Last day in Greece

Thursday 9th June.

Today is our last day in Greece (until next year?). We catch the ferry to Ancona tonight at 11pm from Igoumenitsa. We left Ammoudia yesterday and came here to Camping Drepanos (39.50992 20.22103)which is on a narrow peninsular a few miles north of the ferry port, one one side is the bay looking across to town and on the other we see the ferry boats sailing back and forth with a backdrop of Corfu. It's a tidy campsite with a nice sandy beach and when I told the guy on reception that our ferry didn't leave till late in the evening he said we could stop until seven or eight o'clock tonight. In fact we'll leave late afternoon to do a Lidl shop before checking in and having a walk around Igoumenitsa.

We've had a great time in Greece, again, it is one of our favourite countries to visit in a Motorhome. We've been here seven weeks, travelled over 1100 miles,stopped at 24 different locations, mostly in the Mani and the Pelleponese and mostly wild camping spots, only stopping at campsites to empty the cassette and use the washing machine. We spent nearly a fortnight at Finikounda while Phil's ribs healed and we would have stopped at a few more places had it not been for this forced delay. We've met old friends and made new ones - including plenty of mechanics - finally got the handbrake repaired, buried the van up to the axles on a beach near Monemvasia, driven up and down mountains and enjoyed the company of some of the friendliest, most hospitable and welcoming people in the world. This has been our third year touring Greece in the springtime and we hope it won't be our last.

Next stop - Italy.

Pat

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Ammoudia

Tuesday 7th June.

Ammoudia is truly beautiful and not the kind of place that many people, other than Greeks, or motorhomers, would visit. The beach is superb, gently shelving sand, which means you have to walk out about fifty metres until the water is up to your chest, less if you are a small person, obviously. There are a few hotels, half a dozen tavernas, a couple of cafes, a mini market and that's about it. The nearest airport is on Corfu, the nearest port is at Igoumenitsa, 55 kilometres away and the nearest bus stop is a 15 kilometre walk. It's lovely and peaceful and I reckon if we stayed here a week we'd know everyone in the village. And that's one of the reasons why we love this life in a Motorhome. We are fortunate to see these kinds of places.

The weather forecast said we should expect thunderstorms this morning at 11 o'clock but folk laughed at me when I told them. Sure enough it was a beautiful sunny day when we awoke with not a cloud in the sky. A quick trip to the mini market and then Phil took to the beach while I did some fishing - it's a good job we've got some tuna and sardines in tins! After lunch it was back to the beach for a spot of paddling and we noticed a few white clouds gathering over the hills behind us. At five o'clock it was black and then after a lightning flash and clap of thunder immediately overhead the heavens opened. We sat in the van for an hour and then the storm passed and the sun came out again. It was still warm enough to dry the ground and looking around now you wouldn't think we had seen a drop of rain.

Shortly after the storm passed the evening boat traffic started, here's a selection as they chugged past our front door. Hope you like pictures of boats:

Here's a snapshot of where we are parked 39.23622 20.47984:

And here's one showing the places we have stopped this time in Greece:

Tomorrow we are heading for a campsite just the other side of Igoumenitsa to empty and fill the appropriate containers and top up with diesel and LPG before we catch the ferry on Thursday back to Ancona in Italy.

Pat

 

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Kalamitsi and Ammoudia.

Sunday 5th June.

Yesterday afternoon we had the massive parking area at Messolonghi to ourselves, we were parked on one side of a long U shaped harbour and apart from a couple of cafe/bars there was nothing beyond us. During the afternoon we watched families strolling up and down, ages from tots to grandparents. The whole parking area where we were was maybe 120m X 30m and there were about four or five cars parked up. But by nine o'clock the place was rammed, a seemingly endless procession of folk walking up to the cafes and the place full of cars, scooters and motorbikes. At about 11pm a couple squeezed in front of us and tapped on the window to ask if it was ok if they parked so close. I said I had no problem but remarked upon how late they and others were to be coming out for a Saturday nights fun. "We come out late in Greece" she said with a smile and in perfect English, "I hope we don't disturb you too much". To be fair it wasn't too noisy, we were only woken up a few times as folk left at silly o'clock slamming car doors and wishing each other goodnight.

