Editor’s Travels – Turkey & Athens
In October, last year I felt like I needed some sunshine after all the rain we’d had to endure in September.
Well, as I don’t do things by half, I didn’t settle for one holiday – I had two! Sorry!
My first trip was to Icmeler in Turkey, to spend time with my parents, who were out there for four weeks, with their friend Dave, from Norwich and also my nephew, Jack, his partner Lauren and their little family.
My wife didn’t have enough annual leave, so she was unable to join me, so I went on my own (keep reading, I make it up to her).
Icmeler
Icmeler was lovely and the weather was great for early October – no jacket required!
We did the customary boat trip, I had a day on the beach – free wifi, sun lounger and toilet as long as you buy food and drink from their bar, which was fine by me – a Turkish Bath (Hamman), which is like a human car wash, if you’ve never had one, but weirdly enjoyable. I also got to spend my dad’s 93rd Birthday with him, which at that age, is pretty important.
Actually, it was their 39th wedding anniversary, which kind of took a back seat, so mom says he’s not having a Birthday next year as she wants to properly celebrate their 40th. And why not!
Icmeler, isn’t for everyone. It and it’s larger sister resort, Marmaris are a bit Benidormy, but if that’s your thing, then you’ll love it.
It’s closer in price to other Mediterranean resorts than it used to be, but still good value for money and the sunshine lasts longer than places like the Costa Brava.
It’s also a bit of a trek – a 4 ½ hour flight and a two hour plus transfer, but for me, it was well worth it.
Athens
The Greek capital has been on my bucket list for a while now, so, as I’d been off enjoying myself across the Aegean and as my wife’s shift pattern fell nicely, we managed to get four days in this historic city.
I found us a lovely boutique hotel, Nema Hotel, (nemahotelathens.com) which I booked through Expedia.com that was ideally placed for exploring the sites and attractions. The staff and facilities were excellent and if we return, we’re definitely going back.
Being lovers of food – especially Greek food – we booked a walking food tour through the app Viator, which we’d used previously in Rome and Lisbon, so knew it would be good.
As expected, they didn’t disappoint and we joined our guide, Katerina and nine people from the USA (I know, but actually they were lovely!). We tried that many dishes, during our five stops, that I couldn’t list them all, but suffice to say, every café and restaurant along the way was a delight and we were all struggling to manage the Loukoumades (Google them) at our last stop.
On day two, we did an open top bus tour, to save our legs – Athens isn’t small! – which proved to be an inspired move as we got to see places we hadn’t planned to, while getting a bit of vitamin D.
I have to admit to making a schoolboy error, by not booking a guide and ‘skip-the-line’ tickets for the Acropolis. When we arrived the queue had 100+ people in it and they were issuing tickets to for entry almost two hours in advance. No thanks! Never mind, it’ll give us an excuse to go back in a couple of years.
Our next stop was the Panathenaic Stadium – the site of the first modern Olympic games in 1896, which was great fun and one of the highlights of our trip. We then went up the road to the Monument to the Unknown Soldier which is guarded 24/7 by soldiers in traditional dress – a great photo opportunity!
Luckily, I managed to book a rooftop restaurant (www.hillathens.gr) for the evening meal, which are very sought after and served food from the Gods (see what I did there). The restaurant sits right under the Acropolis, so we sort of saw it after all.
On day three, we visited the highest point of Athens – Lycabettus Hill, which was a bit of a task to reach and there’s a funicular (think Bridgnorth) to get you to the top, but it’s well worth the effort and the sore knees later in the day, as the views are breathtaking. There’s very little of Athens that you can’t see from up there. In fact you can see right out to sea, so you get the picture.
The temperature dropped on our last night, but like typical Brits, we insisted on eating outside (we were on holiday!) and followed that with a bit of open-air Greek Theatre, but thankfully, they issued blankets, or we could easily of froze to death.
That would have been a Greek Tragedy!
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