Atenas

Days 27 - 29 in Atenas

January 7 - 9

We left for Atenas at 8:40 in the morning and arrived at our Bed and Breakfast at 11:40 with no problems.  It was a bit of a long, hot bus ride and we were ready for a swim when we arrived.  The bus transfers went smoothly and we were able to get in the correct lines.  I was even able to tell the last driver where we needed to stop, since it was outside of town and he said  he would tell us when we reached that stop, which he did. 

The bed and breakfast was really beautiful.  We were to be the only guests for the two nights we were staying which was nice.  The owners, a Canadian couple that lived in one of their five rooms, were very nice and we enjoyed visiting with them.  We felt more like we were staying with friends than in a bed and breakfast.  The bed and breakfast was designed in a Bali style, so there were very few walls. 

Here is the main living / dining room / kitchen. 

There are no walls, just a roof held up by pillars.  There is a drainage channel around the perimeter for when it rains. 

I think I would love washing dishes at this sink that is open into the garden.

 

The pool was nicely shaded and had a nice adjoining cabana that was perfect for reading.

                                                                                          

We loved the bar stools in the pool.

Our room was a bit more open than we expected.  This is the covered walkway outside the rooms. 

The front wall of our room was only screens.  In order to get a breeze, you have to leave the curtains open some. 

It was nice and refreshing, but I am not sure that I would have liked it if there had been other guests walking by after you went to bed.  We did get awakened a couple of times by noising birds outside and the neighbors burning trash. 

The town of Atenas was really nice.  We really liked it.  It was smaller and quieter than Grecia, but had all the things you would need. 

The church and park were in the center of town. 

One of our favorite restaurants when we were visiting in South Carolina was La Carreta.  We found one in Atenas.

Lunch there was very good.  We ate dinner the night before at "La Tocha" which was excellent.  It was completely open air also and the food was fabulous.  All the other guests were foreign tourists.  We noticed a lot of expats around Atenas and Pat from the B&B said there is an expat ladies group that meets in Atenas every  Wednesday.  We stopped in to visit with a realtor and found several promising properties.  Atenas is definately on our short list for when we return.  It was a very nice town that was close to the bigger cities and close to the highway making it an easy drive to the beach. 

It took us exactly three hours to get back to our apartment from Atenas and we had no problems again with our bus transfers.  When we arrived back, we were greeted by a beautiful rainbow over the mountains near us.