Greece - Kalamata-Pylos-Kalamata

As mentioned before, don't be fooled into thinking Greece is all blue skies and azure seas. Once the weather breaks in late October this country can produce rain, making us think more than once that we must be in Britain. After a prolonged period of dark cloudy skies we even thought of flying back to England for a week to get some sun ....

From Kalamata harbour wall

Kalamata on the southern shores of the Peloponnese is a well developed large town with a thriving marina and separate commercial port. All the usual tavernas line the main promenade along the coast and some are still open in late November.
The marina office allows motorhomes to park and hook up to electricity inside the harbour area and you are also free to use the shower / toilet facilities for the reasonable sum of 12Euros per day. You have a limited choice of where to park depending on where there is a free electricity connection, if you need one. We opted for a spot near the main buildings close to the shower block and with a view across the marina.

Kalamata marina

Late afternoon

Of course being near the main building and its yacht clubhouse / tavern / place-to-party means late night music, voices and laughter. Fine if you're part of the party, but if you aren't ....
We stayed three nights, Joan did all the laundry using the marina's large 8kg machines and of course the day spent at the Hellenic Air Force open day at Kalamata Air Base - see previous post.

The Peloponnese have three large finger-like peninsulas jutting out into the Med from its southern shores and the Kalamata-Pylos-Methoni and back to Kalamata was our direction when we left the marina. All roads we've travelled on since crossing onto the Peloponnese have at times been slow going due to their mountainous nature, twisting and turning slow going in third gear doing max 50km/h at times. Driving to Pylos was no different, but the view from the cliff top just next to the Hotel Philip was spectacular, just before you descend into town.

Overlooking Pylos bay

Sunset over Pylos marina

We spent the next few days around Pylos alternating our night stays between the cliff top next to Hotel Philip, the marina and the palm tree promenade in town. Here we also, for the first time in some weeks, came across fellow motorhomers going around Greece.
Pylos is a lovely town blessed with that palm tree promenade, bakeries and mini supermarket(s) for basics, large central square, bank and the usual tavernas. Overnighting on the palm tree prom is not allowed if the sign is anything to go by, but two other motorhomes did same on a very windy and wet night. I actually went and spoke to the Harbour Master asking about a electricity plug-in, which was denied and they confirmed no overnighting. Well ....

The only way further along our anti-clockwise trip of the Peloponnese is to pass through Kalamata again which we duly did, stopping at the marina again for two nights, charging the leisure batteries of Fifi, Joan doing all the laundry and me cooking a lamb casserole in the Le Creuset. We opted for a different view on the marina, and quieter, away from the main building, taverna and yacht club.

Ensconced between sea going yachts parked up for winter, is our non-sailing permanently land based 'yacht'.

Good neighbours

Speaking of recharging the van's leisure batteries, this was vital in the marina due to the lack of sun over many days resulting in too little charge going into the leisure batteries (Fifi has two) via the solar panel. We were down to the red lights on the monitor panel and needed a good charge over 48 hours to boost them up again. Stocking up on groceries from Lidl's and Carrefour ensured that we were ready for the road from Kalamata going south to Areopoli on the middle finger of the three peninsulas.

Kalamata marina offers pleasant surroundings at a reasonable tariff for all your needs, more so in the low season when open campsites and camperstops are not readily available. Then of course, the tolerance of free camping in Greece is a good reason to go during the winter months when peace and quiet is far more assured than in the hectic summer months.

Greece - Hellenic Air Force, Kalamata.

The Hellenic Air Force (HAF) annually hosts what it calls Open Days at select air bases across Greece. The Kalamata Air Base in the southern Peloponnese took part in this annual showcasing of aircraft and equipment from Thursday 7 November to Sunday 10 November.
We attended on the opening day and had an absolutely wonderful time. Entry is free and parking was allocated next to the hangars about 100 yards from the flightline and aircraft on display. The static display consisted of:-

- General Dynamics F-16C
- North American T-2E Buckeye
- McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II
- Beechcraft T-6A Texan II

More T-2 Buckeye's were parked further away on the flightline, as well as some in the hangar, which was open to public viewing. The show piece of the day was the "Zeus" display in a F-16 beautifully flown by a HAF pilot. The hangar was all spit and polish and HAF personnel was on hand everywhere to answer questions or simply to have a chat with.

