Carry on alone: Kozani - Velvendos - Katerini

Thursday, 11th September 2008 - Kozani

I had my cloths washed in a washing shop for the local students and asked people for a cheap hostel to stay. A beautiful girl (there are so many of them in this town) recommended a hotel near the center: Anesis Hotel. They charged me 25 Euro for the cheapest room they had with a shared bathroom. In the evening I made contact to a local shop owner on the central square of Kozani, which is a great place to relax, talk and watch the passing people. His name is Baschos, he worked in Germany before, so we could talk in German. His family and friends and their family also passed by and we talked very nice till 1 AM in the night. Best experience was when Alikmini, the 62 year old mother of a married female friend of Baschos, started to sing! She looked older than she was, and surly did have a hard life. She was married by her parents, lived in Germany with her husband in a cellar, working hard, lost a child, all that kind of stories. But she did not forget how to smile. I liked her very much. She told her daughter to bye 3 (!!) gyros pita for me. The night was really nice :)

Friday, 12th September 2008 - Velvendos

The next day I left late around 2 PM in the afternoon after I sat at the central square watching people. I left towards Velvendos and Katafigio which were beautiful places according to Baschos and his friends. My first 20 kilometers alone on the bike lead me down sereral hundret meters to a huge bridge that crosses a lake/river. On the other side I took pictures of a little church and soon climbed again to Velvendos, a village on the side of the mountains next to Olympos. The village was beautiful, I had an ice cream and climbed to the little churches on the upper edge. A woman working in a gas station told me I could put up my tent there. When I had reached the churches I realized that it was the direct way to Katafigio and decided not to go back down to the center of the villaged because here the view I had was tremendous. An hour later I put up my tent after sunset some kilometers furtheron near the street. A farmer ignored me when I tried to ask him, so I chose a nice place myself. That night I had sooo much fear! Fear of animals! Also a dog barked and snarled badly. I woke up often. Once I even woke up of something touching my head softly twice or more often. My tent is so small that my head touches the border when I lie outstreched. And to what sounds of the night grow with fear is impressive.
My flatmate Klark sent my passport to the German Consulate in Thessaloniki, I would need it in Syria or Macedonia. I did not bring it with me from Germany because in the EU countries I initially planned to visit on my trip , my German identity card is sufficient. I expected it to arrive within a week.

Saturday 13th - Tuesday 16th September 2008 - Katafigio

I reached Katafigio after hours of cycling uphill the next morning. It lies at an altitude of ~1450 meters. I asked someone for a restaurant and right next door I entered the place I would stay for another 2 nights: the restaurant of Olga and Almberis Grigorios. Olga has family in Germany and speaks German very well. She called a hotel in Katafigio for me, and it was no less than 35 Euro. I had told her that I cannot afford more than 20 Euro for a night. After all she told me my meal was free, and I could put up my tent on their place, great! I liked Olga and Almberis (they call him Laki) very very much. They introduced me to friends and family the next two days, and I could not have wished to have a better time the next week due to them. After I had finished my meal and looked my bike on their place , I climbed the mountain by foot to the top at 2100m altitude. It had not rained for months, was very dusty and the flies were very disturbing. Also there are no nice marked mountain footpaths as in Germany, but sandy roads on which a car cann reach the top. Near the top there is a pass to the other side from which I could already see famous mount Olympus. Amazing view from here! On the pass there is a restaurant in a house of steel. The restaurant was closed but the doors were open, so that I could hunker down here when weather turns rough to fast. The wind speed was amazing, its sough in the steel empty restaurant, too. A nice place to sing and sing due to the nice accustic here. This would be a great place to stay overnight on a thunderstorm! After this trip to the top my legs where exhausted and I feared that I overstrained my left calf. Olgas food at the restaurant was great! I recommend this place to everybody visiting Katafigio, unluckily i forgot its name.
In the evening Olga and Laki introduced me to Ari (an albanian who works in Katafigio as a bricklayer) and his two sons Julio (17) and Nico (22). None of them could speak English, Frensh or German, but we liked each other :) When they left the people on another table called 'Sven!' and a sat with them, seven people, two of them relatives of Laki. The three girls spoke English, Menia even lives in Chicago, so communication was fine. Raki was on the table and they invited me for a grilling party at their house in Katafigio the next day. This has been a very happy day! I went to bed after Olga organized me a pill for my hurting muscles.


