, the Acropolis hill.
It was well furnished with three bedrooms and the owner was nice too.
It was very close to main attraction, and we walked to Acropolis and strolled the pedestrian streets.
We enjoyed the shops and restaurants in the touristic area in Plaka district.
On our last day in Greece, we visited again Athens and with funicular, we climbed Lykavittos hill to see the sunset.
From the hill, we walked down to the center, watched the guard changing in the Parliament at Syntagma Square, had a short stop at the shopping street Ermou, then had a nice dinner at the very popular restaurant Mani Mani.
We visited Zakynthos, only to see the famous Shipwreck Beach.
Zakynthos was popular for tourist during summer for its beaches, but in winter, many places were closed.
We wanted to have a boat trip to the blue caves and the Shipwreck Beach, but there was no boat. The hotel informed somebody could arrange the boat, but it was too expensive for us. We tried to go to St.Nicholas port, but also there was no boat.
We drove to the view point cliff to see the Shipwreck Beach from above and was happy with the view.
Then we drove to a restaurant in the middle of nowhere, as recommended by Lonely Planet.
We were quite shock finding the restaurant was closed, but was informed by a local, an alternative restaurant nearby.
We were happy to dine in the rustic restaurant Ampelostrates, located uniquely in a vineyard. The access was not easy, but many local people dined there.
Zakynthos city center was small with a big square, museum and many shops and restaurants.
I was happy with our decision to dine at Yard of the Taste restaurant in our last night on the island.
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