Greece - Athens (1)

We arrived in Athens late on Thursday afternoon 24 October and made the campsite just before dark. Later than what is ideal, but we made two lengthy stops on the way from Delphi, firstly at the Distomo memorial honouring and commemorating Greek partisans and civilians killed by German forces in WW2 and the second at the Byzantine Monastery of Hosios Loukas for the simplistic beauty of its stonework.

Distomo Memorial

 

Byzantine Monastery of Hosios Loukas

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ATHENS

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Entering Athens during the afternoon traffic peak when all and sundry were making their way home added a special touch to entering this lively city!! Snoopy the GPS / SatNav did a sterling job and never flinched - the joys of technology! Campsite owner Katerina gave all the bus, train and related paperwork to get us into Athens the next day.
Friday morning saw us tackle the business of commuting into Athens, always a joyous occasion finding your way into strange cities when all signs and signage are in a form of script which is undecipherable. However, the English language to the rescue!
Bus No 522 took us all the way to the terminus at Kifissia train station where a wait of only minutes resulted in the train to Athens. Kifissia station is also the terminus for that section of the Metro, which means all trains departing from it go to Athens - easy! We passed the Olympic stadium where Athens hosted the 2004 Olympics and got off the Metro train at Omonia station in central Athens. First we need to find a map of Athens to navigate by and secondly we wanted to do the hop-on-hop-off bus tour found in many cities. Map from a newspaper kiosk and directions to the bus stop of the open top bus tour, we were ready. The first sight that greeted us at the bus stop was that of a man who had just had his shower in the fountains and washed his clothes at the same time. Welcome to minimalist ....

This was going to be an exciting day, Athens is not only about archaeology and the Acropolis. We bought a full house two day ticket (20 Euros each) where you can do both Athens and Piraeus tours. The nature of the open top bus tour is that it gives you a good overall view of the city with earphone commentary in your chosen language. The bus stops frequently and you get off and back on as you please for the duration of your ticket, with buses every 30 minutes. The full circuit of the tour for Athens is 90 minutes and Piraeus 60 minutes, you can also sit on the bus all day if you want and go around hearing it all countless times.

Western façade of the Acropolis seen from the Plaka area

Greek flags in anticipation of "Ochi" day

National Library of Greece

We got off the bus near the Acropolis and decided to walk the streets of the Plaka district and get a feel for the city. It is cramped with narrow streets and alleyways but has sights, little shops and tavernas all over the place, really good sightseeing.

Traffic, like in most of Europe's cities is hectic, with everyone pushing and shoving for headway. We noticed very little hooting, unlike say Italy, and a patience amongst drivers which is admirable. The picture below was taken from the bus as we move (crawl) up this street.

Traffic near Monastiraki Square

We called time at about 3pm after some 4 hours of sightseeing and took the Metro train and bus back to the campsite. The journey time is one hour so it was gone 4pm when we arrived back. A most pleasant day and it gave us the overview we sought from the vantage point of a double deck open top bus - way to go!

Next up Day 2 in Athens.

Greece - Ancient Delphi

The life and times of ancient Greek society and their habitation of Delphi (Delfi) is either of interest or not. We are not greatly into ancient societies or ancient history for that matter, but Delphi on the slopes of Mount Parnassus,  is so well researched and archived that we decided to stop and take a look around. We were not disappointed!

Campsite mountain view near Delphi from our parked motorhome

We walked the 2 miles from the campsite to the Delphi museum and archaeological site. The museum is excellently appointed and has no nonsense staff in every hall to curb noise and unruly behaviour. It makes for quality viewing and enjoyment of the exhibits. Of the most striking was the bronze statue of the Charioteer.

The Charioteer

"The facial expression betrays none of the exuberance we would expect a victorious athlete to project, especially immediately following the race. Instead the athletic youth stands and stares with a natural ease that allows him to levitate in a realm between earthly and divine spaces".

http://www.ancient-greece.org/art/chiarioteer.html

The picture below is of a scale model showing The Sacred Precinct of the archaeological site which is the main attraction when visiting Delphi. You need time and you need to do some reading in the museum and of the pamphlets you are given to try and grasp all of what you see. It can be information overload but we had no regrets in going, the experience of ancient Greek civilisation and all of what it implies, is most fulfilling.

