Monday 9th May
We were up early this morning and set about getting our kit ready to load onto the bike, the weather was dull and overcast, the clouds were gathering over the mountain and the threat of rain was definitely in the air.
We decided to catch a 12.30 ferry sailing from Corfu to Igoumenitsa (2 hr sailing time,)on the Greek mainland and bike down south to the Greek City of Patra. After a thoroughly fine, Jill Chetter breakfast, we said our fond farewell thanking Ron & Jill for their wonderful hospitality, such heartfelt generosity can only come from a quality and genuine friendship – thankyou. As we left the Chetter estate, the rain, which had started earlier, began to fall more steadily, we would have to ride with extra care on what would become a slippery road surface.
We reached the port in plenty of time, fortunately (I’m pleased to say) without mishap, we turned into the dock and literally rode straight on to the waiting ferry.
Wham bam thank you mam, it was just like clockwork, one minute we were on it and two hours later we were off it, disembarking from the ferry onto the Greek mainland in Igoumenitsa ready to face the rigours of what the Greek roads had to offer us on our way to Patra,- if they were anything like Corfu, then pretty bloody awful!! The weather had cleared and the sun was out to greet us, we had programmed the satnav on the ferry - destination Patra, the third largest city in Greece, lying 165 miles due south; we were ready to face the music.
The journey was not too bad, the roads as expected did not let us down, good in parts but for the majority of the time poor and rutted, best described as slightly better than off road tracks, particularly in the mountain regions. It took us almost 6hrs to get to Patra, the last hour, in heavy rain, making the twists and turns somewhat challenging, particularly for Ann on the back, who gave me an occasional ‘squeeze’ . However, as I’ve said before, every cloud has a silver lining, this chuffin cloud(burst) did help to wash the dust and flies off the bike as well as ourselves!
The entrance into Patra is over an incredible cable suspension bridge some 2880m in length over the Gulf of Corinth (The worlds longest cable stayed suspension bridge). Called Rio-Andirrion Bridge, it was commenced in the 1990’s and finished in 2004 in time for the Greek Olympics in Athens. It is an outstanding piece of engineering, made even more remarkable by the fact that Patra is on an earthquake fault line so in the event of an earthquake, the piers or support columns on the bridge, should move laterally on the seabed with the gravel bed absorbing the energy, sorry snooooze time for some of you... Carol Nicholls. Unfortunately the view of the bridge and from the bridge, was greatly reduced by the wet weather and made worse by the extremely strong winds. We were unsure whether the bridge would be open due to the strength of the wind, but we got across it without too much difficulty, and in one piece. I’m guessing, but I reckon him upstairs put us in a bubble to protect us from that wind, fortunately the bubble was not blown away and we arrived safely into Patra, even in the pouring rain – He/she who dares!!!
Although we hadn’t pre- booked, we managed to find accomodation by the port. Whilst it wasn’t 5 star, it did have heating which dried our kit by next morning. We showered and went out to find something nourishing to eat, before retiring back to a welcome bed, nackered, after a very exhausting and challenging day. We hoped the weather would improve by morning?
Tuesday 10th May
Our wish was answered, the sun was cracking the paving slabs by the time we were ready to discover some of Patra’s treasures. I wont bore you with the history of Patra, but suffice to say it did become a significant port during the Roman period, became a Christian centre since the early days of Christianity,(it is the city where St. Andrew was crucified) and was also a fortress town. We found the old Anglican church of St Andrew close to the port and the fortress, or should I say the remains of it, high above the city, overlooking the whole town.
The ruined castle, dates back to the Venetian invasion of the town (1687–1715). Today, its interior is used as a public garden, and a poor one at that. Like so many things in Greece, neglect, I’m afraid to say, appears to be the way forward.The Greeks have a saying, that it is best to leave things as they are, if you don’t know how to restore them properly – I say if you don’t chuffin try you’ll never find out!!!
We decided we were all ‘ruined’ out and it was time to take our leave of Patras. So we packed our kit up and left for our next destination, Pyrgos about 65miles due south. It shouldn’t have been a long journey, as they have a main coastal rd that connects the two cities, unfortunately I must have programmed the satnav incorrectly because we never got to see the coast. It was a right mission, up mountain, down mountain, old track after old track we were into what could best be described as offroading and some of it unreal. We really thought the satnav was having a larf. We persevered, going through tiny rural villages and hamlets that probably had never seen a modern day motorcycle. As for visitors, I guess they might have thought we were off another planet the way we were dressed, we daredn’t stop just in case they might have put us in a cage and never let us leave.
