GREECE -8/07/10 - 14/07/10

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GREECE

08/07/10

PATRAS - ATHENS

We got to the port of Patras at 1200. We drove from there to Athens arriving in the evening and found a nice hotel on the coast, across from the beach.

09/07/10

ATHENS

We took a tram to Athens city centre. First stop was the famous Acropalis monument which had barely a que. Within the Acropalis we saw the Prophylaia, the enormous columned gate that was the citys entrance in ancient times. The Parthenon that epitomises the glory of ancient Greece and was completed in 438 BC.. To the south of the Acropolis we saw what was once the enourmous Theatre of Dionysos, built between 438 BC and 330 BC and held 17,000 people. The Stoa of Eumeres built as a shelter and promenade for theatre audiences runs west to the Theatre of Herodes.
We then walked down the hill to Ancient Agora, the marketplace of early Athens. After this we checked out the Monastiraki Flea Markets where I brought some Greek handmade leather sandles.

10/07/10

ATHENS - METEORA

We spent most of today driving through Greece. We stopped by a harbour on our way to Meteora and had a picnic. In Meteora we stayed at a campground with fantastic views of the sheer rock formations/pinnacles.

METEORA

Today we checked out the magnificent late 14th Century monasteries which are perched dramatically atop enormous rocky pinnacles. There were once monastries on all 24 pinnacles, today only six are still occupied. Some of these we climbed up to via steep steps and had a look around. The last one we visited was Agiou Stefanou, when we returned to our car we noticed the rear passenger window was smashed. Shit! Laptop, GPS, wallet were all still there, nothing appeared to be missing. It was a really hot day, maybe the heat caused it to shatter? We decided to drive to the closest city and find a Pergeot dealer, this happened to be Ioannina.

We arrived in the evening and camped at Camping Limnopoula, we put the tent up about 6 meres from the lakes edge. We just got the tent up when a thunder and lightening storm came through with heavy rain and gail force winds. Our car had no window! and the beautiful flat lake suddenly became very choppy and husge waves were washing over the edge and towards the tent! After an hour the stom passed and all was beautiul and calm again. We went for a walk along the lake and got some dinner. Back at the campground we started picking glass out of the car. I decided to have a shower before bed but I couldnt find my toiletry bag anywhere. My toilet bag that is black and white with handles and looks alot like a ....... HANDBAG! Ahh it all makes sence now!

12/07/10

We took the car to the local Pergeot in Ioannina. They couldnt get us a new window until the next day. Pergeot therefore organised us a free taxi and put us up in a hotel for the night. After checking into our hotel we walked into town and caught the ferry to Nisi Island which is in the Ioannias Lake Pamvotis. The island shelters 4 old monasteries, has narrow lanes and seafood restaurants. (Not overly beautiful or exciting) Back in Ioannina we checked out the old castle which was very run down, with smashed gravestones scattered around the grounds.

13/07/10

We had planned to check out the caves at Ioannina this morning but we slept in. By the time we had breakfast and organised our ferry tickets, because we had realised that it probably wasnt a good idea to drive through Albania, it was time for the taxi to pick us up. We got our car back without any problems then drove to Igoumenitsa where we caught a ferry to Ancona Italy. We had a cabin with a bathroom this time and it was fantastic, we slept most of the way. The boat also had a pool and disco.

14/07/10

ANCONA ITLAY
The ferry arrived in Ancona at 1200. We had to wait in Ancona until our next ferry left for Split in Croatia at 2030. We went for a drive along the coast and had lovely views of blue ocean and huge bright sunflower and lavender fields. We stopped at the popular Portonovo Beach and had lunch and a swim. I ordered seafood soup and got a huge plate of steamed mussels, clams, king prawns and scampi. We found the beach very rocky like alot of beaches in Italy.

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