Ground Breaking Greece – ‘Parakalo’

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.



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.



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.


 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.


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).




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. .


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.



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.



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.


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.



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

Back in the Saddle, but no bridle...

Well we’re off again, after a three week break we resume our adventure. On the morning of Wed 27th April, with my daughter Lisa and my sister Pam, we got up very early (03.00am)to drive down to Stanstead to catch the 07.30 Ryanair flight to Perugia. Needless to say it was a relatively quiet drive down, very little traffic and even less conversation, I guess we all had our own private thoughts. It didn’t take long before Lisa fell asleep (just like her mom), but it was early, and she was missing out on her beauty sleep!! For those of you who don’t know Lisa, (and Jonathan, lisa’s husband will confirm this), you don’t mess with Lisa’s sleep ......heheheh (just like her mother actually, if truth be told probably more like her father!!). Anyway we arrived at the airport in plenty of time and with tears in our eyes we said our goodbyes and headed out through the departure gates. The butterflies in our stomachs were in abundance, accompanied with a degree or two of anxiety, for once again we were stepping out into the unknown, but at the same time, both excited and looking forward to the challenges ahead of us.
 

We landed in Perugia at 11am and were delighted to be greeted by a smiling Andreas, who drove us back to Colleverde Country House. We were thrilled to see Alba & Valentine and after a very warm welcome we set about getting our stuff together ready for the next stage of our journey. The Bike had been well looked after and was, I’m sure if it could talk, tell us how pleased it was to see us. A turn of the key and a press of the starter button and the engine burst into life – the magnificent sound of those cylinders as they roared into action. We loaded the bike and after a coffee and chat with Alba and the Beautiful Beth (Giovannis English girlfriend, whom I forgot to mention in the previous blog who also plays a part in the running of the equine side of the business), we waved an emotional goodbye to all at Colleverde, very much hoping to return at some time in the future.

The local weather in Perugia, unlike the Uk, where we’d experienced the most glorious sunshine during our return home, was unusually overcast, with the distinct threat of rain in the air. We had preset the satnav for our next destination Brindisi, on the south east coast of Italy 430 miles away, where we hoped to catch a ferry the next day, 28th April, to the Greek island of Corfu. We had arranged to meet and catch up with Ron and Jill Chetter, a couple of long term friends,(well over 20 years - poor sods), who have retired onto the island about eight years ago and built their own home in the village of Kavallouri, to the North of the Island. We were really looking forward to seeing them in their new home and excited at the prospect of our first ever visit to Greece and the Island of Corfu, another country, another culture, on the next leg of our journey.

 

At 20.30 pm, after seven hours of steady riding, including a number of ‘pitstops’ and a little rain here & there, we arrived unscathed, if not a little tired, into the city of Barri approximately 70 miles from Brindisi. It was getting quite late and we’d decided that it would be easier to find affordable accommodation in a large city rather than a small port town; Blimey what a joke that was. After numerous aborted attempts we eventually found a hotel that was just slightly less of a rip off than the others we tried - I have to say that I don’t fully understand how the Italians can justify their hefty room charges!!!! Anyway, we unloaded our kit off the bike, threw some water on our faces to freshen up and went to find something to eat before falling into bed after a long and tiring day, (we’d been awake for over 20hrs ).

 Thursday 28th April: We woke at about 9am, showered (the best thing about the hotel) and were away on the bike before you could say ‘jack Robinson’ (why Robinson, i’ll never know). The ferry was due to leave the port at 12.30 and we had to be there approx 1hr before. We only had 70 miles or so to cover and about two and a half hours to do it in, most of it on dual carriageway, so we were not troubled by this prospect as long as there were no major traffic delays. Well, we arrived in Brindisi in plenty of time and rocked up to the Terminal pretty damned pleased with ourselves (after our previous experience in the port of Valencia), only to be told that the ferry departure time had been delayed by two hours...!! Well, the way I see it, every cloud has a silver lining and this one gave us time to get something to eat and also fill the tank up with petrol, as we suspected the price of petrol on the Island might be slightly inflated – we were right, 1.80 euro per litre!

