Southern Europe

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Exploring Paleokastritsa

Monastery and around I continued my exploration of the Paleokastritsa area by taking a 40 min walk to the Theotoko Monastery on the hilltop overlooking the sea.  I got there before the museum opened so visited the little church first and sat in the breezy courtyard in the shade. I thought I’d check out alternatives […]

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Go west

Corfu Town Today I go west by moving from Benitses to Paleokastritsa with an exploratory stop in Corfu town.  As I had woke early, I thought I’d grab breakfast as it opened at 0730 and try for the 0825 bus.  This was to avoid the heat. I was in Corfu town by 0900 and started […]

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Like a different place

Today is my day of complete relaxation.  After breakfast, I stayed indoors (and on my patio) for some writing and admin.  Time passed quickly and soon it was time for me to hit the beach around 1500 for some fruit as lunch. The weather today was sunny and it made Benitses look like a completely […]

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Ionian Island of Corfu

I set the alarm for 0615 but woke more than an hour beforehand.  My alarm time I estimated would get me to the airport 2h before the 0950 flight which would allow ample breakfast time at the lounge.  Breakfast at the hotel starts at 0730 which was too late for me. I managed to check […]

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Cradle of Western Civilisation

After breakfast and an early sandwich, I lined up for the 1110 ferry back to Piraeus.  This time it was a huge catamaran with 15 seats across and 4 aisles.  The journey was a tad faster taking about 1h10.  I found my way to the metro station with some help.  While it wasn’t exactly difficult, […]

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Lazing in Hydra

With the time difference I woke around 0430.  I thought I would be able to sleep in till later due to having missed a night’s sleep.  But no.  I was out the door around 0700 for a walk.  I spent the day inside and outside having a chilled day. I had breakfast of fruit and […]

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Scooting

Scooting to Athens My Scoot flight with a fare for SGD250 including tax and fees, from Singapore to Athens pushed off on time.  Scoot doesn’t allow wearing of earphones during taxi, take-off or landing.  They don’t seem to have compromised on safety in terms of passengers being able to hear commands during emergency.  Other airlines […]

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Chill day

We had breakfast at McDonald’s.  The traditional local breakfast is minced tomatoes on toast; the McDonald’s version failed on both parts:  the minced tomato didn’t have much colour or flavour while the toast wasn’t nice.  Our other choice, the potato tortilla in a bun which much better. There wasn’t much we specifically wanted to see […]

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Two free tours

Free Walking Tour I had booked a free walking tour departing from Plaza Mayor at 1000.  Kim took an instant dislike to the guide based on his body language when interacting with the guide’s colleagues.  He kept suggesting that we switch to another walking tour. Ignoring him, we continued with our booked tour and the […]

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Bulgaria to Turkey by bus

It is amazing how we made the morning disappear with doing very little before our long bus ride to Istanbul at 1200.  We walked to Serdika Bus Station (next to the Train and Central Bus stations) where the bus was already there.  Surprisingly, Metro Turizm, a Turkish company has Bulgarian-registered buses with Bulgarian  livery.  Onboard […]

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