Honeymoon Day 7: Driving to Litochoro, Plaka Beach, Karl the Kitty, and Getting Ready for Mt. Olympus

When we disembarked from the ferry, we were much more refreshed and rested than when we got on the ferry. We said goodbye to our little ferry hotel and grabbed a cab to the Athens airport to pick up our rental car. Halfway through the cab ride I realized I left my dress and shoes on the ferry. That was one of my favorite dresses! Boo!

This cab ride was one of the more stressful – the cab driver spoke very little english and did not understand the phrase “rental car.” He drove in circles around the airport until we ran out of ways to explain to him where we needed to go. We eventually just told him to go to the “arrival” section of the airport, thinking the rental car area was nearby. It took us forever to find it. Dragging around our luggage was exhausting…we walked back and forth down the small sidewalks lining the airport roads until Andy finally noticed a sign hidden behind a tree indicating the rental car area. We drug our bags through the parking lot and found our car.

The first few minutes of the ride in our rental car was terrifying – probably more so for Andy than myself. The car was a manual and Andy intimated to me that he had not driven one in many years. I would never have guessed however – he got the hang of it quickly. But, the first twenty minutes or so were concerning. We jerked back and forth in some of the gears, ended up on the side of the road a few times, and had plenty of angry Greek drivers honking and yelling at us. I felt a little helpless; there was obviously nothing I could do to help Andy. But, I trusted him and knew he would figure it out. I was right; we were rolling along down the Greek highway in no time. 

At this point, Don started gaining a bit of a personality. He had kept pretty quiet since Santorini but Andy thought maybe he was just becoming accustomed to us and his new surroundings. On our way to Litochoro, he insisted on riding on the dashboard, and with Andy.

We were headed to a town in Greece called Litochoro with the Settlement of Plaka across the main highway. Litochoro (also called Litohoro or Litochorou), is a town in the southern part of the Pieria regional unit of Greece located at the base of Mt. Olympus. It’s an adorable town with two churches, Agios Nikolaos in the center of town, and Agios Dimitrios in the northern area of town. It also has numerous cute restaurants and cafes, a beautiful sprawling town hall, a little museum, and lots of shops and small markets. We stayed in the Plaka Settlement, which is essentially an extended coastline area east of Litochoro. The coastline of Plaka spreads from the foot of Olympus to the Thermaic Gulf and from Leptokarya to Gritsa.

The drive to Litochoro from Athens was beautiful and relaxing except for the GOD-AWFUL INSANE NUMBER OF TOLL ROADS. I was shocked. We went through NINE tolls. NINE. It was roughly 417 km from Athen to Litochoro, which is about 259 miles. That’s one toll about every 28 miles. It was crazy. Americans aren’t immune to tolls of course, yet we usually see them when crossing or passing through a unique or traffic-heavy area such as a bridge, tunnel, waterway, state/country border, etc. In Greece, along this main highway (E75), the tolls where just THERE. Like, right in the middle of the road. For no reason. Moreover, each toll fee was entirely random. The lowest toll was €1.20 (about $1.52), with the highest toll on the highway being €4.50 (about $5.71). At one point, on our way to Corfu (later blog post), a toll across a bridge cost €17 (about $21.56!!!). To cross a BRIDGE! We estimated that we spent about €30 ($38.04!) total on all the tolls from Athens to Litochoro. I could have bought a pair of shoes with that!

After spending our retirement and selling our belongings to pay the tolls, we arrived in the Plaka area and found our hotel. We stayed in a gorgeous and super posh hotel in Plaka with a private beach called Litohoro Olympus Resort Villas and Spa. If you are ever staying in this area, I highly recommend you stay at this hotel. It was simply gorgeous with a modern and classy feel to it. There was a beautiful restaurant inside, a friendly and hospitable staff, two huge beautiful connecting pools, a quaint outdoor bar, and a private beach with comfy chairs and a beach bar. I fell in love with this hotel and it was one of my favorite ones we stayed at. Don liked it too. Our room had a deck with beautiful views of Mt. Olympus.

We stayed at the beach for a few hours. It was relaxing and so perfect. We ordered a couple beers, split a chicken sandwich, swam, and soaked up the sun. I hadn’t relaxed like that in a long time and it felt really great.

The shade and wind forced us back into the hotel and we got ready for dinner. We considered driving across the highway to get dinner in Litochoro but decided to just go downstairs and experience the hotel restaurant, which seemed to have a fantastic menu. 

We sat outside at the pool bar for about a half hour before going into the restaurant. While outside, I met a little kitty (Andy said his name was Karl the Kitty). He was the cutest animal I had met so far; pretty orange and white fur with big excited ears and impossibly large eyes. He was so small and looked so hungry. I kept trying to get him to come to me so I could give him some food but he was skittish and scared and wouldn’t come within a few feet of me. Finally our table was ready and I had to give up on Karl. I waved goodbye to Karl and he just stared. 

The restaurant was clean and quiet, with a lengthy menu and a buffet option. Andy and I got a bottle of wine and ordered some food. Andy got the filet and I got pesto pasta. The restaurant had large sliding glass doors looking out to the pool; the staff kept them open on hot summer months and it kept the restaurant airy and full of light. It was a great dinner. In the middle of my dinner I felt something weird brush up against the back of my left leg. It scared me, and I pulled my leg back and looked under the table. This is what I saw:

Despite the fact that Karl’s discovery of me was likely entirely random, I would like to believe that he eventually figured out that I was an un-threatening friend who just wanted to give him some love. Either way, I was hooked immediately. I began to drop some pasta with cheese on the floor with a little cup of milk. Karl stayed under the table for the entire meal. 

After we finished eating, Karl was still there. He began playing with the strings on my purse, which were hanging over the side of the seat.

Andy: Ok, Tiny Wife, time for bed.

Me: But I want to say with Karl.

Andy: Is he STILL under there?

Me: Of course.

Andy: Ok, Tiny Wife, you can stay with Karl as long as you want.

Me: You can go upstairs if you want. I’m okay here.

Andy: Are you sure?

Me: Yes. I want to spend more time with him. He’s hungry and needs some hugs. I’ll be up soon.

Andy: Ok. I love you so much.

And, so I stayed. I gave Karl as much pasta as he wanted and a little bread. I was sitting on a long love seat bench with a cushion and an open seat next to me. At one point, he crawled his way up the side of the seat, sat next to me, and we played tug of war with the napkins on the chair.

I was about to leave when Karl laid his head down on my leg and fell asleep. I just couldn’t get up at that point. I think Karl was so tired and finally, maybe for the first time in his little kitty life, felt safe. I wanted him to be sure he could sleep as much as he wanted. I didn’t want him to be worried about another animal chasing him around or someone kicking him out of a warm spot. I would have stayed there for as long as it took.