Peloponnese

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John Bickerstaff Peloponnese
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- Jun 5, 2023, 2:22pm
- ☁️ 24 °C
- Altitude: 6 m
- Greece Peloponnese Pylos-Nestoras Koróni Artaki Beach 36.798333, 21.95333336°47’54” N 21°57’12” E
Day 6
Mountain pass hairiness.
June 5, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
On the face of it heading over to Koroni seemed a good bet - only 30 miles - not too far, picturesque and a range of things to do. All of those things did apply but the route took in getting across the mountainous spine of the peninsula. So that was the annoyingly narrow road to Methoni with Greek drivers insisting on taking up all the road and then the endlessly windy roads from then onwards. All of which made Liz jumpier than a field full of Cuban high jumpers. Made it and parked up on the quay avoiding the spots on the waters edge - reversing into the sea may not be good for the excess. Walked along the quay taking in the vast quantity of tourist eateries and the pier. The coastal walk promised a little more than delivered - basically just around the headland to the beach but quiet enough - the tourist masses were either eating or in the castle. We were castled out. Back into town for the obligatory shady spot, ice cream and cold drink. Did the job. Google suggested a viewing point - going to be a bit of climbing. Once there the obvious thing was to come back via the beach and since we're there it would be rude not to have a swim.Read more
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John Bickerstaff Peloponnese
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- Jun 6, 2023, 8:50am
- ☁️ 20 °C
- Altitude: 288 m
- Greece Peloponnese Pylos-Nestoras Chora 37.051667, 21.71666737°3’6” N 21°43’0” E
Day 7
My kingdom for a mellow stray dog.
June 6, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C
A lazy day with lots to do... The obligatory morning cycle & shock, horror, it was cloudy. Going for it with a hilly inland blast - 700m of climbing - that should give the knee a test. To top it off, for some reason the route started off with a 5 mile climb, rather than finishing with a 5 mile descent. Oops. Battled through it and planned to stop at Nester's Palace with about a mile to go. Just as the car pull in approached a group of stray dogs clocked me. They did not like what they saw - and made it known. Pass on the stop and a little relief that a passing car stopped the pack in their tracks. Calm down. On the way down from Chora, yet another group of stroppy dogs. The route was based on pretty rural, rough tracks so maybe that was the problem. Anyway 6 climbs, some great descents and back in time for breakie No. 2.
Lounged, swam and ate before having a little wander into town. Continued to speculate who was on the big boat. Running joke was that it was Jurgen. Had a selfie with the boat just in case. Walk back was hot. Final act on the bike was to get me to the ship wreck half way up Divani beach. Snorkelled round it for a while - lots of fish. Dropped the bike off - sad and back for another cooling swim, Liz sneakily getting photographic evidence.Read more
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John Bickerstaff Peloponnese
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- Jun 7, 2023, 11:25am
- ☁️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 29 m
- Greece West Greece Olympia Droúva Ancient Olympia 37.638333, 21.6337°38’18” N 21°37’48” E
Day 8
Lots of old stones.
June 7, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Early start. Small matter of 60 unpredictable miles to get to Olympia - home of the ancient Olympic games. Such an iconic place would suggest there might be tourist issues so the sooner the arrival time the better. On the road pretty much to time and all was going smoothly until we hit some roadworks. Not your average setup - the whole road had been dug up with just gravel and very little clue as to where to go. Lots of guesswork & the assumption that if it was badly wrong someone would say something. They didn't & we got through only 10 mins later to get a warning about tyre pressure problems. Stopped at the next available point & examined them - seemed ok. Followed the instructions about resetting the pressure monitor & hoped for the best. All this ate into the schedule. Eventually rocked up at Olympia to be greeted by a car park full.of coaches - no space for actual cars. Scooted round town & found a patch of land & again hoped for the best. To the historic site and the hoardes of tourists & school parties didn't fill me with joy. Where possible we'd be looking for the quiet routes but certain areas - namely the stadium was going to be bad. Wandered for a while getting a feel for the Olympic Village.the Took in the stadium and the Temple of Hers, where the flames are lit. By now we were post midday sun so decided to try the museum and took in some really old stuff. Some of the artefacts, in fairness were quite impressive. Left just as 2 school groups arrived. Had a little mooch around town - lots of tourist tat - though the honey store intrigued. Headed back to the car as the school parties approached. Detoured to avoid the dodgy road and got back to find all was cloudy - no sunset just tidying and eating up.Read more
