Here is a report from Kassandra - the Greek Riviera. I (Peter) went alone with some other bloggers because Helena has no holiday left. It is not good, because we want to be able to have a high quality when we write and blog. Taking photos, filming, taking 360 photos and using the drone at the same time, as well as getting all the information, is not possible. I will try in a few days to show what I experienced in wonderful Kassandra. Stay tuned!
Table of contents
Greece
This was the first time in Greece for real. We were in northern Greece when we were on our one year trip with the campervan and we didn't have time for more. I went to Kassandra with curiosity and came home with joy. To get so much warmth and love in three days is crazy.
There was a delegation of 14 people waiting for us and with us all the time, and I already feel like one of the family. They laugh, dance, hug and really live every day and this is beyond all expectations.
Cassandra
We start with the goddess Cassandra, daughter of Priam and Hecuba of Troy, to whom the god Apollo was attracted and gave the gift of seeing the future. She was not very interested in Apollo, so he sent a curse on her according to the legends. Love is not always easy, haha. Kassandra belongs to the Halkidiki peninsula in Greece and is one of the three legs that extend into the Mediterranean Sea.
The Greek Riviera
Cassandra is the most famous of the 'three legs' with its white sandy beaches, cliffs and long pine-clad plains providing a stunning contrast. It offers everything from beach life with water sports, nightlife, quiet spots or family holidays. There is also everything from simple hotels, renting a room with a Greek family and up to a 7-star hotel called 'The Hotel'. Sani Dunes.
Here we lived
We stayed at the Amun Zeus hotel and here you can see it in a 360 photo. I've taken the pixels down so everyone can spin around and see what it looks like.
Beach life
Me and Christian from Food and travel blog got the chance to experience beach life at one of the hippest places in Kassandra. It's called Cabana Beach bar and is located on Paliouri Beach. It is owned by a man who is Greek and has lived in Sweden for many years, and speaks Swedish. He's going to visit his son in October who lives in Stockholm, and I've invited him to the houseboat so we'll see if he comes.
Here is the film
Have you been to Greece and what did you think?
This trip was a press trip.
Lennart says:
Greece is on the list.
We have friends who are there with a motorhome right now!
20 September 2017 - 7:36
Peter says:
Hi Lennart! I can only recommend Greece strongly. There are so many countries to go to, but if you want very good food and meet nice people, it is a good choice.
20 September 2017 - 17:35
Anna, New York - My Bite of the Big Apple says:
How wonderful with Kassandra! But too bad that Helena could not follow.
I was there too, in Kalithea, after high school on a train trip. We moved on from Yugoslavia where it was raining to get guaranteed Greek sun. 🙂 There were hardly any Swedes there at that time and we simply lived with an old man who rented out.
I love Greece and have probably been there more than in New York even. 🙂
It's fun to take pictures of a jet-set place with champagne! Quite far from the train traveller life, haha.
20 September 2017 - 7:42
Anna, New York - My Bite of the Big Apple says:
Varit*
20 September 2017 - 7:43
Peter says:
We got a good harvest of all sorts of things and the main attraction was the food and the people. A bit of jetset came as a bonus. We will be going back again.
20 September 2017 - 17:37
Mr Steve says:
I love Greece and the Greeks and visited the country countless times 1977-1999. so this is a post that gives me wonderful vibes. Now they have also begun to recover from the economic crisis a few years ago when the media issued daily doomsday prophecies about the country.
20 September 2017 - 8:08
Peter says:
I think it has got better and what I enjoyed. Other countries may have a lot to show off and a lot of luxury, but the people and the regular food, which is very high quality, was very impressive. We will go back.
20 September 2017 - 17:40
Anette Åhnbrink says:
Have I been to Greece? And what did I think? Haha, though I'm probably waiting for what you're going to write more about and all the nice pictures that I guess you have! Personally, I probably think more about Sithonia the other leg, better for motorhomes there and a little wilder, but you are woman enough to be able to change your mind, so go on with Greece???/Anette
20 September 2017 - 8:51
Peter says:
Haha! There are campsites everywhere in Greece along the coasts. I can not say anything about Sithoina because I have not been there. We will probably start working with Kassandra to bring down more tourists. I will try to increase the number of tourists but we were only there for two days. There will be more.
20 September 2017 - 17:43
Ama de casa says:
Oh how wonderfully lovely it looks!
Haha! I'll steal that trick from you immediately: "some bubbly FOR OUR PHOTOS". I take photos all the time, so it will be perfect! But I'll settle for cava, I think. Since I take so many photos, I don't want to be ruined... 😀.
