Greece TR May 1 2018
We decide to go to Israel for Lag baomer from NYC.
On our way back we will stop in Santorini Greece for a few days.
Trip planning
2 weeks before our trip I was looking for some advice on Dan Deals but there was not much information on the Greece thread. So it was little hard doing my own homework.
First I had to decide in which area to stay and decided on Oia. Then to decide which hotel to choose in Oia, so many hotels came up and most of them had good reviews.
Finally I booked La Perla Villas. It had very good reviews, from the pictures I saw the hotel has beautiful views. Part of the amenities were that they have a big refrigerator so I can keep my kosher food in it.
I booked tickets from TLV to ATH to JTR.
There are not many flights from Tlv to JTR. You have morning flights or you have to stay overnight in ATH.
Our flight was with Aegean Air it leaves 5:10 am with a stop in Ath and arrives 11:10 am total of 2 tickets were $280.00.
I booked a car on Priceline with Avis. Total cost for 3 days was $140.00
I ordered food from Chabad of Athens. It wasn’t cheap but was worth it. They shipped it with a ferry and our hotel concierge picked it up at the dock and delivered to our room. When we arrived to the hotel all the food was there. Every single dish breakfast and dinner was delicious.
My coming home flight I used 200k Alaska points, flew with Emirates business class that leaves 5:20 pm from Ath.
Since we were in Israel we emailed the hotel we were meant to stay if they can send someone pick up our food from the port. They emailed back what kind of food r u bringing, you can’t bring any food to our hotel as you will not have where to keep it.
We emailed back and forth about the issue, I sent them pictures where it says on their website large refrigerator in the room. But to no avail. They will not allow us to bring in food and they made us cancel our reservation. To make a long story short we had nowhere to stay and had to start looking for a place all over again.
It was not easy as most places were booked or way too expensive. I finally found a nice place called Hyperion Oia Suites, we had the best time there, the view was amazing and the hotel was beautiful.
04/30/18
We woke up at 2:00 am after sleeping just 2 hours to go the airport to catch our 5:10 am flight to Athens. When we arrived to TLV airport the lines to security before check in were very long. After waiting about 30 minutes in line I realized that my hand luggage is not mine. I guess when we came out of the rental shuttle our suitcases got mixed up and someone took mine. I had my tefillin in there and my laptop and lots of food for our trip. Help! What do we do now? So I went to security and told them what happened. They told me to open that suitcase and see if I find the name of the passenger. Luckily there was some medication in the suitcase (and some dirty laundry). The security operator paged this persons name on the loudspeakers to come to security.
This older couple shows up and says they already checked in their luggage and since it’s a short flight for them they checked in the hand luggage too. His flight was 6:20 am. The fun begins. Security did not let him check his hand luggage or remove our suitcase from the checked bags for security purposes. The only thing we can do is make both of us miss our flights. Once the flight leaves they will return that persons luggage and our hand luggage.
We begged and begged. Then finally they said ok they will let the guy check his hand luggage they will remove our luggage but we can only get it back once that flight leaves. That means we are missing our flight.
So we miss our flight and wait patiently for security to bring us our hand luggage. I did not want to book another flight before I have my luggage. It was too risky. At 7am I got my hand luggage. We were so tired and couldn’t think straight what to do next.
Lesson learnt always double check your luggage at all times!
04/30/18 7:00 AM
We have our luggage and what do we do. There were no normal tickets out of Israel to Athens. We were ready to cancel our trip but no refund for food hotel and car and plane to come home it wasn’t worth it. We saw a ticket but it was too close to check in we couldn’t book it online so we went to the ticket desk. We booked a flight with Pegasus air from Israel to Turkey from Turkey to Athens and from Athens to Santorini. Instead of Arriving 10 am we arrived 11pm.
We flew with Pegasus Airlines paid for the total of the new tickets $380.00
The plane left at 10:35 Am TLV to SAW. Our stop over there was 4 hours. From there we flew to Athens with a stop of 1 hour. Once we arrived to Ath we ran to the gate to Santorini. It was the last flight of the day so we had to make it. Flight was 7:50pm with Olympic air.
Overall it was a long day. The flights were ok. The service was great. Hashem wanted us to be there a day later so we take it with open hands.
Our flight that day
Arriving in ATH nice views
Arriving in JTR small airport u can see the airport from the sky
The plane ride from Ath to Jtr only took 30 minutes. It’s a small airport. We got our luggage and we were out 15 minutes later. When you come out there is a counter for car rental. There was no line I had the keys in 10 minutes.
When I picked up the car he asked if I have an international license, I said no he said its ok I can rent you a car but if you get stopped by a police you will get a 1000 euro fine. The entire time in Greece I didn’t see any police.
It was 9:15pm by the time we left the airport. The way to our hotel in Oia took 30 minutes. It’s a beautiful scenic route but at night its pitch dark. The roads are very curvy so you have to drive very slow.
Once I got closer to the hotel, they told me where I have to park and the concierge was waiting for me there to take my luggage. From parking to the hotel is a 5 minute walk.
The guy was extremely nice and helpful. He showed us everything. He kept on asking if we need anything. He gave us his personal cell number so we can call him with any information we want.
We got to our suite, the look of it was amazing. Like in a cave. A huge box with all our food was there waiting for us. The private Jacuzzi overlooking the water was very tempting. Se we quickly warmed up some food and relaxed in the Jacuzzi and called it a night.
We were very happy and relaxed that we finally made it to Greece.
Our Food in the box waiting for us
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