Halkidiki
I’m back from Greece after a fantastic week in the sun! I had my usual utter fear of flying, but with the help of a calming tablet and learning to do Killer Sudoku I made it through the flight and landed in Thessaloniki. Typically, just as the heat wave started in Britain we arrived in Greece to cloudy skies and thundery showers. We were allocated accommodation on arrival and the apartments to which we were allocated were actually really nice, especially considering they were only two stars. It was in the town of Hanioti, about five minutes from the centre, which meant we were in easy reach of all the main restaurants and bars.
The first day in Hanioti we spent at the beach. It was a mixture of sand and pebbles. The sea was incredibly salty and also pretty rough, but neither of us drowned! We also visited the market at New Moudania, which was enjoyable except most of the stalls sold very similar things. Typically, for the_wookie69 and I, we bought food - Greek sausages, biscuits and olives. There was a Greek night at the hotel which we went to filled with fabulous Greek food, although Wookie was distressed that ‘eat as much as you can’ didn’t actually mean that. We were all dragged up to dance and do the traditional Greek Zorbas which was embarrassing as much as it was amusing. Another trip we managed to get in was the sunset cruise which went out into the sea and around Turtle Island. The sunset photographs we took are amazing and hopefully I’ll be able to post some soon when I get a chance to upload them.
Wookie and I also rented a car for three days; it turned out to be a Renault Twingo, one of the most pointless cars I’ve ever had the misfortune to drive. However, having said that the petrol efficiency was impressive as we managed just over 300 kilometres on 15 euros of petrol! We drove around to the peninsula of Sithonia, which was much more traditionally Greek than where we were staying. The beaches were gorgeously sandy and the mountains were beautiful.
All in all it was a fabulous week; we met some interesting people, in particular a couple on their honeymoon who were also from Leicester. The only down note was that the flight back to England was delayed by five hours and there was a fair amount of turbulence on the way back. We eventually landed at 2am, climbing into bed at 4am which due to the time differences felt like 6am to our knackered bodies.
We purchased a scrap book while we were in Greece and collected mementos, receipts and the such, all we need to do now is put it all together!
The first day in Hanioti we spent at the beach. It was a mixture of sand and pebbles. The sea was incredibly salty and also pretty rough, but neither of us drowned! We also visited the market at New Moudania, which was enjoyable except most of the stalls sold very similar things. Typically, for the_wookie69 and I, we bought food - Greek sausages, biscuits and olives. There was a Greek night at the hotel which we went to filled with fabulous Greek food, although Wookie was distressed that ‘eat as much as you can’ didn’t actually mean that. We were all dragged up to dance and do the traditional Greek Zorbas which was embarrassing as much as it was amusing. Another trip we managed to get in was the sunset cruise which went out into the sea and around Turtle Island. The sunset photographs we took are amazing and hopefully I’ll be able to post some soon when I get a chance to upload them.
Wookie and I also rented a car for three days; it turned out to be a Renault Twingo, one of the most pointless cars I’ve ever had the misfortune to drive. However, having said that the petrol efficiency was impressive as we managed just over 300 kilometres on 15 euros of petrol! We drove around to the peninsula of Sithonia, which was much more traditionally Greek than where we were staying. The beaches were gorgeously sandy and the mountains were beautiful.
All in all it was a fabulous week; we met some interesting people, in particular a couple on their honeymoon who were also from Leicester. The only down note was that the flight back to England was delayed by five hours and there was a fair amount of turbulence on the way back. We eventually landed at 2am, climbing into bed at 4am which due to the time differences felt like 6am to our knackered bodies.
We purchased a scrap book while we were in Greece and collected mementos, receipts and the such, all we need to do now is put it all together!