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Perfect Picnic
Nafplio - don't look down! Greece: Another emotional rollercoaster ride for us. We experienced many gloriously uplifting moments and more than our fair share of stoic teeth-grinding (Gareth) and throw-your-pack-down-and-chuck-a-proper-wobbly (not Gareth) frustrations.
Coming as we did from Turkey, Athens was a bit of a dive. Okay, they've got the Acropolis, but if that Parthenon wasn't perched on that particular hill it certainly wouldn't be so cool. Ephesus (Turkey) kicked the butt of the Acropolis, it's just not up on a big shiny pedestal - still, it was the highlight of our Athens experience. Otherwise the city was overpriced, awfully littered and graffitied, crawling with cats and consequently reeking of Eau de Pussy Wee.
Our hostel was far too heavy on stupid rules (no food, no hand washing, no chairs) and light on hooks in the grotty showers. But then we did get the chance to meet up with Korea buddies Tom and Maria and swap Trans Siberian travel tales (check the Post Script at the bottom of our
Arrested in Russia! entry) over cheese pies and choccy milk for breakfast. Oh, cheese pies!
Of course, after 2 days, when we were more than ready to leave, the whole damn city
shut down for a combined transport strike / holiday (Huh?) No supermarkets, no buses, no Metro. BUT we were told by our helpful hostel receptionist that by walking to the station we could get out to the Peleponnese. God bless us, we tried - but after the trek to the station, all we got was Russian-style "Niet"s or "Ask over there" which also inevitably resulted in either "Niet" or "I don't know" (this one usually at the staggeringly uninformative info desk). Back to the Hostel Aphrodite we staggered.
The next day, except for the fact that we made it out of Athens, was no better. After getting stuck in purgatory for 2 hours because we missed a change we didn't know we had to make, we finally arrived in tiny Diakoftos, hoping to spend some time at the beach, take the supposedly spectaular narrow gaugue railway into the beautiful mountains and do some hiking. Alas the beach was sucky and the railway had closed indefinitely only 3 days before. We spent 2 hours waiting around for inspiration (and for the 3pm bus that finally came at 4). After at least 3 more buses and 12 hours to do
what should have taken 2, we arrived in very special Nafplio (Thanks Tom and Maria, we should have taken your advice from the beginning).
A fortress like we've never seen atop a huge pinnacle of rock (built God-knows-how by the Venetians in the 1700s) towered over the pretty town. The very highest bastion was the perfect place to take in the azure sea and devour the pleasing combination of cheap, sweet strawberries and melty hazelnut chocolate. Until, that is, an international school group arrived ("How's the serenity?"), a boy hoiked a loogy over the side, and the updraft brought it whizzing back disturbingly close to Mel's face. Ahhh, the romance!
Pause transmission for a couple of weeks in Egypt (Cops on Camels) Back in Greece and we were straight on a ferry to the islands of Naxos and Santorini for the much anticipated sun and surf of the Greek Islands. WooHoo! Sadly it was not to be, as the original Greek transmission began to force its way back onto our screens. First Mel's belly struggled to rediscover European fare (or to purge the Egyptian bugs), then the gods decided to rain on our Mediterranean party.
There were however moments of glorious clarity. For example, on our second day on Naxos the clouds parted to a magnificent day which we filled by hiring scooters and circumnavigating the entire island - only stopping to take in the view, consume fresh seafood, sip on an ice cold beverage and swim at private, secluded beaches. Over 100km in one day - not bad for a first day ever in charge of two motorised wheels.
Santorini turned on the charm by literally blowing us (and our tent) away. After a couple of days of being battered by the wind and rain in Thira we opted for a move to a hotel on the other side of the Greek "paradise", to hang out our bedraggled belongings and seek some respite from the typhoonal weather. Gareth's newly acquired haircut (styled by Mel) helped to secure cheaper-than-normal lodgings from the friendly propietor who obviously assumed he was giving aid to the terminally ill.
As the skies threatened to clear we stoically jumped back onto more motorised transport - this time with 4 wheels. Puttering around the island on our over-sized lawn mower was not quite the same as
Just loved their haircuts
We can't get enough of European mullets! our Naxos experience but did help us to discover the Red, Black and White Beaches and the pleasing view from the wineries overlooking the whole impressive volcanic caldera.
Leaving Greece should have been simple - ferry back to Athens, subway to the train station, train to Thessaloniki, train into Macedonia. Easy right?
Other than an extinct train station it was going pretty much as planned until, that is, we actually did leave the country. We made it a few kilometres into Macedonia and were unceremoniously thrown off the train into the gloomy rain and shunted back into Greece in a dark, smelly train engine with a jovial Greek driver, whose English extended as far as "Oh...big problem!" This was after about 30 hours of solid travel and guide book advice that we wouldn't require a visa. It seems the guide book was wrong...again. What else could we do but laugh?
Our eventual exit route was from the port of Igoumenitsa (a 6 hour bus ride across the country) on a ferry bound for Italy. Surely in Italy our luck would improve???
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Angela
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Now now Mel!
It's been a long time since I've seen you throw a tanty, but glad to hear you're doing it in style! Some of these pics look amazing, keem them coming! Hugs & Kisses across the seas, Ang & Joel