Greece

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Gday All,

Our time in Greece is almost over, but we have had a fantastic adventure. It is an amazing country that is full of surprises and incredible sights. We have literally made our way through all of Greece, some by car, ferry, train and quad bike. We have spent the last three days travelling by car everywhere.

I have to say that the Greeks drive really fast and have no regard for the speed limits. We heard from a local that "Greece is a country of suggestions", and when it comes to road rules, particularly in the country, that statement is true. "We suggest you do 60, but if you want to do 140 then that's all good". I became convinced for a while that the speed signs were in miles because the slow drivers were doing 100 in a 60 zone. I actually had to ask a local if the signs were in miles or kms. Truthfully, I had a great time driving. We drove around in a VW TSI which was fantastic. The speed limit on their freeways is 130 and most cars do about 150, some do well over that. They have speed cameras on all the main roads, but it is virtually impossible to not speed. When you slow down you get beeped. The Greeks also use their roads completely differently than us. They make a two lane road into a 4 lane road, by driving across a lane so they are almost driving in the gutter. Funny thing is that when you adjust your own driving it works really well, because it enables you to get around trucks and buses really easily and super fast drivers can get around you, provided you move over the lane towards the gutter. It is hard to explain, but it really works. Though driving in Athens is another experience altogether. That is mayhem in a nut shell.

After returning to Athens we drove up through central Greece, through Delphi towards Meteora, which is where monateries have been built atop huge and precarious cliff faces. Thanks to the unreliable GPS hired through Avis it took about 11 hours to get to Meteora from Athens. Now, Meteora is in the middle of Greece and the GPS drove us almost into Macedonia, which by the way is beautiful but accounts for an extra 4 hours of driving. It now makes sense why my Tom Tom, and its Western Eurpoean Maps didn't include Greece (because it's impossible to read the Greek signs).

After staying the night in Meteora we got lost again on our way south towards Olympia. This time we almost drove as far as Albania. After both of us became frustrated we went old school and bought a map. Despite our wayward orienteering we got to see some beautiful country. Greece has some of the most amazing mountains, beaches and country. You don't have to visit the islands for good beaches and blue water, it is all over the place. We saw Olympia, which was incredible and are back in Athens, flying to Italy on Saturday.

Sean and Hayley

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