Xiromero

Well, the vacation within a vacation has come to an end... Crack of dawn start this morning to catch the ferry from Corfu back to Igoumenitsa. Today is a long travel day, as we essentially cross the entire country of Greece with a stop along the way at the man-made Corinth Canal.

We expect to arrive at the Athens campsite about 7pm... Greek-ish time. Then it's our last dinner with those that are only doing the first half of the trip, as The Big Chill (my trip name) is basically made up of two other trips (The Southern Trail is the first half that wraps up tomorrow and the second half is The Northern Trek that goes on to Amsterdam/London). Ten people drop off and we gain ten more; two guys are leaving, but we're only gaining one, so I'm going to officially get my own tent!

The morning drive was slow going, since the roads were narrow, winding and filled with switchbacks... Fun in a car, but not so much on a coach!

The stop at the Corinth Canal was interesting to see, but the half an hour so was sufficient. Apparently constriction started around 200 BC, but it wasn't actually completed until the 19th century. Also, is not actually very functional because it's not wide enough for larger ships and doesn't save a huge amount of distance. While we were there, we did get to see someone bungee jump from the bridge we were standing on - not my cup of tea, but each unto their own.

We rolled into the campsite relatively on time, but dinner was a bit delayed and we weren't eating until 9:30. The next day was our full day in Athens, so it was pretty much bedtime after dinner.Read more