This morning the car park was empty again but for a couple of makeshift stalls selling fresh fish. We couldn't resist and walked over and bought a couple of unidentified fish which looked about the right size for us for €4. Whilst they were being cleaned for us the fishmonger asked where we were from and, inevitably, when we told him he said, "I've been to England - Dover, Cardiff, I like England". He explained, with the help of some sign language, that he had left home aged thirteen and joined the merchant navy, travelled the world, jumped ship in Australia where he spent a year and he still had a twinkle in his eye. Lovely man.

We left Messolonghi and drove for a couple of hours through one of the less picturesque areas of Greece. Mind, that's relative I suppose, we've been spoilt by the spectacular scenery of the Mani and the Pelleponese for the last few weeks. We needed a campsite and initially thought we would stop on the island of Lefkides but the site we looked at was on the bottom of the island and it would have been a long drive there and then back again on the only road so we sacked that plan in favour of the campsite where we are now, Camping Kalamitsi, just a few miles north of Preveza (38.97390 20.71604). The campsite is ok, clean and tidy but despite moving pitches I still can't pick up the WiFi; just about the first time on a Greek campsite that decent WiFi hasn't been available and as we're in the middle of nowhere there's no 3G either. We were a bit restricted as to where we could move on the site as although it wasn't too busy when we arrived we were told that a group of sixteen Dutch motorhomes were arriving during the afternoon. There are a lot of Fig, Lime and Apricot trees on the site and it's been great fun over the last couple of hours watching all the Dutch vans arrive with the later arrivals having a few problems squeezing in between the arboria.

We barbecued the fish we bought this morning (delicious) and then sat outside with a glass of wine watching the entertainment as mentioned and a colony of ants building a new nest a few feet away. Then one of the Dutch guys complained about the ants on his pitch and the odd-job man here came back and sprinkled some powder down. He came over to us and asked if we had a problem, we said no but then he spied our ants and although we asked him not to bother he insisted in giving our new friends the treatment. I know it sounds daft but it's been a bit distressing watching all these ants going through their death throes.

We catch the ferry from Igoumenitsa back to Ancona on the 9th so tomorrow we'll head for Ammoudia, just 50kms further north, and stop there for a couple of days before finding a campsite near the port for our last night in Greece.

Sunset last night in Messolonghi looking across to the Marina:

The sixteen Dutch motorhomes have all arrived now and they've started playing boules, two groups - men and women, I guess mixed boules is not their game. Anyway, the German guy next to us who has been here a few days watched for a while and then called me over. "Do you know why they are playing boules?" He asked. "Err no." I replied. "Because they can't play football, that's why they're not at Euro 2016! Ha Ha!!" Ouch.

The bamboo tunnel to the beach at Kalamitsi

Monday 6th June.

A 45 minute drive this morning brought us to Ammoudia, a beautiful and popular location for motorhomers. We are parked on a spit of land with a sandy bay on one side and the river Acheron on the other (39.23627 20.47909). In Greek mythology the river Acheron is one of the five rivers of the underworld, the river of pain or woe, and is the ultimate punishment for the souls of the damned, especially muderers! However we will sleep easy knowing that the entrance to Hades is a few miles further upstream and the ferryman probably won't bother with us anyway as we are nice people. That's the theory anyway but if there are no further blogs I've obviously slipped up somewhere, probably in a previous life.

We are sharing this spot with about eight or ten other vans and although they are no facilities here other than a shower tap on the beach for water most folk usually stop for a few days. We had a coffee in the nearby cafe this morning and bagged the WiFi password so we're good for internet access and emails for a couple of days. The local villagers don't seem to mind out presence, most folk spend a few euros at least in the local mini market and two of the local taverna owners have been round inviting us to their establishments. One who said we were welcome to empty our toilet cassette in his facilities. The thoughts of going out for an evening meal lugging our toilet with us is an image we can't now unsee!

Whilst the weather has been glorious for the last few days the forecast is for thunderstorms tomorrow with a possibility of some flash flooding so we may be carried off to the underworld after all.

