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Greece
  • The Sadovyis
  • The Sadovyis

Greece

The Sadovyi's & Chamiyah explore the Mediterranean 🇬🇷🥂 Читать далее
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  • Начало поездки
    14 мая 2022 г.
  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник

    First night in Athens

    16 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    After a day of travel, we made it to Athens and our cool Airbnb, complete with balcony jacuzzi. We wasted no time in ordering some Greek wine and popping a bottle of champagne to start the vacation.

    We spent most of the afternoon and evening relaxing with a nice trip to dinner to meet up with Charles's parents. We had a delicious 3+ hour dinner outside with some live music and perfect weather.

    Best food of the day: octopus & calamari over some type of couscous

    Other foods included: gyros, seabass, fried Halumi cheese, sea bass carpaccio, and beef curry with fluffy bread.

    We're starting our morning off the next day with a cappuccino and some fresh yogurt!    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник

    Birthday celebrations

    16 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Today we celebrated Amiyah's bday in true vacation style. Nice lazy morning followed by a one star Michelin restaurant for lunch over looking the sea. The place was called Varoulka and we were the only people there - guess fancy restaurants aren't in full force at 1pm on a Monday!

    We had some wonderful appetizers, sparking wine, a rose, and delicious fish for the main course. We almost passed on dessert but caved and got the apple mousse/tart 🤤 so good!

    After more relaxing we were back at it with more food and drinks, and stayed up way to late enjoying the hot tub and delivery pizza. A good day!    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник

    Sites and snacks

    18 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Yesterday we explored more of Athens including finding a cute hole in the wall spot for lunch. We shopped and strolled around until cocktail hour which really is any time when you're on vacation. In this instance we had reservations at The Clumsies, number 4 bar in the world!

    First off, the bar was super cute and we got to sit outside in the courtyard. We proceeded to try all the best drinks on the menu and a delicious pasta and beef with bechamel sauce 😍

    Today we got to see the Acropolis and related ruins, and many stairs 😭 it was a good workout and pretty cool views of the city.

    We finished the day and our visit to Athens with a 2 star Michelin restaurant, Spondi. So good! The 4 of us have had many great culinary adventured together and this ranks in the top 3. Delicious, creative, and the right amount of food (+ wine pairing).

    Just got out of the jacuzzi, watching the rain - off to Santorini tomorrow. Sleepy time    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник
    Delicious restaurant in town - we had the rooster pasta, moussaka, goat Mac and cheese, and gyros.All the vines are grown as bushes/nests low to the ground, more on this later

    To the islands

    19 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    After a very rocky ferry ride we made it to Santorini. It was the coldest day of our trip so far so we didn't mind spending it traveling - much napping occurred to keep the seasickness at bay. We all made it without incident 🙌

    Our ferry docked into port which is at the very bottom of some steep cliffs, nestled into the rock face basically. We rented a little car - a Nissan (). It was a squishy fit for all of us and the luggage.. but we crammed in and started our climb up the hill! Shout out to Igs for the A+ stick shift driving on steep switchbacks, a lot of handbrake action.

    We're staying a bit outside the major cities at a fancy Marriott and plan to relax for the next few days with wine tours and of course good food!    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник

    Wine & chill

    20 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Our first full day in Santorini has been wonderful, though a tad chilly. That did not stop us from having a great time relaxing at the resort. We all did our own thing this morning after meeting up for a tasty breakfast spread - full of Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, honey, and poached eggs (for Igs and I). After brekky I got a lovely 90 minute massage, Igor napped, Chams went town walking.

    We met up a few hours later for lunch - Greek schedule. We've finally learned that peak lunch is 2-3 pm, with dinner at 9-12. So we rolled up to a local tavern around 230, had a spread of appetizers and then went to a winery - Gavalas. They have vines 100+ years old! Some of the only vines that didn't get destroyed by phylloxera (they were saved by the sandy soils).

    After much wine we had a little siesta before grabbing dinner in town at Raki. Almost everywhere we've been we've enjoyed fresh food and outdoor seating in perfect weather!    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник
    Fried cheese 🤤

    Vineyards and wine tasting

    22 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    With our last full day of Santorini (or it's official name - Thira) we are going on a wine tasting tour. We got to see 3 different wineries all with some awesome views.

    We learned a lot about wine growing here in Santorini - as I mentioned in a previous post the vineyards of Santorini were saved from the main disease that killed off most vines in Europe. Santorini was saved because of its volcanic soil! This means they have super old vineyards and we got to try some wine from 200+ year old vines!

    Some other cool quirks with the volcanic soil and location:
    - they grow the grapes in nests to shelter the vines from the wind and heat
    - they only have ~5% of vines grown on trellises (they call them experimental)
    - they rarely irrigate the field and instead rely on the pummus in the soil to collect moisture over night and release it during the day
    - all the grapes are unique to the island and they have 40+ varieties

    We ended the day with some pool time and food of course. On to Crete tomorrow!    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник
    Santorini beer at the port

    Santorini to Crete ⛴️

    24 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    We wrapped up our last day in Santorini yesterday with another delicious brekkie and lunch before heading to port. We got there a bit early and spent the afternoon drinking local beer and playing cards, Durak.

    The ride itself was a bit touch and go, as we had a 2 hour ferry ride followed by a 2 hour wild van ride.. but at last we made it to our resort.