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John Bickerstaff Peloponnese
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- Jun 8, 2023, 10:29pm
- 🌙 20 °C
- Altitude: 11 m
- Greece Attica Marathon Nea Makri 38.085803, 23.98321438°5’9” N 23°58’60” E
Day 9
Mad scooters.
June 8, 2023 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 20 °C
And so begins the long goodbye. First the small matter of getting back to Athens. All packed up, waved our goodbyes to our very nice home for the week and on the way out to Ionnias, the owner. Decided to try to break the back of the journey as soon as possible. Just 1 stop - the Corinth Canal. No bungee jumpers this time & Liz wasn't persuadable. Watched the boats passing through and confused a Dutch couple who recognised my Feyenourd top & thought we were also Dutch. Sorry - just a fraud. Now to the hairy stuff towards & round Athens. Sandwich stop and then deep breath. The toll motorway was reasonably quiet and the driving reasonably predictable. Once off that the 20 miles to Marathon was not so much. Lots of manic scooters zipping in and out, no helmets and not a care for their lives it seemed. The hotel was tucked away in the back streets 1 block from the beach - relieved to park up sans scratches and dents for now. Decided to get to the room, calm down and regroup. Once sorted we had a nice little walk along the quay & waterfront - far nicer than expected even managed a swim. Whether stuff would dry was another matter. Had to refuel the car prior to the handover so unfortunately it was back in the car and since that was the case we drove upto Marathon to see the 'site' of the original marathon. They sited the stadium for the marathon in the Olympic games at Marathon unsurprisingly so there was all sorts of monuments and paraphernalia left over from that to have a look at. Back and first meal out on our last night in Greece. Opted for a fish restaurant by the harbour. Nice enough but very salty - which we'd already decided was a Greek thing. Back to pack for the next leg.Read more
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John Bickerstaff Peloponnese
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- Jun 9, 2023, 11:10am
- ☀️ 25 °C
- Altitude: 58 m
- Greece Attica Marathon Agía Marína 38.066667, 23.97666738°4’0” N 23°58’36” E
Day 10
Sightseeing at cruising altitude.
June 9, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
On the way in, the traffic jams caused a little concern so an early breakie it was. Nothing to write home about but it did the job. Back to the mania of the local roads and the dickhead scooters. At least this time most were wearing helmets, that said they were all ignoring the traffic lights - give with 1 hand take away with the other. Relieved to find that Google had sent us to the toll road, I suspect to avoid the multiple jams. Ended up at the car hire depot early but the South African guy was there and finished up the paperwork for us again spending more time talking about the mighty reds than anything else. Rather that than talk about scratches and such like. The shuttle back was with a German family who had their car broken into in Athens so that's nice. Athens was far more humane than Manchester limited queues and settled to wait for boarding. Managed to miss the call but no panics other than the wrong boarding passes being in the wrong passports - much confusion. Spent the first chunk of the flight spotting bits and pieces over Athens, Greece and Albania.Read more
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John Bickerstaff Peloponnese
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- Jun 9, 2023, 2:57pm
- ☀️ 28 °C
- Altitude: 248 m
- Switzerland Basel Kleinbasel Altstadt 47.56, 7.59166747°33’36” N 7°35’30” E
Day 10
Whistle stop tour of Basel
June 9, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
The original flights booked had us flying directly to Manchester. In their infinite wisdom easyJet decided to cancel that and we ended up with a layup of 5 hours in Basel. The plan was to check-in the bag for the second leg and then go and do a little sight seeing rather than spending 5 hours seeing Basel airport. That was dampened at check-in. Could only drop the bags 150 mins prior to departure. Not hp. 2 options. Hang around or find somewhere to dump the bag. Checked at information and there was no left luggage at the airport - the only option was at the station. 5 hours at the airport or lug the backpack into town, dump it and have a wander. No choice. Buses into town were every 10 mins and it was only a 20 min journey. Reckoned this would give us around 2 hours looking around. The lockers at the airport were ultra tech - centrally controlled, card payment and qr code secured. Dumped everything and wandered. Headed to the Market Square. Liz spotted a sausage seller and they were good - better than airport fare. Hunger and thirst sated, we mooched down to the Rhine - walked along in the shade and clocked a view of the cathedral. The one note of regret - could've had a dip in the Rhine. Ah well next time. Back to the airport for the last leg of the 2 day journey.Read more
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Mountain pass hairiness.

My kingdom for a mellow stray dog.

Lots of old stones.

Mad scooters.

Sightseeing at cruising altitude.

Whistle stop tour of Basel