Hades is about five miles upstream:

Not too many folk on the beach:

Pat

 

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Corinth, Psatha, Galaxidi and Messolonghi.

Thursday 2nd June.

Over the last few days it's been getting progressively warmer and today has been a scorcher. At 6pm it's over 40degC in the van. We left Blue Dolphin this morning and set off on the coast and mountain roads to where we are now at Psatha (38.11275 23.21830). We are parked up next to a shingle beach on the Bay of Corinth and although I would have preferred sand under my feet it was so hot this afternoon that I had to hobble into the sea for a float. Whilst the hardy footed Greeks strode out of the sea like Adonis, I crawled out on my hands and knees like a bleached starfish. Walking on pebbles is hard enough but hot pebbles are crazy, like I would imagine walking on coals.

We crossed the Corinth canal today using the bridge just outside Corinth at the north end of the canal. It is a remarkable bridge, when ships and boats come through the bridge is lowered until it is completely submerged. It is then lifted back up with water cascading off and cars and small vehicles drive over until the next boat comes along and the whole performance is repeated. We waited about fifteen minutes this morning for a couple of boats to go through and it was only when it was too late to turn back that we noticed the three ton weight limit. All went well and I didn't break the bridge.

The bridge lowered:

Boat coming through:

And up she comes:

Tonight's parking spot:

 

Friday 3rd June.

Yesterday the sea was dead calm with hardly a ripple disturbing the shingle beach but last night the wind got up and this morning the waves were crashing in.

We set off this morning on a pretty uneventful but long, for us, drive to where we are now parked up at Galaxidi on (another) harbour (38.37477 22.38699). This is the third time we've stopped here and it's a beautiful stop, great views, walks around the headland and a fantastic little nautical museum. We parked up and walked away from the harbour where this place looked good for lunch:

Unfortunately the owner said she could only offer us pork souvlaki which neither of us fancied so we just ordered a couple of drinks which were delivered with complementary sardines, chips and bread! Back to the harbour where we had a delicious meal and watched the swallows feeding their young:

Tonight's parking spot:

And today's weather report - windy and HOT.

Saturday 4th June.

We drove today along the southern coastline of West Greece to the Sacred City of Missolonghi, so named in honour of those who died attempting to leave the city after resisting a year long siege by Ottoman forces during the Greek War of Independence. The city is also famous for it's salt water lagoons and for being the final resting place of Lord Byron who died here in 1824 and who supported the Greek struggle for independence. Surprisingly there is no real tourism here, we expected to see lots of coaches and other motorhomes but we've got the place to ourselves and unlike many other places we've been to recently there are hardly any directional signs in English. We walked into the town earlier and it's quite beautiful so we're surprised there's not been more effort made to "sell" the area.

Our Camperstop guide offered a location next to a "Tourist Office" in the Marina but that turned out to be a "Tours Office" selling boats and moorings and when we were asked if we had a boat and replied in the negative we were firmly and not too politely asked to leave. So we've driven round the corner and parked, again, on the harbour (38.36154 21.42582) and those folk whom we've asked whether we're OK parking here have all shrugged their shoulders and given the reply we get everywhere "Why not?"

There are a few restaurants and cafe/bars around the harbour and as there is what looks like an army barracks on the edge of town and lots of "squaddies" strolling around I suspect it might get a bit lively later tonight but we can't really ask them to turn it down can we?

Sad news about Muhammad Ali today, here are a few pics:

 

Pat

 

 

 

 

 

 

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An end to the handbrake saga?

Tuesday 31st May

We are parked up now on the Blue Dolphin Campsite a few miles around the bay from Corinth (37.93556 22.86605). The campsite is a little tired but we are just a few feet from the shingle beach and it's only a short walk into Lecheo. We were talking last night to Peter, the owner, and he like other campsite owners we've met here on Greece confirmed that he was seeing less and less customers and they were spending less and less money in the restaurant and bar. He acknowledged that the site needs some money spending on it but he's not too optimistic for the future. We asked how his wife's dress shop was going which she opened in Corinth a couple of years ago and he said she had closed it a few months after H&M opened a store nearby at a new shopping mall and she couldn't compete with their prices. We were a bit embarrassed as we had visited H&M yesterday where Phil bought a few bits and pieces! Mind, we eat in the restaurant every other day so we're trying to help in our small way.

