October was a bit of a whirlwind for us. Our final house sit in Brighton did not come to an end until October 18th. We decided our best option would be to take it easy and have a relaxing final couple of weeks.
Surprisingly, it was still warm enough to swim in the sea. Admittedly, the sea was getting noticeably chillier day by day (Think less tropical, more just about bearable) so, although we did manage to take a dip every day for the first week, we were only brave/daft enough to take the plunge a couple of times during our final week.
We were pleased that we were able to squeeze in another meeting before it was time for us to leave Brighton. This time we had a very enjoyable afternoon in the company of Jo.
Jo is a home host on the trusted housesitters website. It was interesting for us to hear about petsitting experiences from the home host rather than only from sitters. She also shared her own travel stories with us, including having spent time in an elephant sanctuary in Thailand. Let’s just say we left inspired to do something similar ourselves in the future…
Most importantly though, we spent these two final weeks sorting out flights and accommodation for our fast-approaching visit to Greece.
We had a plan. To go to Serres to visit Karyo’s family for a few days. Following that, we were to take his mum for a short trip to Athens. She had told us that the last time she was there was 57 years ago so a trip down memory lane was overdue!
The journey to Serres
Serres is in the north of mainland Greece, very close to the border of Bulgaria. To get there we needed to take a flight to Thessaloniki. From there, we then needed to catch two buses. One to take us to Thessaloniki city centre and then change to another which would take us directly to Serres. Both bus journeys are around an hour each so not too bad at all.
Cheap flights to Thessaloniki from the Uk are always easy to find as Easy-Jet flies there daily and we managed to quickly find one. The good news is the flight only cost £75 each including our luggage. The bad news is that it was a 7.30 am flight which meant we had to be at the airport at 5.30 am. This in turn, meant a 3.30 am wake-up alarm call was needed for us to start the day. Ouch!
With no covid restrictions now to enter Greece, booking the flight was an easy process. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. That was until two days before the flight when we received a message from Easy-Jet saying that due to circumstances ‘beyond their control’ the whole flight had been passed on to ‘Smartlynx’.
We had never heard of Smartlynx before but a quick google search revealed that it is a Latvian airline that often steps in to take over flights when the original carrier can not, for whatever reason, do so. I have to admit we were suddenly less than confident that all would go smoothly. However, to their credit, and our relief, nothing could be farther from the truth and all went well.
The plane, inside and out, was plain white with no company identification. The crew were multi-national, as polite and professional as you could expect and on the whole I would say, the whole experience was one of the best budget airline journeys we have ever taken.
I heard one of the crew members say that rather than cancel flights airlines from around the world sell the whole flight package to Smartlynx. He said that Easy-Jet and Tui use them regularly. So the moral of this story is that you get notified that your flight had been sold to Smartlynx you have nothing to worry about!
Serres
We arrived in Serres exhausted due to our early start but, thankfully, without a hitch. The main purpose of our visit was to see Karyos’s brother, sister-in-law and nephew and to collect his mum so that she could join us on a trip to Athens.
Serres is not a tourist town probably as it is not by the sea, however, in my opinion is well worth a visit. It has a large town centre with the usual array of shops, bars and tavernas. There is a cathedral and museums to visit and it is surrounded by mountains and beautiful countryside. Also, there are many monasteries and places of interest to visit within easy driving distance.
We were only there for four days but decided to take advantage of the car we had hired to squeeze in a couple of day trips whilst we were there.
Lake Kerkini
Lake Kerkini is a beautiful national park about 40km from Serres.
It is an artificial lake, created by forming a dam on the river Strymonas but has the most amazing amount of plant life and a huge variety of birds and animals to observe. Some are permanent to the lake and others visit at different times of the year.
It is said, depending on what time of the year you visit, you can expect to see a selection of over 1,000 plant species. 4,000 insect species. 30 fish species. 26 species of reptiles. 58 species of mammals. 11 species of amphibians and, unbelievably over 300 different bird species!
It was out of season when we visited so it was very quiet but it does get busy during the summer months. There is a visitor information centre and you can always find a local fisherman offering to take you for a boat trip on the lake.
We ended our day with lunch and admiring the breathtaking views at one of the restaurants on the edge of the lake. A perfect end to a perfect day.
The Monastery of Timios Prodromos of Serres
Karyo’s mum loves to visit a monastery and there is no shortage of choice in the mountains surrounding Serres.
For this trip, we took Karyo’s mum and brother to visit the 12th-century monastery of Timios Prodromos ( Honest Prodromos). It is nestled away on Menikio mountain, only a short 10km drive from Serres.
