Author Topic: report  (Read 8459 times)

Offline Chris H.

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« on: August 05, 2008, 02:27:57 PM »
Kalimera!

Just got back from 28 days Plakias, stayed at Skinos this time, what a lovely and warm family!
Wind (*^#@^^%^^#Y$$^^), lots of wind  (*&&%#^^^&%&U^&) first week 4 days gale force ten and the whole last seven days of our stay again, stretchers flying through the air on the beach, parasols breaking of like matchsticks, a bit much sometimes cause the beach is out of the question (the sand peels your lovely brown tan of) and in the evening on the balcony gazing at the stars one feels a bit chilly cause of the never resting wind while it's 28 degrees, still...as the misses always says: this wind will keep the sort of tourists out of Plakias you don't want there and there is probably a lot of truth in that.
Restaurants: ate at Christo's one night cause I heard good things about it, what a disaster!! customers shouting at the boss: 'I'll report you to the restaurant guide' ( I suppose Christos is mentioned in some restaurant guide), boss shouting back: get out of my restaurant!!! Other customers loudly complaining cause they have to wait so long for their food, unfriendly staff, mediocre food, had to wait long time for service, at least 45 minutes between starters and maincourse and worst of all in my opinion I got my main dish 10 minutes later than the misses, yuk! never again. Ate a lot at Harakas, very friendly, good cook (always big flames!), very talkative, intelligent waiter. Excellent freshly made pizzas at Kri-Kri (the best in the world according to Manolis, better than in Italy he always says) Gio ma always good, ate at Medousa one night because a lot of you people hang out there a lot I understand, what a pleasant guy! very good food, only thing was, we where the only customers there that evening and the misses really likes a restaurant to be almost full. Very nice place also is the Greek next to 'On the rocks' I still don't know the name, big, big Greek guy, superb free garlic bread for starters.
New harbour: at the end of our stay they even worked on sundays, Manolis says they have to be finished before the end of the year otherwise they will be fined heavily. Asked if the new harbour will atract a lot of pleasure boats to Plakias he said he did not expect that, main reason for building it was because the fishing boats are in danger at their present place when the wind blows to hard (and it did, it did!)
Very noticable this year: the presence of police cars in Plakias, many! every day, last year I saw 2 in 3 weeks, this time I saw 50 in 4 weeks, dunno why....
Leaving Plakias; Agia Galini, a pleasant little place tucked away in the rocks, Ghania: really nice, of course it's a big tourist tit but we both really liked it, much better than Rethymno last year, beatiful old harbour, had a meze for two (23.50 euros!!) in a restaurant in one of the back streets, best meal we had this year, worth every penny of it! Chora Sfakion, uhhh no thank you, you can tell the staff in restaurants is used to having customers that only come there for 1 day, unfriendly, lousy chicken souvlaki, unedible, my shoes where more tender, that chicken must have been over a 100 years old.
Only positive thing was that one of the waiters provided us with a running gag for the rest of our holidays, when asked for two Mythos he kept repeating completely puzzled: Tomatoes? you want tomatoes? so every time after that when we sat down for a beer some where we asked each other: you want big tomato or small tomato.....
Kurna lake: beautiful but only when you think away the few 1000 tourists that hang out there, like flies, small beach absolutely packed with people, hundreds of boats on the water, excellent oregano chicken in taverna overlooking the lake, a lot of the famous Cretan smile from the serving ladies, packs of geese shouting for food all the time.
By the way, we spotted the last goose in Plakias outside Gio ma one evening begging for food, he (she) looked lonely.
One day a giant container ship went by real close to Plakias, one could tell by the reaction of the people on the beach they thought there might be something wrong being so close but apparantly it comes by every 20 days and the captain is from Crete and lives nearby so when he is close to his home he beeps his giant horn to say hello to his family!!! Cretans!!
We want to go back!!!
Yassas!
Chris H.