Having visited four garages over the last two weeks to try and get my handbrake repaired I asked Peter yesterday if he could recommend a garage which he duly did; a garage specialising in brakes no less. I won't bore you with the details but yesterday we visited a total of six (6!) garages, one of them twice. It would have been seven but we couldn't find that one. At the end of the day the problem had been diagnosed but the various garages either didn't have ramps that would lift the van, or if they did the ceiling was too low and in one case they were just plain disinterested. I returned to the campsite and the Dutch guy in his van next to us mentioned the garage he had been to that day for some repairs to his van. He offered to show me where it was and off we went again only to arrive and find the workshop closed for the day! But the guy on reception told me to phone in the morning to make an appointment with the service manager. This I did but was confronted with a series of options, in Greek, aargh! I found Peter gave him the phone and after he spoke to the service guy he presented me with two options - make an appointment for 8.00am tomorrow or go now and wait for anything up to two hours before they could have a look at the van. Well, we had nothing else to do so off we went. We waited an hour in the luxurious Alf Romeo showroom ( the receptionist made us coffee) and then there was some action and two hours later, and €100 lighter, we were on our way. And that, we hope, is the end of the handbrake saga. Halfway through the day yesterday the guy at the Renault garage said we needed a new piston/calliper (?) for the rear o/s wheel (or n/s if you are in Greece). He said a new one was €300, he'd just bought a reconditioned one for somebody else for €150 but the guy didn't have any more. At the garage today the mechanics took off the offending part, stripped it down, cleaned and greased it and it's now working perfectly.

By the time we left the garage we were starving so we called at a shop on the way back and bought these beauties. I've no idea what breed of fish they are, sea bream possibly, but they were delicious.

 

Pat

 

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Mechanics and (Greek) tapas.

Thursday 26th May.

What a great lifestyle we are enjoying at the moment. When I say we're lucky to be doing what we're doing and visiting some of the most beautiful places on earth Phil corrects me and says, no - we're not lucky, we've worked for this. We are fortunate but we're not "lucky". However you call it - lucky, fortunate, blessed, whatever, it certainly works for us.

We're parked up this evening on the harbour side at Ermioni (37.38818 23.24774) and we've just watched the light change from a brilliant blue, sunny sky through dusk to darkness. The sea is like glass with barely a ripple and the lights from the shops and tavernas reflect their blues, greens and orange across the water. We live in a space barely eighteen feet by eight feet and yet we never feel cramped. Contained within this relatively tiny space is everything we need or, for that matter, want. We have a house back in England full of "things" we have accumulated over the years and I don't think either of us miss any of them. The only thing we do miss is friends and family but with the various forms of communicating these days barely a week or so goes by when we don't talk with or have video chats with our family and we'll be home in a month or so to give them all a hug.

We stopped here last year on a Wednesday night and we were woken the following morning at about 5.30 to all manner of banging and clattering. When we looked outside we discovered we had parked in the middle of the area used for the weekly market! We made a note of this and today arrived in the afternoon as the last of the stalls were being broken down so we should be ok for a good nights sleep tonight, until the kids arrive for the school and kindergarten opposite tomorrow morning. We met some other motorhomers recently who said they didn't care for Ermioni because it was a bit too touristy. We don't see it like that. It only has one or two souvenir shops and they double up selling other bits and pieces to the locals and the tavernas have less menus in English than we've found elsewhere. What they do have here are two quays, one for the high speed hydrofoils that ferry passengers between the islands of Hydra, Spetses, Poros and as far as Athens, and another where small freighters load and offload a bewildering array of goods.

Ermioni:

 

Looks like nobody wanted these so I guess they'll be going to tomorrow's market somewhere:

 

Friday 27th May.

