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Greece 2024

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    marta goes placesGreece 2024Traveler

    Arrival in Meteora

    November 30, 2024 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 7 °C

    After visiting the old fortified city of Ioannina, we stopped at a coffee shop, Antika, for a coffee and a snack, and walked a little more around town. We also went to get rain jackets for the next part of our trip, Meteora. Dean got a layer that he should be able to use for running at an outdoor sports store called Fifth Element, and I got a long raincoat at Oysho.

    Ioannina has a lot of stores and cafes. With better weather, I'm sure it's a great place to visit and explore besides the most historical sites.

    The ride to Meteora was roughly 90 minutes. The last part of the road was quite winding, but we were struck with the view as soon as we arrived. The Meteora refers to the rock formation in the region, which hosts several Eastern Orthodox monasteries. It is located between the town of Kalabaka, where our hotel was located, and the village of Kastraki. And what's impressive is that the rocks are right next to the town, which gives it a very imposing feeling. Our hotel, Aeolic Star Hotel, had views of the rocks directly from our window.

    The Meteora complex was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988 because of its outstanding architecture, beauty, and religious and cultural significance.

    It was rainy and windy when we arrived, so we stayed in the hotel and chilled until it was time for dinner. We went to have dinner to Panellinio, a Greek restaurant very close to the hotel. The staff was very friendly and the decoration was interesting, with old photos and objects. I had a beef dish with tomato sauce and Dean had lambchops, as well as a quite large Greek salad.    Read more

  • marta goes placesGreece 2024Traveler

    Ioannina's fortified city

    November 30, 2024 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Ioannina is a beautiful city! We had breakfast in our hotel and then went out to stroll around the city. It rained practically all morning so we did less than we would have otherwise, but it was still lovely. For example, we skipped going to the island in the lake, but the views from the city were beautiful and atmospheric, with fog surrounding the hills.

    We did, however, go to the old fortified city. It is the oldest Byzantine fortress in Greece, and it has been continuously inhabited until now. The streets and alleys are charming and picturesque, and I could imagine us staying longer if it hadn't been raining. We went to the Ethnographic Museum of Ioannina, located in the castle, in the Aslan Pasha Mosque, a building dating back to 1618. The museum wasn't particularly interesting and lacked context and information, but we enjoyed visiting the complex nonetheless.

    Ioannina has traditionally been a multicultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious city and Christian, Islamic and Jewish influences are present. Something particularly interesting is that it was the home of one of the oldest and largest Jewish communities in Greece for many centuries, the Romaniote Jews. But this is horrifying: In 1944, the 1,870 Jews of the city were deported to Auschwitz. Most of them were exterminated in the camps. After the end of World War II, the Jewish community of Ioannina had decreased to 181 members.    Read more

  • marta goes placesGreece 2024Traveler

    Arrival in Ioannina

    November 29, 2024 in Greece ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    By the time we arrived in Ioannina, it was pouring rain, and we were tired, so we checked into our hotel, the SAZ City Life Hotel, and rested for a bit until it was time to go to dinner.

    Since we had had a big, late lunch, we decided against having a proper dinner and instead went to a wine bar, Don Quichotte, which served small plates with the drinks.

    It was lovely!

    We had a couple of glasses of wine, and they brought us some creamy pasta. The place was beautiful, and the atmosphere was lovely.

    I wish it hadn't been raining so much because I would have loved to go for a walk at night, but so it goes.    Read more

  • marta goes placesGreece 2024Traveler

    Acropolis

    November 25, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    We started the first full day of our trip going to the most obvious destination: the Acropolis. Considering we were here during low season, I don´t even want to imagine how crowded it may be during high season. It was a lovely visit, though. The weather was perfect and the site is spectacular.Read more

  • marta goes placesGreece 2024Traveler

    Arrival in Athens

    November 24, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    After a long, uncomfortable flight via Istambul, we made it to Athens.

    With a combination of hotel points and credit card rewards, Dean managed to get us a very good deal in a normally quite expensive hotel, the King George, right on Syntagma Square. The place was nice and fancy, but in that stodgy way of old luxurious accommodations. The breakfast was wonderful, though!

    We went out right away to explore Plaka, Monastiraki, and the surroundings of the Acropolis. Athens is a very compact city, and there are lots of people and things to do and see everywhere. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of traffic, consisting mostly of tiny cars! The first thing that caught my attention was how much it reminded me of Spain, with the buildings, the terraces, and the general vibe on the streets. We walked by multiple restaurants and bars and stopped for dinner at Raki Meze, where we had a wonderful moussaka, among other dishes.

    We had planned to have a drink after dinner but we were exhausted after the long trip and went to bed quite early.    Read more

    Trip start
    November 24, 2024
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