After a seemingly endless ride (a bit like my blogging), we eventually arrived in Pyrgos, and with the help of one or two of the local people we managed to find a reasonably decent hotel for a night. Our intention was to eat and sleep in Pyrgos but leave early the following day to find the town of Archaia Olympia, only 14 miles away, which had been recommended to us as a place of great historical interest. There was little of historical interest in Pyrgos, we found a nice restaurant had a pleasent meal with some vino and went back to the hotel for a decent nights kip.
Wednesday 11th.
The weather next morning was magnificent, a brilliant blue sky with temperatures in the mid twenties. With our full kit on, I’m startin to melt, Ann, on the other hand, is just comfortable. We headed out to Olympia and once there, were not disappointed at what we discovered. Olympia is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in Classical times, the first Olympic games held there were in honour of Zeus.
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| You can't imagine how hot we were in our kit. |
Today the Olympic flame of the modern-day Olympic games is lit by reflection of sunlight in a parabolic mirror in front of the Temple of Hera and then transported by a torch to the place where the games are held. It was an awesome historical site full of many valuable artefacts, giving us the opportunity to bore you to death with pictures. After several hours at Olympia we decide it was time to leave to head on to our next destination –Tripoli or Tripolista, about 85 miles due east.
Once again the ride is a long one, taking us high into the mountains on some very narrow roads and tracks, and then back down. We kept asking ourselves “who on earth would live in these places” but people do, it’s absolutely amazing.
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| A picture of the mountains we biked thru |
We ploughed on for what seemed like hours, Ann was getting quite fidgetty and often advised me not to look to my right, as the drop was sheer and as I’ve said before, I aint good with heights. I’m not that sure that Ann is either, but she probably knew that if I looked over, I could have done a ‘Basil Fawlty comatose,’ and that aint good when riding a motorbike about 1000m above sea level. We finally arrived in Tripoli around 18.00 hrs and after a few unsuccessful attempts, we eventually found ourselves a good quality hotel with breakfast in the deal. We spent a very pleasant evening in Tripoli, we had a good meal at a local restaurant and retired back to the Hotel Anaktorikon for a sound nights sleep before heading off to Nafplio next morning.
Thursday 12th May.
We wake up to another beautiful day and after a good breakfast we set the satnav to take us to the port city of Nafplio, another fortress city with an extensive history. The journey of about 45miles took us over two hours, as once again we went up through the mountains. Unfortunately, this time, as we gained height, the clouds started to gather and we hit a band of rain which made the roads somewhat greasy and potentially treacherous (just trying to add a bit of drama into the story). In reality it did slow us down a bit and helped me to stay focused on the job in hand, rather than enjoying the wonderful panoramic views.
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| not much chance of a ramp here then? |
We arrived in Nafplio around mid-day and set about our task which was to climb all 1000 steps (which we’d been told about), to get to the top of the original fortified castle of Palamidi. We arrived at the castle gates, our calfs were on fire, even, after a number of stops on the way up for gasps of air and gulps of water, and of course the odd photo opportunity, but nevertheless we made it. At this juncture I must say how the Greeks have yet to embrace the DDA act, nowhere, at any point on our journey thru Greece,to date, have we seen any signs (forget the ramps), relating to the disabled wheel-chair users. It’s just another reminder of one of the many areas in which the Greeks can’t be bothered. It makes me slightly vexed (hope you like that one), particularly in view of how compliant we are, as a nation, to all the demands from Brussels and the EU. But heyho I musn’t get on my soapbox, I gave all that up when we decided to do this trip. Besides, I know Keith will only accuse me of moaning when he makes his next comments – that is, if they let him off the piggin ship that he’s supposed to have been invited to, for a naming ceremony. yawn yawn!!!! Anyway, we spent a couple of hours literally ’ tripping’ around the historical castle, the views of the surrounding area on one side were magnificent as were the sea views on t’other side.
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| Very picturesque, looking out to sea |
We took many photos and hope we can illustrate the superb views on the blog. If we don’t quite achieve this, we will, on our return back home, put together a montage of photographs and invite everyone over for a spectacular ‘YAWNFEST’ photograph and talks evening, with spinach and chic pea sandwiches and a special Greek dip! As time was moving on, we were reminded that the castle closed at 14.30, YES that’s right 14.30, the Greeks don’t want to overdo things, hell they’ve bin awake, oops, sorry I meant open, for nearly 5hrs, blimey that’s seriously pushing them to the limit (Oh no, am I moaning or what).