We left Ermioni this morning and as we drove a mile out of town Phil spotted a garage with a sign outside proclaiming that they spoke Dutch and English. A quick u turn and I went back where the owner greeted me with a cheery hello. I explained the handbrake problem and told him someone had already looked at it in Areopoli and their verdict. He listened patiently to me and then asked if I spoke German! Unfortunately nein so he shouted to his wife on the balcony and gestured that I should explain my problem to her. I shouted up, she shouted down, a couple of mechanics came out to join in and after much nodding and head shaking it was explained that he couldn't help because he needed to get under the van and my van wouldn't fit in the workshop. But, he had a friend on the other side of town who could help and one of his mechanics would drive there and I should follow him. This I did and we followed the guy back to Ermioni and out the other side with the Sat Navs pleading with me to "Make a u turn when possible". We arrived at garage number 2 which did have a high entrance and an inspection pit, unfortunately there was a concrete beam running above the pit about six feet above the ground. Mechanic number 1 slaps his forehead, scratches his ear and then asks me to follow him again. Mechanic number 1, now with mechanic number 2 on board, drives up the road for half a mile or so to another garage where they have an inspection pit with nothing above it but clear blue sky. Over it I drive and mechanic number two descends with a torch and a few minutes later asks for a screwdriver. Five minutes later he climbs out and says the rear brake pads are shot because I must have driven at some time with the handbrake on. I need new rear pads and the handbrake cable adjusting. Hmmm, can he do the work? No, because he doesn't have the brake pads. Can he order them? Well, not really but if I want to drive to Argos for them and bring them back he would do the job. So I now have two different explanations for my useless handbrake. Tomorrow we are going to Corinth so I will ask our friend Peter on the campsite there if he knows a mechanic.

After the morning's excitement we set off for Galatas where we are now parked up looking across the bay to the island of Poros (37.49514 23.45489). We like Galatas because the old rough and ready tavernas here serve a snack, meatball, cheese, half an egg, a tomato or some other delicacy, when you order a drink. So we did a little taverna crawl which meant we didn't have to cook lunch but we did need a siesta to sleep off the beer and ouzo! Poros is only a few hundred metres opposite where we are parked and the waterfront is now lit up with all the bars and tavernas. We could take the ferry over, with or without the van but we expect that there won't be much there to entertain us and the prices will reflect the fact that it is a tourist island. If anyone from Poros is reading this and I'm doing your home an injustice, I apologise.

Panoramic view of Poros:

After our little siesta today I went outside for a stretch and....... yes, that is a man up a mast!

So, tomorrow we set off to the Blue Dolphin campsite just outside Corinth. If we're lucky we'll get a pitch right on the beach and we'll stay for a few days. You never know, I might find a mechanic and get a third opinion on the handbrake.

Pat

 

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Untitled

Tuesday 24th May.

When we stopped here (37.56831 22.80113) at Nafplion on the harbour side two years ago there were loads of folk fishing off the quayside. Last year they had erected about a half mile of steel fencing but left a small gate about halfway along so there were still quite a few folk fishing, we saw one guy pull out a tuna that must have weighed at least 6 or 7 lbs. This year they have closed the small gate and replaced it with a large gate at one corner complete with security guard; no one is fishing including me. We thought we saw the yacht with the folk from Amble moored up, we met them at Geraka port and again at Plaka, so thought we would walk along and have a chat and the security guard kindly opened the gate for us. It turned out it was another English couple who were waiting for the wind to drop before they set sail, it has been windy here today but apparently it's blowing a force 7 gale outside the harbour. Not knowing much about sailing I asked if that was a big problem for them, they didn't go into detail, just nodded their heads.

Another scenic drive today up the coast road from Plaka with the Argolikos Sea on our right. The trade off with scenic routes is the journey time, it took us an hour and a half to travel 43 miles today. We stopped at this pretty little harbour two years ago and today stopped for coffee on the headland above:

Yesterday we called at the mini market at Plaka again for a few bits and pieces and Margaret's son served us. After we paid he told us to wait a moment because he had a gift for us - another dozen oranges, two lemons, five courgettes and a half dozen apricots! The generosity of the Greek folk we meet is beyond words.

