ADRIAN AND BRENDA WILSON IN BULGARIA & GREECE
2013
Brenda's Diaries October 2012 - June 2013
Introduction
For the third year, Brenda and Adrian drive east in their Fleetwood Flair
motorhome, the one they sourced in the USA in 2008, explored that great
country and then shipped it back to England.
Their journey took them out to Bulgaria through France, Belgium, Germany,
Austria, Hungary and Serbia.
After working on their Bulgarian house for some time, they set off on
an extensive winter tour of Greece.
Returning to Bulgaria for more work on the house, they then travelled
back to England through Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Holland,
Belgium and France.
Brenda writes up the journey after they have returned to their home in
Norfolk, a considerable feat based on notes made at the time and her own
unfailing memory.
Four slide shows of photographs are linked at the end of the travel
log, adding colour and depth to the following written account.
England
After 4 months back at home (in Norfolk), which was supposedly our
'summer', although realistically it didn't materialize AT ALL (the wettest
ever), we were ready once again to return to Bulgaria, to put in a bit more
work feathering our new 'nest', hopefully enough for it to be habitable
this time around! Our garden in Norfolk had been the most overgrown it had
ever been, with grass waist high etc, and we also had a line of fencing
panels blown down in some very strong winds, so this kept us busy for
many a week or two. Thankfully our house was found just as we had left
it - no burst pipes this year as Adrian had drained everything down
- even the heating system.
Each year after all the driving (and living) in our
motorhome for long periods at a time, we always find we have another long list
of things to be attended to (this year was no different either) and we could
not make our minds up whether to sell it and get something smaller and more
economical that we could leave in Bulgaria and then fly in and out, or what
to do exactly and we did look at a few other motorhomes but of course
nothing gave us the space that we had become accustomed to. In the end we
decided to hang on to our motorhome for another year, by which time we
would be in our new little home.
So another MOT had to be sorted. We had 2 small cracks in
our windscreen repaired (although one of them reappeared again very soon
after!) and lots of squeaks and clonks needed attention. Both front suspension
air bags had to be replaced and the problem of our engine which kept cutting
out so much last trip had to be looked into for a cause. This could have been
many, very different things and computerised motors are not really Adrian's
scene! Anyway, he made and fitted a new awning himself (which was a big job)
and also hung another thick set of curtains across our windscreen area to try
and keep the cold out and heat in during the coming winter months. He also
fitted some new lights (inside). I lined all the bedroom cupboards with
bubble wrap - hoping it would help with all the condensation problems - and
the whole interior had a thorough clean (including a steam clean) whilst
Adrian cleaned and polished all the exterior. Even the fly screens came
off for a much needed spruce-up.
We purchased a 125cc scooter as our mode of transport (when
overseas) and so Adrian set about making a platform for this and devised a way
to enable him to load and unload it fairly easily, remembering we may require
the use of our spare wheel at any time (situated behind). He had to take the
solar panel down (very heavy) to repair, as he found condensation making its
way inside and therefore not able to work so efficiently, and also make up a
cover to fit over the fridge area on the roof, as the existing one had
disintegrated. Another gas fire had to be fitted, as the old one had let us
down on too many occasions, the 'genny' had an overhaul, our water pump had
to be repaired to take back to Bulgaria, and so it went on, with lots more
minor things too, be it mechanical, body work or cosmetic.
In August our son-in-law (in Perth, Australia) found out
that his father had terminal cancer and so they all (our daughter and 3
grandchildren) made plans to come back for a possible 6 month stay, which was
difficult for them. Apart from the financial cost to them, they had to find a
house-sitter and someone to look after their dogs and at that stage they had
no passports as they had just been made Australian citizens (after 5 years)
and their old passports were taken away, before they were issued with
their new dual citizenship passports. Our eldest grandson had just
started University too. However, after much organization they were able
to book their flight to London, to arrive early in September and they
even changed their flight date by bringing it forward. Very sadly, they
arrived just a few hours too late and naturally they were all
devastated. So although we had the pleasure of their company for
several weeks, it could have been under far better circumstances.
Our youngest son also moved into our house (from London) in September,
whilst he studied for an honours degree as he wanted plenty of
peace and quiet through the winter months but eventually we were
ready for the next chapter in our lives .
OCTOBER 2012 – The Start of the
Journey
The loading and unloading of our camper becomes more and
more tiresome, it's almost like moving house at times! Trying to make sure we
have packed everything needed and this time leaving lots of instructions for
our son too. So on 1st October we left Norfolk, along with our scooter, our
inflatable canoe, a fixed water pump, a paraffin heater, some curtains and
rails for our home, 2 very heavy worktops, an electric hedge trimmer, spade,
shovel, pickaxe and many, many more tools, food and oddments. We drove down
to Essex, not to our usual spot, but a little CL site at the Three
Horseshoes, Takeley (at the end of the Stansted airport runway!) We had
not been there before but needed to visit Adrian's parents the following
morning before driving down to Dover. We arrived at Dover at 6.30pm,
where we parked up as usual by the sea front. The morning P&O ferry
left at 10.15am and we arrived in Calais an hour and a half later -
12.45 pm (French time).
France-Belgium-Germany
The afternoon's driving was not good, with heavy rain some
of the time, very dark and dismal and the traffic was very, very slow going. In
fact we have never known it so bad but then we were going round Brussels in
Belgium at the time. We didn't manage to make too much headway and once again
stayed on a very busy motorway service station with lots of huge transporters
parked up beside us. We resigned ourselves to a very noisy night but it
actually turned out to be a quiet night, which we could hardly believe, and
not cold at all, although it did rain all night. The rain did not deter
early morning grass cutters however!
That day the weather was even worse, with constant rain all
day, which was very tiring for Adrian competing with all the lorries. At least
we did not have any hold ups or road works anyway, well I say that but our
motorhome did decide to die on us once again (as last year), even though Adrian
had thought and hoped that he had cured the problem with all the possibilities
he could think of. So we were none the wiser but we didn't have to stop long
anyway and in fact it didn't happen again for the whole journey, so maybe it's
an improvement anyway! That evening we had a job to find a place to park up,
down by a wide river in Kitzingen (Wurzburg, Germany), as it was crammed with
German campers all the way along but we did find ourselves a spot eventually
and in the evening we walked across the river into town and it did look a
very nice place.
Austria-Hungary
Next country was the dreaded Austria! We are not keen at
the best of times, as previously stated, as it is so expensive (fuel) and there
is very little LPG. The price of the 'Go Box' appears to have increased since
last year and cost us 100 Euros. We were unable to find anywhere (once again
as before) to hand this in before leaving the country. Apparently when it
bleeps 4 times consecutively as you pass under each sensor, it is then time
to top up and ours had already been bleeping twice for some time, so we may
not have had much if any funds left! We had little choice other than to
carry on, 'Go Box' still in our possession! If we were to go back home
that way, we would be able to find out what, if anything, was owed to us
and thus use it again, but who knows. Of course this is just our
scenario - anyone else, 3.5 tons or under and who does not run on LPG
fuel, would not have any of our problems.
A total difference in the weather though, with blue skies
all day and it became increasingly warmer as the day continued, with the same
again the following day too as we drove into Hungary but the vignette (for our
2 days) had increased since last year and cost us another 28 Euro. Continued
on and around Budapest - we do not have the help of our SatNav by then as ours
no longer works after Austria - but we did not encounter any real problems.
Serbia
However, Serbia in comparison (with the Dinar as currency)
was very good, although anyone hoping to get insurance at the border would
probably be out of luck and would therefore need to sort that out before
setting off (if possible)! We tried but without success and so were most
probably uninsured! Anyway a quick glance round the door (at border), no
questions asked, other than where we were going, no cash exchanged hands -
and we were away. Very quiet motorway, reminding us of the Egnatia Odos in
Greece, when first opened. Generally roads in good condition and a total
cost in tolls of 24 Euros (yes, they will take Euros). South to
Belgrade, which was not much of a problem and continued on until we
arrived in Velika Plana, where we spent the night at a McDonalds with
free wi-fi and did not encounter or see any trouble or bother
whatsoever.
Further south (the following day) we turned off the E75 to
Nis on E80 before the border into Bulgaria and eventually down to Sofia. The
only section we found we had to take extra care over came after Nis, where
there was a fairly short gorge which was narrow and twisty (but pretty) and
with a number of tunnels. Several of those tunnels had NO lights whatsoever
and we found them to be quite unnerving! So to anyone thinking of taking
this route anytime, just be aware, especially those of you who have large
outfits!
Well, the route (via and through Serbia) was quicker and it
certainly beats driving through Romania at the best of times, so now that
things are so much more relaxed, I think this is the best route to take.
Bulgaria
We were soon crossing our final border into Bulgaria again
but I have to say that we did encounter our worst road conditions of the trip,
driving north round Sofia. There was no motorway, although I find that very
hard to believe. The roads are disgusting and because we had to drive so
slowly, it seemed to go on forever and we were unable to make it all the way
to our property in Harmanli that day. We arrived in Plovdiv just as the sun
was setting and after re-setting our clocks, another hour forward, decided
to stop for the night at a small garage, which turned out to be good and
quiet and we even had the use of the internet with free wi-fi again.
Unfortunately, the road from Plovdiv to Haskovo was also
appalling (for us anyway), so it was shake, rattle and roll again, our poor RV!
One of these days we might be pleasantly surprised and shocked to find the
motorway complete but for now there's not a lot going on, they seem to have
come to a standstill!
Arrived in Harmanli at lunchtime, so parked up at Lidl,
shopped there, had lunch and also shopped at Billa. We then went straight up
the hill to our place at Trifoncheto. Luckily, nothing had been touched and
everything seemed to be just as we had left it in May last. They had had a very
long, hot, dry summer and we could see just how parched and brown everything
was looking but our little wooden place didn't seem too warped or twisted,
considering the heat! We were informed that they had not had a drop of rain
since we left! Our one big problem is that of water or should I say lack of
water! We'll just have to see how it goes.
Of course our garden was a jungle once again too. Our
neighbours didn't appear to have made much more progress since May. Maybe it
had been too hot for them. We eventually managed to make ourselves level and
secure and settled ourselves down for the next couple of months' building
work. We had made it to Bulgaria safely once more and our motorhome and
driver had done really well. Apart from that one hiccup when the 'van had
lost power, all had gone smoothly and to plan and we couldn't really have
asked for a better journey. Even though it's still too far and takes too
long, we had achieved it in 6 days, which wasn't bad going, and this was
the quickest we had ever managed it before (a slow drive of 6-7 hours each
day).
Back to Building in Bulgaria
First job for Adrian was to try and get our water pump up
and running, which once again proved to be a difficult task and to make
matters worse we found very little water in our well (due to the hot, dry
summer presumably?) and we were unsure how to tackle this situation. Anyhow,
we unloaded some of the things from our RV. It's always surprising what
actually does come out of it but we're sure she breathed a sigh of relief!!
Adrian also managed to get our old car going again and we hoped it was going
to last a little longer for us if possible and he re-attached the wheels to
our trailer too. My first job was the out-of-control garden (especially the
bramble bushes).
Unfortunately our grapes had not done very well. I think
maybe they had ripened much earlier this year, due to the weather they had had,
but of course, as explained last year, we are not here to look after them and
think they need to be sprayed too. It wasn't a good year for the nut trees
either. Very few almonds and hardly any walnuts at all, as they had all gone
black. Everyone else's were the same too. Too hot and not enough rain. So
anyway I made a start on it but I was only scratching the surface at that
stage. At least this year we had brought some hedge trimmers with us, which I
was able to use. These helped although it was all quite back-breaking work
and we both realised just how unfit we had become! All the traipsing up and
down our hill was certainly telling us we had arrived, and I felt we
needed to be doing outside jobs, to make the most of the good weather
before the winter set in, although in actual fact those first couple of
weeks were too hot. Sometimes you just can't win!
Next, Adrian bought and fixed up all of our guttering along
with a couple of barrels to catch the rain water for us to use. Every little
bit helped. Then he built our decking out at the back, together with wooden
railings and he also made some wooden steps up to it. He had decided that the
decking would be an ideal place for him to make our kitchen units. This task
was next on the list and he set about doing just that, using recycled wood
from the old 'chalet'. So that kept him busy for a while, plus also plumbing
in the sink (which we also used from the old chalet), assembling the worktop
(brought from home) and the making of a couple of drawers (one thing I know
he hates making). He put a few tiles round the units (found in our cellar
from the previous owners) and grouted them in. He finished doing all the
lights and light fittings (the ones in the lounge having to be repositioned)
and made and hung all the internal doors.
When eventually I had finished strimming, clearing and
raking our garden, including between the grapevines (which took me about 4
weeks), I then started the staining of the kitchen units and internal doors.
