From Friday, 16th to Thursday, 22th of September
The 16th of September, it is 1pm, we are now in Greece. No, it is 2pm, we just lost one hour. We rode along the coast and we celebrated this new country with an ice cream. We need energy, still 25km to go to the next town where we will spend the night. Because we change the time, night will come later. We ride through lemon trees. A race with a dog who didn’t seem very nice – I have never seen Dean ride so fast! Greece is the same, there are lots of stray dogs and cats. When we arrive at Igoumenitsa, Dean asks every door to find a room. We each have our mission, I guide during the day, he has to find somewhere to stay for the night. Because we are in a city tonight, we enjoy Greek nightlife. The ambiance is nice, temperature too. We discover Greek cuisine and the quantity!! There is enough food for four people at our table. A nice Greek salad (tomatoes, feta, olives, cucumber, red onions), fries and kebab meat. And come along with a Mythos – THE Greek beer.
With the time change, we slept quite late the next morning. Anyway, it is cloudy today, rain is coming. We find motivation to ride before the rain. And at the end of the day, we will make it without any rain. No rain but lots of wind! So much wind! And all the day. It is very annoying to lose so much energy to only ride a few kilometers, lucky us, it is flat. At 2pm, we had a break into a small restaurant. No one, only a French couple ! Nice chat, they have been a few times in Greece and they see the big difference in the prices. Greece has a big inflation like everywhere else. They have been to Turkey as well and tell me about the Turk hospitality. I can’t wait to see that but first it is time to discover Greece. We keep going with headwinds. We managed to do 60km with a “little” climb at the end to finish near the sea. Dean found a nice room upstairs of a bakery – it is a dream. After dinner, we can try little Greek pastries – Baklava (with almonds) and Katoufi (with cinnamon). Very nice, very caloric, perfect after a day on the bike.
The next morning we can have fresh bread for breakfast with sea view from the balcony. Clouds are gone but still some wind. But this time from the back! Kilometers scrolled more quickly than yesterday. We arrived at Preveza. If we follow the Eurovelo 8 on the GPS, we should ride along the Ambracian gulf, so it is more than 150km to do!! Whereas there is a tunnel under the sea between Preveza and Aktio. The only problem: bikes are forbidden. So we try to hitchhike in front of the tunnel. A worker at the tunnel comes to rescue us. We put our bikes inside the truck, 2km of tunnel and, voilà, we are on the other side. Now, let’s go to Lefkada island. It is our first island, we are excited! À gyros on the way – a pita bread with meat (mainly pork), tomatoes, yogurt sauce, and fries inside – a Greek speciality, I love it! The island is connected with the continent with a bridge and is part of Ionians islands. Before going there, we visited the medieval castle of Santa Maria. A big fortress, it is a shame there is no historical information about it. After this back in the past, we rode to the island. In Lefkada, it was not easy to find a bed for the next two nights. We found one cheap with a little view of the sea, 3km from the city center. Perfect to ride a bit before dinner. But after more than 3000km, first flat tire for my bike! We just put some air on it, we are more hungry than motivated to fix it. Even though it is the middle of September, there are still a lot of people in the little streets of Lefkada. We forgot what it is like to be in the middle of tourists since Dubrovnik. And I wanted to try the Greek moussaka, not tonight, we are going to the only restaurant which doesn’t have any more… I tried another meal with eggplants, it was delicious.
Day off today! No bike or almost, we just have to go to the city center to rent a scooter. But this time, it is my back tire which is flat! 2 punctures in 2 days… this time we have to fix it, the hole is too big. Well not “we”, Dean mainly…! 3km and we leave our bikes without motors for one with a motor. The tour of the island is easy to do in one day (with a motor!). First we are going to the west coast to get more information. We would like to take a ferry the next day with our bikes to cheat a little bit and to go on quicker. Our plan goes up in smoke, the port is under construction. It is how we can see that google doesn’t know everything! Never mind, we will have to ride. But before that we are going to the south of the island, through mountains, it is nice to climb at more than 6km/h. In Vassiliki, we stop at the port. All the shops are showing the funerals of Queen Elizabeth II. There are lots of English people in Greece, all watching the TV. Not us, we are going back on the road to the west coast, more wild, more beautiful. I think I have never seen so many different kinds of blue in the sea. Beaches are beautiful as well, and there are not too many people. Lucky we have the scooter because we have to go down everytime 400m then go up again. I just have to remember Dean to ride on the right side, his New Zealand habits come back quickly… It was so nice to swim in the transparent water. I definitely advise you to come to this island if you come to Greece – but not in July/August. But don’t come to Greece in July/August at all. Every local who we speak with is telling us the same thing. So crowded. Now in September, the tranquility came back. We finish this relaxing day with a picnic at the port, dreaming about boats.
But in the absence of a boat, we have to ride. But before leaving the island, we gave some love to my bike. We found a bike shop, the guy was nice and spoke English! And very cheap, for 60€ : 2 new tires, cable and brake fixed, new seat, bike shorts and some cleaning. Like a new bike! Let’s go. It is climbing in the countryside through ruins and with view of Lefkada to meet the sea again. We have lunch in a restaurant which is not busy at all. With gestures and some words, we manage to understand each other with the owner. She is putting a paper tablecloth (it is a habit in every restaurant in Greece!). Big meal for lunch : Tzatzíki, pork brochette, Greek salad and fries. Luckily, I have a box to take the leftovers. But we still have enough room for a dessert. In the next port, I tried an Ekmek kataifi, a very very good cake and very very sweet. I love it but it is good to ride after that. And after 55km that day, we found a nice little fishing village to spend our night.
Wake up the next morning with sunrise on the sea is amazing! The day is starting well. We are on the road again and it is not so flat. Little climbs then bigger climbs. 30km and we arrive at Astakos. And with some coincidence, we arrive at the same time as a ferry. After we took some information, the ferry was going to Kefalonia island (another Ionian Islands which we saw from the bottom of Lefkada island). So we cheated a little bit from Astakos. Dean convinced me to take the ferry to save us 100km. So we just went to spend the night at Sami, a city in Kefalonia. Three hours of ferry. We spent a nice evening in Sami, a little port with a beach.
And then early the next morning we took another ferry to Patras on the Peloponnese. Three hours later, we can ride again…
Voilà, it is how our trip started in Greece. The beauty of this country is not a legend, the food neither. We still have around 10 days to discover the north of the Peloponnese and then Athens and enjoy the naturals, historical and food treasures of Greece !
