Inner Mani

Not such a landmark blog post, but just one to keep you updated of our progress around Mani since visiting Monemvasia as we have headed round hugging the coast.

We haven't seen nearly as many motorhomes here in Greece as we expected to, having heard the accounts from others, perhaps we are too late for the summer season and too early for the people who come to Greece to spend their winters. We keep seeing the same vans; A Polish Burstner, German Hymer, Finnish Hymer and two large French A-Classes with a Miniature Schnauzer in tow.

Our first stop was to see the Dimitrios shipwreck which is also an excellent Wild Camping spot (GPS: to follow). where we spent the night. After getting battered by the sea in Monemvasia our van was thick with salt which by this point had baked on hard as the sun beat down on us.

The next day we heard the Finnish couple leave fairly early and we slept in and left to visit the town of Gytheio. As we arrived the main road which goes through the town was blocked off so we followed a diversion which turned out to also be blocked. A Greek policeman in motorcycle leathers and trademark mirror aviators came and told us the road was closed for an Ohi Day parade to commemorate Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas' (in power from August 4, 1936, until January 29, 1941) rejection of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on October 28, 1940. He also told us that we were too big and directed us passed all the traffic for a prime location right at the front of the parade!

We sat and watched as processions of school children, scouts, army and fire brigade (followed by a British campervan!) before taking up a position on the pier with 2 and eventually 5 other vans staying the night.

The town appeared to be made up largely of fish restaurants and the smell of fried squid lingered strongly in the air. The cafes were bustling with people following the parade and we were given a taste of what Greece must be like in season, since a lot of the towns we have visited have been very quiet and lacking much atmosphere.

The 'Road' in Porto Kagio

The next day we drove to Cape Tainaron which is the most southern point of mainland Greece and stayed in the tiny village of Porto Kagio where we had GPS co-ordinates for a place to stay but were greeted with a 'No Camping' sign, however underneath was a 'Campers this way' sign directing us along the beach to get to the car park.

Porto Kagio

Given the last time we drove on a beach it ended up with four different nationalities pushing our van out of the sand we drove very carefully and were welcomed by a Greek lady who owned some cottages who said we could stay in their car park 'No Problem' - clearly the village has mixed views on Campers overnighting there and we enjoyed a curious cappuccino (Greek coffee and squirty cream!) in her Taverna.

From the bottom we drove up the west coast, stopping intermittently to view fortified settlements, pebbly beaches and to usher the local wildlife out of our window when they became resident on our dashboard!

Monemvasia

 

Monemvasia is the Greek answer to Mont St Michel but on a slightly larger scale. From the mainland it looks just like a large outcrop of rock with a small ruin on the top as the main town resides on the eastern side away from the mainland.

We arrived early evening and joined another van we had seen in Nafplio parked on the mainland since to park on the rock itself, signs informed us, would incur a €147 euro fine! The next morning we walked up the road and through the small entrance into the pedestrionised town with cobbled walkways and winding narrow streets with overhanging flowers and fruits.

 Immediately we felt like we were back at Mont St Michel but it wasn't long until the Turkish influence became apparent from the long periods the town has spent under Turkish rule.

The lower town is awash with boutique restaurants, bars and hotels and an apparent mix of new build up and coming private residences. The builders appeared to be using traditional techniques, right down to donkeys laden with rubble lead through the streets.

The upper town affords magnificent views over the lower town and a chance to explore the largely ruined area, with the exception of a large Monastery named Agia Sofia which was restored in the 1950's after being adapted for various faiths during its existence.

We feel fortunate to have visited it out of season, since given the number of hotels and parking capacity at the foot of the rock I can imagine the place gets uncomfortably busy in season. We had the place largely to ourselves and spent a second night back on the mainland being joined by two large French units we had seen a couple times previous on this trip.

Nafplio

Nafplio is one of the largest town we have come across so far in the Peloponnese and certainly seems to be somewhat of an upperclass / party scene in season. There are so many 'posh' looking restaurants and bars bustling for your attention on the sea front that it is difficult to know where is best to eat. We settled for a small restaurant in the main square for the reason it had the most comfortable looking seats!

There is a small castle seemingly on a tiny island in the middle of the harbour called Bourtzi which dates back to 1473 to protect the city from pirates. The only pirates we saw were the countless shops selling Ray Bans and Abercrombie and Fitch knock off clothing!

We decided as it was grey and overcast that today would be a travelling day and we would do the 100 miles to Monemvasia in one go; meanwhile I decided that it was Sophie's turn to drive for a change! As it turned out the road was a little more challenging then expected as we opted to travel inland rather then follow the coastal road, but I'm proud to say Sophie expertly maneuvered the motorhome through tiny cobbled streets with only a tennis ball's width either side. A coachbuilt motorhome would have become wedged, that is for sure! (Video to follow). There was a monastery cut into the rock which reminded us of Meteora.

It was a nice chance to be inland after spending so much time by the coast, some of the trees are starting to chance colour now although the temperature is still circa 20c during the day and we hoped it would brighten up for when we explored Monemvasia.