These required 2 coats of stain and 2 coats of varnish too. So this also kept
me out of mischief for a while! Later I also stained all the window frames
inside while Adrian did the exterior.
We took our scooter out on a few occasions, which was
something very new to me. I had not been riding pillion before, well at least
not since the 1960's when Adrian had a motorbike that we used to ride around
on. We didn't go far the first time, just into town, back up to the lakes and
to the village of Nadezhden. I was hanging on for dear life and thought I
was welded to the bike when it came to getting off but guessed I would get
used to it and enjoy it more the next time around! Unfortunately, the
next time around, the sun failed to make an appearance and it was misty
and cold. I had not reckoned on just how cold you get in the wind,
otherwise it would have been quite enjoyable.
We rode to Biser and saw Matt at Sakar Hills Camping, who
also introduced us to his new Bulgarian girlfriend (Petra) who seemed very
nice. We then went down to the village for a quick look before riding back
home again. We were very impressed with how quickly the builders had built a
number of brand new homes, replacing the many homes washed away or
demolished by the floods in February of this year. Perhaps we should have
bought one in the village after all! Their new homes looked very posh in
comparison to what little they had, so I think they have done very well
for themselves at the end of the day, although of course no-one would
want to experience what they went through that awful night!
On another sunny day we ventured even further. We packed up
our lunch, dressed ourselves up in lots of layers of clothes, extra socks and
gloves etc and rode all the way to Glavan (which was about 25/30 miles),
passing through the villages of Bulgarin, Ovcharovo and Pomoshtnik (don't you
just love these names) on the way, and Rogozinovo on the way back. When we
got to Glavan we sat in the village square eating our lunch in the autumn
sunshine, trying to warm ourselves up (the cold is very unforgiving on your
knees and legs on a bike)! We had a bit of a wander, then decided we could
try and see where an English couple (that we vaguely knew from Biser
campsite) had bought a place and were living in a big American motorhome
whilst building. I did spot their RV and we managed to ride down and find
where their place was but we didn't see anybody about at all and so we
started to make our way back again. Neither of us could really say we were
very impressed with either the village (they are all basically the same)
or the location or area. It was miles away from any town and I would
imagine they get a lot of snow up there. It was also getting
uncomfortably close to 3 different power stations. So it wouldn't be
for us but each to their own I guess. In general though, the
countryside scenery was very pleasant.
NOVEMBER – Still in Bulgaria
Anyhow, back to building! We purchased half a ton of logs
(one trailer load) and of course they all had to be unloaded and carried up to
the top of the hill to our wood store. Hopefully this will be enough to be
getting on with for now, if it does become cold and we decide we want to stay
for Christmas or longer. I did light up the 'Kamena' (wood-burning stove) on
one of the days, in order to cook my Christmas pudding which I had managed to
make, as I did last year too. Adrian cut back the hedge, on top of the bank,
at the back of our property, as he also did last year, which makes a real
difference to the sunshine quota into our place through the winter months. So
that helped enormously. We found a place in the town where they take in your
washing and we were very pleased with the results. All washed, dried and
folded for 6 Lev (about 3 euros) per 5 kg load. This helped a great deal with
our water shortage problem.
We had decided to extend our balcony at the front, in line
with the decking at the back, so Adrian mixed up some sand and cement and then
concreted 3 concrete posts into the ground. It was quite a challenge for him to
figure out how to join on the extension to the existing balcony, without
having wooden posts in the ground (as they always rot in the end) and in
order for it to be strong and safe but without putting any extra weight on
the property itself (and also aesthetically pleasing from the ground, of
course). Anyway, after much thought, he had decided how he was going to
tackle this hurdle and set about erecting his 3 wooden uprights and bolting
them to the concrete posts already set in place. All in all, the balcony
turned out to be a big, heavy and awkward job for Adrian. He was having to
work from the ladder most of the time and was up and down like a yo-yo.
His poor knees and joints complained with every move again! He completed
the job though and then made up the railings. We had been able to use
several of the metal railings which had been in use on the old building
(the one we pulled down). Adrian sanded them all down for me and I
painted them gold. We think they should look quite attractive.
I had 6 huge bonfires again this year, so the garden was
clear and tidy, for then at least. Our water situation didn't get any better
though as we had no rain at all. We couldn't complain about the weather
otherwise though, as it had been much better and warmer than the last 2
autumns. Just right for building and working. We asked a couple of Welsh
people (Yvonne and Eifion) up to have a look one day (we bumped into them in
the town). We had first met them at Shirley and Martin's over at Kolarovo.
It wasn't good weather at all that day (for the views) and in fact it was
cold, but they described our place as a 'Hansel and Gretel' home!
Presumably because of its size?
DECEMBER - In Greece
As there was heavy snow forecast for early December, we
decided it was time for us to move on - hopefully south to somewhere warmer! We
had made the decision not to visit Turkey this year, as our insurance had
proved to be very expensive. So after ensuring that everything was safe to go,
we were just about ready. We had just filled our water tank and barrels
(luckily) when our well ran dry! So we had indeed picked just the right time
to disappear!
We made it safely out of our lane and back on the road
again. At the Greek border, we were checked over fairly thoroughly (even though
there is no need for any checkpoint any more) by an officious looking young
lady who wanted to look in all rooms, including the toilet and even in our
FRIDGE! Well, that's a first. I don't know what she expected to find in
there, perhaps she was just feeling hungry! Anyway, as the motorway (Egnatia
Odos) still had not been completed, we rattled and rolled along past
Alexandroupolis and Komotini and on, trying to find a beach (near Fanari)
we had stayed on once before. It was difficult to find then and we had
about as much luck this time too. However we somehow found ourselves on
a different beach at an archaeological site, although we were
unable to find anything historical. It was a very, very peaceful spot.
Upon leaving the next morning we lunched at Lagos Port,
where we had stayed the night last year, continuing on round Kavala and Nea
Paramos (where we had also stayed, several times) and parked ourselves on yet
another beach just past Nea Kerdylia (before Thessaloniki). This would have
been a very good spot (with no barking dogs) had it not been for the terrific
wind and rain and the very, very rough sea! It was all so noisy in the
motorhome (even though, normally we love to listen to the waves). It rained
quite heavily all night and I was beginning to panic (after last year's
floods) that the sea was encroaching too far, even though Adrian had said we
would be OK as we were on slightly higher ground. We had a pretty restless
night nonetheless. In the morning we came far too close to being stuck down
at the bottom of the steep hill as the rain had washed lots of loose gravel
down the lane. We tried once and had to back down again, making huge deep
muddy tyre ruts in the process, so Adrian had to put his foot down and keep
going quite fast (even though it was very rough and bumpy), yet still we
were skidding around and we narrowly avoided sliding into a deep ditch! We
just about made it anyway but needless to say, in a muddy, sad state!
After this we drove round Thessaloniki and south down to
another beach at Paralia. The previous night must have been rough there too, as
it was apparent that the sea had breached and flooded the road. We parked up
across the road and walked round the dead holiday ghost town in the evening
but it was bitterly cold there. A quiet, if cold and icy night followed. We
stocked up at a nice Carrefour supermarket the next morning (near Katerini)
and were shown the way out by a lady who drove ahead of us, as we were too
high to drive under the underpass.
That day did not turn out to be a very good day. You never
can figure out what you are actually paying for on Greek motorways! Some
sections charge, some don't but we kept getting charged for sections that we
had only been on for 5 minutes. It doesn't make any sense and becomes so
frustrating. I have to say though that Mount Olympos looked stunning that day,
with blue skies and its snow capped peaks. Also the Tembi Valley gorge was
quite beautiful and we saw Orias castle too but we made the mistake of
trying to get to the water again at a little marina. Although it was all
lovely, we didn't get to the marina as the signs were not good enough and
we could not trust the narrow roads. We did get to a place where the
ferries cross to Chalkida on the island of Euboea but it was too busy
with nowhere to stop, which was a shame as it was very pretty there.
So of course it was getting late by then and we had no choice but to
drive out again which was hilly and twisty, to get back on the main
road and continue on to Lamia.
We did get to Lamia but as it was dark and I did not think
we would be able to see where to go for Thermopyles, we parked up at the back
of a Service Station for the night, which turned out to be OK, and continued
on in the morning, easily finding the place we were to stay for the next
week. We last visited nearly 3 years ago and we thought then that the place
was being overrun with gypsies and others who were ruining the whole large
area for everyone else. Apart from all their rubbish, they were using the
bushes as their toilet, washing their clothes in the thermals and stripping
the trees for their firewood. So it wasn't too much of a surprise to find
most of the area fenced off! We asked at the Police station and were told
camping was prohibited, although they did add that we could stay for couple
of nights near the waterfall area of the thermals. So at that point we
didn't think it was going to be much fun. However, we had a wander around
and found other campers down the bottom, some on the other side of the road
but all across the thermal 'stream'.
We spoke to a Swiss bloke, camping on his own, who had been
there all week and he said it was OK to stay down there. After our lunch we
went under the waterfall and were treated to a hot, vigorous, pounding and
pummelling of our aching bodies. Then we moved our motorhome up to the other
end and positioned ourselves right by our very 'own' little section of the
thermal 'stream'. We had a very enjoyable week there, walking, dipping in
various sections of the hot water, riding into Lamia on the scooter and
collecting lots of wood to enable me to have a fire each evening whilst we
bathed in the thermals. The downside to being there was that it was very,
very cold and on the days we had any sun, it was gone again by 1.30 pm due
to the mountains around us, but the plus side was, when you were cold,
you just jumped in the water which was pure heaven, especially after
dark when you could just lay there looking up at the moon and stars
and where we saw loads of shooting stars too.
We have known the place to be plagued by mozzies but as it
was so cold we hardly saw any at all. It was a lovely week, although we did
have a problem with our leisure batteries (again) as they were not holding
their charge, so it was candles all round and it was a good job we had plenty
of gas fires! On our last day we again went up to the waterfall and enjoyed
ourselves there before we left. We drove down to get filled up with water (in
our motorhome tank) when an elderly Greek man and his wife made it clear
they were in need of some help as they had become stuck in a muddy lane
which goes up to fortifications.
We think they may have been tending their olive grove but
they did have a 4x4 motor. Adrian went off to see if he could help but the
bloke was getting in a worse position and had almost slid into a ditch, as he
seemed reluctant to follow instructions from Adrian and of course they
couldn't communicate with each other! Adrian returned, asking for my help to
push and to bring a saw to cut some of the trees away. We filled some buckets
with stones to take up for traction and also asked the Swiss chap if he
would lend a helping hand. He came along on his bike and brought with him a
winch. Eventually, after some time, cutting trees, fitting the winch and
with us all pushing (in mud) we managed to get him free of his predicament!
Needless to say they were very grateful to us for all our help and it was
handshakes and hugs all round! We hadn't gone very far that morning.
From Thermopyles we drove over the mountains, which gave
warning of the use of snow chains in bad weather. Luckily we did not see any
snow about that day and it was a pretty route with some colourful trees, snow
on the mountain tops and attractive little villages, nestled in the hillsides.
Later we got back to the coast again with lots of nice beaches and bays.
Eventually we arrived at the Rio-Antirio bridge for our night's stop where we
had stopped before. It rained all night with thunder and lightning and I was
rather disappointed that the bridge was not lit up with the lovely yellow and
blue colours that we had seen last time we were there. We did not know the
reason why but could only guess that in Greece's current financial situation,
maybe they were cutting back! In the morning we boarded the ferry (always
boarded by reversing on) over to Patras which cost us 11 Euros, not much more
than last time, 3 years ago. It only takes 20 mins and is much cheaper than
driving across the bridge!
We had intended stocking up with food in Patras but saw nothing on our
route and driving through Vartholomio could find nowhere to park, so we
found ourselves at the Ionion Beach campsite (Glyfa) before we knew it
and decided we would just have to 'make do'. Their prices had not
increased (since 2010) and we had water, electricity, lashings of hot water
and wi-fi included and it was extremely quiet with no-one to bother us at
all. We parked up beside the sea, which was lovely, although it always
seems to be very rough and quite noisy. However, we do always find it a
bit isolated from shops etc with not much to do, but we walked and
took the scooter for a few spins and caught up with some chores
etc. Unfortunately we both picked up some sort of virus (cough and
cold) whilst there, which was slow to shift, so we felt a bit
jaded over the following week, which included Christmas.At Pyrgos
we found a big Carrefour supermarket so we had a good choice
to stock up with before we continued on to the Katakolo port,
where we had also stayed once before.
