Re: London 2 Jammu

Excellent trip

Jaggudada

Re: London 2 Jammu

HATSOFF Guru Chaa gaye, awwwwwwwwwwwesome

Re: London 2 Jammu

Thanks Manub for the kind words, really appreciate it :-)

Thanks Jaggudada :-)

Thanks Neeleash

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Day 16: Pit Stop in Cavtat, Croatia
[Written By Akhil]



Today we were going to just relax and check out Cavtat (Dubrovnik). Hotel Croatia itself is quite magnificent and checking out the whole complex it quite and effort. We happily decided to not leave our beds early, and by the time body felt recharged it was close to afternoon. I switched on the TV and was delighted to see our Prime Minister Sh. Modi on CNN, may god bless him and give him the vision and strength to guide India in the right direction.



We left hotel in the afternoon, way to the Cavtat downtown was quite a walk and by the time we reached there we were hungry again. There were many options available in the market area and we happily choose to feed on some French cuisine. After grabbing a quick meal (which was not as quick because service was not that good), we continued checking out the nearby shops and tried to strike a good deal on a boat ride and sea diving but it was not our day.

We went back to the hotel and after relaxing for a while spent rest of the day checking out the Hotel. To sum it up, Cavtat is a beautiful town and should not be missed if you are in and around Cavtat. We decided to stay in Cavtat instead of Dubrovnik, thanks to the popularity of "Games of Thrones" Dubrovnik is not a cheap play to stay ;-)

The hotel we stayed in was:
Hotel Croatia (Read Review Here)

Frankopanska Ulica,
20210, Cavtat
Croatia

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Day 17: Dubrovnik to Macedonia via Montenegro and Albania
[Written By Akhil]



Today was going to be another long day on the road, 7+ hours on the road and we were going to cross Montenegro and Albania. From Cavtat we were going to drive into Dubrovnik, check out the famous fortress and then carry on towards Lake Ohrid, Macedonia.



We were kind of confused if we should break our journey in Albania or carry on till Lake Ohrid, Macedonia! Reading about Albania made us kill the idea of stopping over, online reviews were as vibrant as one would find about certain cities of India ;-)

Drive towards Dubrovnik was very beautiful, all the houses in Dubrovnik had white walls and red tops which gave this town an amazingly beautiful and distinctive looks. Initially we had planned to stop here for a while and check out the fortress but the rate at which the traffic was moving, and since we could almost circle the fortress wall in the car itself, we decided to keep on moving.

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Once out of Dubrovnik, we were in Montenegro in no time. Since we had selected the coastal route, the views throughout were breathtaking and we had to literally strangle our urge of stopping every now and then.









Read Review
Kej Marshal Tito br.68a,
Ohrid
6000, MK

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Day 18: Chillin in Macedonia
[Written By Akhil]



It was a beautiful, bright and clear morning that we woke up too. Had heard a lot about Lake Ohrid, so the curiosity made both of jump out of our beds early, get ready, pack our bags and we were out in a jiffy.

And the view that awaited us was indeed breathtaking, it is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes and was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1979.















There was a nice restaurant opposite to the lake, once we had quenched our thirst for the natural beauty we realized we had tummy too that needed to be fed! I couldn't hear my tummy but the voices from my wife's had started to shape into acts of violence and a smart husband is one who knows when to act ;-)

So, in a snap of fingers we were inside the restaurant and Aarti was going thru the menu. The guy serving us was probably one of the nicest we met in the whole journey. Food was nice as well, we couldn't finish all of it so packed the rest.

I had to spend around an hour on my work related tasks as there was some urgency, we dint had much data left on our phones so parked Dhanno in the parking area of our hotel and thanked the free internet.

The hotel we stayed in Macedonia was:

Hotel Villa Dislievski (Read Review)
Kej Marshal Tito br.68a,
Ohrid
6000, MK

Then after checking out the main market, we were back on the road towards Meteora. It was a 4 hour journey and we were really excited as we were going to spend quite some time in Greece.