I feel sorry for Helena who could not join us.
20 September 2017 - 10:15
Emma, sun like sun? says:
Haha, yes, because there is usually no glass in your photos ... 😀.
20 September 2017 - 12:41
Peter says:
Haha! They asked what we needed for our photos and we said champagne, and they said "no problem". We will go down again because they want to work with us, and it's just a question of when?
20 September 2017 - 17:46
Emma, sun like sun? says:
Sounds like a wonderful place to have a holiday! I haven't been to mainland Greece, but I did spend a week in Crete with my mum just before I started studying classical Greek in high school. It was an absolutely unforgettable trip with hikes around Knossos and other fun excursions like hiking in a ravine and swimming in waterfalls!
20 September 2017 - 12:45
Peter says:
If you want sun, swimming, food and nice people, it is really good. We will go down again and find out even more on behalf of Kassandra. There will be more info.
20 September 2017 - 17:47
Mr Frank Olsen says:
Nice that you have finally made it to Greece Peter, or Greece as we say in Norway ? Too bad that Helena could not join you. A little extra greeting to her, maybe the opportunity arises next year ?
Of course we have been to Greece! We have had a house in Crete since 2007. We love Crete and spend almost half the year down there now. Otherwise, we have been to Lesbos in the early 2000s, and we were in almost all of Greece during our campervan trip in 2016. Greece is a wonderfully beautiful country with wonderfully nice and hospitable people and with wonderfully good food. However, we did not visit Kassandra during the motorhome trip, but the middle leg of Halkidiki we were out on.
If anyone wants to read about it, you can start here: http://janneogfrank.blogspot.no/2016/09/flott-fossefall-i-edessa.html?m=1
20 September 2017 - 15:22
Peter says:
Yes, Frank. You are so right for having a place in Greece, and we hope to visit you this summer. kassandra will grow with our help.
20 September 2017 - 17:49
micromanagement dialogue says:
I have never been to Greece, but am very keen. Have been thinking about Skopelos for a long time. But also other places. So you have to see. Fun to follow you.
cuddles
20 September 2017 - 15:50
Peter says:
Thank you Mickan! There will be more reports in the coming days about food and joy. Greece is a safe place to holiday if you want sun.
20 September 2017 - 17:51
Ruth in Virginia says:
Here we are again
I shudder, when I see all the deckchairs lined up in front of the building.
the large, white hotel, which does not fit in with the surroundings at all.
And that ******* hotel !!!! Sterile as a hospital.
"Your" hotel looks much nicer.
The M0^et on the beach - perfectly OK (until the ice melts) 🙂 ðŸ™'
I've never understood the whole super-luxury thing; makes me
unpleasantly affected. Even if I had lots of money, I think...
I didn't think I would check in there.
Fortunately, you can choose what you want and what you like.
Nice to be there anyway. - Have unfortunately never been to Greece.
The closest I came was on a night train from Rotterdam,
when I shared a sofa with three Greek sailors who had just signed on.
off and going home. Quite interesting that! 🙂
20 September 2017 - 17:09
Peter says:
Hi Ruth! It's been a while... I promise the ice didn't melt because we only had 10 minutes before we had to move on. I'm never really impressed by luxury and you know that, but it should be included in photos and films, because there are many who want it. I am so impressed by the people, who are the most wonderful people I have ever met. The food is of a very high standard in all places. By that I mean that the standard food tastes very good. There will be a bit about food tomorrow.
20 September 2017 - 17:56
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
I really love Greece, the Greeks, their food with all the fresh vegetables and fruits. However, I am "allergic" to large hotels and beaches packed with sunbeds. A place on the mainland that we really liked is Parga, which, despite the fact that several companies run charters there, feels quite genuine. We spent a week in a small village in Crete in August and it wasn't bad either.
20 September 2017 - 17:38
Peter says:
I understand you when it comes to packing up. We went to some small resorts with great food and there you could be more alone. There are so many different places to choose from. We will go down again and find out more places in Cassandra, so more reports will come.
20 September 2017 - 18:00
Arne Lindh says:
It was very sad that I wasn't there. Imagine how much more fun it would have been for everyone, especially me. But you seem to have done well anyway! Almost shamefully well. That's so funny. We hope to be on a trip with you again, so I say: see you,
20 September 2017 - 18:17
Peter says:
Thank you Arne! That's really nice to hear and of course we will go again. We would probably have a lot of fun together, wouldn't we! We do quite a lot of fun in life and then maybe you live longer?
