Diakofto

We are parked tonight on a short promenade next to the tiny harbour of Diakofto. As we look across the Corinthian Sea we can see the twinkling lights of the wind farm beneath which we slept last night at Galaxidi. We are in the province of Achaia now after crossing on the ferry from Antinio to Patras, we could have crossed on the new bridge for €20 so we took the ferry for €11 which gave us a good view of the impressive bridge.

Before crossing from mainland Greece we stopped at Nafpaktos, a busy little town where we thought we might stay the night but we checked out the recommended spot which was on a shingle beach just outside town jutting out to the sea with no shade at all. Too hot! So we drove back into the town, had a walk around and did a bit of shopping. We parked outside a cafe where the staff and the customers started waving their arms, indicating that we maybe shouldn't park there. But we're going to have a coffee I said. Ok, no problem just move back a few metres and it's fine. A couple of Fredo Cappucinos and we could park there no problem while we walked into town. There is a tiny walled harbour with cafés and restaurants around the edge, very pretty, and then massive hardware shops and builders merchants just a few metres away. A busy, busy town with a narrow one-way system which was a challenge on occasions.

The Harbour at Nafpaktos.

 

We drove on to Antinio but the campsite we had on the Sat Nav had disappeared so we crossed on the ferry and the free parking place we had on our list in Patras was, again, with no shade and next to a building site putting the finishing touches to the bridge. Off we set again down to where we are now along fourty kilometres of roadworks.....Aargh. But we're here now and the reason we have come is because there is a narrow gauge rack and pinion railway here http://www.odontotos.com/index-en.htm which tomorrow will take us up through the Vouraikos Gorge through some stunning scenery. The line ends at Kalavrita, a town which has a tragic history, too sad for this blog but I urge you to google the town and read for yourselves.

So after the trip on the railway we head into Korinthia, then Argolida and then into the Peloponnese.

Meanwhile, for those of you interested in this kind of thing, we have travelled 3799 miles since leaving home 45 days ago, we've stopped overnight at 36 different locations of which 15 have been free; 9 out of 16 free in Greece. We're averaging 31.5mpg and we're having the time of our lives!!

Pat.

 

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