Author Topic: Reporting In  (Read 53833 times)

Offline cottampat

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« Reply #90 on: September 16, 2007, 08:26:25 PM »
Our first visit to Plakias, 2 – 9 September 2007

We travelled independently from Manchester airport, having booked our flights with Excel.  The outbound journey was a nightmare.  We arrived at Heraklion nine hours late, having spent most of the day circling above the airport and landing (twice!) at Chania.

Due to this delay, we had difficulty collecting our pre-booked hire car from Heraklion airport and then, worse still, had to drive through the night on unfamiliar mountain roads to Plakias.  We eventually arrived (safe and sound but absolutely exhausted) at our accommodation (Paligremnos) at 2.30 in the morning.  The place was deserted but they had kindly left the front door open with a note directing us to our room.

We chose Paligremnos mainly because of its proximity to the beach.  We are pleased to report that the accommodation is exactly as advertised on their web site - a studio room with a sea view, balcony and air conditioning.  It contained a comfortable double bed, bathroom with shower, loads of hot water, and a fridge and kettle.  The room was cleaned each day and clean towels were also provided.  All this for 35 euros a night for both of us.  What a very reasonable price!  But for anyone who wants a swimming pool and tv, it’s not for you.

On the first morning, and every subsequent morning, we opted to purchase our breakfast downstairs where we sat on the restaurant terrace.  A pleasant and relaxing start to the day after the trauma of our long journey.  We would not hesitate to stay here again next time we visit Plakias.

We chose a holiday in Plakias after reading all the favourable comments on this forum, and seeing Harribobs’ wonderful photos of Plakias and the surrounding area.  Thanks to everyone who contributes to, and maintains, this valuable resource.

We found the resort to be exactly what we expected – a scenic bay surrounded by mountains; not overdeveloped but with sufficient restaurants, bars and shops for purchasing the necessary provisions etc.

We spent most our time during the day relaxing on the sandy beach opposite Paligremnos.  The sea temperature was just right and very pleasant for cooling off.  The beach facilities were excellent – sunbeds, sun shades and showers.  The lad who looks after this part of the beach (Freddie I think) is a friendly character who enjoys a laugh and joke with all his customers.

The weather was good – sunny and warm.  The famous wind did sometimes get up but most days there was just a pleasant sea breeze.  On the one day when it was too windy on Plakias beach, we took the opportunity to sunbath at Amoudaki where it was more sheltered.

Following the recommendations of regular contributors to this forum, in the evenings we visited the following restaurants: Lysseos, Gioma, Medousa, Tasomanolis (twice) and the Panorama in Mirthios.  We found the food, service and prices to be very good everywhere we went.  We were amazed that you could choose a harbour side table without being charged premium rates for the privilege of sitting there (like in most other resorts).   We will add some further information about our meals in the Articles pages when we get round to it.

During our short stay in Plakias, we used our hire car to visit Mirthios, Sellia, Prevali Monastery, Souda and Amoudi.

Overall, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable holiday.  Our return journey and flight home were without any problems, and everything was on schedule. We look forward to returning to Plakias in the not too distant future.

P.S.  If you would like to see some of our photos of Plakias, they can be found on this link  http://www.flickr.com/gp/58428615@N00/8ATc4o

P and S
« Last Edit: October 04, 2008, 12:58:30 AM by cottampat »

Offline John R

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« Reply #91 on: September 16, 2007, 09:12:58 PM »
Quote from: cottampat
Our first visit to Plakias, 2 – 9 September 2007

We travelled independently from Manchester airport, having booked our flights with Excel.  The outbound journey was a nightmare.  We arrived at Heraklion nine hours late, having spent most of the day circling above the airport and landing (twice!) at Chania.

Sheer curiosity begs the question as to why the plane did not land at Heraklion etc. We fly XL next year !

John R

Offline cottampat

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« Reply #92 on: September 16, 2007, 11:00:31 PM »
John,

We'll let you know if, and when, we get a reply to our letter from XL.  