Model of the Sacred Precinct

http://www.ancient.eu.com/delphi/

We planned our visit to be there before 11:30 because that's when the coaches carrying the hordes arrive, in so doing we stayed ahead of the crowd and viewed most of the site in relative peace - very important if you want to enjoy it. As it happened I teamed up with an American chap and berated a 20 something woman from eastern Europe ignoring a roped off area at the arena just to pose for a photo of herself, tramping all over 2,500 years of history with no respect. She was not pretty either ....

Temple of Apollo

Bank of the Athenians

The Arena

The Theatre seen from the stage

You will notice the lack of people in the pictures, go before 11:30 and stay ahead of the crowds! I can carry on and on regarding what can be seen but that is not the aim here. Ancient Greek history is complicated and as mentioned it can be too much. We tend to skim the surface and at least get a grasp of it, but some others had thick guide books trying to take it all in. Some took endless pictures on smart phones, some had £10,000 DSLR cameras and others followed their rambling guide through the stones with leather shoes, jackets, hats, sunglasses and bottled water .... oh dear.
We were back in town for a late lunch of Steak (me) and Moussaka (Joan) and chips, nicely presented in the shade on a terrace. Modern civilisation!

Lunch on a shady terrace in Delphi

A wonderful two night stay and full day visit to ancient Delphi - and the red toad stool lighting inside the campsite!

Onwards to Athens!

Greece - Galaxidi, a harbour town.

Until the late 19th Century Galaxidi, located on the northern side of the Gulf of Korinthos, was a prosperous merchant marine harbour town. Let me say that it still is a well to do place judging by the leisure boats and goodly amount of quayside tavernas. However, it was the connection to its merchant marine days that gave it stature. It traded as far afield as England and used a fleet of near 400 two- and three masted schooners going all over the Med. These days there is a small presence of Athenian second home owners ensuring the visible understated affluence.
We went to have a look because you get a glimpse of it from the bypass road above the town and that view is just so inviting.

Galaxidi

The northern entry road takes you right through the centre of town, not that we knew it, narrow roads with twice having to wait for people to move their vehicles so that Fifi the motorhome can pass. This results in much animated discussion by locals and a pity or perhaps a blessing that we cannot understand what is being said.
We stopped at the bakery on the town square just to rub it in that we are there and I came back with a freshly baked bread and a pastry with soft melted cheese inside, just to show the locals we do intend to support the local economy.

Fifi the motorhome found suitable parking next to the harbour and so we went for a look around.

Parked for the night on the opposite pier

View from our overnight parking spot

Nearer the harbour entrance you find the sports cruisers

A road leading to a lookout point brings you to a memorial paying homage to those who stayed behind when the merchant sailors went to sea. Beautifully made it shows a mother and her children waving goodbye.

 

International memorial to the wife of the seafarer, says the plaque.

 The town has some real delights in terms of facades, balconies and colours. We walked some streets at random and came across the following, showing a style and free minded thinking the Grecian way.

 

Many of the larger houses belonged to and were the homes of merchants in the 19th century. An effort has and is being made to keep at least the facades reflecting that era.

 

A riot of colours

To say that we found Galaxidi interesting is an understatement, we found it to have a soul and a vibrancy, also when we spoke to locals there was no hesitation from them to engage in conversation. This town is about a merchant past and its harbour which brought it wealth. The evidence is easily seen and still makes for a wonderful visit.

Who said fishing must be messy?

Mountain, sea and a sports cruiser!

As the sun sets at 18:26 ....

.... the tavernas come alive .... 19:32

Thank you Galaxidi for showing us a little something of how Greece can look. Economic times are tough at present in the whole of Greece, but here there is hope and a lighter side to austerity. You felt it and it made the visit that much more enjoyable.

Ooh .... !

 

Greece - Gulf of Korinthos, Spilia and Trizonia.

The beauty of the Grecian coast is slowly revealing itself to us. You see postcards and hear stories but nothing compares to going there and experiencing it for yourself. Perhaps more so in the low season because you do not have the crowds.

 

Rio-Antirrio bridge over the Gulf of Corinth

 

I started this post of the Blog deliberately with another picture of the bridge over the Gulf of Corinth near the towns of Patras and Nafpaktos simply because of its beauty in design.

The pictures below of dawn breaking on the horizon were taken from where Fifi the motorhome was parked in Spilia. This was our view on four consecutive mornings! 



