Day 97: Monday 23 June – Yiassas Greece, by Ken

When I awoke the Greek mainland was moving slowly past our cabin window and the sun was coming up over the hills in the distance, it was a glorious sight.

Sunrise Over Greece

Jane had made bread and cheese for breakfast that we had taken on board yesterday, my cheese was blue and a bit rich at 06:30. After showering we decided to go and sit in the restaurant for the remainder of the voyage. It was practically deserted, probably the majority would have left the ship when we docked in Igoumenitsa last night and we guessed not many would use the ferry to travel from there to Patras.

The group of young American women we saw last night was there with a few boys this time. Adults that were obviously linked to them were seated nearby. I guessed it was a school trip. Talking to one of the women members of the group I found I was correct. She was a teacher from Boston and it was a High School Trip for students from Boston and California. They were away for 9 days and had visited Florence, Rome and Sorrento. They were on their way to Delphi and Athens and hoped to also fit in a one-day cruise before returning home. They had a Greek archaeologist with them as a tour guide. I commented times have changed, my school outings were day trips to the zoo and the like.

A tannoy announcement informed us we would be arriving in Patras in 45 minutes. We had a very good cappuchino from the bar to wake us up.

Rio - Anddirio Bridge Seen In The Haze As We Approached Patras
(We get a lot closer to it on Day 113)

As we glided through the entrance to Patras Harbour Jane was keen we got to the stairs to the vehicle deck. The door was locked and we were the only ones there. She began to fret, as only Jane can, that we had mistimed it and everyone else was in their vehicles, ready to go. My comment that I doubted we would find ourselves trapped on board and returning to Brindisi didn’t calm her any. Jane continued to fret while I watched the docking process. I had a great view from a window at the stern of the ship. As last night the ship reversed to a berth and the mooring rope winches were used to take the ship the last half metre to the quay . There wasn’t the slightest hint of a bump. It was 08:30 by the time everything was secured, 30 minutes later than scheduled.

A Worried Jane And Locked Door To Vehicle Deck

Other passenger arrived followed by an officer with the key to the door. Jane calmed down a little. Jane was off as soon as the door was opened and dashed ahead of me down several flights of stairs to the lower vehicle deck. At the bottom she hurdled a rope just outside the stairway door intended to stop people walking into traffic, I turned left and walked through the gap between the cone the rope was attached to and the stairwell wall. The deck was practically deserted, we could see Smarty and Mabel tucked away at the far end with nothing between them and the stern exit ramp.

Mabel and Smarty Tucked Away At Far End Of Deck

 Jane Relieved At Getting To Mabel and Smarty

There was room enough between the trucks either side for us to turn Mabel and Smarty around so we could drive straight off. Manouvering of Mabel was aided by two deck hands who, unlike yesterday, were both giving the same instuctions. We hitched Smarty up and drove down onto the practically deserted quay passing the high school group making the long walk from the ship to the terminal building.

The streets of Patras were busy with roadworks, but we were soon on the open road heading south along the coast. The two lane road had shoulders and it didn’t take long to pick up the Greek style of driving straddling the line dividing the traffic lane from the shoulder to give room for overtaking. There wasn’t much traffic and the roads were not the best, but a big improvement on Italy’s. The Greek driving was much more relaxed than in Italy. We needn’t have worried about finding fuel, there were filling stations every few kilometres and it’s a wonder there is enough business for them all. Some stations appeared to have been abandoned so perhaps there wasn’t.

Patras Fishing Boat In Need Of A Coat Of Paint

Lots Of Filling Stations

After about an hour we turned off the main road and followed a narrower road through busy towns and villages. We spotted lots of supermarkets so it didn’t look like we would starve to death in Greece. Round about 10:30 we pulled into Camping Aginara Beach where a woman dashed out of reception and waved us in. En route we had done our best to master the Greek for two nights please. Getting out of Mabel we got a warm hello from the woman who had good English, there was plenty of room and no problem staying for two nights. I tried my Greek for two night please on her and got a “bravo” and a correction to my pronunciation. We got a run down of the facilities which included a tavern with good food, “look at me” the woman said, “I eat there, and I’m big”.

Lots Of Groups Of Men Passing The Time Of Day, But Never Women

Lots Of Churches

Hadn't Associated Pumpkins With Greece

Why did The Geese Cross The Road?

We set up Mabel in the shade of a tree, it was already hot. The site had free wi-fi, the first time we had access to the internet in a week. I sat in the shade of Mabel’s awning dealing with email and loading more cash onto our debit cards while Jane went to explore. She reported back the beach was great and we might just have to spend more than two nights here.

The surface of our pitch had lots of small black fruit from the tree Mabel was parked under. We didn’t know what they were but they stuck to our shoes like the proverbial to a blanket and were making a real mess of Mabel’s mat. ‘Broom’ was added to our shopping list (we only have a dustpan and brush that we use for sweeping out Mabel).

Jane made a Greek salad for lunch with ingredients bought from the camping ground shop. Then she headed straight for the beach while I finished the financial stuff. When I followed at 13:00 Mabel’s temperature gauge read 35° and it felt it. The afternoon was spent lying in the shade of our beach umbrella, reading with the occasional dip in the sea to cool off. The beach was a stunner. It had fine shingle rather than sand, the sea was crystal clear and felt cool, but was fine once you were in. The beach was practically deserted and we agreed we would just have to stay more than just the two nights.

Aginara Beach

In The Shade On The Beach

We went to the taverna for dinner. It wasn’t busy and all the customers we could hear were speaking in German. The staff all had good English, there were no menus, our waiter read a list of what was available from the back of his order pad. We chose a Greek salad and tzatziki to start, Jane had mousaka while I had a beef stiffado. The wine choice was red or white, we had a half litre of chilled red. Everything was good and when the bill arrived with two complimentary glasses of ouzo it came to less than €30. We decided we would probably eat there again.

That's What You Call A Greek Salad

Today's Trip (82km plus the ferry voyage along the dotted line)