As other planes landed at Heraklion that day without any problem, it remains a mystery why our's could not despite several attempts.  Each time we began our descent, the pilot aborted the landing as he approached the airport.  After circling for about an hour, we were taken to Chania for refuelling.  We were disembarked from the plane and taken to a departure lounge in Chania where we waited for an hour before reboarding.  Then we went through the same routine again, i.e. aborted attempts at landing at Heraklion, and circling for about another hour.  Eventually, the pilot headed back to Chania where we disembarked again.   After about another two hours waiting around for some news, we were directed to bagage hall to collect our luggage, and then put on coaches to Heraklion.  After a two hour journey by road, we eventaully arrived in Heraklion at 11.30pm.  Our scheduled arrival time should have been 3pm!  Like everyone else, we were exhausted and shattered, having been up since 5am.  

We know these things happen now and again, and would accept that we unlucky on this occasion.  But, perhaps one of the most disappointing aspects is that, at no point, anyone from XL offered any refreshments during our delay, not even a glass of water!

The good thing is we were soon able to put it out of our minds when woke up the next day in Plakias, and saw the fantastic view from our balcony - a view of the sea and the bay with the headlands and surrounding mountains.  It took our breath away.  Having arrived at 2.30 in the morning, this was our first view of Plakias in the daylight.  It's something we won't forget.

P & S

Offline harribobs

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« Reply #93 on: September 17, 2007, 12:06:46 AM »
sorry to hear you had such a bad flight in, i've never heard of that before

but it sounds like you had a good time  

cheers

chris

edit...ps thx about the pics  just realised who you are, cheers pat

check out pat's pics on flickr....very good indeed!!

pat's pics
« Last Edit: September 17, 2007, 12:11:04 AM by harribobs »

Offline Barny

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« Reply #94 on: September 17, 2007, 08:25:53 AM »
Good photos, pushing your luck taking pics at the airport? look what happened to the last ones to do that !!
I need some raki.

                                       Barny.
Fancy a Mythos?

Offline shinaria

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« Reply #95 on: September 17, 2007, 08:44:13 AM »
Whata hard trip to paradise! As I wandered through your pics I mentioned that somebody else is doing  Eleftheris' job now?! http://www.flickr.com/photos/pat-neary/135...57601938675708/ Impossible to imagine a day on the beach without him! What a pity! Does anybody know if he gave up his service ? That would be a great loss! Hope he was just on holidays ...

Hungry for a doughnut
shinaria

Offline George

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« Reply #96 on: September 17, 2007, 08:58:57 AM »
Quote from: shinaria
Whata hard trip to paradise! As I wandered through your pics I mentioned that somebody else is doing  Eleftheris' job now?! http://www.flickr.com/photos/pat-neary/135...57601938675708/ Impossible to imagine a day on the beach without him! What a pity! Does anybody know if he gave up his service ? That would be a great loss! Hope he was just on holidays ...

Hungry for a doughnut
shinaria

I was told that his brother was standing in for him, evidently he suffers from arthritis and was having a bad day. Not the ideal job with that condition. Anyway I did see him again on the beach and on his usual form, so he hasn't given up just yet!  

george g...

Offline shinaria

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« Reply #97 on: September 17, 2007, 10:07:18 AM »
A donut a day keeps the doctor away...!
shinaria

Offline George

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« Reply #98 on: September 17, 2007, 01:44:12 PM »
Quote from: cottampat
Our first visit to Plakias, 2 – 9 September 2007

P.S.  If you would like to see some of our photos of Plakias, they can be found on this link  http://www.flickr.com/gp/58428615@N00/8ATc4o

P and S


Excellent pics Pat  , just spent an enjoyable lunchtime getting really pee'd off.

george g...
« Last Edit: September 17, 2007, 01:45:00 PM by George »

Offline Mike G

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« Reply #99 on: September 18, 2007, 01:27:23 PM »
George,

I know you didn't go with Olympic this year but did you find out what happened to Morven, who I think had been their rep. for several years and was always a cheerful face around the place? Maybe she just fancied a change.

Mike

Offline George

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« Reply #100 on: September 18, 2007, 01:46:05 PM »
Quote from: Mike G
George,

I know you didn't go with Olympic this year but did you find out what happened to Morven, who I think had been their rep. for several years and was always a cheerful face around the place? Maybe she just fancied a change.