Adrian put up our little tree, complete with lights there. We definitely
didn't expect to be pleasantly surprised by a visit from a huge cruise ship,
which silently loomed up before us in the morning. We had seen them there
last time but that was in the Spring, so we assumed that being December, it
would be very quiet. It would appear though to be an all year round
cruise event at that port with plenty of guests enjoying their Christmas
holiday trip around the Greek islands. It seems impossible to believe
that the ship comes in so far and in such a relatively small area,
although it does reverse out of the harbour very, very slowly on its exit
route! Obviously the water must be very deep there but you could almost
reach out and touch the ship! It stayed all day, letting everyone off to
have a good look round Katakolo. In the evening we watched as it
slowly and majestically glided away, disappearing out to sea again,
all decked out with festive lights. It was quite an eerie but
spectacular sight to see.
We stopped for lunch at the Kaifa Lake, the next morning. There are also
hot springs in a cave there which we swam in 6 years ago, when it was all
completely free of charge. However, we found everything had changed.
There was a new building there, it was all fenced off and what's more
everything was closed with nobody around. As we sat eating our lunch we
watched as several people came along and decided to scale the high gate and
perimeter fencing to gain access to the place. They were inside the
premises for some time and generally messing about, although I didn't see
anyone go in the water. I got the impression that they were quite
disgruntled that what used to be a free bathing pool for the locals
and others, had now become so inaccessible to all!
Anyway, we left there trying to get to a lagoon at Navarino Bay (north of
Pylos) although, as is often the case, we couldn't understand the signage and
ended up out of our way somewhere else! I had wanted to be settled at the
lagoon for Christmas but I think it was just as well as it turned out
because when we did arrive there a few days later, there were signs everywhere
to say 'no camping'. We didn't even really know where we were, other than on a
beach near the lagoon, but in the end we stayed 2 nights at a very pleasant
little spot, which was very, very quiet and just what we needed for our
Christmas Day dinner, with rest and relaxation on a warm, sunny beach for the
afternoon!
On to the lagoon at Navarino beach bay, Gialova, which we found to be very
close by. It was certainly beautiful, quiet and peaceful but as it's all
part of a nature reserve you cannot camp there. Lots of bird life there and
we saw many flamingos, amongst various other varieties. After our lunch we
set off on a walk, along the water's edge and across sand dunes to try to
reach Nestor's cave. There is only one sign at the car park and nothing
else whatsoever. It was just lucky that we happened to meet a lady who
could speak English and also knew where the cave was, otherwise there
would have been no chance AT ALL of finding it! We had to turn back part of
the way and then climb a very steep hill. After all that it was not very
impressive anyway and as we were being pestered by mozzies nearly all of
the way, we didn't hang around.
The castle we had also hoped to see was closed due to dangerous
structures. When we got back to the bay there were a few people skin diving
and snorkelling. We then made our way along to Pylos for 2 nights. We have
been there once before and it's a lovely small town with little narrow
streets on a harbour/marina. Throughout the mornings it becomes a hive of
activity but in the afternoons when the shops shut it becomes a ghost town
until the evenings, when the shops re-open and it comes alive once again.
Adrian tried his hand at a spot of fishing and we also walked up to the
castle, although we did not go in.
Next stop was Methoni, another very quiet, sleepy little harbour with a
castle. We had our lunch there and looked around for somewhere to park up
for the night. There was a little beach by the castle but it looked as
though it was liable to flood so, although we did park up there one of the
days, we moved further along (still on the water's edge) for the night time.
We stayed for a couple of days and had another good look all around the
castle and the area around, which is free in winter (we have been several
times before). We looked at a beautiful church in the village. Freshly
painted and tidy outside, with the inside very decorative with lots of
carved, ornate wood, dripping with gold just about everywhere and with
lavish icons and huge chandeliers, this was probably one of the best
examples we have ever seen.
JANUARY 2013 – New Year at Finikounda
On to Finikounda, where we parked on a campsite (Camping Thines) and
managed to stay for 8 whole nights! We have been there twice before.
Their prices had even been reduced since 3 years ago! So very
reasonable, as included was electricity, wi fi, and even the washing machine
was free in the winter. You don't get bothered by anyone and it was very
quiet, with only one other couple. Our only gripes are the trees, which
we always struggle with and the fact that there is never anyone
there when you want them - not even to pay up! They did however let us
park on a corner on the pathway (on the front overlooking the sea)
which turned out to be a good spot. We wouldn't have been able to
do so if they had been busy but then neither would we have coped
with the trees. We bumped into Rose and Alf, who we have met a
few times and who live in a small village about 2 miles away,
so we chatted for a while, as you do.
In the evening we walked down to the village and church. We don't really
understand how nearly all the graveyards in Greece seem to have brand new,
large, elaborate graves and headstones but they all looked very well kept
and many, many of them had lit candles or lamps which was all very
surreal, like lots of little stars dotted around in the night sky! Adrian
took our scooter off here (Finikounda) and we had several rides out, one
almost back into Methoni, one up very high in the hills (beautiful
views) and another as far as Faneromeni beach and on to Koroni,
where we looked all round the castle there, free of charge. There are
people living and working inside the castle walls, where there are
several olive groves. It's another pretty little harbour and we had
hoped we might be able to overnight park with the motorhome there
but it was very narrow and we doubted we could get through.
We saw the New Year in there (Finikounda campsite), which was a very quiet
affair - just how we like it. We also managed, for the first time this trip
and indeed in Greece, to launch our little canoe there (in the sea) and we
both (and also separately as well) paddled quite a long way. It's not quite
like a lake or lagoon but we managed OK if not too rough, although one of
the days I was on my own and experienced how a 'rip' takes you out when you
don't even realise you have been taken out. So I came in, but I can see
how easy it is to get into trouble. We also sunbathed on the beach,
although at times it was rather windy.
The road out from Finikounda (going east) is very hilly, narrow and
twisty and seems to go on forever but it is also a very pretty drive if you
are lucky enough to have good weather. We had to wait in one village for
the owner of a car to come out and move his car as we could not get
through. He had parked it a mile from the kerb! On to Petalidi next which
was nothing special but with plenty of parking space for us, being very
quiet and without any disturbances, it was more than adequate. We
stocked up at Messini, then had to negotiate Kalamata, which is a big
town. We had been told there was LPG somewhere in the town, but we
didn't actually know the whereabouts. We did eventually manage to find
it, although then also realised just how expensive it was there!
After this we were on new territory as we had always missed out on the Mani,
preferring or needing to go straight across to Athens, so it was a different
landscape with fresh views of Greece. It was very hilly, twisty and narrow
but also very picturesque countryside with lots of mountain ranges and
quaint villages. It must have been a very quiet, lonely existence. The
Mani is famous for its tower houses of which there are many. There are new
ones springing up all over the mountains but we couldn't say we were
particularly keen. We then drove along the west coast to Kardamyli which
we liked very much, despite a near disaster there (in the Vyros Gorge,
near Kardamyli)! We managed to park up at a very tiny, picturesque,
colourful harbour with a tiny island with the remains of an old
castle. There were a few people with a boat, who had been working over
on the island tending their olive grove. The sea was a little
rough near the island or we may have been tempted to take our canoe
across but Adrian seemed to think it may have been a private
island anyway. It was a lovely quiet spot, there was even a
tap and we had free wi-fi. Just a few fishermen and a French
couple in a 'whizz bang' who joined us for a couple of
nights. The attractive, upmarket, beautiful stone-built village
was very, very quiet, as it all centred around the
summertime tourist trade.
The following day, the weather was beautiful, although a very chilly wind
and we wanted to walk some of the Vyros gorge trail (there are many trails
around the area) so we packed up lunch and the necessary things and set
off into the village first, where we enquired about a trail guide
leaflet, but all they had to offer were very pricey maps, of which we would
have no further use! So we photographed the 'map' on the board at the start
of the trails and walked a short way up to the 'old Kardamyli town', where
they were doing restoration work on the buildings there (also some
Mycenean tombs nearby) and up to Agia Sofia church where we stopped
and ate our lunch with splendid views over Kardamyli, the sea,
the gorge and snow-capped mountains (Taygetos) and with lots
of very small villages dotted around the mountainsides too.
It was really lovely and I had remarked on this and how much I was
enjoying the walk, the scenery and the sunshine. We hadn't really gone
very far and we decided to walk further to the monasteries. We passed one
which we could see from the road we were on, although we did not go down and
continued on to see Moni Satiros. You have to trek down and down and down,
which in itself seemed quite a long way, to the bed of the gorge that you
then have to cross unless going back the same way. I had been expecting to
cross water, as this is what you are warned of in my book, but was very
surprised to find the gorge completely dry as a bone, just huge white
pebbles and this is a very long gorge too. Anyway we had a quick
look at the deserted monastery and knowing we had a fairly
difficult hike out of there we did not hang
around.
Now the path thus far had been brilliant, you could have driven a 4x4
along it and the signs had all been easy to follow but not so from the
monastery onwards! The first part was very steep and it seemed to go on
forever but eventually we came to a very, very small village high in the
mountains which was semi-derelict and we saw a signpost for a trail to
another village (Kalyves) and this was the village we needed to get to
before going down to Kardamyli again. So off we went, following all the
same signs for our route but after initially descending a little way
we found ourselves going up higher and higher and further and
further away from where we wanted to go. We could see by then
we were higher than nearly all the little villages dotted
around the mountain and also at that time the markings we had
been following just stopped! So we turned back.
We saw a couple of cars, so made our way over to them, only to find they had
been abandoned, so nobody was about. A little later we did see a couple of men
working on their olive grove, so we asked them the way to Kardamyli and
one of them who could speak fairly good English was very clear in his
instructions to take a right turn and then another. So thinking they knew, we
trekked off again, assuming we had enough time to get back to our motorhome
without too much difficulty. We did exactly as they had said and found
ourselves at a dead-end cattle farm, with not a soul in sight! By that time
we had really had enough and were getting tired of walking. What had
started as such a lovely day was fast turning into a bit of a nightmare.
We were going up and down, round and round, back and forth and really in
the end didn't have a clue where we were walking. By that time we had been
walking for about 5 or 6 hours and were becoming increasingly worried that we
would have to spend the night on the mountainside! The sun was setting and
it was getting very cold and although we had come prepared for the day's
hike (we both had backpacks) we were definitely not geared for a 'sleep
over'! We had no torch, no matches, no food left, only a dribble of water
and no extra clothing or blankets to keep us warm.
We then made the decision to try and retrace our steps and make our way
back to the tiny village that we had passed through some hours previously,
to try and get help. Realistically, neither of us was sure we could make it
- either before dark or before our legs gave up - but I guess survival
instincts kicked in and we were definitely going to give it our best shot and
not be defeated that easily! So we pushed on for what seemed to go on
forever, eventually arriving back at the village just as it was getting
dark. It was a nice feeling being among civilisation but we didn't know
what to expect there or even what to say, if the few people who lived
there were unable to speak any English. We spent a few minutes looking
to see if anybody was about outside but all was quiet. I think
there were only 3 people/couples in residence and we saw a chink
of light through someone's front door and decided to ring the
bell!
Well, who would have believed that we were about to be two very, very
fortunate people. A lady opened the door and as we asked if she could
speak English, she told us that she WAS English. I'm not sure I would
even have answered the door (Adrian is always telling me not to answer the
door after dark) and this lady living all on her own was being
confronted by 2 tired, backpacking strangers. What's more she asked us
in, gave us a drink and offered to drive us back down to
Kardamyli, even though she was nervous of driving in the dark. She
couldn't have been more hospitable and it made us realise that
there are still good people left in this troubled world in which
we live! From her village it actually took about half an hour
driving back to our motorhome (our little home that we thought
we would not see that night) and I couldn't believe just
how far it was.
She wouldn't take anything for her kindness, although we did leave a note
on the back seat of her car. What a saviour she was and she told us about a
man who had gone missing on the mountain and apparently he was never found
again and also about the fact that her daughter and her boyfriend had lost
the path and very nearly come unstuck once too! It was around 7 pm when we
arrived back and I don't think we had ever been so happy to sit down and
relax in our own surroundings after having walked for around 7 hours in
all. We had really thought it was going to be a very cold night 'under the
stars' but we slept well (in our own bed) that night!
We left in the morning, not stopping at Stoupa, where apparently a lot
of Brits have bought property but we didn't like it much. We settled for
Neo Itylo, a large wide bay, good for surfing I imagine, with a castle on
the top. A sign said campers could stay in the car park, so we did, along
with boats, tractors, diggers etc, but we were beside the water and it
was very quiet anyway. There were lots of new, unoccupied tower houses,
which are so popular everywhere on the Mani but many of the towns and
villages are just like ghost towns, only coming to life (I guess) in
the summer months.
