Syvota Beach

Summer is almost here!

Well, that depends where do you live. But if you live in Greece, then yes, from the end of April and the beginning of May you can go to the sea side.

If you are Erasmus or just want to have a weekend away at the sea side, Syvota is a perfect place for this. If you wonder where this beautiful place is, you can google it for sure, or you can read this article to find out more about it.

Just before I start, I want to mention that I could not insert the name of the city Syvota in the description of this post so instead I just type Ioannina (it's close to it but not in Ioannina). Sorry!

Syvota is a village and a former municipality in Thesprotia, Epirus, Greece. Epirus is the name of the region where also Ioannina is located. This beautiful place is around 2h from Ioannina by car. You may also go by bus, but for now I can't recommend you the exact route, I'm sure that you can take a bus to get here from most of the cities in Greece.

After the first week that I came here, we had this trip at the weekend to go to Syvota. It was the "clean monday": a free day where people started to eat food without meat (I guess, but you can google it, they eat fish this day). So we went there by bus (by the university's bus actually). We had a lovely sunny day, around 19 degrees Celsius in February. Imagine that, you are at the sea side, it's February, you are wearing a T-shirt and still you feel so hot. Hard to believe, but here I was with my new erasmus friends, having my feet into the sea, quite cold but not cold as ice. For me it was the first time that I went at the sea side in February or winter time. There was an incredible weather, perfect for that day out. Before going to the beach we went into the city to take a look and see what it looks like. I took some photos because I really loved the place, you can also see the pictures I took and admire the city and the beach.

Here is a photo with some houses and the sea. Most of the places in the city were closed, except from some restaurants next to the sea that were opened. I had wished that the shops and other tavernas and places were opened but unfortunately here in Greece when it's a celebration or a free day, most of the shops and places are closed. So you can't see the city at its true value when something like this is happening, but still, there are some things you can see no matter what day is it. For example, the beach.

Those houses were restaurants and coffee shops along the sea side, it's perfect to stay there while you are having food or a coffee to enjoy the view and relax. This place is also like a harbour with many boats. A bit further down, there were big and small boats which you can rent to go and see other places around Syvota. I heard after this trip that you can take a boat and go to "Pisina" (which means "pool" in english) which is a small island and very beautiful. I don't know more about this place but in summer I'll go there for sure, my teacher told me that it's perfect and that looks like heaven. And who does not want to see how heaven looks like? We walked along this path and then we went right and there was another path that leads you to the beach. In less than 15 minutes you can get there by foot.

And we arrived there, I really loved the view, so amazing, I looked at the colours of the sea and it had 3 shades of blue, or even more. Incredible! The water was so clean, not so cold, I could enter inside with my feet, but that's it. I have to wait 2 months almost to come back here and just swim. My friends found this beautiful sea star, and then creative things happen. Everybody wanted to take as many photos as possible with it. It was a funny moment, but hey, the picture is great, haha!

There were 19 degrees, just perfect to lay down next to the sea, on the sand. This is just what I did, I stayed there with my eyes closed, letting the sun to warm my face and body. Oh, what a feeling! I missed it since last year. I love when it's like this, sunny and warm! It makes my heart so happy. We stayed there, had fun, took photos and then we decided to move on and explore more the city and the other side of the beach.

We walked for 10 minutes and then we saw this:

We all just said: "wow! "

This place was even more beautiful, I loved the colours in the water, the fact that you can see through it, these rocks and that small pier. This is close to an aqua park. But of course, it was closed that day and I think they will open in the summer. From this place, you get to the aqua park in 2-3 minutes. What I also loved that day is that nobody was there, except from us. I think that around summer time this place is so crowded and full of people that you don't have the possibility to stay and just watch without moving and saying anything, gust staring at the sea. So I was happy that nobody was there, so I could enjoy my time.

We passed next to the aqua place and then we went on the pier. It was such a cool thing to do, it was moving a bit and we sat there for 30 minutes. We talked and took photos, it was really relaxing. I love piers and the feeling of being surrounded by water. It was peaceful. Then we had to go back because our time was up, we had around 4h to spend in this city and I didn't realize how fast this time just passed.

We also had lunch in a taverna but the funny thing about it was that you couldn't order what you wanted, they already had some things prepared and that's it. Our coordinator from the University organized this trip so he explained that this is how it is for this restaurant. He just said to them the number of people and in few minutes the food arrived. We ate seafood, shripms, calamari, also salad, some special beans and other yummy stuff. So this was an experience also, to go at a restaurant and being unable to order what you wanted but still eating fresh seafood with lovely sides. I don't remember the name of the taverna, somewhere on the main road on the right side. In summer maybe I'll go here again because it was really nice and the beach is nice, it's a city with a lovely view.

On the way back from Syvota you can see Corfu, well from far but still. I haven't been in Corfu yet, but I have already planned my trip there in 2 weeks from now on. It's close from Syvota and also from Igoumenitsa, which is another place close to Syvota. You can take a bus and then a ferry to get to Corfu. I'll write you more details after I go there and experience it.

This is a photo with my friend and me, close to the city and the restaurants close to us. This was such a good spot for a photo. I took the chance of taking this photo with my friend to celebrate our new friendship. I really love the fact that coming here I found her and other 2 girls whom I enjoy spending my time with. It's amazing, because I came here alone and having new friends changes the way your experience is as an erasmus student. Until now, my experience is so much better with them! I'm thinking to write soon more about the Erasmus life here in Ioannina: more details about what is like to be a student here and how is the life of an erasmus student. Even though I already have some posts from where you can find my own experience of being an erasmus student.

Each erasmus is so different, as I told you guys, this is my third time and each time it gets better and better!

So guys, don't forget this place for summer: Syvota!

For more places like this or coffee shops, restaurants and other, check my profile for new articles. Everyday is a new day, so a new article!

Thanks for reading!