Blogs from Alexandroupoli, Thrace, Greece, Europe
November 9th 2010
Well folks its time to sample the wonders of the great and historic country that is Greece and all the modern day pearls of driving on Greek roads. After all the driving through Europe and Turkey it never stops to amaze me how drivers only apply the rules of the road that suits their particular needs. I have to say I have went native a few times myself to survive with lots of hand gestures and mutterings. Our Greek adventure started in Alexandroupoli a reasonable sized town close to where we crossed over from Turkey. We spent two days here and had some nice walks along the seafront but the weather had taken a turn for the worse and we had to break out the wet weather gear that hadn't been used in months. Its a ... read more
October 13th 2009
Total Distance Cycled: 357km We were off to Greece today. We weren’t sure about what expect for hills but at least we knew we had a 300m drop in elevation. Unfortunately, 100m of that came from just getting out of Malkara! I hadn’t even got out of town, when I realized that the small repair I made to my gears yesterday had created more problems than I had fixed. Over countless stops I finally got my gears working enough to get to our end destination. While we had to deal with traffic and hills on the first two days, today would all be about wind. It started right at the start and it didn’t stop for the next two days… We just geared down, put the headphones on, and just grinded away. The rest of Turkey ... read more
June 10th 2009
Vergina to Alexandropolis we rode 250 miles or so along the Odos Egnatia and stopped 45 miles from the border. We are staying in a cheap portside hotel which seems clean enough. It has good air conditioning and our room is quiet. It did have at least one mosquito but Ashley killed it. It was a long, hot ride with no real breaks though the scenery was dramatic in parts. We passed a town called Drama but didn't stop to take photos. Ashley did very well riding into town and getting his head around the chaos driving here. This town is fairly crazy. At around 10 everyone comes out of their houses and eats souvlaki at a restaurant. It gets smelly and smoky and loud. We enjoyed this for a while then came back to the ... read more
July 20th 2008
Tag 24 bis 32, 6.100 km von Galway Hello aus Alexandroupoli in Griechenland. Wir haben es erst einmal 5 Tage ganz ruhig angehen lassen und uns von Bulgarien direkt auf die Halbinsel Sithonia in Chalkidiki verduennisiert, um uns in der Sonne zu waelzen. Bei ueber 30 Grad im Schatten waere alles andere auch Mofafahrerquaelerei gewesen. Wir waren auf einem netten Zelti, der unter Olivenbaeumen direkt am Strand lag. Abends oder vormittags haben wir dann kurze Abstecher ins Hinterland der Halbinsel oder in die naechste Ortschaft gemacht. Das Essen ist in Griechenland wirklich sehr lecker und so waren wir oft in Strassenrestaurants Abendessen. Man hat die Qual der Wahl aus zahlreichen Salaten oder anderen Vorspeisen und jeder Menge Fisch und Gegrilltem. Ja die Griechen grillen sehr viel, sind ausgesprochen sympatische Leute. :-) An dem Tag, an dem ... read more
You Need to Be Determined to Get to Turkey
Published: October 27th 2010Europe » Greece » Thrace » Alexandroupoli
August 13th 1990
"Where the hell is Alexandroupoli?" I hear you ask, "and why would anyone want to go there?" I haven't got a clue and they wouldn't, but we had to change trains there. Of course our train was late arriving. Our connecting train had, presumably, also been late, but would have made sure that it had left before we arrived, so we had to spend a day in this armpit of a place. We went for something to eat. The prices advertised were not what we were charged and we had to get in a huge argument with the guy in charge who, like everyone, hated tourists. We couldn't fault the quality of his food however. We found the sea, planning on a swim, but with all the pollution floating in the water, a swim was out ... read more