During the next week we had plenty of rain, thunderstorms and very windy
conditions starting that night and we couldn't believe it when in the
morning we saw a fishing boat coming in, as the water was very, very rough,
but they certainly did struggle trying to get moored up in the harbour.
Anyway we did manage a walk up to the castle before we left, although it was
further and steeper than we thought and started raining quite heavily when we
did arrive at the top and there wasn't even much to see as there was not
much left of it, but it blew the cobwebs away anyway. As we drove on
further along the peninsula it became more and more stark and barren,
barely a tree in sight, but as I mentioned plenty of new 'tower' houses
dotted about here there and everywhere. At Stavri we tried to get down
to a causeway and another castle but it was too narrow for us and so
we ended up at Gerolimenas - a lovely little, white pebble beach
bay. Another camper was parked in the car park and so we also
stayed, in fact spending three nights there, as the weather
improved somewhat for a short time at least.
We were visited by a herd of cows that evening, which didn't seem to
be with anyone at all, just wandering around aimlessly along the front. Next
stop was Vathia and we had a good look round the old derelict tower
houses there. Some of the rooms still had ancient, original beds and
toilets etc in them and reminded me of the day we first looked around a
property we once bought in Ireland after it had been derelict for 50 years!
The rooms were so very small. The village is high up on a hilltop and
because of the design, almost looks like a castle from a distance and even
the new tower houses (not in Vathia) have been built to look like
crumbled down castles. It's certainly different in the Mani. After our
lunch we drove right down to the end but the roads were very narrow,
hilly and twisty and one of the switchbacks was so acute we were
unable to get round in one go, let alone trying to pass anyone whilst
having a sheer drop my side and wondering if the edges of the
roads were likely to collapse at any moment!
We continued on to Port Kagio, a strange place with no real access road
along the front and nowhere to stay so we drove back to Gerolimenas again for
our second night, being all on our own that night. The next day was warm
and sunny so Adrian took our scooter off and we rode up into the hills to
several little villages and also back to Stavri again to find the causeway,
which was along a very rough track, down a fairly steep hill. You can only
get so far, the rest has to be on foot. We did start to walk down but it
was further than we thought and as I hadn't really got suitable shoes
on we decided to turn back, so we didn't actually get on to the
causeway or see any of the castle but we looked through our binoculars
and were able to see that there wasn't much left of that castle either.
We had stunning views from there though, over a very blue sea and
mountains. We rode back and then Adrian inflated our canoe and I
paddled around the bay until the sun went down.
We left Gerolimenas and found ourselves in Aeropoli and realised we had
missed our turn off as we had wanted to see the caves at Pyrgos Dirou. So we
turned around and drove back. We could get no concessions on the tickets, as
apparently Greek men retire at 68 and women at 65, so we paid the
full price and did think it was rather expensive but we thought the
caves must have been the best ones we had ever seen. There was only us
and another couple (we only waited for 10 mins) and we were punted round
in a little boat for over half an hour and then walked the last
section (on your own, which is better as you don't need to hurry)
which takes about 15 minutes.
An absolute maze of tunnels which meandered about for what seemed like
miles. In places we had to duck and dive as it is very narrow and low. It
was colourful, spectacular and beautiful and the reflections in the
water made it appear you were floating in space at times. A fairy wonderland
and I would recommend these caves to anyone, young or old. From there
we made our way along to Gythio, which is quite a big place, also
with a harbour. We spent our first night a little way from the town,
beside the water but with a fairly busy road next to us. If anyone
is lucky enough to visit when it's dry and calm you will see
just how beautiful it is, as the water looked more like a
lake, clear and very serene. In the morning we walked along a
short causeway to an islet named Marathonisi and down to a
lighthouse at the end. We were parked up in the town, having a
brew up and trying to get on-line, when there was a wave at
the window, so I opened the window to see a couple (Hugh and
Pauline) who we had passed somewhere near the bottom of the
Mani, cycling in the opposite direction some days
ago.
They had waved to us then and Adrian had remarked that they must be Brits.
Anyway, I asked them in for tea and it turned out they were staying in
Gythio for couple of days, waiting for a ferry to take them island hopping
to Crete and later on to Marmaris in Turkey. They had then planned to
cycle through Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine, I believe. They
had been cycling for the last 2 years, since retirement. A very chatty
couple and we have since wondered how they got on, as the weather after
that became quite evil, with lots of rain, very rough seas and gale
force winds which we think grounded the ferries. Anyway, I noted
their email address, so as to be able to keep in contact and
possibly 'pick their brains' as they had been to South America -
Chile and Argentina - and had said how fabulous it was, particularly
Patagonia and we have been saying for some time now that we fancy
giving it a try.
Our second night in Gythio we moved nearer to the town, in fact a car park
but it didn't cost us a penny and was actually a very good spot as we were
right on the beach. We watched a skin diver snorkelling around, fishing
with a harpoon gun, for about half an hour and when he came out he had
caught a big sea bass and several other smaller fish. He had come down from
Athens for an afternoon's enjoyment and I think even surprised himself how
quick and easy it had been to bag his 'dinner'! The car park did fill up
rather quickly in the morning and we thought we might not be able to get out
but we did just about manage it.
On our way out we passed the rusty wreck of an old ship, beached in a bay
and we stopped to take photos, then on to Skala where we came across a Lidl
and a Carrefour so we shopped (in both) and on to Archagelos bay/harbour
where we spent a very rainy, windy, thundery night being buffeted around.
In fact the next few days were very rough indeed although not really cold.
Next stop was at Neapoli harbour where the angry seas were crashing over
the long jetty. We had expected a larger town than it actually was. There
were several big boats and a ferry anchored up, just offshore there. We
knew the ferry went over to islands Elafonisos and Kythira and maybe
Crete too but the ferry did not move all day or night, so we were
thinking that maybe the weather was too bad for them to run.
The cyclists we had met in Gythio were booked on a ferry that day for
Crete, so we were wondering again just how they got on! Not much sleep
again there either with yet more rain, wind and thunder. I was quite
concerned of possible flooding, as after last year's floods in Turkey I have
become ultra-wary! I had been woken up by the storm at 5 am and after looking
out of the window realised that the street lights round us had gone off, so
that made me more anxious as I was unable to see just what was happening.
Adrian assured me we were OK though. The morning wasn't much better either
- I guess it was one of those days!
We planned to see the Petrified Forest (no charge) but as usual you get
only one sign and then nothing whatsoever. It wasn't really far but the
roads very narrow, twisty and hilly and eventually we came to an
unsealed road. We parked up and started walking but it seemed to go on
forever. We asked someone the way and he said it was a fair bit further and
that the road was the same all the way and we would be able to get
there with the RV, so we walked back and drove along but the road did
deteriorate, narrow with very prickly hedges, and when we came to a big
puddle with thick, soft mud we knew we could not get through and had
to reverse back quite a long way to turn around. So that was the
end of that side trip and we never got to see the Petrified
Forest. In the end, and as it was getting late by then, we went
back to Neapoli again but couldn't possibly have thought the
weather would be even worse on the second night. It was same
again and we were really rocking and rolling but at least
the lights stayed on all night!
Now we needed to drive across country from Neapoli on to Monemvasia on
the east coast and there is no easy route to follow. It was very hilly but
beautiful, although you can't really appreciate it fully when in a large
RV, as you are holding your breath at times! We came to a tiny village,
not on our map (I can't remember its name) and thought we must have turned
off on the wrong road as we didn't think there was any way that we could
possibly get through but it was correct and we edged through very, very
slowly, with me hanging out of the window making sure we were OK my side.
Phew!!
Now we were getting worried about the rest of the route but in fact that was
the worst section, on that day anyway. We didn't have to cover much distance
but obviously on those sort of roads it takes so much longer. Anyway we
arrived in Monemvasia, a huge rock, not unlike the Rock of Gibraltar only
smaller, a place we had not been to see before, and found a suitable
place to stay overnight, beside the sea and overlooking the causeway and
island. We were told you were not allowed to stay on the island, as
apparently some people do, although I don't really know why anybody would
want to as there are plenty of other choices. Besides there is only one
short, dead-end road on the island anyway!
Fortunately the next day turned into a beautiful day and it was even quite
humid. We packed up our lunch and walked over the causeway to the island
of Monemvasia's old city and all its ruins. You go through some very,
very old gates into the very old town, where NO vehicle is allowed.
Everything is taken in by pack horse. Once through it's a maze of very tiny
alleyways with very touristy shops and restaurants. Luckily there is no
charge to look around and it's very interesting and quaint. It is
described as a 'little Venice'. We had our lunch in the square,
overlooking the water and then continued on up. There were lots of
churches although none you could look inside. We saw the 12th
century Agia Sofia church on the edge of rock cliffs, then we
climbed all the way to the top of the hill with various bits
and pieces of old castle etc.
From the top we had fabulous views over miles and miles of sea and
mountains together with the harbours and town below. It was a good day but it
was quite far enough as we had spent 4 hours walking and looking around.
That night on the beach (at 1.30 am) we were woken by a noise getting louder
and louder. Wondering what on earth it was, we looked out of the window
and were astonished to see a big ferry coming along just past us off the
beach and stopping right by us to let the lorries and cars off. It was
something we were not expecting but think it had come round from
Neapoli, where we had just driven across from. It's probably no
wonder given the journey by road!
From Monemvasia it was back to Skala again and then north, inland to
Geraki. We knew we would not make it back to the coast again by
nightfall, so had planned to stop if possible at the castle and archaeological
site in Geraki, but when we got there we found it was closed and there was
nowhere level or suitable to stop. So down the hill into the village, where we
had to settle for the grounds of a church. This was the first night in Greece
that we had spent inland, away from any water of one sort or another, but we
did not have any bother at all and it was quiet, even if not ideal.
We set off from Geraki a little earlier than normal as we knew we had
another slow very hilly, twisty road up into the mountains that we had not
been on before and you never know quite what to expect or whether there
might be snow to contend with etc, as we could certainly see plenty of it
on the tops. It was good to start with, quite barren and treeless, and
we were steadily climbing for some time. Later on it became very pretty,
with a variety of trees, a gorge with a trickle of water at the
bottom and sea views in the distance. However, once again the village
roads are so narrow and we very nearly came unstuck again at
Kosmas. The corners of the old houses come right into the road
and in this case a sharp bend on a steep hill, with house walls
both sides, made us think once again that we were not actually
going to make it. It was touch and go but somehow we did get
round!
The other villages were not quite so bad but we did hold our breath every
time we arrived at another new place. The gorge was lovely but it did seem to
go on forever and a day. The good point about that day's driving was
that there was hardly anything on the road at all and no lorries to worry
about, so it was nice for Adrian, who was able to take his time and not be
hassled and pushed along! We stopped for our lunch at Leonidio, back on
the coast again and found that our brakes were red hot after the long
descent. We then drove along a little way to Plaka beach and harbour,
which seemed very warm after being up in the mountains. There wasn't much
going on in Plaka, quite dead in fact, and we left the next morning
taking a slow drive north after going back to Leonidio first. We
had some hill work after that but it was all a very pretty route
that day with lots of lovely harbours and bays and mile upon
mile of beautiful, calm blue waters and with some attractive
villages too.
We stopped for lunch at a picnic viewing area high above Paralia Tyrou
and it was warm enough to sit outside, then continued north, turning off
at Paralia Astros which once again looked very attractive. It was more
built up than we had expected and reminded us of Oludeniz in Turkey, a
ghost town which comes alive in the summer months only, but it did have a
lovely harbour, a castle and lighthouse and a new open-air theatre right on
the front. We could imagine it would be very, very busy later in the
year and definitely not for us then, but with its long sandy beaches
(just where we parked up) we could see the attraction for many. We
chatted to a German lady there, in a camper also, who had come
from Hanover. They were travelling in the opposite direction and
off to the places we had just come from.
We left Astros with the weather turning nasty and then stopped for
lunch at yet another little harbour at Kiveri. This would have been an ideal
place to stay if the weather had been good. Very quiet and peaceful, with
fresh water and also a toilet (at least we managed to empty our cassette)
but completely deserted apart from one other camper, who was parked up on the
parking area beside the beach. He had his satellite dish out on the ground
plus other camping gear but he was in danger of being marooned on an
'island' as the wind and rain were making the waves breach the sand spit,
flowing back up the estuary and over a sort of 'ford' on the roadway
exit out. We had driven over just before our lunch and Adrian had
remarked how low it was and that he would not park there and shortly
after it became very rough. The people in the camper didn't seem
very bothered but by the time we had finished our lunch they did
come out to have a look at the situation. I would have thought they
then moved off but I don't know as we then left, though they
certainly didn't seem in any hurry!