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| oops messed that one up!! |
We turned our backs and headed out of the castle, down them chuffin steps to ground level. The journey down was a doddle, but I had to chuckle, poor old Ann’s leg muscles started to shake involuntarily as we reached the bottom, she couldn’t stop them, it was hilarious (I know I shouldn’t say that) but I couldn’t do anything to help her, or her shakin legs
By the time we had reached the bike, the clouds had started to gather, and rain was imminent. We quickly changed back into our heavy bike kit, climbed back into the saddle and set the satnav for the City of Korinthos, about 35miles due north, we hoped we’d make this one night stop over, before the rain arrived. .
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| Sorry, it's not the Corinth canal |
We made Korinthos in plenty of time and even managed to book into a hotel before the rain fell. It was a short, but very heavy down pour after which we set about discovering what was on offer in Korinthos. We didn’t know it but only 5km up the road is the Corinth Canal. This is a canal that connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegean Sea.. The builders dug the canal through the Isthmus at sea level no locks are employed. It is 6.3 kilometres (3.9 mi) in length and was built between 1881 and 1893; Because it is only 24 metres (79 ft) wide and only 8metres (26ft) deep, it is too narrow and shallow for modern ocean freighters. The canal is nowadays mostly used by tourist ships. (apparently 11,000 ships per year travel through the waterway). At it’s maximum, the walls are 52 metres high. Also, at each end of the canal, seashore roads cross, using submersible bridges that are lowered to the canal bottom to allow maritime traffic to pass. After the bridge rises to the top and before the cars cross, children run out and pick up fish that came up with the bridge on its flat surface. Blah blah blah blah...Another interesting fact about Korinthos which might be of interest, is the reference in St Pauls letters to the ‘Corinthians’, evidently St Paul preached in and around Corinthos; and finally, for those of you who are not yet asleep, if you look quickly at the word Corinthos, you might see Croninthos!!!!!!!
We walked around Korinthos for a while before settling on a traditional fish restaurant down by the port for something to eat. What a cracking evening we had. There was an ole boy running the place on his own and I have to say he made us very welcome, he even took us into his kitchen to show us what fish he had and how he cooked them – it was amazing. He poured us two tumblers of aviation fuel from a plastic bottle, put some olives and whitebait soaked in oil (no Pauly Moore, not engine oil), it was olive oil with lemon juice, then sat us down to wait till our fish cooked. We were not disappointed when it arrived, the taste was gorgeous though I have to say, not nearly enough of it – greedy sod Cronin. After our meal we were joined by another group of people, who were also eating at the restaurant. It turns out they are sailing from Sicily to Athens, and then on to Turkey, on a boat aptly named ‘DreamWeaver’. They called into the port of Korinthos on the way. They thought we were the owners of a boat that moored close by them and wanted to do some sea-faring chat. Well we didn’t disappoint them, it was gone 01.30 am when we all left the restaurant. I think I may have bored one or two of them - that’ll teach them next time, but seriously they were really nice people and we had a great night.
Friday 13th May
Its a big day today, we’re heading for Athens,the ancient Greek city we’ve heard and read so much about. We haven’t booked any accommodation so there is a little apprehension on both our parts as to how we’re going to get on when we arrive there. We left Korinthos round 13.00hrs, the sun was red hot and the sky a beautiful shade of blue, temperature 22degrees. As we travelled on to Athens, (about 50 miles away), we passed over the Corinth canal, an awesome sight but sadly we didn’t get to see if there were any liners using the canal, cos we couldn’t stop on the motorway. It made for a pleasant change, to be able to open up the throttle on the bike and keep it open. I’m guessing, but it’s close on the first time we’ve experienced a three lane road in Greece for more than a couple of miles, in fact it was three lanes for most of the way to Athens, a real treat.
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| Not so congested, the road was closed for a Marathon |
We arrived into Athens, just before 14.00 hrs, on very congested roads. I have to say, it aint for the faint hearted, particularly on a motorbike, they come at you from all angles. The worse offenders are the scooter and moped brigade, they literally surround you at traffic lights and once on green it’s a chuffin ‘free for all’, you just open the throttle and go, otherwise they’ll bloody well ride straight over you, followed closely by the yellow taxis – poor ole Ann, she was as nervous as could be, having said that, I wasn’t much better, but it’s a great riding experience, one you can take with you wherever you go. We managed to find ourselves a very good hotel - The Parnon at a rate of 50 euros per night which included breakfast.
The Hotel was centrally located and had recently completed a full refurbishment, our room was very modern with an excellent sunny balcony to hang out our washing on our improvised washing line. We spent the day getting our bearings and discovering some of the hidden delights of Athens. I reckon by the time we got back to our hotel to shower and change we must have walked the best part of 8-10 miles all around the old part of the city taking in the area of Monastiraki, and Plaka, Hadrians Arch, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Congress Hall, The National Gardens, Parliament and the area around the Parliament building housing some important embassy residences – we done an awful lot in the time without realising it. We found a restaurant nearby and enjoyed a meal washed down with some naff wine, but it didn’t spoil the day.
