Posing Tourists and Dicing with Death in Greek Roads

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Olympia, Chlemoutsi Castle and Central Greece - Day 8

Sunday 15th September

We woke up in the our least favourite stop of the holiday so far feeling a bit grimy. It had been so hot without any aircon, we couldn't open the balcony door because when we did, a massive mosquito zoomed in and attacked my knee. I have enough bites already thank you! A dog was yelping a lot of the night too.

So the guy had ignored Glyn's attempts to get his attention last night, but when we wanted to leave and therefore pay, he managed to put in an appearance, get dressed and say goodbye without risking to ask if we'd enjoyed our stay.

We drove to the other end of Olympia, Glyn got moved on by the police for stopping in the wrong place and eventually we parked near(ish) to the archaeological site. This is the site of the original Olympic Games so as well as your usual temples and baths, had a place where the gymnasium had been, the area where the Olympic torch was lit, treasuries and stadium with the arched entrance still intact. One cuddly cat greeted me at the entrance.

Outside of Athens, this is the biggest tourist trap in mainland Greece. The coaches all turned up together carrying a multitude of Americans and Australians. Other nationalities I noticed included Germans, French and British. The average age must have been around 65. Quite a few socks and sandals.

Now there was one American couple that made us smile, or at least the lady did. She was wearing a bright orange shirt with matching lipstick and was very comfortable in her skin. She asked Glyn to take their photo in front of a pillar; and whilst her other half stood there fairly normally, she draped her leg around that pillar in a rather exotic fashion. She then wanted to do a few more sensual type poses which seemed a bit out of place in an ancient place of sport, but each to their own! She then took a photo of Glyn and myself, looking for the best angle, then loving the angle she chose for us, asked Glyn to take another photo of her and her bloke at that angle. I sure hope he didn't let her down. She and her hubby carried on around the site, him taking photos of with her posing in a slightly sexy but family safe style.

In fact, some of the best entertainment was watching other tourists. After decades of tourism with cameras, people are looking to be more entertaining in their poses next to sites, some more natural than others. We do it too, it's a keepsake of your holiday plus proof you were there, and bragging rights if you print the photos or make them your facebook profile pic.

So the quote of the day was from Glyn as we came entered the original Olympic Games Stadium.... "It's no bigger than Northwood Stadium , we may as well gone there and taken photos". Ok, so the stadium is just stadium shaped grass, with dirt in the middle, a few stones where the judges once sat and a stone arch at the entrance. It is not big.

This was time for more humorous but predictable tourist behaviour... lots of people running the length of the stadium in varying degrees of attempted hilarity whilst all around hooted with laughter. Very few actually made the length - it was very hot after all. I couldn't get Glyn to do this.

A lot of the site is knee high or reconstructed, this is because an earthquake, (I'm not sure how long ago, I think BC) totally knackered it. And then it was built over differently in places. So archaeologists have attempted to put it back together in its original format, but they still have a lot left to do.

The museum for the site was shut as it is Sunday and we didn't fancy the archaeological museum because from what we could see, it was more statues, broken pots and rusty jewellery and we've seen loads of that already.

So we got into our trusty hire car and made our way to Kastro via Kyllini. It was here I came across our first traffic lights, plus a lot of variable speed limits that only me it seemed, attempted to adhere to. I think I annoyed a lot of Greek drivers when I did only 10mph above the speed limit where it is 31mph for no apparent reason. But bless them, they do flash you to warn you the police are doing spot checks.

We went to Kastro, as according to my guidebook, there was a castle from which there views to the Ionian Islands and coastal plains as it is on the most western part of the Peloponnese coast. This castle doesn't even get a mention in Glyn's lonely planet guide, probably because compared to all we have seen in Greece, it's just too modern, having been built in 1219-1223.

But the good thing about Chlemoutsi Castle is that there's still a lot of it there and it's only €3 each to get in. There's an inner part and outer part, high walls and a fair bit to wander around in. Only a handful of people there too, plus a friendly stray dog.

We stopped in Kyllini for a bit of lunch, it has a ferry port for the Ionian Islands but still is rather small.

Then we decided to make the big trip up to Central Greece, ready for the next leg of our holiday. Central Greece is far less touristy than the Peloponnese but seems to have more mountains! We headed for Perama, as it seemed a good distance to go, and sounded far nicer than the nearby city of Ionnina.

So from Kyllini I drove up to Patra and got a go on dual carriage ways with actual road markings! So many roads here have no markings at all and it makes it very hard sometimes to be positioned on the road correctly, and can lead to driving off in the wrong direction. I only said to Glyn earlier, I'd hate to drive on these roads in the dark, with no reflective markings, cats eyes or lighting....

A lot of roads are one lane only, but people tailgate when they want to overtake, and it's ok to drive on the hard shoulder to let them pass (if there is one). Some vehicles will drive constantly on the hard shoulder, inviting others to pass them.

I drove us over the expensive (€13) but impressive looking Rio bridge that took us into Sterea Ellada, the lower part of mainland Greece.We stopped for fuel which varied in price a lot. I wanted an ice cream but the vendor wouldn't let me have any because I'm too fat..... well he claimed because it wasn't frozen enough, but it looked ok to me! (Note from Glyn-don't talk rubbish!)

Glyn drove for a while and the road was very bendy on the way to Menidi. It then straightened out as we got to close to Arta, so I had another turn at the wheel. Not long afterwards, the road ended under a big pile of sand and I had to divert into a smaller road. So yet again, we had promise of better roads, only to see them half built.

Some Greek drivers are over confident at overtaking on mountain roads. But after miles behind a truck, you find yourself 'having a go', there was a point where I overtook but the straight road soon became a bend and the truck I was passing was not slowing down. Oh how my heart raced! As did Glyn's.... but when in Greece....

Oh and one guy tried to overtake me when I was overtaking someone else. I promise I checked the mirror, did my lifesaver and indicated before I pulled out, but his passenger still gave me the evils.

We arrived in Ioannina as the light was going. This is the region's busiest city and here I had my first experience of Greek traffic jams although they were a bit pathetic compared to what we've got in the UK. I carried on to Perama which is a lovely village nestling beneath dark mountains under dramatic clouds, with vile narrow streets and people parked in stupid places, so I 'let' Glyn drive this area whilst we found somewhere to stay. A stupid kitten sitting in the road meant he had to brake violently and everything flew to the front, but don't worry, the kitten is OK.

We eventually found Hotel Akrolimnion at around 8.15pm, which is the prettiest and poshest place so far. They have at least two ginger cats, a white and a tabby. The lady speaks no English, so she phoned her teenage son who came over. The main big double room cost €50, but we got the room with two single beds for €35 and Glyn has pushed the beds together. It has a fridge!!! And mosquito nets, the first I have seen in Greece!!!

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Photos

Gymnasium at Olympia
Imagination is required

Chlemoutsi Castle
A bit modern having been built in 1223

Tortouise
Found wandering at Chlemoutsi Castle

Rio Bridge
Join the Peloponnese with Central Greece