At 14.45 the ferry ramps were lifted and the ship set sail for Corfu, we were on our way and would arrive in Corfu harbour at around 22.00hrs, later that evening, where we hoped Ron and Jill would be there to meet us. The weather out at sea was sunny and warm and the actual journey time of six hours (there’s an additional one hour time difference between Greece & Italy, making a total of two hours difference between Greece and the UK – hope that’s clear), seemed to fly by, before we knew it, we were pulling into the Port Harbour of Corfu and prepping to disembark from the ferry.

As we travelled down the metal ramps on to terra-firma we were delighted to see Ron & Jill waiting to greet us. After a warm embrace (though no kisses from Ron –tut tut) and some words of welcome, we set out from the port to travel to the town of Roda where we were going to have a bite to eat. The 40 minute journey to Roda took us up over the mountain along some narrow and twisting roads, with some of those lovely hairpin bends. Fortunately for us we were following a posse of cars, so we had to take it at their pace, which was quite slow and enabled us to follow Ron (AKA Aerton Senna) with relative ease. We were of course aware that he would try and lose us, but we were following closely on his tail, he did however overtake several cars on one stretch of the road in an effort to get away from us, but I just opened the throttle and stuck like glue to his ass. After some food and liquid refreshment we rode back to Ron & Jill’s place where we sat up talking till the early hours before retiring to bed.

Friday 29th April;   kate and Wills big day!      After a good nights kip, we eventually surfaced and ventured out to look around the house and garden. I have to say we were massively impressed at what we saw and the view from the first floor balcony was delightful, a beautiful green rural landscape scene, with the mountain as a backdrop. It’s a real testament to the hard work and practical skills they have both brought to the project. I never in the reign of Sam thought that Chetter had such skills; I knew Jill was very gifted with plants and gardening, but what they’ve achieved together is outstanding, they really have produced an awesome and very comfortable house to live in. So now that I’ve bigged them both up and earned us a few days free lodgings, I’ll move on and talk about the Island of Corfu hehehehe.

After a walk round the ‘estate’ breakfast followed, over which it was agreed we would watch the wedding, but only up to the point where we knew Ron would start to blubber. So, as Will started to say those immortal words ‘I Do’, we turned the TV off and went for a drive to the nearby coastal town of Roda, where we walked along the sea front, admiring many of the empty shop units. It seems the season has not kicked off just yet, it’s not far off, but I think the Greek way is a bit like the Irish way, “we’ll leave it till tomorrow”. We had a drink at a cafe and then returned home to find out how Will had got on with his new bride!!

That evening we had a lovely dinner and then walked up the road into the village of kavallouri where the local people were celebrating the festival of Panaguira (Village Saint) – there was plenty of Greek food, music and dancing. You know, it crossed my mind (not for the first time), how similar the Greeks are to the Irish, they really know how to enjoy a good ceilidh and plenty of craic, at the drop of a hat - they both live for the moment.





Saturday 30th April –Sunday 08 May.

We’ve spent our time touring and sightseeing around the island, from North to South, East to West, on the bike, and in the car with Ron & Jill, It is a lovely green and pleasant island. We’ve both really enjoyed the time here with Ron & Jill, it has enabled us to relax and recharge the batteries after recent events. Now, we are ready to move on, and tomorrow (Monday 09th May) we are saying our goodbyes to Ron & Jill, as we intend to catch the ferry to Igoumenitsa, on the Greek mainland. From there our intention is to make our way down to Prata in the Region of Peloponnese, ultimate destination Athens – our adventure continues!!!



Ron Trying to be over familar with Tony



 



 Love to all back home

 The Corfu Cruisers xxxx

Inside Italy - Our Diary!

Our first Italian Road-side cafe. Wot no brown sauce!!