Anyway, we did manage to find LPG, thankfully, at Nea Kios, so topped
everything up and then made our way along to Nafplio once again. We had been
before and loved it there but unfortunately the weather did not show it in
a very good light this time around! There are some nice shops there,
although pricey. The fortress on the top of the hill is lit up at night but
it looked kind of strange and more like a flying saucer. Also lit is the
tiny island castle of Bourtzi. A large, long cargo ship came in while we
were there. We had never even seen the docks used before. So we moved
further along out of the way, anticipating a lot of noise all night
and we were right to do so as it was possibly carrying gas and
there were tankers coming in and out all night long (and day),
loading up and transporting it away, so plenty of activity and
noise.
Between the rain downpours, we did manage a short walk. From the very
small beach area there is a good path which runs right round the side of the
cliffs beside the water and back into the town. There was a couple swimming
even though it was cold and rainy. We looked at several very old (15th
and 16th century) cannons from the castle. We left Nafplio to look for a
large beach bay (with two small harbours, one at each end) at Karathona,
passing a Lidl's on the way out that we did not know existed, but although
the beach would be nice in the hot summer months, it was isolated and
muddy, so we just filled up with water and left.
Next stop was Tolo, another little harbour with various islands. The day
we arrived it was raining, we had four wet days in a row, and the water
level was very high with some flooded areas. The only place we could find
to park was on the car park, which was noisy with traffic, especially
the annoying motorbikes and also with lots of dogs hanging around. We
thought we would make it do for a night as it was then getting late but
we had a bad night with the dogs, one of which insisted on chasing and
barking at every single motor that drove by, which in turn upset all
the other dogs so they joined in too!
We decided we would move just around the corner, on the quayside, in the
morning as there was a place where we were fairly tucked away, not in
anyone's way really and we knew we probably would not hear the dogs. We
wanted to get our canoe in the water there and also for Adrian to do a spot
of fishing. So this we did and it was all very, very nice and peaceful. We
watched the fishermen with their catch of octopus or squid? which they
'bashed' for ages (to a pulp it would seem), and gutting and preparing
their fish. We canoed over to a little island, Romvi, but Adrian
didn't manage to catch anything. We had a very quiet night. We
thought we would have another night there but just as we
were about to eat our dinner, the coastguards turned up and
asked us to go back up to the car park at the top. They were
very nice about it (whether the fishermen had complained about us
being down there we don't know).
So we had to go back up and spend another sleepless night with the b*****
dogs! Adrian had to throw something at them in the early hours to disperse
them. Needless to say, we left in the morning which was a pity. Oh well, you
can't win them all!
Past Drepano (there is a campsite here but we never liked it, before or
now) and east, inland and climbing hills. We considered a walk to a monastery
in a canyon but it looked like a gravel road and as there was nowhere to
park up and walk from, we gave it a miss. After lunch we got to Kranidi
and much to our surprise we found not one but two service stations that sold
LPG. This area had been in very short supply. We filled up and stocked up
at Lidl, then drove along to Portocheli, another lovely bay with a marina
and harbour.
We spent a very noisy night on a car park along the front among lots of
very posh yachts and also drove down to the end at Kosta, where the ferries
go to the island of Spetses but we didn't go across. There was nowhere
for us to park and so we came back to Portocheli and managed to find a
brilliant place for us to park up overnight, right beside the water. This bay
is stunning when it is calm and looks just like a lake. It's very clear and
shallow. We pumped the canoe up again and Adrian went out on his own, quite
a long way and over to another big wreck lying on the sea bed. I also
canoed here and that evening we had a glorious sunset. The sky was a
beautiful shade of red and the water as still as glass. We had a much
better, really quiet night and I would have liked to stay longer but
we decided to leave.
I found all of this area very, very nice indeed - from Tolo all around and
up to Epidavros - but then I might not have thought so if we hadn't had
the sunshine! So many bays and harbours and islands, one of which (Hydra)
does not allow any vehicles whatsoever. There were a lot of growing
areas on our route that day, not just olives but agricultural land too.
However, a little later on we went through mile after mile of devastation
from a bush fire that had destroyed many acres, very recently we believe.
Even the telegraph poles and electric cables had been burnt and we saw
several properties in its path. They must have been absolutely
terrified! We arrived in Galatas, with Poros island just over the water.
Yet another picturesque place which looks beautiful as you come in. It
was very calm then but blew up stormy later on. We decided on our
spot to park up for the night, a large empty gravel area beside
the water overlooking Poros, with another smaller island nearby
with a castle. The town of Poros, over the water, looked very
pretty all lit up in the evening.
FEBRUARY – Still in Greece
The following day was gorgeous, with wall to wall sunshine, so Adrian took
our scooter off the back, we packed up our lunch, left our washing at
the launderette to be collected in the evening and made our way down to the
front to purchase some tickets for us and the scooter to go on the
ferry over to Poros. The ferries run every hour and we didn't have to wait
long. They crammed the motors on and set off whilst the cars were still
backing on! It only took a few minutes to cross and we were on the
island. It's a very small island although the town of Poros is heavily
populated and built up. We headed for 'love bay/love island' to eat
our lunch, near a very small island, just off shore, with some
sort of dwelling. We continued going clockwise round, stopping
for photos as we went.
The views on that clear sunny day were spectacular. You could see far,
far into the distance, including all of Athens. Later we stopped at the
Temple of Poseidon, but very little to see there, although there were lots
of wild anemones out and also cyclamen and we hoped Spring was just
around the corner! Poros was a very quiet, unspoilt, natural little island
which I rather liked but I guess you would get bored very quickly if
you lived there - it would make a lovely holiday home destination
though.
So it was back round for the ferry across to mainland Galatas again.
Another beautiful day followed that so the canoe was once again inflated and
this time we paddled across to Poros, keeping well away from any ferries or
water taxis. Obviously it tends to be more choppy in the centre and very
deep too as Adrian said he saw a very big boat come through one morning,
but we were fine and we went all along the promenade front (of Poros) but
didn't get out at all and then we made our way back over to Galatas once
more, just as it became very, very calm with hardly a ripple in sight.
Then Adrian got out and I had a nice paddle around on my own before we
had to get it out to dry off, before deflating and packing away. It
was all most enjoyable - great fun.
We left after lunch, making our way to another 'island' across a
causeway, first topping up with water at a tap we found, before
arriving in Methana. This was a strange place and yet at the same time very
nice. As you come down the hill into the harbour you are first met by the
smell of sulphur (like rotten eggs. Is this why it's named Methana?) and
you come past a large pool of milky white water, which we thought (as
we had seen a sign for thermal springs) was for swimming in, as
it appeared, although closed, to have changing rooms etc around
the edge, but the water wasn't warm and on closer inspection we saw
a board saying it was something to do with a de-odorisation plant!
The whole place looked a bit derelict though, so we didn't
really know quite what it was all about!
Apart from that there was a lovely quiet harbour/marina/docks and
where we parked we had the sea and beach on one side of us, which was
quite rough, and the calm, tranquil harbour (with small island) on the
other side. So we had the best of both worlds and plenty to watch. The
water in the harbour, which seemed to come from over the road at the
'pool', was also a milky white colour which gave it a rather strange
appearance - sometimes blue, sometimes green.
We should have taken our scooter off at Methana and ridden round but we
didn't, we drove round and it was very slow going with the usual hills,
hairpin bends (6 of which we were unable to get round in one go), narrow
roads and very narrow villages. We got to Vathy but had to walk down to the
harbour as it was too narrow. Lots of people having their Sunday lunch out at
the Tavernas round the square. We had our lunch just round the corner at the
beach but boy was it rough and angry, with the wind very strong. We continued
round to find where to start the walk up to a 'volcano', which only actually
took us about 20 minutes of walking. There was no information about it but
this volcano must have erupted a very long time ago.
At the top there is a sort of triangular cavern where presumably it
had all started from! It was different anyway and we had spectacular
views from up there too, over the islands of Agistri and Egina and so on
round the top, down to Ag Georgios harbour which we did not fancy, so we
then came back to the same place at Methana for another night. In the evening
we walked round a very pleasant cliff top walk and passed a lit up church,
although it was locked, to the docks where there was a large sailing yacht,
used for summer cruises we presumed. In the morning I did manage to use
the canoe, on my own, round the harbour and the little island too, before
we left. Adrian had tried first, on the beach side, to launch it but it
was too rough and a wave came over and soaked him and yet it was dead
calm in the harbour, if a little strange canoeing on milky water!
Anyway, the canoe was all dried, deflated and packed away by
lunchtime and after lunch we set off again.
This time the place we intended to stop at was Archaia Epidavros, where
we had been before and loved. It's through an awkward narrow village to get
to the port and harbour and when we did we found there was a lot of
ground works in progress, laying a new road/path, and some of the road was
closed off. The place we stayed on 3 years ago we thought would be too
noisy and we might be in the way as they worked along the road, so
reluctantly we left and moved on to Nea Epidavros, which also had a
little harbour and marina (and river) but it was a strange place as
there was nothing there, the village being further inland. We had a
walk along the beach front in the evening and I heard my first
scops owl of the year.
We had a very, very quiet night there anyway and in the morning decided
to go back to Archaia Epidavros, as I had been so looking forward to
canoeing there and we thought we may be able to park up somewhere else
nearby. So back we went and squeezed in between a lorry and boat, hoping we
would not be in anybody's way or be asked to move. We walked into the
village, along to where they were laying the path and also the other end to a
very secluded little beach bay. The weather had not been at all promising
that morning and was threatening to rain but by the afternoon it had turned
into another lovely day with calm water, so we inflated our canoe and
both canoed along to the secluded bay again, where an amorous couple
must have thought they had it all to themselves, so we left them to it
and went even further round the headland, looking for any little
caves to explore in the process.
We then paddled all the way back again and I went out on my own, along in
the other direction and among all the boats moored up, but I had to be so
careful as there were so many fishermen fishing off the banks and their
floats go out a very long way. I was so pleased we had been able to do
what I had intended to do there and we had a thoroughly lovely day again.
The evening was glorious and we sat out by the water watching the
fishermen going out in their boats, although you do have to put up
with youngsters going round and round on their very noisy motorbikes
until it did eventually die down to a very peaceful night.
Although having said that, we were not amused when at 5.30 am the
dustmen decided to come and empty the bins almost beside us and of
course the workmen turned up quite early for the work on the road
too!
However, we did find it difficult to tear ourselves away from there,
particularly when the weather was nice, and so we decided to take the
scooter off and stay another night. In the morning we packed up a lunch and
rode inland to the town of Asklipieio and on to the archaeological ruins of
Epidavros. They did let Adrian go in at half price, as he will be an OAP
in June! That's a first, but I still had to pay full price. I wasn't
particularly impressed with the place anyway, most of it just that (ruins)
and we don't like it when they do restoration work, but the theatre is
quite something to see with the acoustics, of course, being extremely
good. It's very large but it didn't look very comfortable without any
back rests! We didn't even think the setting and views were that
good, we had certainly seen better. However, it came in very useful
for us to eat our lunch seated in the 'theatre'! We rode back via
the main road and with a little detour, as I had seen a sign for a
'sunken city' at a beach near us, so we went to investigate but it
would appear that it is offshore somewhere – well, that's where
the arrow pointed, so whether it is for divers to explore we
don't really know, although I was hoping to canoe over it. We
left the following morning.
We stopped for lunch at Katakali bay where I spotted 5 cute little puppies
that couldn't have been very old at all, as they were still suckling from
the mother, but whether they were likely to survive or not is anybody's
guess. It would have been fine to stay there but it was quite isolated
so we continued looking. We ended up at Isthmia beside the water, where
we have parked a number of times, by the Corinth canal. It was quite a
cold night and first thing in the morning, so I was quite surprised to see
someone in the water. He must have swum several miles, up and down along the
bay for quite a long time. Maybe he was training for something, I don't
know but he was certainly very fit and strong and there was us keeping
warm by the fire!
Anyway, we had to drive on toll road motorways round Athens that day but the
cost wasn't too bad, so on to the Markopoulo airport (Athens) and then we
turned off to go down the east coast to Porto Rafti but all this area was
very built up and busy and we couldn't find anywhere to park ourselves up
for the night. We continued south until we came to Lavrio port and private
marina where there was a large area good for parking, so we stayed there the
night and walked into the town in the evening. It was a posh town for the
wealthy. There was a huge, rich man's yacht (an Arab's?) moored up there
which Adrian said would have been very fast, the sort that would sail
around the world. It was very sleek. We did not have a good night
however, as there was some sort of a party going on all night in a
marquee nearby. The music was very loud. Perhaps it was the yachtie
fraternity!
