We left Athens yesterday on the Blue Star Paros ship – the trip took 4.5 hours to get from Piraeus in Athens to Paros – a total of 95 Nautical Miles.

The view from our balcony

Last night there was a festival in our town of Pisso Livadi where there was music and dancing and a free ouzo and octopus with bread and cheese and cucumber.

There was also boats in the harbour with red flares and some fireworks.

The view from the hotel roof top bar – the area is not flash, the hotel rooms are basic, the view is great.

We arrived yesterday at our hotel – the hotel is nice and clean and tidy. It was easy to find from the bus station – about 5-10 minutes walk.

Quite modern in some ways with TV’s that can be used to check email and browse the Internet.

But outside it is pretty grotty – last night there were lots of young people drinking and when we returned from a restaurant there was a small scuffle and there is lots of litter out there.

We went out looking for a restaurant last night and wondered around and could not find anything – lots of bars with people drinking but no restaurants. We went back to the hotel and asked where they were and headed towards the old town.

We went past a small Ristorante Pizzeria that looked good – we went in and Pam ordered Taglietalle with Mushrooms and I ordered a pizza.

The dish’s were HUGE – look the the size of the plates compared to the fork. This was a massive meal of pasta for pam and my pizza was larger than the plate.

Pizza was 8 euro, pasta was 9 euro, 3 euro cover charge.

We ate in our Hotel the first night we arrived in Hallstatt.

The menu looked good, was quite expensive compared to other places, and Pam had seen good reviews online.

Chris had a roast beef with onions and potato – the beef was overcooked and generally pretty boring, the gravy tasted like a Maggi gravy mix or something like that. Quite disappointing.

Pam had a whole trout from the lake – it should have been great but it was overcooked as well and generally pretty boring to look at. Presentation skills not on the agenda here.

Costs:

• Chris – 16 EURO
• Pam – 20 Euro
• There was also a tax of 2.80 per person for eating after 6pm – bit of a con really especially since you are staying in the hotel.

The yellow building is our hotel  - Hotel Grüner Baum on the edge of Lake Hallstat. If you count the windows from the top of the building our room was located at the  6th and 7th window with a huge balcony. It is a fantastic location right in the center of town.

Our room and balcony

The room is very spacious and includes a small tv, there is no air-con (could be a problem in summer) and no fridge. The balcony for this room is very large. Our room number was 203 which is on the 2nd level – no elevator – but a simple climb up two levels.

The other side of the hotel overlooking the town square

A pretty similar view of the town square taken in 1888, 122 years ago.

The breakfast room in the hotel

http://www.hotelcorali.gr

Hotel Corali is situated in the enchanting site of Piso Livadi Paros, 100 meters from the beach and 200 meters from Piso Livadi center. It provides rooms and apartments, with shower/WC, telephone, music, TV, refrigerator, A/C and private balconies with excellent sea view. There is also a reception hall with breakfast room, cocktail bar, sitting room, TV lounge, free Internet Wi-Fi access.  Excursions around Paros or to the neighbouring islands can be organized.

http://www.attaloshotel.com/

In addition to the hotel's modern facilities, there are 80 rooms, and a roof garden with a fantastic view of the Acropolis ...

The A in the map is the hotels location, the green park area below it is the home to the Acropolis.

 http://www.albergopostatrieste.it/uk/camere/camere_en.htm

47 personalized rooms to provide the very best of hospitality: at the first floor, the romantic rooms, comfortable and classic, for those who love a more intimate atmosphere. On the three upper floors, the "business" rooms, furnished in a hypermodern style with an eye on design.

http://www.hoteli-piran.si/en/

Piran is an ancient coastal town on the most western headland of Slovenian Istria. Its first inhabitants settled here in the middle of the 5th century and in the 13th century it was taken over by Venetians. It was then that this small old town started to develop and prosper.

In spite of a turbulent past Piran has retained its distinctive charm. Written records mentioning the town of Piran go back to pre-Roman times. Over the centuries the townspeople have made their living by fishing, handicrafts and trade in goods such as salt, wine, oil and fish.

http://www.hotel-emonec.com/

Garni hotel Emonec offers a self-service breakfast. All rooms are ensuite. Towels are provide in the rooms and are changed every day. Each room also has SAT TV, telephone, access to the internet ( LAN and Wireless) and safety deposit box.

On the map below A is the Bus Station in Ljubljana (http://www.ap-ljubljana.si/eng/) and B is the Hotel Emonec.