Ancient Epidaurus

We left camping Athens relatively late on Tuesday after taking full advantage of the facilities and the blisteringly quick Wifi to download pretty much all of the things we wanted to watch for the rest of the trip! We had a few bits and pieces we wanted to get such as a new door mat and some duct tape and spotted a LeRoy Merlin on the outskirts, which as it turned out was an access nightmare with its underground car park. We found a safe looking side-street and managed to pick up pretty much everything we wanted, but an experience we were not prepared to repeat for the sake of a Carrefour - so we left hoping to find a Lidl en-route.

We opted for the coastal road to avoid the main toll road and were treated to some blue sky and sunshine which had been absent for the last 3 days, today might have been the better day to visit Athens but with the uncertainty that the strike action brings we were happy having the opportunity to visit at all. Before long we had arrived at the Corinth Canal and were soon joined by a French Family on their round the world tour. (See their blog here: http://family-berteau-on-the-way.blogspot.com ). It was interesting, while frustrating, to hear of their travels through Albania and Bosnia and down into Asian Turkey and the fact that being French meant they had no problem in obtaining fully comp insurance for these countries - impossible for an English registered vehicle. We wish them well on their trip and perhaps we will see them in Morocco!

Next on our list was Epidaurus which is both a pleasant town and an ancient site; we visited the town first and were greeted by a massive black charter yaught pulling into the small marina, a spectical which drew everyone out from their houses.

There are two wild camping possibilities here, the first being in the main car park (GPS: to follow) and the second located a through a extremely narrow road through the town and then onto a large open beach where we were joined by three other campers later in the evening. We took the opportunity to get 2 weeks worth of washing out of the way, since disappointingly there were no washing facilities at Camping Athens.

While we were washing we were adopted by a small puppy who was initially very scared but soon was chasing after a ball and alter followed us around the town, waiting for us outside shops. If you are a dog (or even cat) lover then Greece out of season will be a wash of stray and abandoned animals and while most of them seem happy enough at their independence you couldn't help but feel sorry for this little female puppy and she tugged on our heart strings for days afterwards.

After a couple of days in situe we visited Epidaurus and despite becoming a little numb to ruined archaeological sites you can't help but be impressed with the scale of the well preserved amphitheater.

We continued around the coast road ending up at Galactica where you can get a small passenger ferry to Poros, a small island a stones throw from the mainland with no road links. Being Saturday it was paticually busy and we were both tired so pressed on 10 miles to a remote location for a wild camp to spend a quiet night.

Athens

We had been checking the latest advice on Athens and decided that Monday was the best time for us to visit; the public transport strike was no longer in effect and the weather while overcast and cold seemed determined to stay dry. We rolled up to Camping Athens at 9am, a strategy which we’ve adopted since it means if we only spend one day in the city we only need to stay one night, tight gits that we are. Despite check in being 12pm we were greeted enthusiastically and took up a pitch in the large campsite with only four other vans present. The information we were given included excellent directions to the nearest bus stop and from there to the Metro Station to take us into the capital, an 24hr day ticket costing €4 each valid on busses, trams and the metro.

We disembarked at the Acropolis and couldn’t find any obvious information with regards to entrance tickets; it transpires that a ‘ticket’ costs €12 which comprises of 8 tokens to get you into the various ancient sites. It is possible to buy a single ticket and use it for two people for entrance to 4 sites, but of course they don’t tell you this and it is only after the event do you see people doing it! The tickets are also undated and appear to be valid indefinitely.

We always try and visit a high attraction first as it gives you a good vantage point and allows you to get your bearings. We like to work out if you really need to use public transport to get between points or if you can simply walk as we prefer. The obligatory scaffolding was in situe around the towering Acropolis and large cranes obscured the best photo opportunities but it was never the less an impressive site to see both looking up to and from above looking down over Athens sprawling out beneath you.

Given the timing of our visit I suspect you might be more interested in what we saw pertaining to the unrest and subsequent riots that have been reported in the days following our visit. The first most noticeable factor that all is not well was the amount of rubbish piled up on the streets and bins overflowing everywhere with the obvious stench that this creates. 

Many of the tourist sites seemed to us quiet and the restaurants and Taverna’s seemed deserted here as they have done elsewhere in Greece for this time of year, there certainly wasn’t the mixture of foreign accents that we’re used to hearing in capital cities by now. There were pockets of riot police in and around the streets and while we did see a gathering of 1-200 people in Syntagma Square chanting we didn’t see any real unrest or significant police presence or disruption. 

Even the ‘Lookie Lookie’ men were feeling the pinch, with great lines of them selling their fake Louis Vuitton handbags from sheets laid out on the pavement right in front of Police and other reputable designer shops. There were plenty of other shops rife with fake Ray Bans and other goods which weren’t on show to this degree in the tourist areas of Romania or Bulgaria so I’m not sure why Greece thinks it can flaunt counterfeit goods to this degree. 

We heard some of the tourist site staff telling people that there may be a tourism strike called tomorrow (Tues) which sealed our already forming opinion that we would only allocate one day for Athens. I think we’d like to re-visit once things have returned to normal and see the flea market in full swing and perhaps spend longer exploring the vibrant city but there were too many factors against us on this occasion.

We finished off the day with a visit to an Indian Restaurant imaginatively named Indian Masala which was only our second this trip, the other being in St Petersburg, Russia. Adam enjoyed a red hot chicken Vindaloo while Sophie opted for a Lamb Khari with rice and Naan – both cooked to perfection before our eyes and coming to a reasonable €29 in total. 

Just a handful of various other photos we took throughout the day ....