I have to be honest and say that I didn't think much of the suggestion to go to Greece in September, because Greece was a second Croatia for me. But during the trip, I drastically changed my opinion about this country. And quite positively.
Paralia Skotinas beach near Leptokarya
Katya and Zanet made this event happen, when Katya found cheap tickets from Bratislava and Zanet convinced me to go there. Later Katya's sister Zuzka joined us and at the last minute Patrik did too. We had almost the same line-up as last year for Albania. Since it was a 10 am flight from Bratislava, we had to take the night train from Prague. It was in an ideal time position, so we had time to spare. Since we had scouted out places in Greece that were practically impossible to get to by public transport, we had to rent a car in Thessaloniki. Then we had to arrange some accommodation and we were ready to go.
The train leaves Prague at 10:30 in the evening, so we decide to take the bus from Mlada Boleslav at 8:00 in the morning with a reserve for possible complications. Katya and Patrik are taking a later bus, so we wait for them at the Burger King at the main station. Ten minutes before the regular departure time, we tap dance by the departure board, and the still missing platform number gives us a hint that we probably won't leave on time. After about twenty minutes, the platform finally appears, followed by CT's favourite discipline of increasing the delay by five minutes while you freeze on the platform, hoping that they will actually arrive in those five minutes. Eventually this game stopped at 45 minutes, when our train finally appeared. Even as the train pulled in, it was clear to me that something was amiss. We had bought deck chairs, but instead three sleeper cars arrived. I was hoping for a premium for the wait and we did get one. Instead of a chaise lounge, there were sleeper cars ready for us. That is, more luxurious sleep for the price of a deckchair. Unfortunately they were not Wlamz but Wlamee, which is damn noticeable especially with the bogies when you feel every bump on the switch. And at the Kutná Hora - Havlíčkův Brod tank yard we woke up many times with the feeling that the train had jumped off the track. Simply, the quality of the chassis is 70% of the quality of the sleeper.
Czech Railways - Wlamee car on the way to Bratislava
In Brno, Zuzka joined us and thanks to the wait in Breclav, which lasted an hour and a half, we arrived in Bratislava on time before six in the morning. We buy bus tickets in a machine in front of the station (just half an hour) and go straight to the airport. There we settle into our seats and finish the rest of the evening.
The security check, this time without incident, and we leave Bratislava on time on a Ryanair flight. The two-hour flight was uneventful and the fun started just outside the airport. There we searched in vain for a place from where the shuttle bus would run to our car rental. Of course there were no instructions in the confirmation email. Eventually Janet found out that it was at the other end of the complex, so we got there and waited for the van with the Ok Mobility logo to appear. It did indeed arrive after 15 minutes and although I refused to believe it at first we were put on a list and driven to the rental car place. Hire in Greece in the low season is very cheap, unless you order stupidly like we did, but that's for later. A car the size of a Fabia for 5 days was originally going to be 2500 CZK. We ordered it on Rental car where it included insurance and that was a mistake. We were told on the spot that although we had the car insured, any insurance claim had to have a certificate from the local police, even if someone scratched it with a key. Plus a deposit of 1000 Euro. So the dilemma. The alternative was their insurance for 100 Euro with no deposit and full cover without any administration. We rebelled, but in the end we nodded. My tip. Book the car straight with Ok Mobility. With their insurance it came out to 2500 CZK too. I don't know if there's a trick again. If we were unlucky with the ordering? Definitely not the worst. There was a Czech couple with us who found out on the spot that they both had expired driving licenses, so they didn't rent the car. The gentleman was a bit of a jerk about overpaying us so he could drive himself and Katya, but in the end we still found out that the big guy flew in on the same low-cost airline as us :D, so we thought he was rich for nothing the whole time. The next betrayal was with the car they brought us. We had counted on the Fabia to somehow survive in the five of us, and instead we got an even smaller Renolt Clio. We were somewhat saved by the fact that we flew with only carry-on luggage, because we still had a lot of work to do to cram them into the trunk.
We're finally on our way. We hit the highway and have an hour's drive to Leptokaria, our first retreat. The highways in Greece are paid for at toll gates, you could pay by card everywhere. The toll was between 1 and 2 Euro.
Leptokarya is a small village at the foot of Mount Olympus and by the sea. Its location makes it an ideal base camp. There is also a Lidl in Leptokaria, so we go there first. We buy food for two days and go straight to our accommodation. Of course we have an apartment that has no signage, so we wander around until someone starts waving at us from the garden that it's us.
Leptokarie - Corner house
Leptokarya - Greek-style snack
The hostess was nice and gave us some tips on nearby beaches and restaurants. We checked in ate and then went to the beach at Paralia Skotinas, which is sandy. It is rocky in Leptokaria and the lady said it was better here. It's 6pm and we finally swim. It is late September but I expected it to be a bit warmer however the water temperature is the same as in Rijeka in summer.
Paralia Skotinas beach near Leptokaria
Our Clio in Paralia Skotinas
We bathe for about an hour and then head to the village of Palaios Panteleimonas for dinner. We arrived in front of the village, parked by the dumpsters because we couldn't go any further and thought we were in a horror movie. It was getting dark, stone houses everywhere, no lamps and no people. We wondered where we were. After about five minutes of walking uphill through empty streets, we find ourselves at a church with several open restaurants peeking out at us. We sit down in the one called Olympus and have a Greek salad and some local meatballs in tomato sauce with rice and chips. The price for the main meal is 8 Euro, which is kind of a universal price for all of Greece, or at least the places we've been. The restaurants then differ from each other in the other services and whether they are paid or not. Here, for example, we got water and dessert at the end for free, in other restaurants it was usually a two Euro surcharge, or at least they charged for water. You may also wonder like we did why, they always bring everyone an empty plate. We observed that Greeks order whatever they feel like. They put the food they bring in the middle of the table, then everyone takes something from each plate for their clean one.
Palaios Panteleimonas Village
Palaios Panteleimonas - Olympus Restaurant
Well fed and a few Euros poorer, we head back to the apartment. We don't do any more night activities, because we have to get up early in the morning and we have to be full of strength, because we have to climb the mythical Olympus.
Useful links:
Czech Railways
Public Transport Bratislava
Ryanair
Car rental Ok Mobility
Corner house Leptokaria
More hotels in Leptokarya
Hotels in Litochoro