Offline George

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« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2008, 02:48:17 PM »
Quote from: Chris H.
We want to go back!!!
Yassas!
Chris H.
So the good overtook the bad as always Chris!! And I agree what you said about getting the wrong type of tourist, we all love Plakias with its faults and conditions!

How come there's only one goose left? There were loads of them last year, on the river and on the grass opp. the Alianthos, walking up the centre of the road. Are you sure what you had at Christos??

george g...

Offline Graham_and_Karen

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« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2008, 06:20:43 PM »
Useful report Chris. Your thoughts on restaurants similar to ours but as we don't mind quiet restaurants, we like Medousa and Kastro. Harakas also has excellent Mushroom Rice. Those travelling later in the year might find, as we did (in September) that Lake Kournas is quieter than you experienced, and therefore, worth a visit as it's something a bit different - we saw a water snake when we swam there!
Let's hope there's a limited amount of wind to go round and that you've used up most of it  

Offline alipali

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« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2008, 07:34:48 PM »
Good informative report chris, as a newbie going for first time aug 20 with two beachloving sun worshippers, can I expect the same sort of winds you have experienced? If so what am I going to do with them, will I have to hire a car to get away from it all? to sheltered beaches like souda? Plakias sounds like the ideal place for me but I am concerned that I may get a bit of flack from wife and daughter. Any good points I can point out to redeem myself? Any further information appreciated.

Offline John R

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« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2008, 08:17:53 PM »
Quote from: alipali
Good informative report chris, as a newbie going for first time aug 20 with two beachloving sun worshippers, can I expect the same sort of winds you have experienced? If so what am I going to do with them, will I have to hire a car to get away from it all? to sheltered beaches like souda? Plakias sounds like the ideal place for me but I am concerned that I may get a bit of flack from wife and daughter. Any good points I can point out to redeem myself? Any further information appreciated.

Whether or not you get these winds is a matter of luck. We always have a car and we often find that one does not have to drive far to get away from them. They have similar characteristics to the helm wind famous near here in Cumbria. A not particularly strong easterly wind descends the mountain range to sea level and in doing so picks up speed dramatically with sometimes ultra  high gusts. Where there are gorges this is funnelled and exaggerated even more and there are two gorges pointing towards Plakias. We recognise the Helm Bar on the Pennines near us - a strange shaped cloud over the Pennines (Cross Fell) known as the Helm Bar and we then know that a very small area near Penrith will get a tremendous blasting - known to blow turnips out of the fields and to blow people into the air. Local (Cumbrian) myth says it is world unique to that part of Cumbria. However I often see that very same helm bar over the mountains immediately east of Plakias.


Doesn't put me off Plakias though

John R
« Last Edit: August 05, 2008, 08:19:11 PM by John R »

Offline Greecemad

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« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2008, 08:18:18 PM »
Quote from: alipali
Good informative report chris, as a newbie going for first time aug 20 with two beachloving sun worshippers, can I expect the same sort of winds you have experienced? If so what am I going to do with them, will I have to hire a car to get away from it all? to sheltered beaches like souda? Plakias sounds like the ideal place for me but I am concerned that I may get a bit of flack from wife and daughter. Any good points I can point out to redeem myself? Any further information appreciated.

When I've been in Plakias I've never failed to be able to sunbathe somewhere. Mikro Ammoudhi is the best place when it's windy.

Greecemad

Offline John R

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« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2008, 08:20:59 PM »
Quote from: Graham_and_Karen
Useful report Chris. Your thoughts on restaurants similar to ours but as we don't mind quiet restaurants, we like Medousa

If only Medousa was quiet when we go mid Sept - Oct !!!!!!!!

John R

Offline Graham_and_Karen

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« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2008, 09:24:47 PM »
Quote from: John R
Quote from: Graham_and_Karen
Useful report Chris. Your thoughts on restaurants similar to ours but as we don't mind quiet restaurants, we like Medousa

If only Medousa was quiet when we go mid Sept - Oct !!!!!!!!

