Peloponnese
We are now in Patras this Thursday, 22nd of September, it is twelve o’clock. Because we have been cheating and took the ferry, there is a backlash to cheating : Another flat tire for me! When it is fixed, we can go outside of Patras. We rode in front of the big bridge Rion-Antirion which connects Peloponnese to the East of the continental Greece on top of Corinth’s Golf. But this huge bridge costs, cars have to pay 13€ just to cross it. So there are still lots of ferries who offer to cross the golf for 4€… so it is a nice bridge but for rich people… luckily we don’t have to ride on top of it, we are going to ride in the North of the Peloponnese. But we stop smiling quickly, there is so much wind this afternoon. We are riding very slowly, it is demoralizing. But we managed to do 50km before stopping in a small village near the sea to spend the night.But the next day won’t be better. Even though we have a beautiful view of the sea and the continental Greece, we still have this headwind. It is not funny. Fortunately, Greek food boosts our morale and their pastry too. At night time, after we found a bed along the sea, we went outside to celebrate my 4000 kms! We ate some Keftedakia : meatballs with tomato sauce, yogurt and pita bread.
We are close to Corinthe. So this morning we are going to visit the old town. This city prospered during the Antic Greece because of her geographic location. On top of the hill near the isthmus of Corinthe which connects the Peloponnese and the continental Greece. We visited the museum and the archaeological site. It is worth it to do a detour by bike. Especially when the visit is free because it is the European Heritage day. After that, we go down to the new Corinthe and along the isthmus. But sadly we can’t see too much of the canal, only from the bridge near Isthmia. We could do bungee jumping but it is very high, we prefer to stay on the ground. We keep going with our bikes to the Est point of the Peloponnese, the Argolide. We stopped at a bay, which is enough for today. 43km with beautiful things to see on our way. We left the next climb for tomorrow… and we found a room in an old hotel with almost the balcony on the sea ! And to finish this day, we had a dinner with our feet on the beach, to eat another Moussaka : the inconvenience of low season, that is there are not a lot of choices available.
So a big day is waiting for us this morning. Although, bigger than what I was thinking. I give false expectations to Dean (and to me as well). I was thinking there were only the first 20 kilometers to climb with 400m of positive elevation and then it will be ok. But not. Four times we are going down to the sea level and then climbing again… the advantage is that we have amazing views all the way. Dean celebrated his 1000km by best way with a big day with more than 1100m of positive elevation. And we managed to arrive at the little village of Kalloni. A well-deserved Freddo Cappuccino at the end. I love it, it is a cold cappuccino with a lot of foam on the top, nice and fresh. And very local. Little peaceful village where we found another room with a sea view – we do not get tired!). We can see the peninsula of Methana. There is not a lot to buy to cook at the small market so we go to the only small restaurant open. For dinner tonight: Pork Souvlaki (skewers), fries and boiled zucchini covered by lots of olive oil… delicious.
The Argolide by car
Little day in the next day, we only ride 20km to Galatas and (almost) flat. From there, we wanted to rent a car to visit the tip of the Peloponnese in two days. We found a car but on the Poros Island which is just in front of Galatas, 5 minutes by boat. So we take the car, leave our bikes, take the boat again to Galatas and let’s go! Our legs can rest. We drive along the coast, little swimming with the sea only for us and with always an island whatever our viewing angle. And I even motivated Dean to camp tonight! Camping near the sea, perfect to see the sunset on the beach. Ok, we pay almost the same price for a room and there is no kitchen.. so tonight I cooked in my small camping gear. It is nice to eat vegetables without a tonne of oil. And finish our day watching stars from the beach chairs on the beach, that is priceless (yes, in Greece they love beach chairs too!)
Second day with the car, we drove to Nauplie, the old capital of Greece from 1828 to 1834 after the independence of Greece in 1822 from the Ottoman Empire. We are going to visit the fortress of Palamede built by the Venetians in 1714, taken over by the Turkish in 1715 and then taken over by the Grec in 1822. They use it until 1970 as à casern and prison. Now we can visit it and its 8 bastions. Beautiful fortress made of rocks on the hill. From there we have an amazing view of Nauplie, the sea and the mountains. By the way we can see very well the black clouds coming. Luckily, we just arrived at the car when it started pouring outside. It is time to drive again. We visited Nauplie by car to stay dry. We are so happy to not be by bike. So now we are looking for the sun. We drove to Corinthe. We went up to visit the Acropolis of Corinthe which we didn’t do by bike. But sadly the site closes early, at 3.30pm but at least it is free. A little hour is not enough to see everything when you see the size of the site. We went straight to the top to have the best view of the Acropolis, the countryside around and the sea. After that, we went back to Poros Island to finish the loop. We take the same road we took two days ago by bike. It is so easy by car. A little ice cream on the Epidaure port, visit the little theater on the way back.
Poros Island
We had the car until lunch time the next day so after a night in Poros Island we visited the island by car. The afternoon was dedicated to idleness, sunbathing and snorkeling.
Athens
So after a beautiful and relaxing day on Poros Island we took the ferry to Athens. One hour later, we are in the big and busy city. We arrived at the huge Piraeus port. From there we have to ride in the urban jungle to go to our Airbnb where we will leave our bikes for the next four days. But we won’t be bored during these four days in Athens. With all the archaeological sites to visit like the famous Acropolis, our legs are being severely tested. Sadly we are not alone. It is hard to enjoy visiting these beautiful sites with so many people, selfies and more selfies. Lots of time, I am obsessed with all these people who think they are top models. Instagram changed the way people take pictures during holidays. It is a little bit sad. But if we forget people and their phones, yes Athens it is a city to visit. Between History, culture, amazing food, sunset, Mythos, Baklava… we enjoy the capital of Greece a lot.
But it is time for us to say goodbye. Dean has to go back to New Zealand. We are at the beginning of October and we have already spent a month together. I left him at the Athens Airport. It is not easy to be alone after a month at two. I have to regain my landmarks. The few next days after his departure will be a bit hard for me, feeling alone without him, without friends and family. But I am lucky, I can count on beautiful meetings to enjoy traveling again. Lime our Airbnb neighbor who buy the bike of Dean for 20€ while I try to give it away for free. And he offered me a Freddo Cappuccino, that is a good way to give me a smile! Now it’s time to go back to Piraeus port again where I will take a ferry (again) to go to another Greek island…
Voilà how our trip in the Balkans ended. It was the first time for me to travel in this part of Europe and hopefully not the last. More than 1100km along the cost of Montenegro, Albania and Greece, it is a lot of hours on the bike. We got lots of time to enjoy the view on the Adriatic sea ! I really want to see more about all the countries where I have been riding, to discover more of the countryside. But now, I am leaving Europe to ride in Asia !!! And I was thinking of staying only a few days but believe me, Turkey provides me with beautiful surprises….