We loaded the bike and headed out of Florence with the help of the satnav, it was another beautiful day, the sun was cracking the slabs and the temperature in the mid twenties. We’d decided we would visit Sienna about 69km from Florence on the way to Perugia.

 For some reason the name Siena, conjures up a picture in my mind of a very beautiful place, we arrived in Siena mid afternoon, in glorious sunshine. We parked our bike and set off to discover what delights this Tuscany town had to offer, we were not disappointed, though I would add it was somewhat hilly. We spent a couple of hours exploring and enjoying the sights in the time we had, we even managed an ice-cream and sat in the afternoon sun catching the rays with all the other tourists in the central Piazza del Campo.

We met a great couple from the States, Bill & Jody who were touring on pedal bikes!! Cycling from place to place – total respect, when you see some of them there hills they had to climb, we compared notes on where we’d been and offered each other advice and suggestions on accommodation and food, they were very helpful and we wished them luck on their personal journey.

We were still in our bike kit and with temperatures in the mid twenties, we were startin to feel the effects of both the heat and weight (I’m alluding here to the weight of the kit, nothing else!), so we decided it was time to move on as we still had 120 kms to go.

On the bike it didn’t take us long to realise,with dusk almost upon us, that Perugia was not a realistic destination. We agreed to pull into the next town, which happened to go by thename of Battolle about 60 kms from Perugia. I have to say it was a bit of a ‘Battol’ trying to find accommodation in the dark and did cause us a little frustration. However, we happened on a place called La Foresteria (with a little help from you know who), which turned out to be very comfortable with a restaurant, and in daylight a beautiful setting. We also discovered whilst riding into Battolle the night before, that our dipped beam was not working, in essence we had been riding on sidelight only, which is really not a good idea in the dark. We enjoyed a good meal washed down with a glass or two of the ole ‘vitamen B’ to help us sleep, we retired to our room feeling tired and weary from a long day. That night I dreamt that I was a mechanic and serviced the bike fully, changing the oil, the filters etc, you name it I serviced it - in my dreams!



Washday Blues & Reds, outside our chalet

 Friday 25th March:

We got up early and had a very good breakfast, I decided that having serviced the bike in my dreams, changing a headlight bulb should be a piece of cake, in fact it was (Mike Baggott, you would have been proud of me), but I did check to see that it had not already been done!!!!. We loaded the satnav and set off for our next destination, booked on line, The Colleverde Country House, approx 16 kms from the City of Perugia in a small hamlet by the name of Colle umberto. What an absolute gem, nestling in the beautiful countryside of Umbria not far from the borders of Tuscany; A family business operated by two beautiful sisters Alba & Valentine, who couldn’t be more helpful, with Steffano and Giovanni, husband and son of Valentine, helping out along with cousin, Andreas. The self-contained chalet style accommodation for families and couples, offers horse riding, swimming , tennis, hiking, cycling and more if you have the energy. It is also, a fantastic location if you want to discover, like us, the hidden treasures within the Tuscany and Umbria regions . The added bonus of this jewel, was the on site Ristorante- Pizzeria, run by a big guy, Mario, what else would he be called!!!!

We unloaded our panniers and settled in. One of my first jobs, was a much needed brush down and groom for the trusty steed, only the second since leaving England, can you believe it, we’ve done over 2,500 miles since leaving home. Once completed, we went for a walk down through the site to the busy equine area and watched the budding Harvey Smiths and Zara Philips being put through their paces. We just chilled in the glorious sunshine and eventually finished the day with a couple of glasses of vino and a great meal in the restaurant.



Saturday 26th: We decided that Assisi was the destination for today, no more than 27 kms away from Colleverde. We put the requisite info into the sat nav and took off, the sun was shining, temperatures in the early twenties, we were looking forward to our visit to the beautiful and historic City of Assisi, home of St Francis.