Adrian managed to buy a map of Athens and around, although it wasn't much
good and when he took it out of the polythene found it was already
ripped on the creases! Paper maps are such rubbish, why don't they make them
of a different material? It's not as if they are even cheap! However, the
next day was a better day. We had thought that maybe all of the Athens
peninsula would be built up, busy and stressful (going by our first day)
and therefore not really worth continuing but we found it to be a lovely
area, well worth a visit and an enjoyable drive.
We drove down to Sounio (at the bottom) but didn't pay to go in to see the
archaeological site ruins (Temple of Poseidon). Lots of bays, beaches and
islands all around the rugged coastline there. We stopped at Legrema's
little harbour for lunch and managed to fill up our barrels with water,
then on to Palea Fokea where there were masses of windsurfers and some
hang gliders too all around a large bay. Adrian bought some grease here so
that he could grease up all the joints on our motorhome, which were
beginning to squeak and rattle again, and we drove just round the corner
where we found a fabulous spot again with a small island over a
causeway with a rough sea and beach one side and a picture
postcard harbour on the other. There was a cute little stone church
on the island (locked!) but nothing else.
No roads other, than the very short one to the church, and the causeway
itself consisted of both loose and compacted sand. There was masses of
space to park before the causeway but almost everyone had to take their
car over anyway (for some reason), which was fine if you owned a 4x4 but
many didn't and ended up digging their way out! It was an ideal and very
quiet place to stay for the weekend, which is what we did. We had a few
walks along the beach and round and over the island and watched a diver
too and Adrian managed to grease up nearly all of his joints
(motorhome that is, although it's a pity you can't do the same for
your own!), but in general we do like to 'people watch' and there
were plenty of people about to watch that weekend. They do make
you laugh at the things they do, quite often!
We continued going north round the Athenian peninsula and we were still
pleasantly surprised to find it was not so built up as we had feared,
although we would not have wanted to go any closer (to Athens) than we in
fact did. Lots more nice bays etc but we didn't have a good day as regards
finding what we wanted to look at. As I said before, the map wasn't very
helpful and we found we had gone further than we thought and missed the
'warm freshwater lake' I had wanted to go to.
Then at Vari we could not find the caves that are described in our book,
ones that you go round yourselves free of charge. We asked a lady but she
could not understand what a cave was, even after seeing the symbol. Then
we asked a young man who could speak good English (he even read our book)
and he lived there but he had never heard of them! In the garage they gave
us directions but we think they must have been to other caves in the area.
Then we nearly got stuck in Vari and couldn't find our way out with
the one-way roads, so we gave up. We were lucky though that we found
LPG, much more readily available round the Athens area, so filled
up and also shopped at Carrefour, then made our way over to
Markopoulo (airport) and back to the east coast again. We
settled north of Porto Rafti, down a very quiet dead-end road
overlooking Perati Island. Several little islands there, lots of
craggy rocks and nice swimming bays too. The coastline there is
supposed to be pockmarked with caves!
In the morning, the terrific winds had dropped, the sun came out and the
water was calm, so we drove just down to the end of the road, pumped the
canoe up and launched into the little bay there, being closely watched by
a lone, male sun-worshipper. We stayed round the edge, looking for any
caves, although we didn't really find anything much of interest, just a
couple of bays and we almost made it round to where we had stayed overnight.
Suddenly the wind got up, making the water very choppy and rough. It wasn't
too bad in the bays but trying to get round any headland was getting very
difficult. We were slapping up and down on the waves, with water sometimes
coming over, so we decided to beach in one of the coves.
There were steep cliffs there but we found a little path and Adrian went
off to see if we could get the canoe out and walk back via the road. We had
thought it might calm down as quickly as it had appeared but it only got
worse. Adrian came back and said if we could get it up the hill (he had wet
feet and flip flops and I had swim shoes on) we would be OK. The
trouble was we were on private property and when we came to some big gates
onto the road they were locked. Dogs started barking and a man appeared
who was obviously not best pleased and wanted to know where we had come
from. We said it was too rough and could we get out of the gate but
he wasn't going to open it, saying we could not go through and had
to go somewhere else. So we asked him to show us where we had
to go and started walking away when the gate opened! So we
didn't understand why he was being so difficult. Perhaps he just
felt like being awkward. So we walked back to the motorhome and
by this time it was lunchtime. The water didn't improve so
after lunch we left, which was a pity as it looked very nice
all the way along that road!
We drove north, bypassing Rafina (busy port), turning off at Marathonas,
down to a ferry port at Ag Marina. The man in the kiosk there said it would
be OK to stay the night and even to fill up our water tank too, which we
indeed did. The ferries from there go over to Chalkida on the large island
of Euboea, which is connected to the mainland by a suspension bridge, and
we did think about going over and coming back either via the bridge or
another ferry from the other end of the island, but as it was 40 Euro each way
for us we couldn't really justify the cost. Anyway, as it happens we again
had terrific winds overnight and we moved the motorhome behind a wall at 6
am as we were unable to sleep! It was a pity because otherwise it was a
quiet place with no ferries operating. So whether they had been
cancelled we don't know but there was nobody there in the morning. One
ferry had been there all the time we had and it was eerily crunching
and grinding on its moorings.
Leaving the port we had a lot of twisty hill work to negotiate and as
always narrow villages, apart from which we had quite a violent
thunderstorm with lashings of rain. In fact one very loud clap was just
as we were trying to get through a tight gap and Adrian mistook it for
having hit something! It would have been very nice with the views but not
on that day. We travelled west then north, back to the coast again. We
found a little harbour near Dilesi (Pigadaki) which was quiet and
suitable, although swampy and smelly! It stopped raining, so we were
able to have a walk. The water in the harbour became calm again and
we watched an egret fishing for some time. He didn't seem too
worried about us being there.
It rained all night, which woke us as water poured off the roof of the
building we were parked next to and we had a pretty lousy day too as it
rained and rained all day and turned very, very cold. I guess it didn't
help that we were travelling further and further north again but think the
rain was fairly general. There was just a brief respite from the rain first
thing and the water in the harbour (and beyond) was so still, just
like a millpond, until everything changed again. We also not only had
the egret back but we had a visit from a great egret as well (same
but much bigger). Anyway we left, passing through Dilesi, Paralia
Avlidos and Vathy port, which was where we had our lunch beside
the suspension bridge over to Chalkida. No good views that
day, the rain put paid to that, which was a shame but I
suppose you can't be lucky all the time.
We decided that if the bridge was free we would drive over to the town, go
round and then out over the old bridge. It WAS free, so we did just that but
then almost wished we hadn't as it's a big, busy city, split in two halves
and we very nearly got ourselves lost with our 'great' map. Then we hit a
traffic jam but think it was probably due to the fact that the old bridge
opens. Anyway, we got off the island and drove round the coast via
Drosia, Kronia, Loukisia, Mouriki and lakes Paralimni and Likeri, then
south to Thiva. The lakes were not particularly interesting but maybe that
had something to do with the lousy weather and we could not find
anywhere to park up. We ended up round the back of a Service Station
just outside Thiva, where we didn't venture out again due to the cold
and rain. So much for romantic St Valentine's Day (a special
anniversary for us)!
Despite staying on a Service Station forecourt it was a good night. No
lorry noise - just the pounding of the rain to contend with! A very cold
morning. We stopped at Aliartos for some bread and a bank, then on past
Livadeia but for some reason our SatNav didn't have the continuation of the
road we were on and sent us off west which was miles and miles out of our
way and we were just following whatever it said and so we had a strange sort
of a day, as we only had to go about 70 miles but think it was more like
170 in the end!
We found ourselves way up in the snowy mountains into the town of
Arachova, which was a very busy, touristy, ski and snowboard resort. We had
to go round to Delphi, which we had visited before, to get back to our
destination of the thermals at Thermopyles once again, although it was nearly
tea time when we got there. Anyway, at least nothing had changed since we
left before Christmas apart from more water, which had been flooding some
of the areas. Nobody there, except for one other camper on the other side
of the road. At least it seemed a bit warmer. After our tea I lit
a fire and then we both went bathing in the thermal waters again.
It was as lovely and warm as ever. The next morning Adrian
couldn't wait to jump in the thermals and he was in the
water before I was even up. We collected wood for our evening's
fire and went down to the local thermal spot for another dip
and so I could also use the warm waterfall. In the evening we
lit a fire and had yet another dip, this time in 'our own
pool', where Adrian had fixed a rope across to hold on to as
the current is quite strong!
It rained all night and neither of us slept very well, although it was
quiet, because we were a little concerned that we might be flooded out
with water coming off the mountains, and the thermal 'river' had already
overflowed and someone had tried to contain the water but not very
successfully. We were OK but it rained and rained all day long too and it was
just so cold, so there was not a lot that we could do and we spent most of
the morning in the thermal trying to get warm! We had our fire on (in the
motorhome) all day long, and we were still cold! We had a very lazy day. I
did manage, in the evening, to light another fire and we also both had
another 'dip'. It's the best time of year for the thermals as you
wouldn't really want to use them when the weather is hot and anyway the
mozzies are a big problem there a bit later in the year!
Before we left the thermals, we had one more early morning dip to warm us
up, as it was very cold but not quite as miserable as it had been and we
did see glimpses of sun now and again! However, by the evening we were
back to dreary drizzle once more! We filled up with water, then we were
off again. We found the Lidl, in the town of Lamia, where we shopped and
also purchased some LPG, then after our lunch we continued to drive
north, on a toll motorway this time, round Larissa and eventually,
unfortunately we had to stop at a service station again and this time
it was extremely noisy with the traffic and there were plenty of
dogs around too and even a train track quite close by!
It rained all that night and ALL of the next day too, so there was plenty
of water lying around and the rivers were very muddy and flooded. Adrian
had strained a muscle in his side, or so we thought, and was in quite a lot
of pain. Thankfully, he was still managing to drive but standing or
walking were out of the question and he didn't even know how he had done
it. We drove through the 'Tembi Valley Gorge' which didn't look so good in
the awful rainy weather conditions and then we were on more tolled
motorway, north and around Thessaloniki, which always makes us angry as
sometimes you hardly go any distance at all before you come to another
toll and that day we paid for one section and we were not even on
the motorway, as they had road works all along! You can't argue
though, the staff (in the kiosks) are only doing their jobs I
suppose!
We missed our turn-off for the ring road round Thessaloniki and found
ourselves in the city, but Adrian coped very well going along the front
and through, which was quite interesting as we had never been there
before. We then travelled south onto the Chalkidiki peninsula, with plenty of
LPG around, and eventually down to Nea Moudania, where we settled on the
beach for the night. Much quieter than the previous night anyway. It
stopped raining after tea for a while, so I was able to go for a much
needed walk along the promenade. Adrian did not accompany me as he
was in too much pain and in fact had a very disrupted night with the
pain too, as he just could not get comfortable, so the following day
we had to find a chemist who gave us some strong pain killers,
or at least that's what she said they were, but without a
doctor's prescription you just can't get anything very strong at
all!
Anyway, it was a very quiet night although cold but it was so lovely to see
the sun again in the morning, after 3 days of rain. It made all the
difference and warmed us up a treat, so at least we were able to enjoy the
scenery around Chalkidiki. When we looked out we could see a snow-capped Mt
Olympus over on the mainland. We did not drive round Kassandra, the first
peninsula you come to, opting for the middle one of the three, Sithonia. From
Moudania we travelled east and then south round the coast, where we liked
the countryside - green fields, blossoming trees and pine trees,
mountains, blue sparkling seas, soft golden sands, cute harbours and
coves and not too much traffic - but the downside was too many
campsites and holiday homes all along, often with fenced off
beaches, making it very difficult for us to find a spot to
camp!
There was a nice little harbour at Toroni and the remains of a settlement
(which was closed up) and I wished we had stayed there, as at Porto Koufo we
couldn't find anywhere and before we knew it we were round on the east
coast, where Kalamitsi proved to be no good either. However, we ended up at
Skala Sikias, which was a good place and worth the wait. Quiet, golden
sands and best of all we had a wonderful view of a very snowy 3,000 m Mount
Athos over the water on the peninsula of monasteries, which apparently
women are not allowed to set foot on! It appeared to rise out of the
water, reminding me of Mitre Peak in New Zealand. We watched as the
sun set and the mountain turned a pretty soft pink colour. It was
probably our best and only chance of seeing Mt Athos.
Indeed, as it happens, it did turn out to be our best and only chance of
seeing Mt Athos, as it rained and rained constantly all of the next day and
was cold too. When we looked out over the water in the morning there was
nothing at all to be seen! I was disappointed that we were back to rain
again. We really only wanted one more day to see the scenery at the places
we had never seen before but it was not meant to be. I'm grateful though
that overall we had good, dry, sunny weather (in Greece) and that we were
able to see and experience as much as we did. We had a quiet night but
poor Adrian was still suffering, the tablets not having made the
slightest bit of difference!
