[Joe T]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

We stayed at Firostefani too. Hw you spent $35K on 4 people is fucking beyond me though.

flights were $12k (premium economy, direct flights)
2 nights in Athens $1000 per room x 2 rooms= $2000
3 night suite in mykonos was $3500
3 night in santorni was $1800 per room x 2= $3600

so flights and hotels were $21,000
meals at $500-600 per day= lets say $5500

day on the catamaran $1000
shopping Who the 'eff knows... but lets say $2k


so I was a little high at my guess of $35K, looks like closer to $30

Certainly we could have done it cheaper (and will next time). The kids won't come with us again, slight changes to hotels would save a ton. less $20 drinks on the pool

[Joe T]

Originally Posted by chassis

Congrats on the trip! Photos look great.

What didn’t you like about the restaurant service?

Are flights from/to the U.S. included in the $35k?

everything is sooo slow. Here, I can go out to a nice dinner, order drinks, order dinner, occasional dessert, service checks on you a few times throught your time there, asks if you need anything else get a 2nd or 3rd drink, and be out in under 90 minutes, probably closer to 60.

There, you wait for your server to come, you order, and wait, get your food, and wait, maybe they come back to see if you want coffee/dessert, then you wait for the check. Don't think we had a dinner that took less then 2 hours, and we were chasing a server down for a check.

And I LOVE fish, every menu has a great menu of fresh caught fish.... here in the US they cut a steak or a filet and you get a portion, in Greece it was order by the fish and there's kilo price on the menu.
My kids don't eat fish, so if I wanted fish, both my wife and I needed to want the same thing.

[BMW F22]

You definitely went ballin’ on that trip Joe. Glad you had fun!

$35K is a few years of traveling for me. Lol
For reference, I usually spend on average $2-2.5K on a trip. A 10-11 days trip to Italy (Rome, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast) in April of 2019 was less than $1,500 per person. There were four of us and we splitted the cost pf car rental, meals/groceries, and hotel/airbnb. Flights were $280 RT from SFO to Rome on Swiss Air/Air Canada. Some trips are more than others as it’s location and length dependent.

[rebekahb]

Originally Posted by Joe T

everything is sooo slow. Here, I can go out to a nice dinner, order drinks, order dinner, occasional dessert, service checks on you a few times throught your time there, asks if you need anything else get a 2nd or 3rd drink, and be out in under 90 minutes, probably closer to 60.

Thanks for sharing your trip info. I'm in the process of planning our trip to Greece at the end of Sept. Really looking forward to it.

I find that meal service is slower in a lot of European countries. They don't rush around like us. I prefer a quicker lunch unless we've been walking a lot but don't mind a longer dinner with wine.

Originally Posted by BMW F22

You definitely went ballin' on that trip Joe. Glad you had fun!

$35K is a few years of traveling for me. Lol
For reference, I usually spend on average $2-2.5K on a trip. A 10-11 days trip to Italy (Rome, Pompeii, Amalfi Coast) in April of 2019 was less than $1,500 per person. There were four of us and we splitted the cost pf car rental, meals/groceries, and hotel/airbnb. Flights were $280 RT from SFO to Rome on Swiss Air/Air Canada. Some trips are more than others as it's location and length dependent.

Damn, that's a great flight price. I need to start looking at flying direct from some of the major cities.

Do you stay in dive rooms and watch what you eat as far as cost? I'm impressed you travel that cheap for that many days.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by rebekahb

Damn, that's a great flight price. I need to start looking at flying direct from some of the major cities.

Do you stay in dive rooms and watch what you eat as far as cost? I'm impressed you travel that cheap for that many days.

Not at all. I prefer lodging that is clean and comfortable and won't compromise on it. For example, our airbnb in Praiano was right next to the coast with a view (see below). It was less than $300 a night with two bedrooms and a kitchen. I don't always eat fancy meals but I will if the mood strikes. Basically I eat and drink whatever I feel like.

Another example: 3 weeks in Ireland (Dublin and Galway with day trips to Cliffs of Moher, Giant's Causeway and Belfast), England (London), and Scotland (Edinburgh) for about $3-3.5K. Did tours, ate whatever was recommended or felt like eating at the time (like 2 dozen oysters and a pizza at Temple Bar along with a shit ton of Guinness), drank beer and whisk(e)y to my heart's content, spent $200 at Sushi Samba in London on the 36th floor with sunset view, went to an Ed Sheeran concert at Royal Albert Hall, etc. Even did a quick layover in Barcelona for jamon Iberico. I could have kept the cost to $2-2.5K if I was a bit more mindful but I wanted to splurge a bit on this last one. Of course, with British pounds the USD lost 40% in purchasing power so that added to the overall cost (not to mention London is one of the most expensive cities in the world).

