- Greek Odyssey 2021: Retrospective
- Day 73: Homeward Bound
- Day 72: Our Last Full Day
- Day 71: More Sifnos Sightseeing
- Day 70: Exploring Sifnos by Car
- Day 69: Sun, Sand and Sea on Sifnos
- Day 68: Bus Trip to Apollonia
- Day 67: Mum and Dad’s First Full Day on Sifnos
- Day 66: Mum and Dad Arrive on Sifnos
- Day 65: Sifnos Sunshine
- Day 64: More Clouds Over Sifnos
- Day 63: Sifnos Cloudy First Day
- Day 62: Sikinos to Sifnos
- Day 61: Sikinos Sightseeing
- Day 60: Relaxing on Sikinos
- Day 59: Ios to Sikinos
- Day 58: Ios Last Full Day
- Day 57: Ios Psathi Beach and Palaiokastro
- Day 56: Ios Chill Day
- Day 55: Ios Agia Theodoti Beach
- Day 54: Exploring South Ios Magganari Beach
- Day 53: Naxos to Ios
- Day 52: Exploring Naxos by Car
- Days 50-51: Agia Anna
- Day 49: Relaxing in Agia Anna / Plaka Beach
- Day 48: Amorgos to Naxos
- Day 47: Kos to Amorgos
- Day 46: Kos Final Full Day
- Day 45: Last Gym Session on Kos
- Day 44: Moving Hotel Room Part 2
- Day 43: Moving Hotel Room
- Day 42: Visiting Tigaki
- Days 38-41: Living Life in Kos Town
- Day 37: Back to Kos Town
- Days 34-36: Nothing But The Pool
- Day 33: Ed Departs, I Remain
- Day 32: Road Trip (with Ed!)
- Day 31: Boat Trip with Ed
- Day 30: Ed Arrives on Kos
- Day 29: Why I’m Still on Kos
- Day 28: Kos Town Hotel Move
- Day 27: Kos Beach Day Again
- Day 26: Kos Car Hire
- Day 25: Kos Town Beach Day
- Day 24: Cutting Tilos Short
- Day 23: Rhodes to Tilos
- Day 22: Rhodes Town Beach
- Day 21: Exploring Rhodes Town
- Day 20: Rhodes Arrival
- Day 19: Exploring Karpathos by Car
- Day 18: Ammopi Beach by Bus
- Day 17: Karpathos Beach Day…Again
- Day 16: Karpathos Beach Day
- Day 15: Karpathos Arrival
- Day 13: Gortyn, Heraklion and Sitia
- Day 12: Phaistos and Matala
- Day 11: Preveli and Agia Galini
- Day 10: Road Trip Across Crete
- Day 9: Last Day in Palaiochora
- Day 8: Last Time at Grammeno Beach
- Day 7: Elafonissi Beach
- Day 6: Finally the Wind Dies Down
- Day 5: Grammeno Beach Again
- Day 4: Frangokastello, Hora Sfakion and Chania
- Day 3: Palaiochora Morning Exercise
- Day 2: Palaiochora and Grammeno Beach
- Day 1: Crete Arrival
- Touring Greece Without a Plan
- An Exciting Journey Begins
Friday 30th July 2021
Getting What I Paid For
Sometimes, when you book a cheap hotel, you get exactly what you deserve. I don’t like to be too harsh with my reviews, but Captain’s Hotel was starting to feel like a mistake and I was glad I’d only booked 3 nights here.
I had a terrible night’s sleep. The single beds are very uncomfortable: the mattress is too thin and not supportive at all and the pillow is lumpy and small. The air conditioning is noisy and barely kept the room at a decent temperature. As a result, I was dozing for an hour or two then waking up throughout the night.
I hoped things might get better at breakfast, but I was wrong. The small self-service buffet was perhaps the worst of my trip so far. Even the coffee was just cheap instant powder that I had to make myself from a kettle. The bread was dry and bland, the orange juice sickly-sweet and very fake and – no surprise here – the Greek ‘yoghurt’ was the awful lumpy stuff that refuses to mix with honey and tasted pretty vile.
Hitting the Beach
Trying not to let the hotel situation impact my day, I decided to relax at the beach again down at the Sunburnt Arms. Due to the lack of food at breakfast, I had a lovely fruit smoothie mid-morning. At lunch, I wandered along the beach to a different place called Jackson’s which is slightly more lively and popular with the younger crowd. I had a nice burger and a beer, then sunbathed on their loungers for a couple more hours while soaking up the party atmosphere!
Making Plans
Not wanting to fall into the trap of relaxing at the beach every day, on the way back to the hotel I stopped at a few car rental places – there are tons of them in Kos Town – to check prices and availability. I settled on a company called ML Rent a Car where I negotiated hiring a Ford Focus for tomorrow for €45, a slight reduction on the €50 they quoted.
Dinner Time Again
Just like that, the day was almost over. After a quick shower and change at the hotel, I decided to find an Italian restaurant for tonight’s meal and ended up at a taverna called Casa Della Pasta, just off Dolphin roundabout near the centre of Kos Town. I had a mushroom risotto which was pretty decent, though the portion was way too big for me to finish. The half-litre of wine definitely helped though!
