Thassos, Greece- Day 7

We have reached our last day in Thassos and I feel sad even when I am writing this, is like my vacation being over all over again.

This will be a pretty short post, because we went to Thassos City, Limenas for the second time, to be done with the shopping.

We did have  a lot more time to visit it than the previous time, so we started with shopping and then walked around and had some early dinner.

We bought some other gifts and mor of the stuff we previously liked a lot, like pine and orange honey, dried olives and some fig candy.

We relaxed a bit on a pier, also looking for a restaurant, then decided to visit the old theatre. You are supposed to climb a lot of stairs to reach it and it was pretty exhausting.

Unfortunately, on our way, we discovered a sign, saying the that the theatre could not be visited because it was being restored. Ironic, but we kept climbing hoping we would still get to see something.

We got a pretty nice view, but that was it. No ruins, no old theatre, just some heavy machines and some stay-out-signs. :)

So we got back and went to look a restaurant that we read about on most reviews about Limenas, Muses.

It turned out the restaurant was really ok, the food was good and the service, as usual, really ok.

This was the view from the tavern. The atmosphere is greek, the decor is very traditional and you have the sea so close to you. You can find Muses (or Mouses) right next to the harbour, where you take the ferry.

We had some traditional oven baked Greek meatballs with tomato sauce and a salad with peaches and sesame.

The complimentary dessert was delicious, a gorgeous chocolate cake.

By now, everything got sad. The next day, we woke up, took all our bags out and waited for a bus to take us to the ferry.

I hope you enjoyed reading our daily vacation stories, I hope you find them usefull, I do encourage everybody to visit Thassos, it was so much fun and relaxing.

Goodbye Greece....

Thassos, Greece- Day 6

After the faboulous storm from the evening before, we did not expect the beautiful weather wainting for us in the morning.

After some well-deserved sun-bathing, some tennis playing  and some goofing around in the water, we talked to each other about how this lunch should be all about fish and sea food. We remember a nice place at the limits of Skala Potamia, that we saw and that our guide talked about in our first day.

It is called Captain, it is a fish tavern and it is worth the walk. From Golden Beach you can walk on the beach until you see the restaurant. The walk was really pleasant, it was really sunny, the sea was calm. Basically, you walk from Golden Beach to Golden Beach Camp (the beach for the camping area) and then to Skala Potamia.

Captain is the 2nd or 3rd restaurant in Skala Potamia, right on the beach, so it is really easy to spot if you walk on the beach. 

The food was no dissapointment: we had some fresh tuna souvlaki, which was so good and filling. and the best grilled octopus ever.

The octopus was cooked to perfection and eating it on the beach is definetely the best way to do it.

Honestly, just take a look, this was our view while enjoying the lunch. Not to shabby! Oh, memories! 

Walking with your feet in the sand, you can also spot the differences in the resorts. While Golden Beach is best known for the fine, golden sand and wide beach, as you come close to Skala Potamia, the beach is very rocky.

In that way, the water is perfect for snorkeling, but beware of sea urchins. It is best that you buy those special shoes  before going in.

We got back to our room for a quick shower, then back to our sunbeds. At sunset, we decided to go to a little bay area we could see from the beach.

We met some adorable cats on our way and  took some more pictures.

The place was filled with fishing boats and large blocks of marble. Again, the view was amazing and I saw some mansions that made me really jealous. :)

The water was beautiful and turquoise and you could easily spot the sea urchins here.  I was actually quite curious to see one up close, without getting hurt, so, if you are as curious, here you go.

Fascinating creatures, aren't they?

After our sea urchin hunt, we got back to the room and got ready for dinner. On our way to the taverns we stopped at some really old olive tree garden for some pictures.

Of course, petting a cat is not optional on this island. Oh, and in our last days of vacation I realised I fancy taking pictures of me walking. :)

We chose a light dinner, with some vine leaves rolls, some tzatziki and an arabian salad.

The salad was amazing and huge. It had rucola, tomatoes, salad leaves, bacon, fried haloumi and pita.
It was really tasty and flavorful.

For dessert, we finally went for Greek yogurt with honey and nuts and raisins. How can something so simple be so delicious and satisfying?

They also served us some mixed pudding on the house, so ordering dessert was not such a good idea.
We are definetely getting fat on this holiday.

The beach was really stunning that evening, it was like it was compesating for the previous night.                                          

Thank you for reading,

Thassos, Greece- Day 5

Visiting Panagia was one of the things we just had to do in this vacation. So, we actually dedicated one day to this little trip.

So we were again on the bus and in about 15-20 minutes we arrived. Panagia is a beautiful little village, let's say, that you can go to for shopping, just for a nice walk and taking pictures or to find out more about making olive oil.

I really enjoyed shopping in Panagia because you find many small, family shops, where you can buy homemade olive oil (each family says they have the best oil), homemade drinks, soaps or home accessories. 

As far as restaurants go, I have to say you can find other places with a lot more options, but the food we had was good.

Let's just start with the environment, to create a context. :) Panagia is a typical mountain village. The streets are narrow and they give you a home and comfort feeling. I have to say you can really walk a lot to see the village, you climb up and then go down a lot and everywhere you see beautiful houses, with lots of plants and grape vines. Also, olive trees, pine trees, pomegranate, lime and fig trees everywhere.

What I liked the most were the houses painted  in the traditional Greek blue or the ones with the facades constructed from beautiful local stone.

For a break we stopped at Elena's, a tavern that serves traditional food, so we went all traditional. We ordered Greek moussaka and eggplant stuffed with minced meat. 

Obviously, the moussaka had aubergines and both of the dishes had bechamel on top,  so they tasted almost the same. It was ok, although they didn't put so much effort in the kitchen to make the dishes appealing. Serving fries with everything must be really convenient, but if the moussaka had a potatoes layer, I honestly don't see the point of chips. 

Anyway, the dishes had a nice, home-cooked-meal-approach and that was exactly what we asked for, to try something cooked the way the locals would serve it in their homes, for their families.

After lunch, we rushed to a place we just had to see. It was a place where they show you how they make olive oil. In the front, there was a big room with a nice little showroom.

Here you could buy all sorts of olive oil and olive oil products. Olives, balms, small olive wood decor, soaps, olive seed bracelets, etc. here, I bought  some *healing* balms, magnets and an amazingly moisturizing olive oil liquid soap.

You could also learn more about the production process  through a screen, see some tools and other interesting things. Information is the key....even in your time off, I guess!

In the back of the building, you could actually see how the oil is produced traditionally.....

...and how it is made in factories.

Also, we discovered how smooth and amazing olive tree wood (is that how you call it?) is. Honestly, it is really cool. *childish excitement here*

We also bought some other stuff in Panagia, that we couldn't find in Thassos City, so the trip was very pleasant. We had some homemade olive oil, some pomegranate drink made with Metaxa (will try that in a super-cold evening), a lot of handmade pillow cases and a wooden Pinocchio puppet (adorable) for my nephew.

I loved Panagia, really loved it. We both did actually, we wanted to move there immediately. It was such a cozy but fascinating place, I always had the feeling that I somehow interfere in locals' lives, but they didn't seem to mind that. So full of life, but peaceful, if that makes any sense.

When we got back to our room- surprise- a storm started. The view from our balcony after the storm left you breathless. The mountains you could see above Skala Potamia seemed to be steamy, with clouds rising up in the mountains.

And, not very far away, above the water we spotted a little (I have no idea if it was little or big, just guessing) tornado. Can you see it?

We started to doubt the weather to come in the next days, but, as it turned out, we had nothing to be afraid off.

Stay tuned for the next story,