Thank you HAF and Kalamata Air Base for a most memorable day!

For my portfolio on the Hellenic Air Force, Kalamata Air Base, click below:-

http://www.airplane-pictures.net/album.php?p=1109

North American T-2E Buckeye

General Dynamics F-16C

 

Greece - Patras to Katakolo along the western Peloponnese

Travelling down the western Peloponnese, or travelling from Patras to Kalamata if you like.

It was never our intention to stay in Patras itself, after all we will see it again when we take the ferry to Italy heading home and even then we have our spot near that bridge ....
We stopped near the port area in a large parking lot for lunch and a cup of tea and were soon enough faced with a female and two young children begging which put us right off the place anyway.
So on we travelled to the much praised coastal area at Kalogria, yes it was pretty, the camperstop area was locked and we dared not venture off the tarmac for fear of getting stuck after heavy rains in the area. We made for a beach and taverna nearby with a hardstanding but thought it too isolated and out of it. Free camping yes, but not too isolated with hardly any light after dark on a deserted stretch of coast - so yet again on we went. Darkness was falling and we were still looking for a safe stop, it had also started raining again. Don't think that Greece hasn't got rain, it RAINS and storms big time when the weather gods are out to play.
We aimed for the ferry port at Killini, knowing we could overnight there, as is usually the case with ferry ports. We found a spot and tried to settle before having something to eat but found the port very busy and noisy. The last straw was when a fuel tanker parked near us and for some reason the driver left the engine running whilst he went somewhere else. We left after half an hour, the time 9:30pm.
Killini's Bath, an area with Spa hotels and the like was nearby and by now it was really raining again causing a power failure as we entered town, leaving everything around us in total darkness. We pulled up in a side road, the time now 10:30 in pitch black darkness and thought this would suffice to grab some sleep before setting off in the morning for surroundings welcoming and sunny. Joan struggled to settle down ....

I woke up after a while noticing Joan sitting in the front looking out the small quarter windows of the cab which is not covered with the fitted blinds. I purposely leave those windows uncovered so that one can see the mirrors, with a view of what's behind, and what may be on the sides of the 'van. To me knowing what's around (situational awareness) is important.
She told me that a vehicle kept passing us very slowly and had already been three times, turning around further ahead repeating the exercise. I joined her in front and watched the passing pick up truck coming by. When it turned around I started our vehicle and switched the headlights on full beam and went outside standing just to the side out of the lights so that the person could only see my silhouette. I thought to let him know that our vehicle is not unoccupied.
However, we'd had enough and decided to move with the time now nearly midnight. It was still raining lightly and still pitch dark with no street lights anywhere. On we went to the port at Kalakoto further down the road and switched off the engine at 1:15am in the morning. The place was lit, it was quiet with  night owls just leaving the tavernas near the port in the centre of town. There was also another motorhome nearby. We slept well.

We woke up to a most wonderful sight, that of a passenger cruise liner arriving in port! Bigger was the surprise to see that it was a Costa Cruises ship, the Costa Fascinosa. Remember the Costa ship that ran aground off Italy not long ago - yes that lot! Beautiful ship though.

Seen early morning from inside Fifi

Preparing to leave at 2:00pm

 

Doing a 270 degree turn ....

.... and heading out to sea.

 

The sight of seeing this ship arrive and depart soon made us forget about the spooky night with our pick up truck prowler. A jaunt into the town for some milk, bread and other basics took us past the anchorage of the Hellenic Coast Guard and the many tavernas lining the quayside of this somewhat touristy town. We suspected the reason for cruise ships visiting this port was the proximity of Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic games.

