“A great time” on Greek cookery holiday

Earlier this year two British sisters – Susan and Annie – spend 4 fabulous days in family run traditional Greek hotel in Paros. They thoroughly enjoyed Greek cookery classes and company of their host and chef Stella who has been cooking for delighted guests for over 2 decades and has recently been persuaded to pass on her cooking secrets to visitors for a Greek cookery holiday with a difference.

Read what one of the sisters – Annie – has to say about her experience:

Did you come to GoLearnTo initially looking for a cookery holiday?

Yes we did go to your website looking for a cookery course in Greece. My sister and I go for a week’s holiday together every year and last year we were in Barcelona and found the wonderful Boquera Market which gave us the idea.

Why did you choose to travel to Greece for your holiday?

We chose Greece because it was likely to be warm and sunny at this time of the year and because we wanted to visit the ancient sites of Athens. Before we went on to Paros we had four days in the city and all round it was a very successful trip.

What did you think of the cooking classes with your host and chef Stella?

Stella is well named! She is a star and we thoroughly enjoyed our few days with her, her English is excellent and she’s a well informed and interesting woman, she’s also a great cook and we really enjoyed being in the kitchen with her.

Were there other guests on your cookery holiday?

As it happened we were the only two people cooking, it was the very end of the season so we had the place more or less to ourselves. 

What was the accommodation like?

The accommodation is first class, the rooms have been upgraded recently to a very high standard and we were extremely comfortable and the icing on the cake was the proximity of the sea – we were able to swim in either sea or pool every day.

What did you do in your free time?

In our free time we explored the island with help and advice from Stella who gave us a lift into the local town or we used taxis which were reasonably priced and pretty efficient. There is a lot to see including ancient sites but as we’d seen a lot of those in Athens we chose to explore the charming fishing villages which are picture postcard pretty and where we were received with friendliness by the locals all of whom spoke English. We stopped for coffee, had several delicious meals, visited a wonderful church in Parikia, indulged in a bit of retail therapy and soaked up the atmosphere of a way of life that has probably changed very little with fishing and farming still the mainstay of the island though tourism is clearly also important. It was noticeable that many of the Greeks are very hardworking and go to a lot of trouble to make visitors welcome.

What was the highlight of the trip?

The highlight of the trip was probably a visit to a Greek home; Stella’s neighbour (and cousin!) has a chapel, there are a lot of private chapels on the island and it happened to be the Feast Day of the saint to whom this chapel is dedicated so we were invited to go to the ceremony. The service was followed by what I can only describe as a morning tea party in the house where traditional delicacies were served with Greek coffee and I had a sort of walnut and honey thing that was absolutely delicious. We were made very welcome and felt privileged to be invited to take part in something that was not a tourist event but a part of the life of the people who live on Paros.

Would you recommend booking with GoLearnTo?

Yes I would recommend GoLearnTo without reservation – we had a great time!