Assisi sits halfway up the slopes of Mt Subasio about 420 metres above sea level. As you approach the elevated City from the main road, tis a sight to behold, quite breathtaking. The first thing you see and most striking up in the distance, is a series of columns (it almost looks like a fortress), upon which, a Church appears to be sitting. This is in fact the Basilica Di S. Francesco E Sacro Convento, which sits on top of a lower church ’ Chiesa Inferiore’ ( in which a crypt houses the Saint’s tomb), this is all flanked by a portico or colonnade, a style used widely in ancient Greece - It was stunning. We were also lucky enough to experience mass which was celebrated in English. Assisi is a city very rich in Franciscan shrines, each beautiful in its own right and all carefully and lovingly preserved; A magnetic tourist attraction and one we thoroughly enjoyed and will always remember.

Tuesday 29th March: After two days of heavy and prolonged rain with thunder storms, and of course the clocks jumping forward, we ventured out on the bike again. We had been recommended to go and visit a nearby town of Gubbio only 50 km away. Whilst the weather was dry we were a little dubious as there were many black clouds overhead. We took the plunge and were rewarded with brighter weather as we neared our destination. It was a lovely town with many historic buildings and of course several churches.



See, blokes can multi-task, Eating my 'Boar' Bap
and carrying Alba's asparagus

 Co-incidentally there happened to be a big market with hundreds of stalls, we almost expected to see and hear the dulcid tones of my brother Paul, with his mate George, selling their gear. We walked around and enjoyed the ambience, we bought some asparagus for Alba, we had only been talking about it the night before and knew she liked it, and we bought a couple of ’boar’ baps (we call it pig), which were ok, but cold boar, aint the same as hot pig!!



Ann pushed the other guy out of the way to
get into the cage first

 We left the market and walked around the old town of Gubbio enjoying the buildings and historic monuments. Out of the blue, we happened upon a cable car station which we discovered took visitors to the top of Monte Ingino (900m above sea level) and gave a glorious view over the town. The lift was not the most recent, in fact it celebrated its golden anniversary in 2010 and the chairs weren’t chairs, they were tall, round metal cages for two – standing room only. So like a couple of lemmings we got in a cage and up to the top we went – it was great fun and a fantastic view.

We decided it was time to leave Gubbio and call to Perugia about 30kms due south on our way back to Colleverde. By this time the weather had improved considerably and the sun was out. Perugia is an ancient walled city, perhaps, the main city within the region of Umbria and no more than 16kms from Colleverde Country House, where we were staying. Like so many of the ancient cities and towns of this region, they are built on steep hills, and Perugia, was no different. However, having walked up the steps and steep inclined streets to the main Cathedral in the Piazzi Danti,in full bike kit, we discovered the chuffin escalators, a valuable modern day technology introduced to assist the footsore and weary traveller. Unfortunately (Not really), so very discreetly positioned and concealed, we missed them!!


View from Perugia




Perugia, being so elevated, has some very spectacular views of the low lying plains, we could even pick out Assisi in the far distance. By the time we reached home it was dark, so we parked up the bike and went down to the restaurant where we spent the rest of the evening wining and dining before hitting the welcome sack.


I had to be quick to get in the picture, it was funny

Wednesday 30th  

We woke up to a beautiful blue sky and decided over breakfast that we would do some ‘bike touring’ and explore the local countryside. Temperatures were around the mid-twenties, perfect for the bike. We went to a small hamlet Castel Rigone, no more than 20kms away and about 5oom above sea level. This gave us a glorious view of the surrounding area including the beautiful lake Trasimeno (which I believe is the third biggest lake in Italy & the direction in which we were heading next) - towards Montepulciano in the wine growing region of Tuscany.




