[off] Travelling to Greece

[Rick of Wessex]

Dear brothers and sisters in XC,

After a long time away from TAW, here I am.

Anyway, I decided to start off-topic (well, kind of) thread.

My wife and I will be travelling to Greece next January, so I'd like to know from my fellow TAWers, either who live in or have been to Greece, as many tips and advice you could provide about going out, dining places, proper etiquette, etc.

I tend to avoind most "tourist places", since they are more expensive than other places.

We'll be visiting continental Greece, since this time of the year is not the most suitable to go to the islands.

Anyway, how is the weather in Athens this time of the year? Does it rain a lot? What's the average temperature?

Could you recomend any good place to buy icons?

Also, I heard that there is a Church in Athens in which Divine Liturgy is celebrated in English. Could you confirm this.

By the way, do the Greel papas will request any recommendation letter from my priest if we intend to receive Holy Communion?

I guess that's all for now. I'll post more questions as I remember them.

Yours,

Rick

 

[Orthosdoxa]

Hi Rick!

 

[Mary of Bethany]

Good to see you, Rick!

I'm bumping this off the 2nd page so maybe some of our Greek posters will see this and help out.


Mary

 

[nikostheater]

The weather in Greece is good almost all year.
Rain is avarage,so when you will come you will see..
the winter of course is somewhat cold,so don't assume that you will be ok with your t-shirt!
There is a period of 2 weeks that the weather is very good,we call them Alkyonid days.
You will be lucky if you come in that period because in that period the weather is like it is march or april.
In athens,especially center is "tourist place",because the Parliament is there,Plaka is near in Thisseio and plaka you will see many ancient ruins in your face..and of course the Acropolis..you MUST go there.
In plaka it's nice to go to Kapnikarea church,you can go to Metropolitan church...
You will find out that Greece is full of churches and monasteries.
I don't know about any church doing liturgy in english,but i suppose it will be exist....
You will not need any letter from your priest,but it will be no harm if you not have one..
For how long you will going to stay in Greece?
It will be nice to go see the monasteries in Meteora..you will be stunned!
A great monastery in Athens is St Eirini Chrysovalantou...it is in Lycovryssi.
In Patra,Peloponissos you can go to see the Cathedral of St Andrew the Apostle (they have a piece of his scull there and i think a piece of his cross).
In Thessaloniki you can go see the Cathedral of St Demetrius.He is the patron saint of Thessaloniki.
About icons..you will find shops selling icons easily.
In monasteries,in church shops...there are shops that they sell stuff like that..books,icons...
Even in Supermarkets!(i know,it's kind of weird..),but here in Greece we LOVE icons,especially icons of Theotokos and our Lord.
Of course you will find easily icons of varius saints and angels,as st Nicholas of Myra (my favorite saint and my patron),st George,st Demetrius,John the Baptist etc...
Of course it depends of how long are you planning to stay and what do you want to see..
I hope that i helped you a little..

 

[nikostheater]

Oh,and if you come to Crete,send me a pm..i will be glad to meet you and help you!

 

[Rick of Wessex]

Hi, Orthosdoxa and Mary!

Nikos, thanks for the great tips.

We intend to spend about ten days in Greece. We'll be arriving there around January 8th.

Most of the time we'll be in Athens, but we intend to go to Patras, Delfos and Meteora, if we can. Unfortunately we won't visit any of the islands this time - there's a lot to do in so little time...

But thanks s lot for the tips. They will be very useful.

Efharistó.

In XC,
Rick

 

[TrueHope]

Well, Nikostheater did a good job.

IF, you go way of Thessolaniki, I suggest going to Mt. Olympus. There is a great monastery there, and they are very welcoming. Plus the drive is incredibly beautiful.

As Nikos stated, there are churches everywhere....it seems almost at every corner. Icons can be found all over the place! Maybe Philothei will know the English speaking church in Athens. I have not attended, but I have heard about it. Maybe if you PM her, she can find out for you, if she doesn't know all ready.

Also dress in layers. Some days are warm, and others bitter cold. So be prepared for both, since January has a few weeks of very comfortable and often warm weather for the mating season of these sweet little birds . Alkyonides. (I believe that is correct) (Although the Greek Mythology states otherwise)

Also, if you have a chance, visit Syntagma Square (Plateia Syntagmatos) in Athens which is named after the constitution. Bring some popcorn or bread crumbs and get your camera ready to take pictures of all the people friendly pigeons. This is a favorite short stop spot here for tourists. And you may even get so see the changing of the guard.....

Monastaraki is great for getting gifts and is extremely popular. Wear comfortable shoes. Really comfortable shoes. No smooth sidewalks here.
When I think of anything else, I will post.

 

[theoforos]

Most of the time we'll be in Athens, but we intend to go to Patras, Delfos and Meteora, if we can. Unfortunately we won't visit any of the islands this time - there's a lot to do in so little time...

If you go to Meteora by train, it might be a good idea to buy the train tickets in advance. When I was going there I tried to buy a ticket in the morning for the afternoon train, but there weren't any tickets left, not even in the 1st class, so I had to take the morning train, which didn't require any seat reservation, but it was so crowded that I had to stand for the first couple of hours. There was barely room for all the people and their luggage in the little train. Well, that was in June, might not be as bad in January.

When in Meteora, try to get up early because the monasteries are open only for a few hours per day. They tend to open in the morning (8 or 9 am) and close their gates a few hours later. Some of them open again in the afternoon for a few hours but others don't. You might want to check the schedules before going. I spent 2-3 days visiting the monasteries and got to see them all. It's quite a hike to walk all the way, and if you don't like walking you'd probably want to rent a car or something. You'll still have to climb quite a few steps to most of the monasteries from the parking area, and that's more than enough for some people. There are two monasteries right above the town of Kalambaka (that's probably where you will be staying) and there's a path that goes from the town up to the monasteries. I think many visitors don't know about its existence. I liked that part of the hike the most. The other monasteries are further away, and if you want to walk, you will have to walk along the road most of the way, and you will have to watch out for the cars passing you.