I am not particularly religious and way past the point of any hope of redemption but have to say that I do enjoy visiting these monasteries. Ironically, So far, In all that I have visited, I have yet to see a monk. They have always been inhabited by nuns. Karyo tells me that the word ‘nunnery’ does not exist in the Greek language.
Monasteries always seem to be set in the most amazing locations. They are always maintained beautifully and the monastery of Timios Prodromos is no exception. As is often the case, it is open for everyone to visit and the nuns are more than happy to stop and say hello as they go about their daily business.
For me, I find a visit to a monastery allows, just for a moment, the opportunity to be able to take a step back from the chaos of modern-day life. Personally, I could not commit for a lifetime but do have a lot of respect for those that choose to do so.
Athens with the mother-in-law
The main reason that we decided to visit Greece on this occasion was so that we could take Karyo’s mum on a short break to visit Athens. It has been 25 years since Karyo left Greece and although he speaks to his mum every day on the phone she loves it when we visit and can all spend some quality time together.
When she told us that she had not been to Athens for 57 years we thought it would be a nice treat for her.
After a long eight-hour coach journey we arrived at Athens coach station waiting for a taxi to take us to the Airbnb that we had booked.
We knew that the Airbnb we had booked had the name ‘ Lycabettus apartment’. We also know that Lycabettus was a famous hill in Athens. I even wrote about it here when we visited Athens before in October 2020. With all that prior knowledge I’m not sure why we were so surprised when the taxi started to go higher and higher as the driver attempted to locate our address.
When we eventually stopped I glanced at Karyo and our eyes met. I knew that we were thinking the same. We were much higher up the hill than we had anticipated.
With a 76-year-old lady in tow, we may have made a critical school-boy location error!
The Airbnb
Except for the fact that it was halfway up Lycabettus hill, the Airbnb we had booked proved itself to be a great choice. It was huge, located in a residential block and had three double bedrooms that would easily sleep six comfortably. We three were rattling around in it.
It was very centrally located but also on a very quiet street. There were the best electronic black-out blinds we have ever had. Plus, the best bit of all was the price. It cost us just £880 for 18 nights – less than £50 a night – amazing value!
Airbnb never fails for us and this one we highly recommend if you happen to be visiting Athens any time in the future.
Sightseeing with the mother-in-law
It turned out that we need not have worried about Karyo’s mum at all. She took on the hilly streets of Athens like a 20-year-old! She was a trooper and we had a really lovely week showing her the sights of Athens.
We took regular breaks and the odd cheeky taxi if we thought the going was getting too tough but she really was great company and joined us on a different sightseeing expedition every day.
I am hoping that I have the same amount of stamina and energy when I get to 76!
We packed a lot into the week she had with us. Monday – Up to the top of Lycabettus Hill. Tuesday – The tourist area of Plaka standing in the shadow of the Acropolis. Wednesday – The National Gardens. Thursday – The old Athens traditional neighbourhood of Thiseio. Friday – The edgy, student area of Exarcheia. Then to bring the week to an end, on Saturday our busy itinerary took us to experience the hustle and bustle of the open street markets of Athens.
Phew! – Great fun but exhausting!
We tried to make every day a different experience for her and the week went quickly. Before we knew where we were it was time to wave Karyo’s mum off at the coach station as she headed back to Serres.
“Did you enjoy Athens?” I asked.
“The Taxi drivers are rude, the streets are dirty, the pavements are dangerous, it’s far too noisy and the traffic is scary. I had a great time” she replied.”
If ever there was a true summary of what to expect from a visit to the wonderful city of Athens, there it is in a nutshell!
Where next?
October has been a great month. However, we are very excited that in a couple of weeks we will be heading to New Zealand. We still have a week left to spend in Athens by ourselves and we still need to finalise our New Zealand arrangements.
The main issue we have is that we still do not have a flight out of New Zealand at the end of our trip booked. Unluckily for us, this is an important criterion for being allowed to enter the country. As you can see, there is still plenty for us to think about. We now need to tie up the loose ends fairly pronto
Hopefully, the next time you hear from us we will have arrived without any major issues and will have plenty to tell you about. Watch this space!
Until then, as always, thank you so much for taking the time to read our updates. We really appreciate all the lovely messages we get from you.
Hugs, Karyo & Colin xx
Another action packed trip. You guys are certainly making some wonderful memories.
Dead impressed by Karyo’s mum.
Hi Bernie, we hope you and Don are well? We are really enjoying this minimalistic nomadic lifestyle – Karyos mum was great company in Athens – plus she did all the cooking for a week!!