Later in the day he went to another chemist's who gave him something else,
but I don't think they made any difference either. I guessed, without seeing
a doctor, they wouldn't give him anything stronger than paracetamol!
All of our route looked very nice that day but I would very much like to go
back again and see it all in the sunshine. It was quite hilly on the
east coast of Sithonia and again lots of bays, little harbours and golden
sands, ideal for snorkelling and canoeing - if only! In particular Orm
Papagias and the islands around.
From there we drove round the Oros Gulf to Lerissos and then down to
Ouranoupoli (touristy), which is the farthest point you can go near Mt
Athos, other than on a dirt track or by boat - and that's ONLY
permissible to MEN! This peninsula is devoted almost entirely to Orthodox
Monks and their Monasteries. The ferries go from Ouranoupoli over to their
port of Dafni. We would have had more of a look round if it hadn't been for
the rain and Adrian's discomfort. We stopped for a cup of tea at another
little ferry port that takes you over to the Island of Amouliani. We then
drove north up to Olymbiada, a small fishing port, where we spent a quiet
night and it continued to rain and rain and rain! After that we stopped
and shopped at Lidl in Stavros, stocking up with the items we are unable
to purchase in Bulgaria.
We got on the motorway round Kavala but found that yet another toll
post had sprung up since we were here before Christmas, so therefore
more expense! Later on we left the motorway to try to get to Makri but
by then we had mist and low clouds and a narrow, twisty road took us up
into the hills and as usual our map was of no help and the signs were no
good at all, none had said Makri. It seemed to go on and on forever and
not knowing where we were we decided to carry on to Alexandroupoli.
We stopped at a junction and found we WERE in Makri and we hadn't the
foggiest idea how we had arrived there! However, after a tight, narrow
village it was down the hill and we came to a nice, quiet
harbour/fishing port with plenty of space for us to fit in for the
night. We hoped our last night in Greece would be quiet and
uneventful! If only it would stop raining!
Although Makri appeared to be a dead, lifeless place in the rain, the
following morning was dry, sunny and warm and it transformed into a hive of
activity, with boats going in and out all the time. After filling up with
water on the harbour and making a phone call, we drove just up to the
village, parked up and went on a little walk on the hillside, overlooking the
harbour, to an archaeological site (although actually nothing to see as it
was all covered) and a cave called Cyclops! A notice said you had to get
permission to enter and I had thought that maybe they went potholing
from it, but after looking with a torch, once we had entered, found no
passageways that actually went anywhere! It was interesting and a nice
little walk anyway. (We DID find out later that there WAS another
chamber, an 'upstairs', but you would need to be very small and
slither along a very narrow passage on your stomach to access it).
Bulgaria
So Makri turned out to be another nice, quiet harbour, another good
stopping place but it was the end of our trip to Greece and we left to
drive the Egnatia Odos motorway once again, past Alexandroupoli (going east)
and north up to the border with Bulgaria.
We noticed lots of flooding en route but we were soon back in Harmanli
again and managed to drive straight down the lane to our property, which we
found exactly the same as we had left it before Christmas! We could see
they had had plenty of rain (and thankfully our well was full), although
that day the weather was dry and not too cold. We had just had the best 3
months away that I can remember in a long time, well apart from the last
week or so with Adrian's discomfort! However, we were about to experience
what was probably the worse 2 months we could remember.
MARCH and APRIL - Back in Bulgaria
So there we were once again, hoping we would be ready to move into our
little place in due course! Of course there were always things to sort out
after being away for nearly 3 months. At least we no longer had to worry
about being moved on or any trouble or noise etc! In fact the first night was
so quiet that it was easy to imagine we were the only 2 people on the
planet! Adrian managed to get our car going again, although after he had been
into town he realised that the brakes had seized on, so he had to take them
apart and take the scooter back into town for new brake pads etc. On the
first day, also, Adrian had great difficulty getting our water pump to work
properly once again but the next day he figured out what the problem
was and fixed it. He rigged up an outside light again for us, put a
cover on the roof of the motorhome to quieten the noise of
drips from the electric cables above us (when it rains) and went
to see Kamen about buying another car or getting an MOT and
registering our old car in Bulgaria.
The weather was dry and mild although there was talk of more snow to
come! We bought all of our laminated flooring for downstairs and some
curtain rails too. Adrian made a start on laying the floor. Then we had
rain, after which it turned very cold again. How quickly the
temperature/weather can change there! Anyway, the flooring, along with
made-up edging, was completed and I made curtains for downstairs, which was
actually a big job as we had left our sewing machine at home, so they
were all made up by hand, plus voiles for the kitchen too. Adrian laid
a stair carpet and made a hand rail. He ran the waste pipes and
gas pipe and fixed various leaks that we had acquired.
At that stage, just as you think you are about done and
ready to move in, you find lots of things need changing, or attention of some
kind, and you do wonder if it will ever come to an end. I suppose we should be
used to it by now! Lights were fixed up (outside at the front) and we bought
rugs and some second-hand furniture - table and chairs and a bed settee which
were quite reasonable, in condition and price too. Adrian made up fly
screens for 5 of our windows, made more difficult with our UK windows which
open outwards, rather than the traditional Bulgarian ones, which open
inwards. Bulgarians seem to be the complete opposite of us, as their doors
all open outwards, whereas ours (UK) open inwards. So what with the
nodding of the head to mean 'no' and the shaking meaning 'yes' it all gets
a bit confusing at times!
The birds had started to return, we heard the cuckoo and
lots of nightingales as usual. In fact on one day we saw and watched a
nightingale (not that far away, even though they are very shy) singing away to
its heart's content. They are quite attractive if you are lucky enough to get
a good view. The storks flew over and we saw the beautiful hawfinches again
too. The almond blossom came and went and so too the cherry trees blossomed
along with the apple, pear and peach tree. One good thing was that we
hadn't seen any snakes, at that point anyway!
I had to have a new ceramic tooth crown made and fitted
(plus the prep work), which seemed to be very good value for money. At 120 Leva
(roughly 60 Euros), it sounded good to me! Adrian made a trip to Haskovo, with
Matt to help with translation etc, to get our old car MOT'd and registered for
Bulgaria. It did all cost a fair bit and was quite involved, which wasn't
really worth it with our 'banger' that may not last much longer, but as there
do not seem to be any cheap used cars here and we would have had to go
through all the same process and cost anyway, we thought we would try and
hang on to it a bit longer! The checks for the MOT were a farce, laughable
and basically non-existent (a look under the bonnet) but at least we were
finally legal!
This was just as well, as a few days later, on another trip
to Haskovo, we were stopped by the Police, although they did not want to see
any documents and in fact one of them recognised us. We had met Atanis at
Matt's birthday party (3 years ago). Anyway he said to us that if ever we were
in any trouble or needed any help at all, that he was the person to go and
see. That's nice to know, but let's just hope we never have a need to!
Adrian's problem that he thought was a pulled muscle was
still troubling him but it hadn't seemed too bad after we had got back to
Bulgaria, so we decided we were ready at last to move up to our little place.
We had been taking things up from the motorhome for a day or two and settled
for the16th March. Unfortunately we awoke to 4 inches of snow on that day.
How typical! It was all a bit 'déjà vu', as we had had exactly the same last
year on the exact same day! Anyway, we still moved in and the snow thawed
quite quickly and was nearly all gone by the evening. We lit the fire and
nearly cooked!
It all felt very strange at first, finding homes for things
and getting to grips with how everything worked, apart from being in a house
after 6 months in our motorhome of course. Our first night was problem-free and
very quiet. We slept well and were very comfortable. Then we started having a
few teething problems, one or two leaks etc, and Adrian was becoming
increasingly concerned about his painful side. Two days after moving in, we had
lit our fire again but this time it had decided to smoke and smoke. Adrian
went off to buy a different cowl but it made no difference. Our fire
definitely did not like the strong easterly wind. By this time it was
billowing out of the front of the 'Kamena', so it was all windows and doors
open. We even tried to put the fire out but that proved just as difficult! I
was not amused. After spending months and months getting our place together,
all new, clean and freshly decorated, it just wasn't funny. So not a good
start. I was wishing I was back in the motorhome again.
Adrian looked on the internet and apparently you need
to have the flue higher than the ridge tiles on the roof and so he
went off again to get some longer lengths but it was difficult for him
as our pitch is such that it would have to be very high and in the
cold, strong winds - and with how he felt - it was not an easy task.
By this time the fire had gone out but we were in no mood to try
again! Luckily, the next couple of days were much warmer, so we
didn't have to worry about the fire but when we did try with just a
piece of paper it seemed no different and Adrian decided we would
just have to move the 'Kamena' to an outside wall! More bad weather
was forecast and we wouldn't keep warm with just an electric
fire.
Adrian had had one day pain-free and assumed it had
all gone away but the next day it was back with a vengeance.
Somehow, together we managed to move the 'Kamena' (which was very,
very heavy) and re-rig all the pipe work etc. Whether this was
actually going to stop it smoking or not was anybody's guess! I
wasn't really convinced and we would not know unless the wind
was from the east again anyway. We rang Nadejda (our lawyer
and English-speaking interpreter) about seeing a doctor and she
told us to go and see her the following day.
So the next day we met up and she took us straight along to
her doctor's. I have to say that we couldn't complain at the speed at which
they got things sorted or the equipment this doctor had in his surgery. Adrian
was given an ECG, had blood pressure checked and was linked to the ultrasound
scanner and told straight away he had kidney stones. We were sent (the same
day) for blood and urine tests (at hospital) and told to go back at 4 pm for
the results, which we did and they then advised him to go straight into
hospital! We had been to the hospital once before for a dental check and vowed
then never to go in there as an in-patient, as it would be your worse
nightmare, and this did indeed turn out to be so and a real eye-opener!
I suppose you could say that it's to be expected in a poor
country but there is simply no excuse for what Adrian had to endure in his
painful, traumatic state. A little bit of sympathetic TLC or bedside manner
would have gone a long way. We might not have understood each other's spoken
words (due to the language problem) but you certainly got the message each
time someone came in and scowled at you in annoyance for disturbing them and
daring to ask for help. As for the condition of the hospital, surely it
wouldn't be too much to expect (at the very least) to have a clean,
hygienic room!
Adrian's Hospital Stay – or 12 reasons not to
stay in Harmanli Hospital
1) No drinking water! (Even though he had been told he had
not been drinking enough!) Your carer or visitors (if you have any) must leave
the hospital to purchase bottled water. (No hot water in room either.)
2) Very few drugs. They 'ran out' of painkillers and
someone was expected, once again, firstly to obtain a Doctor's prescription,
then leave the premises in order to go to a Chemist for the drugs, which you
then have to pay for.
3) No food worth mentioning. At 11 am he was given 2 bits
of dry bread. Some 'soup' on one occasion (lunch?) and a dry 'bun' in the
evening, plus 2 drinks of something that MAY have resembled 'tea'! This was
poured into any cup found beside the bed - never a new, clean cup! He had one
paper cup, which I had purchased from a coffee machine downstairs and which
had also been used by him to clean his teeth, but this made no difference to
them!
4) The heater did not work efficiently and the remote
control was always taken away (probably the controls to all other heaters).
When I was with Adrian I was freezing cold and wore my coat. I then had to go
for a walk to get warmed up! No sun in his room until late in evening.
5) No curtains or blinds on the 2 big windows. Glass door
with bright light shining through all night.
6) Ripped sheets on the very uncomfortable bed (with rusty
springs). One blanket. One ripped chair.
7) No toilet paper, hot water or soap, paper hand towels or
blow-air dryer of any description.
8) No doctors or medication on a Sunday. (He was supposed
to be on a drip but once it became empty, it was not replaced).
9) The buzzers for help were all situated (fixed) on the
walls, away from the bed and therefore the patient needed to get out of bed
(if they were able!) in order to press one!
10) No clocks, mirrors or light by bed (again having to get
out to switch it off at night), let alone radio, TV or telephone!
11) Left on own for hours on end. You could have died and
they would have been none the wiser! There was nobody to be found whenever I
went to look for anyone. Adrian was in severe pain and the injections did
nothing. I think they were placebos!
12) The filthy, unhygienic state of the rooms (especially
the floors) and the disgusting toilets. The waste pipe was hanging off the wall
and the stench was putrid. They had all windows wide open (wonder why)! The
toilet door (which was glass & transparent) did not close (let alone lock),
you had to hang onto a dirty, tatty piece of string. The toilet was for both
men and women. I did find some warm water in the toilet and whilst attempting
to rinse out a cup, a man came in and proceeded to use the toilet with me
standing right beside the see through door! Needless to say, I made a hasty
exit!