The car park here is enormous and there are always a dozen or so coaches parked up and plenty of room for motorhomes but as we arrived today we noticed that an adjacent car park was absolutely full with about 50 plus motorhomes. We thought that maybe there was now a designated area for us but parked up in our 'usual' spot and then went over to investigate. There were vans parked up from just about every European country and looked like they had been there for a few days, some were displaying a piece of paper with their names and a number on and they all had stickers from the International Federation Motorhome Clubs, an organisation I'd never heard of. We surmised that it was some kind of rally and as there were about three or four UK vans we thought we might ask the occupants for some info. But, strangely, there wasn't a soul to be seen anywhere, it was like a Motorhome graveyard. We went back to our van for some lunch and shortly afterwards the mystery was explained. Four coaches turned up and disgorged their passengers who then proceeded to return to their vans! Now, we're on a harbour here and there's a cruise ship in and some of the passengers have returned during the day on coaches from day trips to wherever. That makes sense, obviously, because you can't take a cruise ship to, say, Mycenae but I fail to see the point in having a house on wheels, parking it up and then visiting places by coach! Maybe I'm missing something here. There's a small toilet block here which has always been locked when we've been here before but today it looked open with a somewhat fierce looking lady guarding it. After the hundred plus motorhomers returned to their vans they all started bringing their cassettes over to empty them and something resembling an orderly queue formed. Then we noticed that some folk were filling water containers but using the same hose as they were using to flush their cassettes!!! NO!! NO!! and NO!! again. If that's what the International Federation Motorhome Clubs get up to I'm not joining!

We like Nafplion, it has a lot of history having been occupied by the Romans,Venetians (twice) and the Ottomans. There are some impressive defensive structures high above the town which, to our shame, we've never visited as it entails a climb of some 800 plus steps and it's always been scorching hot when we've been here. It also has an impressive old town boasting "The Oldest Restaurant in Greece" which we can maybe take with a pinch of oregano. If only they'd put a gap in that fence so I could do a bit of fishing eh?

The old town:

Nice bike:

Here's the cruise ship leaving at 10pm tonight:

 

Wednesday 25th May.

Today was the third time in the last few weeks that we've driven to a "new" destination in Greece only to exclaim as we arrived "We've been here before!" We visited Kilada last year but only stopped for a look around and a coffee. This time we are parked up on the harbour (37.417423 23.12650) looking across the bay to the mouth of the cave at Frachti which we also visited last year.

We're assuming we are welcome also:

We left Nafplion this morning and took a twenty minute drive down the coast to visit Tolo which looks like it could be very busy in the summer, plenty of small hotels and apartments to rent but today it was pretty quiet. The main excitement came as folk drove up the main street to be confronted by red and white barrier tape stretched across the road as there was a JCB digging a hole a little further along. We sat down for coffee with the old men and watched the show. A car would approach, the old men would shout something and the driver would then get out, untie the tape, drive along and then stop and go back and tie the tape back up again. Eventually somebody left the tape blowing in the wind and life returned to normal. There wasn't too much else to entertain us at Tolo so we set off on the back roads through stunning scenery again climbing nearly 500 metres into pine forests and then as we descended we looked down on a plain of patchwork fields. Not the usual olive groves or orchards but wheat or corn or barley.

Kilada is a working port with larger than usual fishing boats and some very expensive looking yachts. There's also a couple of enormous boatyards on the edge of the village with vessels of all shapes and sizes being repaired or renovated and plenty of yachts which look like they are in storage. We think the bay here must be visited by Dolphins because there are lots of images of them around the village and the street lights have just come on and they are all in the shape of Dolphins too.

The sign above the football stadium:

We've seen no signs of actual Dolphins yet though, maybe it's the wrong time of year?

When we arrived here last year we had almost run out of water but thought we wouldn't have too much trouble as there's nearly always water at harbours. We discovered that all the water taps required a credit card payment which wasn't too appealing so I asked the baker where I could find some water. Greek hospitality was demonstrated once again when he gave me the keys to his outside water tap and told me to help myself. This time after we parked up I idly turned the tap on one of the machines requiring a credit card and lo and behold, water gushed out. We filled the tank quick as a flash and the two water containers we have so we could top up again in the morning. So thank you to whoever left a drop of water for us on their credit card!

I haven't posted a photo of a sunset for a while so here you go:

Pat

 

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