Blogs from Patras, West Greece, Greece, Europe
May 27th 2012
Not much to do on the ferry... So I may as well continue writing out my thoughts about this trip. Me, Chris, and Sergio (the bus driver) were discussing last night that this trip is about 10,000 km and so for we have only traveled around 4,000. Of course this doesn't include water travel. Sergio was filling out Will's map and highlighting which roads we traveled and which ones we will travel on. Then he highlighted in a different color the places we stop in. All in all it looked very cool and I will have to do that when I'm back in Canada and frame it. 10,000 km. 17 countries. We're still 3 days away from the halfway point. I remember being nervous before this trip began thinking that I've never been this far away ... read more
Chapter 4 - DAY 19 - Farewell to Greece
Published: September 27th 2011Europe » Greece » West Greece » Patras
September 25th 2011
GOOD BYE TO GREECE Today was a transit day from our Cruise ship to the overnight Ferry from Greece to Italy so not too much to report. We returned to the Port of Athens to end our amazing Greek Island Cruise. Like the rest of our tour it was designed to give us a snapshot of the islands and it certainly did that. I guess it’s no surprise that Mykonos and Santorini were the highlights however the whole cruise experience was a lot of fun and a very nice change from our day to day tour routine. One of the big advantages of touring as part of an organised group is that your bags are always taken care of. We put our bags outside our room before we went to bed and they were picked up ... read more
April 4th 2011
To recap...When we got into Lagkadia, we went to the Kentrikion Hotel. The young man who worked there said we might want to stay at the Lagkadia Resort, also owned by his family, because the Kentrikion was too noisy. Which was true. You know those movies where the Geek families are arguing and talking loudly all at once? There were a group of people, probably 60's, men and women, standing at the desk talking rapidly and with great irritation. I have no idea what was going on. So we moved to the other hotel. Then, we went to the restaurant, also owned by the family, and old men would come to the door, pass through to another part of the hotel, some women too... very weird. It was like the whole town was in meltdown. No ... read more
March 18th 2010
BARI Day 57 Uneventful day of trains that break and then have to get on a bus and then back on a train and finally making it to the ferry. The ferry was a superfast and it was both super and fast. I found it really comfortable and a really nice journey. When I wake up it will be to Greece! PATRA Day 58 The ferry finally docked in Patra Greece. The coast at Patra is beautiful and it is just a port town so I can’t imagine how the rest of Greece will be. The ferry arrived in Patra at noon and I quickly learned that the train system in Greece is practically non-existent and that parts that do run suck! So I waited three hours for the train in to Athens. While I ... read more
March 4th 2010
29th May ‘09: Finding a football stadium without a map is reasonably simple. A DAF garage on Thrakis Street, Patras, however, is quite another matter. Spaznavs and Autoroute 2007 are next to useless down here; one has to use “the force” instead. Or buy a map. Although a map is a sensible, well-founded notion in, say London or Berlin, this is Greece - and they use funny letters to confound us. A Patras map does exist - with streets marked in the Roman alphabet - but the index is in Greek. We’re stumped. Patras is not a small hamlet of half a dozen avenues. The solution, then, is for Little Dick to scout ahead, paying a taxi driver to lead the way, and to call me with garbled directions. Voila, Namibian and I arrive with a ... read more
June 29th 2009
Her er en kort update herfra :-) Vi har som sagt valgt at tage et par dage her i Patras (En hyggelig lille by), og i dag tog vi til Rion som ligger 10 minutters togkoersel herfra. Her er der en strand (Dog ikke helt saa paen som ved Vesterhavet ;-)) hvor vi kunne laane nogle solstole (Mod at vi koebte drikkevarer i ejerens bar) og her har vi saa daset hele dagen :-) Det var bare skoent at kunne koble af og bade i det Ioniske hav :-) Vejret er skoent (27 - 29 grader) og ved vandet var det lige til at holde ud. Bare en lille update - i morgen tager vi videre :-) Haaber stadig at I alle har det godt derhjemme :-) Hilsen Henrik og Mette... read more
June 28th 2009
SAA er vi endelig kommet til Graekenland. Fredag morgen tog vi med et tog fra Napoli til Bari hvor vi skulle sejle fra. Sejlturen tager omkring 15,30 time, og det er hundedyrt. Rederiet vi skulle sejle med ville have 16 Euro per person bare for at faa lov til at sidde paa daekket, og det var kun saa "billigt" fordi vi har Interrailpas. Ellers tog de 77 Euro per person for at faa et saede at sidde paa indenfor - saa vi valgte at tage daekket. Vi skulle sejle kl. 20 om aftenen, men allerede kl. 17 gik vi ombord. Vi fandt et sted der var overdaekket, og hvor vi kunne sidde paa plastichavestole. Det var selvfoelgelig lige ved siden af en bar, saa der var larm og raab hele aftenen. Vi fandt os saa et ... read more
May 20th 2009
We're ın Greece. I know you're not meant to pass opınıon when travel wrıtıng, the strength of the wrıtıng should convey all. Bugger ıt. We lıke Greece. We've only spent one day here but ıt has already endeared ıtself more than Italy dıd ın almost a fortnıght. Takıng that short ferry has shuttled us from one European country to another, whıch seems half a world apart. If not half a world ıt must have been a tıme capsule to a world half a century apart. We have travelled fıve hours from the ferry port and made camp by the sea, on roads and ın towns that could not be more dıfferent from theır European neıghbour. Lıfe seems slower here, the traffıc for one thıng ıs defınıtely slower. Gone ıs the murderous agressıon of the Italıan drıver, ... read more
March 17th 2009
Sunday !st March To those of you who have held your breath for the next exciting instalment .... I'm sorry! Catching up on 17th March. Leaving the ferry at Patras the sat nav. decided not to work , so we followed our new German friends out onto the highway, finding out later that they were following a greek man who was f0llowing .. no, not really. Later when the sat nav did work, we had a hair-raising journey , cars and motor bikes over-taking from both sides at great speeds. Finding Pireaus was o.k. but the Ferry terminal.. a night mare, no signs and we were following a tram sometimes, we only had a short time to get to the Kos ferry but after going round a roundabout the wrong way and racing through the narrow ... read more
March 1st 2009
Sunday 1st March 2009 We had agood start off to Ancona,a little misty on the along the road but no problems untill we got stopped by an Italian policeman for not having our lights on in a little tunnel, he fined us 30 euros! All the while people are thundering past at twice the speed limit. Bastardo! The scenery was unexpectedly beautifull all the way along the Auto strada Atlantico. Arriving at the Ferry port in good time to buy tickets and be near the front of the queue. Rob was chatting to a Greek man in front , who suggested that we keep on the ferry to Patras, this would save us 200 kms driving. We had thought that t his was another ferry so we were very happy. The Olympic Palace really is a ... read more