Saturday 14th May.
We were up early as we had decided to explore the Acropolis, and felt to do it justice we would spend the day and get our full infusion of ancient Greek history. After breakfast, with the full sunscreens applied, shorts,and sunglasses and armed with many other useful items in Ann’s, Mary Poppins bag (sun chairs, a full parasol, pic-nic, drinks cabinet etc) we set out. The temperature was already in the mid twenties, not a cloud in the sky, it was going to be a scorcher.
We made our way through the streets and into the Monastraki area, above which sat the Acropolis high above us overlooking the City of Athens, an incredible and imposing sight, which I hope the pictures will illustrate. Of course sitting high on a hill in Greece, doesn’t mean escalators and lifts, no such thing, it was shanks pony or crawl – actually the walk to the top was not very demanding at all, and we arrived in good shape. Our first impression was that of its size and dominance and its magnificent colour, our first real experience of Ancient Greece – awesome. It was, as we expected, heaving with visitors from all over the globe, we were very fortunate(thanks to D I Ann Cronin), to attach ourselves to a small group, who had an excellent English speaking tour guide, she was incredibly informative and passionate about the subject of Ancient Greek history and almost brought the Acropolis back to life for us. Listening to her you knew she was more than your average tour guide, in fact it turns out she is a local historian.
We left the Acropolis feeling very pleased with ourselves, we had learnt quite a bit about ancient Greek History in a relatively short time- we certainly got added value for our 24 euro entry fee. We walked down the hill heading in the direction of the Acropolis Museum, housing artefacts and statues from in and around Athens but mainly focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis (over 4000 items in total). The museum is a very large modern building, which sits on the archaeological site of Makrygianni and the ruins of a part of Roman and early Byzantine Athens. The building was constructed on ‘stilts’ allowing for the excavations of the ruins, immediately below it, to continue; Glass was used within the floor construction enabling the tourists to experience the ruins, it really was a strange sensation, walking over the glass, looking down on the excavations, some 20-30 feet below.
We left the museum and headed back towards our hotel, we’d had a very full day, and were looking forward to a refreshing shower before finding a restaurant to eat (I don’t mean we were going to eat the restaurant ). We chose a traditional Greek restaurant, not far from the hotel. It turned out to be quite entertaining, one of the Greek diners from a group on the table across from us, was celebrating her birthday, bloody Norah they were up every two minutes singing and dancing and knocking the vodka shots back like they’d gone out of fashion. One of the overweight Greek men, reckoned he was a cross between John Travolting and Fred the Stairs, we knew that if we stayed too much longer, he was going to finish on our laps or on our table, neither of which were appealing.
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| Choosing our fish at the Restaurant |
So we ate up our fish and chips (only joking), and took our leave. It was quite a relief to get out in one piece and actually hear ourselves talking! We made our way back to the hotel, had a hot chocolate before retiring to our rooms for a restful nights sleep.
Sunday 15th May.
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| Hotel breakfast buffet! |
The temperature outside was 28 degrees, the hottest day so far of our trip. We had breakfast and decided, as it was our last day in Athens, we would just visit the ‘FleaMarket’ as Athens seems to be quite famous for them. We spent the day walking around, enjoying the humdrum of these traders and all the tourists trying to bag a bargain.
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| Sheer bloody chaos- Phew 28 degrees |
At one point we found ourselves in what I can only describe as a type of boot sale, but this was no ordinary bootsale. It was absolutely packed with people from all over Athens, sellin their shit, I kid you not, it was awful. I reckon you could find anything in terms of a replacement part for any old piece of early IT equipment, or a machine that has long passed it’s sell by date, I don’t think they throw anything away!! We continued on our way, through this chaos,and have to say, I breathed a quiet sigh of relief when we eventually found our way out, unmolested and still in one piece. It was incredibly hot, so we decided we’d head back to the hotel area and just chill, taking in a cafe and something to eat. We spent, what was left of the day, prepping for leaving Athens the next morning, we also got to talk with the kids, and caught up with them and how they were doin back home. We were pleased to hear that Uncle Paul, (with a little help), has finally become a blog follower.
That’s it for now, sorry for the ‘ramblings’. Tomorrow (Monday 16th May), we’ll be heading north toward Thessaloniki and hope to call over to Meteora on our way to see the amazing cliff top monasteries.
Much Luv to all back home, and a special thanks for the welcome comments, it helps to make our day when we get to read them, please keep them coming.
The Easy riders xxx