 

Hellenic Coast Guard

 

We stayed a second night with a visit to Olympia in mind but the weather was not letting up and it kept raining on and off. We have time and a visit will be made before leaving the Peloponnese.

 

Next stop Kalamata for the annual Hellenic Air Force Open Days at the Air Base outside town.

Greece - Rio-Antirrio bridge and Rion fortress (Peloponnese)

Patra(s) is a port city (more large town) on the northwestern edge of the Peloponnese and is after Piraeus (Athens) the busiest port in Greece. Looking for a free camperstop we came across a parking site with a wonderful view on the Rio-Antirrio bridge spanning the Gulf of Corinth.
The parking site was used by clientele of a nearby taverna / restaurant / night club as well as local fishermen. It was well lit and had good Wi-Fi connectivity. But that view of the bridge .... !

Early evening every night

On select nights only!

Dawn

Watching the changing and various 'moods' of the bridge was a photographer's delight, I must have taken 25+ pictures over our 3 day stay at this site. It is a work of art and you can literally sit and watch it with all the other goings on (boats, ships, people) and not get bored any time soon.

Fifi the motorhome near the Rio-Antirrio bridge

We walked one morning from our camperstop to the ferry harbour which was about one mile away and came across the remains, now a museum, of the Rion Fortress built in 1499 by the Ottomans' Sultan Bayezid ll. The Ottoman (Turkish) Empire was in ascendancy and dominated large parts of eastern Europe during its reign.

Ferry port (Patra side)

 

Ferry port (Nafpaktos side)

The Rion Fortress

Information plaque at the Rion Fortress

What we have found revealing is the extent, influence and power of the Ottoman Turkish Empire during its reign of some 500 years in this part of the world. This was no 'come and go' short lived Empire, this was as significant as the Roman or British Empires in their time, with power and ability to dominate regional affairs.

Surrounded by a moat on the landward side



The old and the new

 

Wedding decorations

 

 Walking around the embankments and inner restored area we came across this church preparing for a wedding celebration. We were cordially invited to feel free to take photographs of the couple as they emerged from the church after the ceremony ....

 

 

Upon leaving we stopped at the gate to admire this Citroen 2CV, when out came the owner from the gatehouse to pose for me - Ari Onassis style! Always fancied owning one of those cars!

Greece - Athens to Patras along the northern Peloponnese.

The road from Athens to Korinthos, the eastern entrance to the Peloponnese, goes through mainly industrial areas with a part of the Pireaus bay area quite visible from the road, with many vessels at anchor. It may not be scenic, but any bay with ships has a beauty of its own.

 

The Corinth Canal

This is something I had to see, imagine the year 67AD (almost 2,000 years ago) when Emperor Nero started the project and then fast forward to 1893 when it was officially opened, with many stops and starts in between -

- 6.4km long
- 24m wide
- 90m deep

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corinth_Canal

To top it all, it carries mainly tourist vessels and not much commercial traffic, due to ships being too large these days. However, the mind boggles at the mere thought of how all that earth had to be excavated and moved with only rudimentary tools at the time.

Looking west

Looking east

 



We decided to go anti-clockwise around the Peloponnese region and so started along the northern coast towards Patras. It was decided many moons ago that we would try to free camp for most of our stay in Greece. This is allowed in Greece, whereby you can use your motorhome for what it was meant to be, a fully contained home independent of the trappings and cost of a campsite. If we liked a place we would stay a few days, if not we would only stay the night. Some places are nicer than others, simple as that. It can be a car park, a yacht marina, a beach.

 

Overnight stay at Xylokastro

The stay at Diakofto, next to the beach and a paved area, tavern and good Wi-Fi connection, was for four nights.