Mike

Hi Mike
Unfortunately, no. I was going to ask the Olympic rep., but she scared me, Mrs H said that I wouldn't be impressed and she was right. I think her name was Edwina.
I had a long chat with Morven last year and was pleasantly surprised to find out that she was not just some dumb blond who was out there for a good time (sorry all, that sounds sexist, but you know what I mean)). She had a degree from university and I got the impression that she was ambitious and going places in the travel industry. Whether it was with Olympic or not she didn't say, so when I heard that she wasn't there anymore I wasn't really surprised, disappointed definately  , she was a great girl, always had a smile and as you said she was always cheerful. I hope she goes far.
That wasn't the reason I went independantly although some may say otherwise  .

Broken hearted...  

george g...

Offline Graham_and_Karen

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« Reply #101 on: September 19, 2007, 10:29:28 AM »
Quote from: George
I was told that his brother was standing in for him, evidently he suffers from arthritis and was having a bad day. Not the ideal job with that condition. Anyway I did see him again on the beach and on his usual form, so he hasn't given up just yet!  

george g...

Freddie said much the same to us although thought that over indulging might be adding to Eleftheris's poorer health thith year. We did see him at Mikro Amoudi the one day we were there so his legs can't be too bad.

Offline sunshinegirl

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« Reply #102 on: September 21, 2007, 12:05:24 PM »
We spent 2 fantastic weeks 28 Aug - 11 Sept in Plakias.  This was our first visit not only to Plakias but to Crete and we really enjoyed it.  We stayed at Santa Maria Apartments which is just up the hill about a 5-10 minute walk into town.  The apartment was lovely we had the top floor so we had views all across Plakias.  The apartment was cleaned every day except Sunday with clean towels and linen every other day.  It was very quiet and really relaxing. The Olpympic rep was also staying there on the ground floor which we found really great as she was very informative about the island and really knew her stuff. We enjoyed the food in all the restaurants and our favourite was Herakas (think that is how it is spelt) especially the sole dish - lovely.  We only had one bad meal and that was in Mouses. We spent quite a few nights in Ostraco's and really enjoyed it especially upstairs when the dancing got going and the staff were very friendly. We hired a car for three days and got a good rate from Moto Auto on the main street 90euros for the 3 days.  We went to Spili which was recommended by Pete and Dawn and it was great.  We went to Hora Sfakia which was where we were originally going to stay - glad we didnt it really is picturesque but not much to do there and no real beach to speak of. We went to Matala and Franko something or other which was nice and Agio Galini but we preferred Plakias to all of them. We tried all the beaches but prefered the far end. We went to Preveli and enjoyed hiring a pedalo for one hour which took us down a small river where you can get off and have a walk around. Whilst in Plakias we met Pete and Dawn and Tracey their daughter and George who were all great and made our holiday more interesting.  We will definitely be back!!!!!!!!!!!!

Offline Graham_and_Karen

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« Reply #103 on: September 24, 2007, 10:37:15 PM »
Hope this link work - some photos from our recent holiday. Sorry, no captions yet. What with enhancing, compressing, renaming and uploading to facebook and flickr, I haven't had time to describe them. Apart from Plakias we went to Chora Sfakion including the Byzantine settlement behind the town, Frangokastello 'far End', Mournes, Timeos Stavros, Paleochora, Vilandedro and Spinalonga
Our photos

Offline Peter&Dawn

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« Reply #104 on: September 25, 2007, 07:39:40 AM »
Quote from: Graham_and_Karen
Hope this link work - some photos from our recent holiday. Sorry, no captions yet. What with enhancing, compressing, renaming and uploading to facebook and flickr, I haven't had time to describe them. Apart from Plakias we went to Chora Sfakion including the Byzantine settlement behind the town, Frangokastello 'far End', Mournes, Timeos Stavros, Paleochora, Vilandedro and Spinalonga
Our photos


We would be very interested to hear your comments/thoughts on Spinalonga. We had considered visiting there this year, but never got around to it.

Just about to start reading 'The Island' by Victoria Hislop so it may well be on our 'must see' places next year.

Peter&Dawn

P.S. Great photos, look forward to seeing the captions.