21 September 2017 - 14:08
Matts Torebring says:
We have only been to Greece once. Ten days is great for me, then I miss the life of moving around. Take care!
20 September 2017 - 18:41
Peter says:
Hi Matts! But if you have a motorhome with you, you can move around a lot, or you can rent a car and live in many places.
21 September 2017 - 14:09
Husis blog says:
The owners are currently looking for alternatives for the male owner's mum, who has a birthday next summer. This was a great idea, thank you!
20 September 2017 - 20:01
Peter says:
If you would like help, I can organise something special for you, and you are welcome to contact me.
21 September 2017 - 14:10
BP says:
It's really unfortunate that you don't have a travel blog, because I'm starting to get a bit jealous of you and Helena;-) Maybe I should change my mind and stop doing all the weird stuff on my blog;-).
The film was great and I was a bit surprised that in many pictures there was not a single person, while it was full at the end. I guess you had to get up "in the middle of the night" to take photos and film.
Have not been to the mainland but have been to various Greek islands. Completely agree with you about how nice the people are. The food on the islands, on the other hand, was no big deal, apart from Halloumi;-)
20 September 2017 - 20:06
Peter says:
Haha! just saddle up or we will have to bring in a helper:-). The food is extremely good so I wonder where you have been to for jams?
It is an art to film and photograph so it looks like no one is there, haha. Think how calm and nice we had:-).
21 September 2017 - 14:13
Ninny says:
Oh, Greece! Have been there several times, in Crete three times and in the Ionian Islands as many times (Lefkas, Kefalonia - wonderfully beautiful!) and I have also been to the Kassandra peninsula once, I think it was in 2010. We stayed in Hanioti, on the eastern side. We rented a car, and drove around to different villages and cosy little beaches both on Kassandra and on the other "leg", Sithonia. Sithonia was less "touristy", very beautiful and peaceful! But liked Kassandra too, and have talked about travelling there some more time.
So sad that Helena did not get to come along... You can of course go to Greece together soon. I like Greece, it is cosy and relaxed, good food and fantastic beaches and baths. At least where I have been.
20 September 2017 - 20:13
Peter says:
Swedes are known to like Greece. It is just as you say the food, swimming, sunshine and the wonderful people. I have to show Helena everything in the spring.
21 September 2017 - 14:15
Travelsis says:
Ooh, Greece! You can't travel there too often. I have visited different places ever since I was a child, but now it's been a while so soon it will be Greece again. Parga on the mainland is one of my favourites, even though it's almost 20 years since I was there.... Poor Helena, but then you have to go there again soon? ☀️
20 September 2017 - 20:42
Peter says:
Haha, I promise to take Helena down there and ride around for all the joy and food. I think we are going back to Kassandra because they want help with tourism from me.
21 September 2017 - 14:17
pilla says:
Doesn't look very nice to me. I prefer small cosy islands.
20 September 2017 - 22:07
Peter says:
There are lots of cosy little islands off Kassandra. I will try to get it next time.
21 September 2017 - 14:18
Ditte says:
How nice to come back here to Cassandra 30 years later via you. We spent three weeks here in the area, three very nice weeks. And we came back a couple of years later and enjoyed it just as much then. We recognise Pefkori, Kalithea and Paliouri. The beach is very nice and we made some excursions to Thessaloniki and to Sitonia where I remember the monks live. But it has changed a lot from the little small-scale to something else, which is a bit sad.
Understand that you had three full days and more time is needed to take in what you experience.
20 September 2017 - 22:50
Peter says:
Hi Ditte! It's probably not much different today. The Greeks have always been short of money. Of course, several luxury hotels have been built, but it looks very much the same as before. We need to go there again to get more of Kassandra, and with Helena of course.
21 September 2017 - 14:24
Anna in Dubai says:
"Needs champagne for the photo" Really good excuse. I will always remember that now. Must preferably then thank you. Peter, you would have fit in perfectly in Dubai 🙂 .
21 September 2017 - 9:33
Peter says:
Haha! I needed to blend in with the jetsetters... I've never been to Dubai but maybe it comes with pyjamas?
21 September 2017 - 14:25
Anna in Dubai says:
Yes, but just come! You are always welcome and I will make sure you get champagne so that we continue to maintain your high standards. Either champagne or we'll set up a speech in the oven so you can get a taste of what it's like to be a Bedouin. You like real travelling experiences.
26 September 2017 - 8:22
Lena - good for the soul says:
Wow, it looks really wonderful! Understand that you enjoyed! Nope, have never been to Greece. It just has not happened.
Hug Lena
28 September 2017 - 19:32