Pit-stop on the way


Filling up the screen liquid

Re: London 2 Jammu

^^ Wow, keep it going

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Day 19: Greece (Meteora)
[Written By Akhil]




It got pretty late before we could reach our hotel in Meteora, last few hours were spent on the zig-zag mountain roads. If you guys remember, this is something i like but Aarti no so much! So, i had to drive slower than usual and to top it all, we got lost as well. Aarti called up the hotel lady but that did not help much. GPS was also pointing to nowhere, we continued downhill (listened to common sense) and in few minutes we were at our destination.

We stayed at:

Guesthouse Papastathis (Read Review of Guesthouse Papastathis)
Kastraki, Meteora,
Kalambaka 22013,
Greece
Phone +302432077782

It was nice clean hotel, and the host was nice as well. In addition to us, there were quite few other guests as well. I guess it was a busy period! We were tired but had a little catch to do with work before we could call it a day. Internet in the room was not strong enough, so we had to sit at the reception area to finish our work.

As you guys already know Meteora is a UNESCO site, there is another interesting fact about this place:

Towards the end of James Bond movie "For Your Eyes Only", Bond is sent to Meteora, Greece to retrieve a stolen "ATAC" system that could be misused for controlling British military submarines. There the fiendish villain Kristatos hangs out in his unreachable lair, holding a young girl, a hopeful Olympic ice skater, who is being sequestered by her coach and an evil sponsor, who has a small computer device that controls the U.S. nuclear submarine fleet’s missiles. The lair is actually the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, known in the movie as the Monastery of Saint Cyril, the most isolated of all the monasteries. It is also perhaps the one with the most striking location, set on a huge standalone pinnacle, with an incredible view of the valley and city of Kalambaka below.

For the Meteora shoots, a Greek bishop was paid to allow filming in the monasteries, but the uninformed Eastern Orthodox monks were mostly critical of production rolling in their installations. After a trial in the Greek Supreme Court, it was decided that the monks' only property were the interiors – the exteriors and surrounding landscapes were from the local government. In protest, the monks remained shut inside the monasteries during the shooting, and tried to sabotage production as much as possible, hanging their washing out of their windows and covering the principal monastery with plastic bunting and flags to spoil the shots, and placing oil drums to prevent the film crew from landing helicopters. The production team solved the problem with back lighting, matte paintings, and building both a similar scenographic monastery on a nearby unoccupied rock, and a monastery set in Pinewood.

We woke up to an amazing view of Meteora and beautiful town of Kalambaka. It was a bright, sunny day and this is what we wished for :-)

Lady of the hotel had an amazing breakfast ready, Aarti really relished it. There was still some work pending so before we could start exploring Meteora, we absorbed some Vitamin D while trying to finish the pending work.



We finished our work, packed the bags, stuffed them in the RR and put our tourist caps on :-)

Of all the monesteries in Meteora we decided to visit St. Nicholas Anapausas Monastery. After parking the RR on the road, it was a small trek up the hill. You can hear Aarti huffing and puffing on the way up, but the view from the top was good enough to charge her back up.





























Meteora was on our wish list and we are so glad we had this covered in our trip.

Once we were done with the monestery, it was time to enjoy some local cuisine. There are lots of local restaurants in the area and food is really nice and delicious.

It was already past lunch time and our next stop Thessaloniki was 3 hours away. Before we could get out of Meteora, the astounding beauty of the place made us stop quite a times and we made the most of these moments.



















We were back on the road, the sun was on its way down and the roads were getting lonlier. Road in Greece are pretty good, they might not be wide enough but the tarmac is plain and smooth.

By the time we reached our hotel in Thessaloniki, it was close to midnight. We parked our RR, took out all the stuff that we would need for the morning flight to Santorini and checked in.