Dawn at 07:19 over the Gulf of Corinth ....

.... and looking the other way, the island of Trizonia.

The island of Trizonia is the largest in the Gulf of Korinthos and has a population of less than 100. Popular with 'yachties' and a lovely village square on the harbour pier with a handful of tavernas makes for an idyllic setting. It is reached from the mainland by water taxi taking all of 5 minutes.

The same view as above at 19:47, at last light. The lit up area is the village square and harbour pier, where a handful of tavernas are located.

We took the midday water taxi (1Euro per person) and went to have a look. Speaking to a retired German yacht owner on board, he said Trizonia has not lost its charm and is not swamped by tourists in summer. They currently used it as winter anchorage with short hops when the mood takes them. They've sailed the Baltic and western Med and now only do the eastern Med. Walking around the yacht harbour, which is a completely different entity to the taxi / trade pier, most pleasure and fishing boats were Greek registered with some from England and a few being lived on - motorhomes on the sea! Some folk were having a bite on their boats, others were reading or just sitting with a drink. Ever heard the saying 'messing around on boats'? That too was in evidence, not mentioning beards, old T-shirts and well worn denims.
We had a look around some of the little side alleys leading off the main square and found a quietness only possible on a small island such as this. There are very few vehicles, what's the point, I think we saw 10 or so and all were clapped out utility type transport.
We indulged in a glass of chilled Greek white wine served at a tavern overlooking the pier, the sea and the mountains beyond, whilst waiting for our 2pm water taxi back to the mainland. Not easy this kind of life .... !

Waiting for the departure to Trizonia

White and blue the colours of Greece

Thriving in the sunshine

Looking across to the mainland - Fifi centre right.

The 'honeysuckle' to pump out septic tanks parked above the yacht harbour

A very Greek scene

Water taxi and harbour pier

Yes ... yes ... yes

Looking east along the beach road in Spilia

A wonderfully sunny few days on the Gulf of Korinthos, at a lazy leisurely pace and all in all four nights spent parked right there where you see Fifi the motorhome next to the roadside in the picture above. The low season, very little traffic with few people around ensuring quality free camping which will be long remembered.
 

Greece - the road from Achillio to Nafpaktos

We left Achillio shortly after breakfast, having also filled up Fifi's water tank and sorting the waste water. We programmed Snoopy the GPS with Nafpaktos as destination although it was not the intention to go that far in one day. It simply means we can travel in that general direction taking the best roads available without having to resort to motorways on the day.
We loosely hugged the coast to Lamia where the armies of Spartan King Leonidas and Persian King Xerxes clashed in 480BC in what was known as the Battle of Thermopylae. I remember reading about these two armies and their leaders at school in a history class. It was a major clash of arms in its day whereby the Persians sought to invade the whole of Greece and almost succeeded.

Overlooking the area of the Battle of Thermopylae

We crossed the Kallidromo mountain pass (1,400m) leading to the Gulf of Corinth coast. However, before reaching the coast we saw signs indicating a British Military Cemetery soon to be reached. We kept our eyes peeled and soon saw the immaculate walled enclosure and entrance to the Bralo Military Cemetery.
This WW1 cemetery contains the final resting place of 95 souls most of whom succumbed to Influenza in 1918. It is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commision (CWGC).

Of interest were the handful of markers commemorating those from the Russian Labour Corps. I have no idea how they featured in the scheme of things as I cannot find any reference.

Continuing our journey on the E65 going west and after some looking around we came across the delightful village of Spilia, with a suitable parking spot on a quiet road for overnight stopovers. We stayed the night and ventured to Patras from Nafpaktos via the Rio-Antirrio bridge spanning the Gulf of Corinth on its 3km wide western extremity. The cost is 13Euros one way and we did it twice, heading back to our overnight stop in Spilia. No regrets! An architectural masterpiece such as this must be seen properly as we may never come this way again.

Spilia stopover

 

Rio-Antirrio bridge (Patras-Nafpaktos) Gulf of Corinth

View on the move!

The aim for the day was to cross this bridge spanning the Gulf of Corinth, do some restocking on supplies, draw cash from an autobank and simply enjoy the area. All these were achieved and contented with the day's travels we decided to stay another night in Spilia at our parking spot. The choice was easy - where else can you stay free, with such a view, such ambience, surrounded by sea and mountains? You can in Greece.