John R
Actually, you are correct John - it's not so quiet. We go early/mid Sept. and have seen you at Medousa. Mind you, it's certainly quieter than some others, like Mouses. Either way, it's a place we like to eat at a couple of times in the 2 weeks we're there.

Offline Chris H.

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« Reply #8 on: August 06, 2008, 09:54:47 AM »
Quote from: alipali
Good informative report chris, as a newbie going for first time aug 20 with two beachloving sun worshippers, can I expect the same sort of winds you have experienced? If so what am I going to do with them, will I have to hire a car to get away from it all? to sheltered beaches like souda? Plakias sounds like the ideal place for me but I am concerned that I may get a bit of flack from wife and daughter. Any good points I can point out to redeem myself? Any further information appreciated.
It may very well be windy but as stated before there is always a place to be found where there is hardly any wind, if for example you drive out of Plakias towards Souda about 400 meters out of town you will find Skinos apartments, right opposite from there is a narrow stratch of sheltered beach with little wind because the mountains just behind it are very steep and stop most of the winds, good snorkeling too! Another option is the campsite on the eastern edge of town with a good swimmingpool, you are always welcome there to spend the day.
And for all you smokers: I forgot to mention yesterday, departure hall at Heraklion airport after checking in still blue with smoke ):
Also in Plakias everyone still smoking all over the place like it was their last day on earth, nice!
Chris H.

Offline George

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« Reply #9 on: August 06, 2008, 10:06:24 AM »
Quote from: John R
Quote from: Graham_and_Karen
Useful report Chris. Your thoughts on restaurants similar to ours but as we don't mind quiet restaurants, we like Medousa

If only Medousa was quiet when we go mid Sept - Oct !!!!!!!!

John R
I was talking to Babbis a couple of years ago when I was there, last two weeks in August, and he said it was always the same. 'The English invasion will start next week' he said, which seems to be true.
I'd never known it so quiet, maybe 2 or 3 tables occupied. From beginning of September it's gets a lot busier!! Not only Medusa but everywhere else. So get out there early and get a table, before it's too late!

george g...
« Last Edit: August 06, 2008, 10:07:34 AM by George »

Offline Mike G

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« Reply #10 on: August 06, 2008, 01:24:27 PM »
Hello Chris,

If you have time why not convert some of your findings into reviews in the Article System. This puts all these useful observations in one place and makes it easier for newcomers to access it, as using the search facility is more time consuming.

Plakias can even be windy in May although with a lower probability than July and August. May is also much quieter than from mid/late September onwards, for some reason that I have never understood- one reason to prefer May! This isn't typical of Greece as a whole.

I agree about Medousa. Excellent food but no atmosphere when (as it often is) virtually empty. Perhaps Babbis ought to move to the seafront.

When I was at Heraklion airport the only smoking was in the upper corridor leading so the so called duty free shop. Made that area most unpleasant. Hope the Greeks become more civilised soon.