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Amazing drive with superb pictures

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Day 20: Greece (Santorini)
[Written By Akhil]




Finally the day arrived Aarti had been waiting for with since time immemorial. Yes, today we were flying to Santorini and if you have a wife or a girlfriend you already know how important it is for her to tick out this place from her wish list :-)

The hotel we have been staying in had an amazing staff, even thou we were checking out they agreed to let us park the car in the hotel parking and assured us that they will take care of it as it was fully stuffed.



They got us a taxi and we left for the airport, it was an early morning flight and weather was just right (no sun, cloudy but pleasent).











Aarti was as excited as she can be and was recording everything even as we proceeded to board the plan. I tried to warn her that recording might not be allowed but as any other husband i was shown my place.

It was an hour flight and we landed in Santorini. Took a taxi and got down close to the hotel. The way to hotel was a short walk and our taxi guy had assured it was very close to where he dropped us.

Unfortunately battery of both our phones was out so we have to wander a little before we could figure out entrance to the hotel. Problem is that everything is white in Santorini, when i say white its the kind of white you see in the tide advertisement!

Eventually we made it to the hotel reception and they checked us in.

It was very kind on the part of the hotel guys that they upgraded us we were really impressed by the service they were providing.







It was time to get refreshed, so making full use of the facilities in the upgraded room, we got ready to click some photos. I had some official business to take care of, so i got busy with that. After the work was over, we went out to the market for a stroll and also to experience some local cuisine.















Market was pretty crowded and all major food joints were pre-booked, so we decided not to wait in the long queues outside the famous ones and just find some place in any restaurant. Luckily we found space a decent restaurant and ordered our food, some salad and grilled chicken what else. If you ask me in particular, i am kind of guy who likes spicy food and i feel out of place everywhere except India and I am sure Aarti will have a different story to tell.

After we were done with the food and stroll in the market, we went back to our room and enjoyed an amazing Santorini sunset.

Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day as we were planning to explore Santorini. So, we soaked ourselves in the twilight before calling it a day.

Re: London 2 Jammu

Lovely updates Akhil bhai! The last set of pics + videos are simply fab!

Re: London 2 Jammu


This is simply awesome.. all the best guys have a wonderful and a safe adventure [emoji106]

Re: London 2 Jammu

Day 21: In & Around Santorini, Greece – Day 2
[Written By Akhil]



Santorini is not a place where you would go, stay for a day and come back. This place deserves few days of your life, it takes time to absorb the whiteness (colour of all the building in Santorini) of this place and the very reason we had kept aside 2 days.

We woke up to an amazing breakfast experience while enjoying the beautiful Caldera view, bright sunlight and pleasent breeze.






A nice breakfast with a good view, and me willing to click her photographs is good enough to make Aarti happy for few hours :-)
And while we were at it, i dint want to feel left out ;-)

Since today was our last in Santorini, we did not want to miss the experience of the infinity pool. So after digesting our breakfast we got into our swimming costumes and made the most of the hotel facilities.





On this island you will find many shops renting out scooters and quads, there are many towns on this island where you can go and enjoy the views, local cuisine, shopping etc. While the rentals can be quick heavy in the main market, if you go outside a little bit you might be able to strick a good deal. As far as i remember we rented a quad for $40 for 2-3 hours, it was not the best quad out there but it was fit for the job.




We took the quad for a spin to the nearest town Oia, where we took a stopover and walked around a little bit. Santorini has many churches, a round blue coloured top separates them from rest of the buildings.









On the way and back from the Oia town we witnessed volcanic rocks which run the length of the road and is reminiscent of Santorini’s past.



Yeah .. I know, bahut pyaari nahin bahut saari baatein karti hai :-p

Our tummies were gowling by the time we were back after returning the quad, we decided to checkout “Estia Traditional Grill House” which did not disappoint us. It had already started to get dark, so we headed back to the hotel. Hotel had arranged for our transport to the airport as we had a flight to Athens booked. Hotel staff was really warm and kind. We bid farewell and were warmly welcomed by the driver of this mini bus that was driving us to the airport.