Diakofto camperstop

With a Dutch 'motorhomer' discussing places to visit

 

View from Fifi the motorhome

 

Upon recommendation we took the rack and pinion style railway to Kalyvrita which is some 22km into the mountains, but takes one hour by the 25km/h train. The line was built by Italians in the late 1800's for taking minerals to the sea and is these days used mainly by tourists. The scenery is stunning as you cross bridges with sheer drops on the side, tunnels of stone and rugged mountain landscapes.

 

Front seats we had

Kalyvrita is scenic and caters for snow skiers during winter, cafes, tavernas and hotels are plentiful with good shopping opportunities. Ask Joan, she bought a 10 Euro tiny jar of honey. I bought some homestyle cookies and bread freshly made which was eaten quietly on the train back. Once again low season means the train was uncrowded and we changed seats depending on where the best view was.

Next up Patra(s).

Greece - Athens (2)

Athens day 2

Central Athens where we walked and looked around; the blue line is part of the bus route we travelled.

Click on pic for larger view

 

We started our day earlier than the previous because we naturally wanted to maximise time out and about during daylight. The days have shortened considerably with darkness falling at 6pm. So on bus 522 we were at 10am, Kifissia station soon after, off the Metro in central Athens and on the open top tour bus at 11am.
We had decided on a rough plan of sightseeing, get off the bus at the National Garden near the Presidential residence and watch the changing of the guard at midday and also walk the National Garden. Afterwards walk past Hadrian's Arch, up along the pedestrian zone adjacent to the Acropolis, hop on the bus for the Piraeus tour, off the bus again at the Acropolis and walk across the hill down to Thession and Monastiraki Square area for a late lunch and then the large semi-open fresh meat and fish market at Varvakios for lamb to make a casserole - yes lamb! Finding lamb on the continent is not easy and any opportunity coming your way must be evaluated and used.

The National Garden will be remembered for its old trees and leafy canopy of green all over the area. The eastern edge takes you onto the road where the Presidential residence is, immediately noticeable because of the police and security presence. It also has a contingent of the Ceremonial Guard (Evzones) with a daily Change of Guard ceremony at midday.

At each end of the Presidential residence is a guard hut

 

Guards from both ends march towards each other

The two non ceremonial soldiers, also Evzones, are wearing the service uniform of the Hellenic Army. They seemed to be training the other Guardsmen.

The change over complete and one section marches off

On we went past the impressive Hadrian's Arch on our way to catch the Piraeus bus tour. Let me say here and now, Athens is full of monuments and it has a wonderful history, but it is not the purpose nor the intent to even try and cover it all here. We did not even scratch the surface, we spent two days having a look around at all sorts, getting a feel for the city, it did not disappoint! Athens has loads to offer and it's up to the visitor to decide what and how long.

Hadrian's Arch

The Piraeus tour on the open top bus - hanging on to your seat, handles or anything you could was necessary with the driver we had. We saw what could be seen but the pace was too fast on this section with the commentary on the earphones being drowned out by the wind - slow down bus driver!

 

On the dual carriage way to Piraeus at 50mph in this bus

 





We did get to hear about the 'girlie' shops on the Piraeus route

 



Sharing the starting grid with the bikers

Walking to the Thession area for lunch we had this wonderful view of the Parthenon on top of the Acropolis. The light and sun was just right and the compact camera I took on the day did justice to the mood.

Parthenon on the way to the Thession area

Lunch was at a place with locals at the tables on a sunny street, the baked potatoes and grilled sardines with a cool beer very good, service good, all good. We managed to buy lamb at the fresh meat market and then made for Fifi the motorhome at the campsite, arriving by 5pm.

Athens is fun! It is inviting, laid back, full of history and never did we feel unsafe. Everyone we spoke to was willing to help with advice or directions, we had the impression they are used to tourists and happy to have them.
A bloke begging on the train moved on when he was ignored, the guys playing music and singing (buskers) on the same train were quite good. We thought central Athens to be quite clean and devoid of piles of rubbish as seen elsewhere in Greece. The pace is fast, we certainly did not get the impression that Athens is in the doldrums because of the state of the Greek economy - on the contrary!

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.