Mike

Offline JOHN N DEBS

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« Reply #11 on: August 06, 2008, 08:29:22 PM »
We've been back a week now we were very imperesed with Plakias , we were staying at KC Kostas Chrysoulla which was ok - basic kitchen and somewhere to flop with a small balcony.The room was kept tidy and the staff were friendly, we played Backgammon and drank there most nights at some point , the Barman Angelo was a really nice guy from Athens who knew loads about music , Crete and Greece in general , had some good talks with him , the raki there was good too- the bar and pool are open to non residents.
We did the bot trip with the guy from the Smerna bar , which was a good day out , he's a real character I liked his raki most of all it was slightly smoother than the rest, we spent a few evenings there too playing Backgammon and drinking.
Another trip we did was Prevelli, we had met a few people who had got stranded there and had to get the bus including one family with 4 kids , on the boat we were told we may have to come back early because of the sea and we will blow the horn when we arrive, so we hired a pedal boat 10e i think, assuming it went right up the stream not just around one bend , anyway we tied it up and made our way on foot for a while when we heard the ships horn so we along with about 20 others started scrambling back ove the rocks and joined the small Armade doing 20 knotts down stream , scrambled of the pedal boat only to find the boat sitting there , as it did for the next two hours ,anyway all was not lost we had a nice walk in the pine forest with a can of liptons ice tea ,yum , and had a conversation about John Lennon with a guy selling raki and Mellons with dreadlocks ' not the melons him '.
One day we did the walk to Miaco Ammoudhi , the English girl in the beach shop there is nice , on the day we went there were a couple of guys on the hilside with cameras and quite a few on the beach taking photos also it may have been all inocent but the people taking the photos all seemed to be single men. The beach here shelves very quickly where the waves break and a couple of people got into trouble here in the big waves.
I am a Vegi and was looking forward to trying Meze but didnt see it anywhere , the food we had everywhere was very good we went to Gorrona a few times i loved the Briam and roast veg , the two waiters here were good fun and were great with kids, we went also to Manoussos by KC , Harakis acouple of times also.
What we were really impressed with about the resteraunts here was that you don't get hasseled by the staff when you are outside reading the menu, have had occasions in the past in particular Mykanos and Venice wher we have almost been pulled into places - my attitude is always ' if they have to do this then the food must be crap'. Ireally hope this dos'nt change in Plakias .
One night we went to Mirthos we went in the first restraunt we came to in the taxi the food here was also first class and the views stunning, it was on a Tuesday and they had Cretian music on next door which made a nice atmosphere .
We went to Rethinon ? on the bus one day it was very hot witout the plakiwind it was ok there we the old port and shops were alright and had a bit more choice and you do need a break from the beach now and again.
We liked the Beach a lot the guy who collects the money had a weird blackcountry/greek accent , on investigation i found out that his wife is from Kideminster , it was a nice 'gawper free' beach just people doing there own thing and chillin out , everyone we met was nice. Other beaches we have been to in the past insist in pumping out euro trash hits from mid day , lets hope it dos'nt change.
Overall - Afirst class hol will we return - yes may or sept next time.
The minus points - wish the town was a bit bigger when we went to Mykanos we spent hours waking around lost it was great .
On our last day all the cashpoints went down so i couldnt buy to 20l of raki- we had 35 pounds which we changed to save the day , because the phones were down you could'nt use you cards to pay for things -they lost a lot of money that day,Get it sorted guys....
Plus points - the people , the food , the beach and yes the wind it was cool coming off the sea .

TIPS...................................................
1. Learn to play Backgammon , its free all over the net , and most of the bars have it here.
2. Smerna bar Raki off Captin Lefteris is a must
3. Be aware of the beach at Micra A - go on a calm day
4. If going to Prevelli make sure you have another plan to get home, its nice there but if you have small kids think about it        first the bus stop is a long way up the hill.
5. If you enjoy Plakias and walking check out 'the chinque terre' in Italy , only one small beach but very relaxed similar people to the Plakites
 
  If your still there hope you have found this usefull - may see you there in a coupe of years-J-D

Offline alipali

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« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2008, 08:59:32 PM »
Thanks for all the info guys and gals. Just twelve days and counting down. Enjoying the site.    

Offline Noopsy

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« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2008, 09:17:20 PM »
Quote from: JOHN N DEBS
What we were really impressed with about the resteraunts here was that you don't get hasseled by the staff when you are outside reading the menu
The Alianthos is a notable exception...  
Ελευθερία ή θάνατος

Offline JOHN N DEBS

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« Reply #14 on: August 07, 2008, 11:35:06 PM »
Is that the place at the end by the cashpoint on the corner ? Thanks for strugling thro my manuscript i was so tired at the end i forgot to edit it . Ive just had three wonderfull pints of Guiness , i would miss that if i lived away.