We reached airport well in time and to our surprise the flight was delayed by few hours. With all the time to kill and Aarti excited as always, she decided to do some nautanki (drama).



Finally the wait was over and they announced boarding. Even though we did not feel like leaving Santorini so early but we had a long itinerary and we were looking forward to the whole of it.



Aarti had booked a holiday resort (Aquis Mare Nostrum Hotel Thalasso) in Athens, and tricky bit was that it was atleast 1 hour away from Athens airport! All i was worried about was how much was the taxi guy going to charge us! And if any taxi guy will be willing to drop us that far in the middle of the night to start with!

Finally we landed in Athens and were able to find a taxi guy who was willing to go that far at that time. It almost took us an hour and we ended up paying around 40 – 60 Euros (i don’t exactly remember the amount but somewhere around this).

The resort was massive and in the middle of nowhere. It took sometime for someone to showup at the reception, we were really tried and patience had started to run out as well. Finally we were checked in and since it is quite a big resort we were escorted by a bell boy in a battery operated cart. Another surprise that awaited us was a dirty room, so we had to call up the reception, bell boy came back to pick us up and we were accommodated in slightly better room.

By this time we were too tired to think, so we just dropped senseless on our bed and snored our way to glory..

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Thank you buddy :-)

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Thank you Divya, appreciate your kind words :-)

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Day 22: Roaming around Historical Athens, Greece and Honest Taxi Drivers
[Written By Akhil]

Athens was another place in our "Go-To" places from Greece. We had a day and too much to checkout. Hotel was not great, which actually pushed us to get out of it as soon as we could and that was after grabbing a quick half decent breakfast. Since, the hotel was in the middle of nowhere we waited at the bus-stop for the bus that would take us to Acropolis. Tickets for this bus needs to be bought beforehand and can be purchased from the shop right in front of the bus stop (very convenient).



Bus dropped us exactly at the Acropolis, it had started to drizzle and since "Madame" does not like walking in the rain we decided to wait under a shelter for sometime. The rain was least concerned about us having only one day in town, so i convinced Aarti to start walking as it was quite some walk to Acropolis.



Before one could actually reach Acropolis there is "Theater of Dionysus" and "Odeon of Herodes" on the way to leave you overwhelmed. "Odeon of Herodes" in particular was marvelous. We kept on walking and soon we were at the entrance, also famously known as "Propylaea". These ruins was so magnanimous and beautiful, however the maintenance work that was going on kind of killed it for us. Half-heartedly we checked out "Parthenon" and "Erechtheion", did the customary photo clicks for the "Madame", sat down to digest all this for a while and started our decent. On the way back, we took a detour from "Propylaea" and went to check out "Areopagus Hill". It had a nice view of the city for sure :-)

























Next destination on our list was “Lycabettus Hill”, so we decided to hire a taxi but like a smart Indian couple we did not hire any taxi from the taxi stand outside Acropolis and kept on walking towards the main road. In some time a taxi driver driving an old Merc stopped by and asked us if we looking to hire, we bargained and he agreed to drop us there in Euro 20. Once we got in he very smartly offered us to go via the main tourist attractions and the fact that we will stop at all those attractions for 2-5 minutes as well, only if we pay him another Euro 10. Offer was quite good, so we agreed. Then he asked us if we had eaten anything and if we want to go to a nice hotel with local cuisine, off course the answer was no. He was quite talkative, like most of the taxi drivers and soon we were at our detour i.e. Temple of Olympian Zeus.



We spent 10-20 minutes here while he smoked his cigarettes in the car. The Temple was more kind of a big park with big pillars scattered here and there. We clicked few pictures and left for the next tourist destination i.e. Panathenaic Stadium where first Olympics were held.