    This morning we took it easy, see: unicorn floaty :) ordering drinks poolside and lounging was a wonderful way to recover. And this evening we're off to a wine dinner at a local winery!    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник
    Olive oil mill

    Crete flavors

    25 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    The last couple days we have done lots of relaxing (of course), but have also gotten to see how some of the local goods are made - wine and olive oil!

    Wine of course follows the standard wine making process. Here they have to grow grapes that are warm weather tolerant and can withstand the heat, quite the opposite of our Wisco vines. The wines we had at Manousakis Winery were quite good - some of my favorite from the trip! They had some deep reds and a really full bodied white that tasted wonderful.

    All this wine tasting was combined with a delicious dinner and a lively tour guide who shared her experiences living in Greece and the history of Crete.

    Now onto olive oils - the next day we went on a complimentary olive oil making tour courtesy of Ams Marriott status 🙌 it was a bit of a drive but a beautiful view!

    This place stone mills their olives, it creates a paste, and then they press out the juice. They let it sit (and don't filter it) before bottling. Really cool process and very delicious. They also mill in orange and lemon for some special oils! Advice to find the best olive oil in the store: Extra virgin olive oil, stone milled (or pressed)    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник

    Old town Chania

    25 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Wednesday we went into town to eat and explore. The town of Chania (pronounced Hania) has a beautiful harbor front with cute shops and restaurants. And most notably the water was crystal clear even up next to the city streets.

    In typical fashion we ate most of the afternoon, having Greek salads, fried cheese, and gyros around the city. We walked back to our hotel and stopped at a lounge for a cocktail, then another restaurant on the beach.    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник
    Village walls along the river

    Samaria gorge hike

    26 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    What a hike! Today we tackled the longest gorge hike in Europe - the Samaria gorge.

    Pick up was at 6 am 😴 and we were bused to the top of the trail in the middle of Crete. We were promptly sternly warned about how difficult the hike was and that it was hell on the knees (worried glances at Igor ensued). But... No turning back now!

    We made it to the gorge and had a quick breakfast stop with some tasty pastries, hard boiled eggs, and coffee. Also with bonus appearance from an adorable all black shepherd/retriever!

    At the top of the trail Ams and Igs rented some hiking poles to help with the knees and off we went! First up, 100s of switchbacks down the mountain. It was luckily nice and early so the trail wasn't crowded, it was nice and cool out, and the view was stunning. Igor's reported knee operating power: 8% ... Uh oh.

    Finally after about two hours of descent we made it to river and more varied trail through the forest. The trees offered great shade and a wonderful scent of pine and fresh spring water. I loved the rock crossings we had to do back and forth across the crystal clear river, it was fun to balance and hop around!

    We took our time and stopped to relax, eat some trail mix and fruit, and enjoy the journey. Around half way (3-4 hours in) we made it to the Samaria village and entrance to the actual gorge. Here there wasn't much of a village, more a remnant of a village that once was. I expect it wasn't an easy place to live given how remote and challenging it is to get to. We did see a cute donkey looking unphased by the heat and heavy load he was carrying.

    After a break we headed into the gorge, it was around noon now and full sun. Good thing we loaded up on sunscreen! We walked through a lot of river bed and back and forth over the river flowing through the center of the gorge. It was probably 10 meters wide for most of the gorge with high walls and big polished stone throughout.

    Many bridges and rock crossings abound much to my excitement! We hiked for another long while until we made it to the "Iron gate" where the gorge narrows to around 3 meters. A beautiful spot but a bit crowded as people bunch up to take pictures and gawk at the view.

    6-7 hours in we reached the end of the national park and promptly downed liters of beer and ice cream. Best news: everyone's knees made it! The same cannot be said for all the hiking posts, RIP.

    Now this was 13 kms of hiking we'd accomplished, yay! However it was still another 3 km to town. We picked our sweaty selves up from our beer stop and headed into town. The town of Roumeli is only accessible on foot (the hike we just did) or by ferry! We wandered through and quickly grabbed a seat for lunch. Everyone got chicken gyros expect me who decided a burger would be great.... Well surprise, burgers do not translate the same in Crete as America and I received 2 (actually quite delicious) lamb/beef patties, no buns. Whoops haha

    To wrap up our adventures, we went to the beach and had a quick swim in the sea. So refreshing after sweating all day. Then on to the ferry we went (after a few more beers of course), back to the bus, and back to our hotel.

    If you made it this far into my post, congrats - it, like the hike, is a long one :)    Читать далее

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  • The SadovyisGreeceПутешественник

    Headed home x2

    28 мая 2022 г., Греция ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Tis time to return home. We're boarded now for the flight to Atlanta - a quick 12 hours away.

    We finished our time in Crete with a wonderful dinner by the sea (nice find Igor!) and polished off the remaining wine from our wine tours. We took a quick flight yesterday from Chania to Athens (business class 🙌) and had a quick stay overnight in Athens.

    We enjoyed some last meals of octopus, Greek salad, seafood pasta, lamb, and chicken gryos. We will very much miss the food and beautiful weather of Greece as we head back to reality.

    See photo for matching squad gear ❤️

    Late addition: with an unprecedented bad showing by Delta, our flight Athens to Atlanta was cancelled and we got a bonus night in Athens... Whoops. Take two was successful and we are now in a taxi home, just a day late.    Читать далее

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    Окончание поездки
    29 мая 2022 г.