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Bluelou's Home Away From Home...The Mabely Grand Hotel in Kampi, Greece
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The Mabely Grand Hotel in Kampi, Greece...The taxi driver who met me at the airport pronounced it "MAH-BA-LEE" like the bald dude in the 7-Up commercials.
On the night before my trip, I was trying to arrange a trip from the airport to this hotel. The hotel staff helped me connect the dots that I was landing in Athens yet needed a taxi to take me to the hotel to the island, over two-hundred miles away! I thought about the possibilities of renting a car or scrapping the island trip. Expedia.com to the rescue! I booked the flight from Athens to Zakynthos Island two hours before my first flight. I had a five-hour layover in the Athens airport and not much to do but read to kill time.
When I landed at my final destination, the winds were whipping. The taxi ride from the airport to the hotel seemed more like a rollercoaster ride rather than a car trip. I was seasick from the winding roads with hilly curves. Even the locals experienced this. Still, it didn't take much to realize the wisdom of the airplane rather than taking a car from Athens over land and via ferry.
On the night before my trip, I was trying to arrange a trip from the airport to this hotel. The hotel staff helped me connect the dots that I was landing in Athens yet needed a taxi to take me to the hotel to the island, over two-hundred miles away! I thought about the possibilities of renting a car or scrapping the island trip. Expedia.com to the rescue! I booked the flight from Athens to Zakynthos Island two hours before my first flight. I had a five-hour layover in the Athens airport and not much to do but read to kill time.
When I landed at my final destination, the winds were whipping. The taxi ride from the airport to the hotel seemed more like a rollercoaster ride rather than a car trip. I was seasick from the winding roads with hilly curves. Even the locals experienced this. Still, it didn't take much to realize the wisdom of the airplane rather than taking a car from Athens over land and via ferry.
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Bluelou's Home Away From Home...The Mabely Grand Hotel in Kampi, Greece...
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The hotel claimed to be a five star hotel. That’s subjective. Any hotel can claim to be a five star hotel. It was classy and they did take very good care of me. They had a dress code for the dining room. I discovered the dress code from their web site and inquired at the hotel. As I was waiting to be seated, the couple ahead of me in line discovered the dress code by accident. Even though the conversation wasn’t English, it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out the problem. Their clothes were wet from the pool and the maître’ d didn’t let them in. I did myself an internal hi-five as I got right in all due to my homework. I called my stay there "roughing it" as we couldn’t get the AC to work in my room until the very last day and the hotel only offered Wi-Fi internet only in the lobby. No internet is truly 'roughing it'! There were only five tv channels so I did a lot of reading. I got a kick out of the door man. I’d walk to the front desk, uphill from my room. He’d drive me back...the easy part.
The appearance of the hotel reminded me of the Ritz-Carlton we built in Jamaica many years ago.
The appearance of the hotel reminded me of the Ritz-Carlton we built in Jamaica many years ago.
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My Villa...
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From the back...
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Everybody in the pool...
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This was in the hotel lobby and I thought it was cool...
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In my Facebook post, as a tease, I called this "My first scuba-selfie". Of course, folks had to know the details.
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Ok, the diving...I prefer one dive but, like my Australia dive trip, I did two dives. FYI, diving has a physical impact on the body that I don’t like. Like Australia, in all likelihood, it was a once in a lifetime trip so I did two dives.
FYI, I left the infamous red lens filter for my camera in Kosovo. The photos are untreated except for size. You can compare the Greece diving photos with the Australia diving photos. The Australia photos have the red lens filter but the Greece photos do not.
On to the dive. Each time I go diving, it seems to be a new experience. My body mass was more than when I dove in Australia and I had a different wet suit. A longer dive, the dive shop gave me a larger tank. With all of these variables, it was a best guess as far as dive weights.
The actual diving was ok. The water was very clear but there wasn’t much to see in the line of sea creatures. Like golf, a bad day diving is better than a good day at the office. It was perfect weather for diving. With my travels, I’ve been to much better places to dive (Tanzania, Indonesia, Australia, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Oman). That’d be my recommendation. If in the neighborhood, I’d go diving. If not, I’d go somewhere else if I was looking for diving alone.
FYI, I left the infamous red lens filter for my camera in Kosovo. The photos are untreated except for size. You can compare the Greece diving photos with the Australia diving photos. The Australia photos have the red lens filter but the Greece photos do not.
On to the dive. Each time I go diving, it seems to be a new experience. My body mass was more than when I dove in Australia and I had a different wet suit. A longer dive, the dive shop gave me a larger tank. With all of these variables, it was a best guess as far as dive weights.
The actual diving was ok. The water was very clear but there wasn’t much to see in the line of sea creatures. Like golf, a bad day diving is better than a good day at the office. It was perfect weather for diving. With my travels, I’ve been to much better places to dive (Tanzania, Indonesia, Australia, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, and Oman). That’d be my recommendation. If in the neighborhood, I’d go diving. If not, I’d go somewhere else if I was looking for diving alone.
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The diving...
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A small cave. Even these short caves give me claustrophobia but I trudge on.
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Every dive site has a name given to it by the locals. This one was appropriately named as 'The Arch'.
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The diving...
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Last dive photo...
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There were lots of folks buzzing around the island on quads (4-wheel ATVs). I used to own one. They used the all-terrain tires. It didn’t add up. Like a dirt track racer, a quad is counter-steered when at speed. You turn the handle bars in the opposite direction of the desired turn and kick the back out as well. The all-terrain tires with the dried asphalt paving are a recipe for disaster. When the tires catch traction, look out. The asphalt will cause premature wear for the tires. This did nothing to dissuade the riders.
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If Bluelou heads to the beach, it's obligatory for that special beach shot that shows how hard Bluelou has it. Here's that shot!
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Yes...it's a money grab.
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Watching the sun set.
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2) the view of the Acropolis from the roof of the hotel is distracted by the neighbors' roof.
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Here's a night photo of the Acropolis from the roof of the hotel.
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A view of the Athens skyline. - Click on image.
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Metro Stadium...holds up to 60,000 people.
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An ancient observatory.
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The site of the ancient Olympics.
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The site of the ancient Olympics.
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The changing of the guard..
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The unknown Soldier...