[chassis]

Originally Posted by Joe T

everything is sooo slow. Here, I can go out to a nice dinner, order drinks, order dinner, occasional dessert, service checks on you a few times throught your time there, asks if you need anything else get a 2nd or 3rd drink, and be out in under 90 minutes, probably closer to 60.

There, you wait for your server to come, you order, and wait, get your food, and wait, maybe they come back to see if you want coffee/dessert, then you wait for the check. Don't think we had a dinner that took less then 2 hours, and we were chasing a server down for a check.

And I LOVE fish, every menu has a great menu of fresh caught fish.... here in the US they cut a steak or a filet and you get a portion, in Greece it was order by the fish and there's kilo price on the menu.
My kids don't eat fish, so if I wanted fish, both my wife and I needed to want the same thing.

That's Europe. Have you been there before? It's different than the U.S.

My solution is to order immediately, or no later than when the drinks are served. To get the check, dessert or more drinks after the main meal, you need to flag the waiter/waitress down. If you don't ask for the check immediately after the meal, the assumption is you are going to hang out at the table, talk, order drinks, etc. You didn't chase the server for the check, you expressed your desire to pay. Totally normal.

That is the European cadence. It's not bad, worse or slow. It's different.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by chassis

That's Europe. Have you been there before? It's different than the U.S.

My solution is to order immediately, or no later than when the drinks are served. To get the check, dessert or more drinks after the main meal, you need to flag the waiter/waitress down. If you don't ask for the check immediately after the meal, the assumption is you are going to hang out at the table, talk, order drinks, etc. You didn't chase the server for the check, you expressed your desire to pay. Totally normal.

That is the European cadence. It's not bad, worse or slow. It's different.

I have only been to Spain and service was definitely worse. Not just slower, but the servers were typically not as friendly, like you were a bother to them. Not always, but definitely more than in the US where I personally rarely feel like I get poor service. Some of the better service is Spain was smaller places where the owners also handled serving... a couple of those were actually fantastic.

As for $35k for 4 people... yeah I dunno. I'm sure you can EASILY spend that much if you wanted to. I mean you can probably spend that just on flights on some of the uber fancy first class cabins or fancy hotels. However since my last name is not Musk or Bezos I'll pass on $35k trips. We spent like 2 weeks in Spain, me my girlfriend and my mom. I'm not sure what it cost, but I would be shocked if it was more than $5k all in. We got the flights cheap, around $400-$500 round trip each. I think the only hotel we had pre booked was in Madrid, we then rented a car and drove south staying a few days in various cities until we got to Seville. We would research and book hotels in route. It was a great trip. If I did it again I might splurge on the flight as it was pretty miserable.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by chassis

That is the European cadence. It's not bad, worse or slow. It's different.

In which countries are servers paid predominantly by tips?????

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by vreihen16

In which countries are servers paid predominantly by tips?????

Meh. I still get plenty of shit service in the US and Canada and there's no tipping in Australia but the service is fine. It's just europe being europe, they have no sense of time or hustle we are used to. Ever tried lining up in a queue? Bedlam.

As for costs, pre-pandemic we went to Nice for a week, travelled up and down the riviera. Spent about $6K all in, economy flights (7 hours is NOTHING to us, we are used to 16 hr flights), modest but very clean and well located hotel. Ate well but not fancy.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by Joe T

flights were $12k (premium economy, direct flights)
2 nights in Athens $1000 per room x 2 rooms= $2000
3 night suite in mykonos was $3500
3 night in santorni was $1800 per room x 2= $3600

so flights and hotels were $21,000
meals at $500-600 per day= lets say $5500

day on the catamaran $1000
shopping Who the 'eff knows... but lets say $2k


so I was a little high at my guess of $35K, looks like closer to $30

Certainly we could have done it cheaper (and will next time). The kids won't come with us again, slight changes to hotels would save a ton. less $20 drinks on the pool

jeez... my wife and I went on our honeymoon to Santorini over 9 years ago, and I think our total expense came out to $7k

I'm with you on the service aspect, although isn't that a European thing in general not just Santorini? Slow service?

Funny thing about that though, I don't know if this is still the case, but back then "Salt and Pepper" was a relatively well known restaurant in Fira, run by a husband and wife. The door literally had the sign "Slow Food" posted on it.

[vreihen16]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

It's just europe being europe, they have no sense of time or hustle we are used to. Ever tried lining up in a queue? Bedlam.

Have you ever been to the southeast USA? Every time that I go down there, I want to strangle cashiers and others because they move at glacial speeds and talk at the equivalent of 110 baud! As the saying goes, the south shall rise again...in its own sweet time.....