Ann looking cool outside the Polizanno Vineyard

 Montepulciano is a reknown wine growing area which we had been made aware of, so we were kinda hoping that if we passed a vineyard with winery, we would call in and ask if we could have a tour. Bingo, as luck had it we did just that and were extremely fortunate to be given a personal tour of one of the biggest wineries in the area. It was called Poliziano and according to the guide produces 800,000 bottles of wine a year. We even got to see the owner, Federico Carletti, smiling as he drove off in his Maclaren RS123456....sh-t off a shovel sportscar. After the tour we were invited to taste some of their quality blends, but politely declined as we didn’t want to show our ignorance in the tasting of quality wines. Yea, yea, I’m only joking, we were in their as quick as jack flash and emptied each glass as the guide filled it, even to the point of doing an ‘Oliver’ in the Charles Dickens novel, asking for more!  hehehe. It was fantastic to hear and see what goes on in the wine making process, a great and unexpected pleasure.

We carried on into the town of Montepulciano and done some exploring. We went into a couple of wine cellars which were quite amazing as they lay deep beneath some of the ancient buildings. One of them was in fact an old prison dungeons.

It was like a subterranean world, with loads of large wooden casks full of fermenting wine, I couldn’t help thinking to myself ‘what would happen if the barrels burst – slurp,slurp. As we continued walking through the labyrinth of streets, we passed an old boy standing outside a work unit, it turns out that he’s only a third generation coppersmith. He was a lovely ole boy goin by the name of Caesar and invited us in to show us his work. It was fascinating and something we both really enjoyed, he even made us a round copper plaque dedicated to our own family, a wonderful gesture and a gift that will remind us of Montepulciano, along with the amazing generosity, kindness and friendliness of all the people we have met on our journey.

It was getting late in the day so we decided it was time to leave and head back cross country to Lake Trasimeno, this time going the opposite way round the lake. It was a thoroughly enjoyable ride travelling along the narrow and empty roads occasionally passing a tractor or someone on a bike. We arrived back at Colleverde in early evening sunshine and after a lovely hot shower went down to the restaurant to wash down any dust that remained in our throats with some ‘vitamen B’. We enjoyed a good meal and retired back to our chalet for a well earned kip.



Thursday 31st: We woke to another beautiful day, and the birds chirping for Italy. Over breakfast we decided to do some hiking up one of the mountains close by, I think it was Mt Tezio (Alba will correct me if I’m wrong hehehe), about 950m above sea level - so not a breeze (I’m using the term mountain loosely, it wasn’t Snowdonia). We packed some gear onto the bike and set off to locate our starting point, probably no more than 10 kms away.

At the summit - inappropriate dress or what?

We parked up and changed into shorts and T shirt and set off along a track up through the forested area before reaching a single steep goat track which took us through the tree line up to the ‘Summit’. What a view, right the way across Lake Trasimeno into Tuscany on one side, Umbria and maybe even a little of the region of Marche in the distance, on the other. We made use of our binoculars picking out many of the significant landmarks, it was so peaceful, an absolute privilege, just the two of us on top of this mountain, how absolutely blessed to be here and enjoying the beauty that surrounded us. Ann had somehow magiced a little picnic and so we ate our lunch in peace and tranquillity, sat on top of Mt Tezio in the glorious sunshine. We did see four other hikers who made it to the summit but I have to say they were dressed somewhat differently to us, I kid you not, they had heavy clothing, undercoats, top coats, cagoules, hats and in one case, even a scarf.


Using the auto-timer on the camera
We didnt quite make it!!

We had a chuckle to ourselves cos we thought they were mad but actually it was more likely they thought us mad! We made our way back down the mountain where we found our trusty steed waiting patiently, we changed back into our kit, fired up the engine and set forth, back to Colleverde. After an enjoyable meal we retired to bed and slept like babies.







Friday 1st April: - April Fools day.

Another beautiful start to the day. After speaking with Valentine and Alba, we decided to do a round trip, taking in the mountain towns of Visso, Castelluccio and Norcia up in the Sibillini Mountains. We were really going to experience the steep mountain passes with their winding narrow roads and of course the inevitable and glorious ‘Hairpin bends’. We were going to put our bike and ourselves to the test!!

