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巴爾幹途上 – 薩拉熱窩(2)

到達薩拉熱窩後,我發現所住的 hostel 正是市中心 Markale 位置,交通極方便,因為大廈的對面已是舊城市集。

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此舊城市集極具土耳其色彩,原來是 Ottoman 帝國時留下的市集,難怪街道也分門別類。像這種小市集,應該是日常百姓聚集談天說地打發時間之地,而我在這裡也找到些地道的美食,如烤牛肉條及烤餅,叫 Cevapi,地道的店舖像香港的茶記,基本上座上客都點不同份量的牛肉條,每 5 為單位。烤餅可加洋葱及 Kajmak 芝士,這芝士是帶酸味的軟芝士,把牛肉條那多餘的油都解除,加上烤餅,原來是天下美食之一。事實上我是個偏食的人,朋友都知我不吃雞,到中東回教國家或大陸時,總是什麼都不想吃。記得幾年前到約旦,每餐都是「宴會餐」,因我們是尊貴的記者朋友,吃的中東菜,全是宴會菜,頭盤幾十碟的香料及醬料,用以吃烤包,主菜是串雞及串羊,一定一定欠奉的是豬及牛肉,其實我並非不吃羊,但羊羶味,有時也太強烈了,吃了三五餐已倒胃口。我有時甚至想,不如乾脆說我是吃素的,好讓有人會預留一點點蔬菜給我。

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料不到,希臘及波斯尼亞一帶的地方食物,卻令我很滿意。至少有得選擇,不一定是中東烤餅(雞)。其實巴爾幹半島的地方食物,相當類似,也許都是受差不多的文化影響吧,往後再說這個。

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Cevapi

自由的逛着舊市集,了解不太深入,不過拿着地圖,附近著名的景點都不難找。我知道它充滿了傷痕,但只有一天時間,實在不夠,結果我與友人多番考慮後,決定嘗試多留一天。逛完舊市集的下午,我聽了 Hostel 主人的建議,往歴史博物館去。這博物館看起來,像已荒廢的場館,門外的牆身及石階,是東歪西倒兼且破爛不堪的,令人懷疑,它是認真的嗎?!而我也曾翻過資料說,它星期一是關門的,不過住在 Hostel 另一位住客說,她們昨天才參觀過此博物館,門外貼着天天開放的字句。結果我還是在星期一來了,雖然,它看起來不似,但果然是開放的。推門入內,四下鴉雀無聲,卻有一名貌似管理員先生的人,他望了我一眼,叫我付入場費。

You should not bring camera and GUN with you in the museum...what is the post means?!

You should not bring camera and GUN with you in the museum…what is the post means?!

希臘小島遊:Santorini

十月份,遊希臘,似乎聞所未聞地不吸引,正因踏入淡季,市面開始蕭條。但對我來說,卻是最好時候,對,為了慳錢之原則,反正,二千元的機票我又買不起,不如趁天氣變幻莫測時,去賭一賭運。

我沒有逗留很長時間,Island Hopping 的意義,可能是 A 去 B 去 C 等,無三不成幾。不過,我只是在有限的九天裡選了 Santorini 及 Naxos,其餘的時間,寧願回到雅典去,畢竟我最愛看古蹟,如果錯過了衛城就太過對不住自己。結果路線定好,先來到 Santorini,人稱的蜜月島。此島一向予人兩種感受:

 

1:好 sweet ,2:好遊客。

愛與不愛,取決於什麼?我反覆思考這問題,市中心的 Thira 擺明就是手信商店充斥,然而,在我來說又沒有害我覺得悶透,反正,一路走有不段的風景百拍不厭,石階中上又落,仍然像尋寶一樣的新奇有趣,我拿着一張明信片,為了尋找最美的風景,偶然遇上了一群可愛小貓,牠們貪玩又不怕人,也同樣是我打發時間的風景。從 Thira 坐公車到下一站 Oia,午餐於崖邊的餐廳,原以為這麼旅客的靚餐廳,一定是騙人的收費及難吃的土產,卻又喜出望外的滋味。我手上沒有地圖,然而卻會找到崖邊的古蹟。其實,我眼中沒有希臘的小島有多甜美的印象,還是一句,沒有期望,不會失望,因此, Santorini 比起想像之中美麗。

我認為,所入住的酒店也是關鍵,旺季的四星級可以過二千元,淡季則降到很低,我所住的離 Thira 市只不過 15 分鐘的步程,卻擁有無敵大海景,要知道,房間全面向西,日落就發生在你的房間外,真是誇張。淡季的價錢只是 80 歐一晚,實在不能用不以「抵」字來形容。做這一行越久,越知價格與所得的風景,往往成正比,天底下價廉物美的地方越來越少,尤其在已發展旅遊這麼久的小島。我在 Santorini 的賭局是獲勝的,天氣出奇的好,還可以天天在泳池曬太陽,或者搭公車去沙灘。賭天氣,像是玩 50/50,下一篇 Naxos,就是還錢的時候。

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Here is my off-season trip to Greece. And of course it is the best time for me because I can save money in a reasonable way. I can’t afford to buy $2,000 round tickets in peak season, I should better pray for good weather instead.

I plan to spend 9 days in total. Although Island Hopping is the popular route, I could not just skip Athens, which she has thousands of  historical sites I want to visit. Finally, I pick two Islands called Santorini and Naxos. We all knew about Santorini for its famous white houses and churches. Some people said the island become too touristic. But some stills find her romantic side, that would be enough to stay for few days.

In my opinion, I didn’t hate the touristic shops in the town of Thira, it gave me a lot of fun when I was walking uphill and downhill to find spots for photography. I also spent half day in Oia, in the northern part of Santorini, and had a great lunch in a so-called touristic restaurant along the main street with sea view. I didn’t expect that they served nice local food or seafood with cheap prices. Sometimes you are able to find local dry white wine with a very good price when you dined in one of the greek restaurant on the island, just 3-4 euro for half liter.

In some extents, the choice of your hotel is the most important part of your trip. The one I stayed was more than excellent. In peak season, the rate could be in triple. And now I paid 80 Euro per room per night, which I would have sea view, swimming pool with sun bed, the private balcony and the wonderful sunset…3 times in front of my balcony. I was lucky with the incredible favorable weather…but it changed suddenly when I moved on to Naxos.