Sunday: Luckily the next day the pain left, I had nice food, Frappe, great music in 7/8 tact. The grill party was great, I exchanged cell phone numbers with Menia and Kelly. They live in Katerini that I wanted to reach the next day. And then they left by car to Katerini. They had to work on Monday in Katerini. For them this was a week-end trip. I then checked my bike and realized problems that later turned out not to be as bad as I thought. The rear wheel is leaning to a side a little (1 cm). And a plastic part broke. I felt a little ashamed since Olga and Laki did not accept any money at all :/ They were so nice to me. I wanted to leave the next day (Monday), but they warned me about the weather that would become very bad. The night actualy turned bad around 5 AM, I woke up and waited alerted for thunders and lightning and heavy rain, but it only lasted for half an hour and was not too bad. I even left my tent because I feared it could fly away with me or lightning could strike the power wires above me.


Monday: Even since it was not raining in the morning I decided not to continue on to Katerini today. I was careful, and as the day later showed with a great cumulus cloud storm, it was a good decision. I was also worrying that my bike would give up half way cross the mountain on these sandy roads, and I could imagine how they would look like after an hour of heavy rain. Ari took me for a walk and showed me a nice spot from where you can look down the steep valley to Velvendos. Olga and many others had told me about the problems the Greek had with the albanians and how she felt Ari was different and gave him work years ago. I liked him and he liked me but we did not have any language to speak, what he had mentioned before to Olga, that he was sad of that. I was, too. But on this walk we managed to communicate with hand an feet and as many hints we could give. He showed me the walls he had build in the village and on the way back we stopped for a coffee in exactly the hotel that Olga had called the first day. As Ari and Maria (she runs the Hotel) talked, I watched the weather. And I was so lucky to fully observe that tremendous approach of a cumulus storm cloud (I at least think it was one). The cloud crept over a distant hill and swallowed away the first pieces of the road on which I cycled an hour before I reached Katafigio. It took no more then 5 minutes till the wind rose, the next houses vanished in grey and Ari and Maria realized what happend. They shouted something and everybody took their things of the platform we were sitting on, and hurried insied. Indeed they had problems to fight against the wind pushing the door into its lock! It was fantastic and scary! 20 minutes later the world turned quiet again and thick rain drops fell their straight line down towards earth. I love the mountains so much! The rest of the day we spent inside and I went to bed early, so that I could not even say good bye to Ari.
From all that I learned again how much I love the mountains, and that I want to try living in the mountains at somepoint of my life. I realized that I will need a skill that is needed there... wallbuilders, roofers, gastronomes are needed but there is no need for software skills normally. I decided that I will learn some useful skill in the future.

Tuesday, 16th - Saturday, 20th September 2008 - Katerini

As already Monday Olga got up early with me, we had a coffee and talked in the kitchen, had a nice start in the day. I decided to accept her offer, that Laki could take me to Katerini. He was going there today anyway for another reason with his bus. When we reached Katerini he took me to some bike stores where finally somebody said the bike was ok, and the broken part was not important. I cycled around in town and spent some hours in an Internet cafe. With sunset I headed for a campsite near Katerini (at Korinos Beach, 13 Euro per day) that was pointed on my map. It was so strange to pass by a tourist crowded village named Paralia! Tourists and tourists and souvenir shops! On the camp site I met Georgios Paraskeva, who's on night shift on the camp site and perfectly speaks German. He is very intelligent and educated and I got a lot information of him, I enjoyed the conversation very much.
The next days I can outline: I spent time on the Internet (they had Diablo 2!!!), I spent time with Georgios on the campsite and with Menia and Kelly in Katerini. They invited me to Sofias nameday party on Wednesday, and on Friday I visited Kelly for a coffee. Everytime we said good bye they gave me something to eat to take with me. They told me it is like that in Greece, you will not let your guests leave without something to take with them :) I enjoyed the time with them. Thank you Menia, Kelly and Sofia! Georgios proposed that I spend the winter on Crete and work in olive picking, that is a great idea, since that kind of simple work is what I want to do, and I could also learn the greek a little. On Friday I went to Thessaloniki by train and got my passport. I also bought a good-bye gift for Menia, Kelly and all the others: flowers and a good bottle of wine. They had been so nice to me!
On Saturday morning I left and when I reached the main road I had to make the decision... South to Athens and get a ferry to Crete there? East to Istanbul? I chose to cycle North to Macedonia since this country is in my mind for years because of a girl that I will not meet on this travel. But I carry the address of a german speaking farmer on Crete with me, and I thank you Georgios for this oppertunity. I hope to return to see all of you again, Olga, Laki, Ari, Menia, Kelly and Georgios.

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