Athens is a place with absurdly large number of historical places and thanks to this gentleman we were trying to tick off as many as we could ��

After our customary photograph which he happily offered to click, we got into the car to witness “Change of Guard” at the Syntagma Square. The taxi guy told us that we were in luck as it was about time.





Next and final stop was “Lycabettus Hill” and he offered to wait for us as this location was not frequented by many taxi drivers and to get one could be quite a walk on the way back. We had plans to dine in the restaurant on the hill top so we declined his offered and started our climb.







View from top of Lycabettus hill was quite mesmerizing and it had an ancient Saint George Church as well. After spending quite some time clicking photos and discussing about the Indians who had inscribred their names on the walls up there, we decided to check out the menu. To our surprise, it was more kind of a Deli so Aarti decided to check on her phone what other options were but to her surprise, her phone was gone...

Let me give you a little background about what happens when Aarti is Angry + Hungry. She had been postponing her food ever since we got down from the bus, she gave up while we were walking towards the top of Lycabettus hill and i had to push her by reminding her that food sits on the top and now the restaurant did not serve much and to top it all her real husband (yes, she spend more time with her S4 than me) was gone. To say the least, there was panic in the air and we were in the middle of nowhere. After thoroughly checking the bags we were carrying twice, we started walking down with the hope to see that taxi guy waiting for a customer.

It was quite some walk but we were down in no time, we saw one taxi waiting there but it was not the guy who dropped us. Next bulb of hope that lit up was, the taxi guy might have gone back to the same taxi stand at the Acropolis and if we were lucky and had dropped the phone in his taxi then maybe...! However, we did remember him mentioning that it was his grand son's birthday today and he would be calling it a day early.

We walked towards this taxi guy hoping he was waiting for a customer, but he replied he was waiting for the passenger who went uphill. We told him our story and were happy to see his positive response. He mentioned he is a very lucky guy and in a similar incident sometime back, another passenger who travled in his taxi was able to find his lost stuff. He also asked us to get in and the fact that he will drop us at Acropolis and come back before his passenger is back down.

We quickly got in and on the way back while he was trying to keep things positive, we were trying to find the face of our taxi guy in every mercedes taxi we crossed. We reached at Acropolis taxi stand and there he was happily chatting with fellow taxi drivers. We jumped with joy, and the taxi guy who dropped us back further convinced us that he already knew he was lucky and that we would find our old taxi guy. Happily we got down, paid the fare and thanked him a million times.

By this time, our old taxi guy was looking at us with amusement and wondering what we were doing back here. We told him the story and we all literally ran towards his parked taxi. He opened the door of the rear seat and there it was, Aarti true love and her real husband ... Samsung Galaxy S 4 :-)

We all looked at each other and laughed, high five, hugs and what not. Now it was time to worry about Aarti's hunger, our taxi guy jumped to the occasion and offered to take us to the place which had the best local food in town. Who were we to say no to him this time, we all boarded his taxi and reached the restaurant. We offered him to dine with us, to which he agreed with some persual. We topped up our food with some nice local desert.





The food was indeed delicious and once he dropped us at the bus stop we made sure we bid him good bye with the same smile on his face, the one we had when we found Aarti's phone.



Journey back to the hotel was another hour. We were pretty tired with the days activities and happily ignored the dance floor that welcomed us when we entered the hotel.

The whole experience left a lingering smile on our face with the wish to visit Athens again, some time in the future.

Re: London 2 Jammu

It is wonderful to read your blog and see the pictures. The food looks amazing and the vistas gorgeous. But the experience of this travel is incomprehensible by me as i sit in front of my computer.

Fantastic

Re: London 2 Jammu

Thank you Monk, appreciate your kind words. I can only totally agree with you, experience we had cannot be put in words. Best part is, it is not such a big deal! All you need to do is get 2 months off, just get in your vehicle and leave (offcourse visas will be required) :-)