Hot hot hot
Trip Start
Unknown
1
6
Trip End
Ongoing
Epidavrus, Cyclades, Greece
Friday, August 27, 2010
From Lake Trasimeno, in Italy, we headed south to the Amalfi Coast. It was a little like Cinque Terre, villages clutching onto the cliffs by the tips of fingers, and a very winding road that linked each of them. We stayed in a camp in Sorrento, and then caught the bus into Amalfi, Positano and Priano. The views were spectacular, and we had a fab time. We managed to find Kim and Justin at the camp we were at, and headed out to Capri for the day with them. It was a real bugger the blue grotto was shut due to the 2 foot swell, so we didn't get to go in, which was a bit of a downer. Instead we headed up to Anacapri in the bus (after walking up to Capri) and then up the chair lift to the top of the mountain. The views were absolutely spectacular – the water was iridescent blue – it kind of glowed, and the boat wakes shone bright white. It was truly amazing.
From Sorrento we headed to Pompeii, to check out the sweet ruins. It was pretty amazing walking through an ancient Roman town, which was in pretty good nick due to the layer of pumice it received thanks to Vesuvious in 79 AD. We found the few plaster casts of people shielding their heads etc, as they were buried where they stood. Rather morbid.
From there we decided to leave the tourist trail and have some beach time. We chose the Gulf of Taranto (which is the arch of Italy’s boot), and opted for a small coastal town called Metaponto. It was a great spot with lovely white sand, friendly locals and free parking. Awesome! We stayed two nights and soaked up some sun, then carried on to the eastern side of Italy, via Matera, and ancient (7 centuries old) village that begun with people carving caves from the mountains and living in them. It was a neat town, but bloody hot. From there we crashed at a vineyard and then on to Brindisi to catch the ferry to Greece.
The ferry was great, we managed to talk the ticket guy into giving us an open deck ticket, which meant we could spend the 13 hours in the van which was good news. We even got a reasonable night sleep which was good, albeit to the drone of the motors. A good shower though, the first in a few days!
We landed in Patra, Greece and quickly found that our sat nav was no help at all. We went in search of a more detailed map, but the town was largely shut as it was a Sunday. We ended up with a new tomtom map, and continued on our merry way. Our first stop was a small town called Diakofto, which had an old mining railway that ran 22km into the mountains. We bought tickets and promptly missed the train because we didn’t realise Greece was an extra hour ahead of the rest of Europe. Oopsie, we hadn’t changed our watches! We caught the next one, and enjoyed the lovely mountain views, a nice stream, a massive canyon and stroll around the ski village at the top. Yes that’s right, Greece has mountains with snow! Wierd...
We stayed at the marina at Diakofto, and then carried on toward Olympia the next day. We decided upon an inland route, through the mountains, and stumbled across some neat little villages set within the mountains. It was very cool. One was so small, that Trev only just managed to fit down the narrow streets between the houses. The locals even came out of their houses to see who it was in the van, haha. The church roof was being repaired by locals, and we stopped for a yarn. We were surprised at the level of English, even in this tiny little town. We pulled into Olympia, and checked out the ruins. The stadium was awesome, and we got some great cheesy snaps crossing the finish line, and keryn even rolled down the hill! The temple remains were great to look at, and the museum was great with a lot of the finds that had been uncovered. There was no sign of the massive zeus from his temple though.
From Olympia we pulled in at a beach which was paradise. Golden sand, crystal blue warm water, and plenty of room. We settled in there for the evening, and met some lovely Italians, who recommended some other spots as well. We struck off in the morning, after a morning swim, and found one suggestion. A beautiful lagoon, surrounded by cliffs. Very cool. We carried on to Pylos where we crashed for the night. A nice fishing village. Unfortunately we were kicked out of the carpark, and had to park on the side of the road on a hill for the night. Needless to say the sleep wasn’t great. We cracked on first thing to check out Mystras, another ancient greek/roman town, which was once the second city of the Byzantine empire. Perched on a craggy hill, the town spilled down the slopes from the castle at the top. The churches had paintings from the 12th century, still clearly visable, and even rather vibrant in places.
From Mystras we headed back to the coast, as we were in dire need of a swim. It is just so hot in Greece, about 38 deg with blinding sun. It is almost unbearable at times. The beach is the best place for mid afternoons! Monemvasia was a great spot, and we had a quick look around the walled town on an island, before kicking back at the beach. From Monemvasia, we headed north to Nafplio (after an awesome drive through more mountains, gravel roads and coastal cliffs) checked out the town, and then on to Epidavrous, where we are now.
It is almost 10am, and time for the third swim of the day. Lucky we are parked on a beach front promenade in a sleepy beach/fishing town, and the water is 5m from the van. Jeez this is tough...
Thinking of you all,
Love Chri s and Kerm xo