 

 We set off in a south easterly direction, through Perugia, out past Assisi, and on toward the snow capped Sibillini Mountain range in the distance. We turned off the main road and started our slow ascent along the narrow roads which followed the contours of the lower hills and the course of the snow filled streams, racing by. We passed through some glorious scenery and a number of small rural villages, one of which was called Visso, a gateway into the Sibillini mountains, where we stopped for a drink and a sandwich. We had a mooch around and went into the local church, there wasn’t a lot to see or do, so we bid Visso a farewell , it was onwards and upwards!!

We started to ascend quite quickly, climbing up through 1500m and experienced some of the very tight hairpins, which at times were quite scary as we went around them, knowing there was a sheer drop below, but all the time so incredibly beautiful and picturesque. We continued to travel up through the snow line and higher (probably around 1620m), reaching the small village of Castelluccio. We saw a ski lift in the distance but no sign of life, I guess the ski season is over - such solitude and tranquillity, only interrupted by the occasional cry of ‘Oh Sh-t, don’t look’ coming from Ann, sitting in an elevated position on the back of the bike, referring to the severe drop below. I have to say I would not trade the experience, or the views for anything, it is incredibly personal and for some reason immensely uplifting .


A Pair of 'Ice Cool' Dudes


We descended out of Castelluccio onto a large green plateau, surrounded by the mountain range, (just like a sweet dish), the grass was starting to turn green and there were wild crocus flowers starting to spring up all around, life was returning back into the soil with the help of the warm sunshine. From the plateau we started to climb once again reaching over 1700m, before we started to descend into the medieval mountain city of Norcia (pronounced Norcheeia).

Norcia sits about 600m above sea level and is the Birthplace of St Benedict and his twin sister Saint Scholastica (480 A D). It is protected by 14th century stone walls in an outline shape of a bell, the Piazza San Benedetto is the heart of Norcia where the most important buildings are found , the San Benedetto Basilica, Cathedrale di San Maria Argentea and la Castellina, an impressive fortress with angular turret masts, now a museum where precious woks of art are preserved, and right in the centre of the Piazza stands a very fine monument and statue of Saint Benedict.



For all back at St Bens - yet another worthwhile
'Field Trip'


There was lots to see within the Medieval walled city, unfortunately for us it was late in the day when we arrived, and we still had over 120kms to travel back to our base. So we decided it was better to visit the principal buildings situated in the main square or Piazza and experience the full benefit of these magnificent buildings, rather than crush in all the sites, just for the sake of saying we saw them....

With the sun sinking behind the mountains we set off on the bike to make our way back to Colle Verde Country House complex, where we would finish the day with eats& drinks in the restaurant, hopefully, followed by a good nights kip for two happy and tired travellers who completed 170 miles over the course of the day, through the Sibillini mountain range.



Saturday 2nd April: We woke to the sounds of the birds singing, the sky, a beautiful blue and the sun cracking the slabs - another glorious day. After breakfast we decided to spend the day relaxing and just enjoy the beautiful sunshine, I decided that I’d give the bike a full wash and polish and Ann wanted to read her book in the sun, and that’s exactly what we done, both immersed in our own pleasures and I reflected on the joys of the previous days riding and the 2829 miles we've covered since our journey began.

Alas our peace and tranquillity was short lived, it was shattered... we received a call from home informing us of the sad death of Anns dad who passed away unexpectedly at 11.30 am that morning. I do not propose to go into any further detail, but suffice to say that a great sadness descended over us.

Through the blog I would like to express my sincere thanks to Alba,Valentine and their family for the kindness and invaluable help and support they gave us at this difficult time. Also to Arturro, ‘google man’ , sorry we missed you and thanks for your blog comments it was great to hear from you.

We intend to resume our adventure in due course, so the blog will remain quiet for a couple of weeks or so. Until then....

Love from the easy Riders xxx