And finally - on the day you leave, you are handed some
sheets, and expected to strip and remake the bed for the next unlucky
patient!
It had been down to me to look after and care for Adrian as
best I could. It was a good job I didn't have far to go. I had to take
everything down for him, from toilet rolls and soap, water and drugs, all food,
pillows and blankets, to kettle and fan heater (although these were difficult
to use as the sockets were all half way up the walls)! I did look at a so
called 'upgraded' room (which we were told was 35 Leva per night) but with
very little difference other than your own shower and toilet, so we decided
to stay put. It was the room next door, with the same 'nurses' and the
same 'treatment'!
On the day they said he could go home, I had a phone call
very early in the morning from Adrian to say that he had lost his health card
and to go down as soon as possible. He tried to get another one sent (faxed
through), only to be told that the hospital did not have a fax machine! When I
got there he was not happy. Now bear in mind that he was still in a lot of
pain and wanted to get home as soon as possible and also what he had gone
through at the hospital during his 3 night stay (unable to sleep etc). He
told me that he had had 6 people hassling him that morning and they were
not going to let him go unless he found his card. This card had been
passed from person to person on the day we came in but was nowhere to be
seen at that time.
Apparently they (at the Hospital) don't get paid unless you
produce your card. Adrian said they were even rifling through his jacket
pockets! What a nerve. It leaves you speechless. So Adrian asked how much it
would be to pay for his stay and they said 20 Leva per night, so he said he
would willingly pay the money so he could get out of there, but he had
forgotten that he had given me all his money for safe keeping and because he
didn't think it likely he would be needing any in there! They didn't seem to
believe him and obviously he really could have done without all the stress.
Anyway, we paid up and left. He was not given any painkillers or
prescription for any to take home and in fact we were halfway home by the
time we realised that he still had an intravenous line in his arm!! A few
days later Nadejda rang to say our health card had turned up and to go to
her office to collect it. What do you reckon were our chances of
reclaiming our cash back?
Anyway, while he was in there I was worrying about him and
I half expected to see a taxi turn up with him and I couldn't have blamed him
really. I was also nervous about driving on the right-hand side, as I hadn't
really done much at all and worried that our car would break down as it's old
and unreliable now. Also being quite isolated on my own up on the hill on a
very cold, windy weekend, I was concerned about anything going wrong such as
leaks and the fire smoking again, which would mean I wouldn't be able to keep
warm, but I managed OK. Nobody had spoken any English in hospital and we
didn't really know what they had done but 2 days after he came out Adrian was
in so much pain we weren't sure what to do and thought it had not worked and
he would have to go further afield for different treatment. We went back to
see the doctor, who gave him another scan and said the stones had gone and
indeed that pain (which came in waves) did gradually get better, so at some
point he must have passed the stones but he was still complaining of pain
and also a swelling in the same area. The doctor wasn't interested. I think
he had made his mind up that it was just the after-effects of the
stones.
Back at home, Adrian kept saying that he couldn't bear
anything to touch his skin at all in that area and it suddenly dawned on me
that he probably now had Shingles. So I looked it up and you can get a
swelling with it and everything else pointed to that, except that he did not
have any blisters/rash but I assumed they were coming. He didn't get any but
we spoke to someone we know who had shingles (in UK) without any rash. This
did NOT make his condition any less painful however. I insisted Adrian went
straight back to the doctor as I knew (I had Shingles myself once) that the
sooner you get the course of tablets the better (so as to minimise the
length and severity of it, especially anyone over 60).
We tried to tell the doctor we thought it was shingles
(although they only know it as Herpes Zoster) but he insisted Adrian did NOT
have it. He wouldn't even send him for a blood test or give him any
painkillers! We were absolutely disgusted. I daresay Adrian did look comical
as he had made up a metal frame to strap round him to keep his clothes off a
large area from belly button round to his back and had to wear loose
fitting shorts as he couldn't get his trousers done up, but otherwise
there would have been no way he could have got there. The doctor even
insisted Adrian take the 'frame' off so he could examine him again but
anyone who has ever had Shingles will know that this is definitely a
NO, NO. You certainly do not want anyone touching, poking, prodding
and squeezing you, which is exactly what he did. I would have walked
out. It made me feel quite sick!
I'm convinced the doctor thought we were loopy and it was
all in the mind but he should have known that you don't always get a rash and
that Shingles often follows an illness or stress. Later that day our
interpreter rang to say the doctor was worried about Adrian's health and
wanted him to go back into hospital for a WEEK! God knows what that was all
about. I think he would have been dumped in a mental ward and left there!
So poor Adrian had gone from one of the most painful things (kidney
stones) to another extremely painful complaint. He spent the next 4 weeks
wearing his 'cage', but I don't know what he would have done without it,
so a good invention! I just hoped he wasn't going to have too many
repercussions from not being given any drugs!
On top of all that (as if that wasn't enough), while Adrian
was in hospital I had been having a sore throat and this eventually turned into
a very nasty flu type virus. Adrian went down with it just after I did. After 3
or 4 weeks, I had never known anything to hang on for so long. We both had
nasty hacking coughs and we couldn't sleep for coughing all night some nights.
We certainly wouldn't want too many of them again and I only had one thing
wrong, which was enough for me, so you can imagine what it must have been
like for Adrian having one thing after another overlapping like that and of
course very frustrating when there was still so much to do. It's definitely
not in his nature to laze around and do basically nothing. His first
EVER taste of staying in a hospital couldn't have been more traumatic
for him! Well that was just how it was between February and April! We
were thinking of going home early but as Adrian then seemed to turn a
corner, we decided to carry on for a few more weeks and try and get a
bit more work done!
So by mid-April, Adrian was getting better by the day and
was able to wear the 'cage' less and less and to gradually get back to normal
and start doing some work again. We had the arrival of all of the birds we did
last year, which was lovely. We saw two pairs of woodchat shrikes flying round
and round and having a great time chasing each other and we were treated
again to the appearance of the golden orioles. I wasn't sure if we would see
them again this year, so I was pleased. Four of them sat in our tree
outside the bedroom window for ages, making lots of noise at 5 am in the
morning. We also had the arrival of several of the very distinctive
hoopoes, whose calls seem to carry for miles. I had (once again) to get
used to the 'dawn chorus' of the nightingales, all through the night,
along with the scops owl and sometimes the cuckoo. When it is hot and
you need to sleep with a window open, I still find it all so surreal,
hearing all the birds. Adrian also spotted a bird we had not seen
here before and with the help of our book, identified it as a black
Kkte. So this was yet another bird to add to the growing list of
new sightings.
The weather turned out to be a bit disappointing at that
time but it did suddenly become settled and hot at the end of April, just as we
were thinking of packing up to leave! Anyway Adrian made good progress once he
got into the swing of things again. I stained our old 'chalet', which Adrian
had altered somewhat (moved door and put in windows) and which is now our
shed. I also painted the base section (cellar area) underneath our place,
after Adrian had rendered over the cracks and any parts that were
disintegrating, and tidied it up generally. He had to make another door to
the pump room. He also bought 3 more water barrels, so we have 5 now and
he's rigged them all up under our place, so that hopefully while we are
away we will be able to collect some rain water for us to use when we
return, as last December our well ran dry! I also had my usual bonfires,
painted our outside waste/sewer pipes and started digging a large
hole, which will be for the sewer, probably to be finished when we
come back next time.
In one spadeful clump of earth, I found I had dug up a
snake, which didn't seem to be in too much hurry to escape. I showed it to
Adrian who took it further away. This was our first snake of the year, not a
particularly big one but a snake nevertheless. Adrian strimmed our grass which
was growing rapidly and slopped copious amounts of oil (from our motorhome
oil change) mixed with diesel on the wood of the house for protection
through the hot summer months. Then he applied a putty substance round all
of the windows and black painted the outside of all the windows and doors.
We also managed to insure our place for a very reasonable price but
just how easy it would be to recover any expenses, if required, is
anybody's guess. They can't be as bad as at home though surely - or
could they be?
MAY – Still in Bulgaria
The weather changed and became very settled, hot and sunny.
We were even able to sit out on the front balcony which is usually far too cold
and windy as it faces north. We had some glorious sunsets but once the sun went
down we were soon visited by unwelcome mozzies and other flying bugs. Which
leads me on to other unwanted visitors we acquired - mice in our roof space,
looking for somewhere to nest. For such tiny creatures they sure make a lot of
noise. Adrian blocked up the places he thought they were getting in from but
the trouble was that two were asleep in the roof, so they made even more
noise the next night, looking for a way out! This kept me awake all night so
we bought a humane trap which was set up. No luck the first night - one
had been in the trap eating the food but hadn't activated it, so Adrian
had to adjust it somewhat and sure enough on the second night one was
caught.
It had been making a nest INSIDE the trap and dragging in
loads of our fibre glass insulation! It was actually quite cute, with a bushy
tail rather like a squirrel. Not sure whether it was half dead or just sleeping
(as they do in the daytime) but Adrian took it up the lane and put it out
under a bush. The following night, we had the same again, scratching away
right at the top of our building, above the bedroom window. So the next day
Adrian had to dismantle a wood panel at the front of the house. This mouse
was definitely not asleep and as Adrian made a grab for it, high up on the
ladder, it decided to make a jump for freedom and proceeded to fly right
over his head on to our balcony below, stunning itself in the process. I
don't think Adrian had moved so quick in ages, but he was down that
ladder in a flash, grabbing hold of its tail, which promptly came off in
his hands! He was left clutching a handful of fur, as it would seem
these creatures are able to 'release' their tails when in any danger
of being caught by a predator (like the gecko we had in our camper in
Oz)! He did however manage to get it in the end and we had no more
trouble.
The next wildlife entertainment was the snakes. We thought
they had mostly disappeared (although this was most probably due to the cool
spring weather) but as the temperatures soared, we couldn't have been more
wrong! We had an old woodpecker's hole in a cherry tree (quite low, about
shoulder height) right outside our kitchen window, where last year a pair of
starlings nested and had young ones which flew the nest the day before we left
for home. They were lucky. This year another pair of starlings decided to do
the same. The eggs had hatched and they had both gone off hunting for food.
I was painting nearby, on the other side of the house but you could see
underneath to the hole. I heard a commotion of an alarm call from the
starlings and looked up only to see the end of a tail disappearing into the
nest, with the birds furiously pulling on it and tugging in vain!
So unfortunately for the young (and parent) birds, luck was
not on their side, although I didn't really know for sure at that time, as I
didn't actually know what had gone into the nest. I banged the tree and shouted
thinking something would come rushing out but of course did not see (or hear)
anything. The poor starlings hung around all day, flying up and down to the
nest, but they certainly were not keen to enter! We decided to staple a netting
bag over the entrance to try and capture it, so we could see exactly what it
was, but nothing appeared, so then in the evening Adrian had the idea of
flushing it out with the hose but then realised there was another hole further
down where the water came gushing out! So we assumed we must have missed
whatever it was escaping from below.
The following day, we had come back from shopping and were
having lunch when I looked out the window and saw a large snake emerging from
the hole, which duly disappeared again as soon as it was aware of us. I could
not believe, after the previous night's soaking and Adrian's stapling on the
tree etc, that it was still resident there. Maybe it had slid higher up inside
somewhere! We went inside to finish our lunch and the next moment we saw
another big snake on the ground, which quickly slithered up the tree to
investigate but of course was unable to get into the nest hole. It was obvious
it knew there was another snake in the tree but whether it had come 'to the
rescue' of the other one or perhaps 'he' had smelled a female, we don't know.
Anyway, Adrian decided he did not want this snake hanging
around. We were certainly surprised to see just how easily they climbed trees
and it would be very easy to climb from the tree on to our roof. Indeed our
theory of building on piers and keeping the snakes at bay, no longer seemed to
be any deterrent at all! Adrian tried to move it and get it off the tree but
this proved impossible, it very quickly slithered right up to the very top of
the tree! I have never seen one move so fast. There was nothing we could do
and as Adrian was working nearby there was no chance of the snake coming down
either. So there it stayed for the rest of the day, curled round the
branches, in the afternoon heat, without any shade. At tea time we watched
as it came down but this time it was not interested in the other snake at
all. I suppose it had had enough excitement for one day. It slid off
into next door's vines. At about the same time Adrian saw another snake
going past and behind our shed. He thought it was the one from inside
the tree hole that had escaped out of the bottom hole but I wasn't
so sure, as there were plenty of flies gathering around the
netting over the hole.
As it turned out, I was right, as the next day we saw the
snake poking its head out again. So we HAD seen 3 big snakes all in one day. We
cut the netting off the tree hole and waited but apart from 'her' poking her
head out numerous times she did not seem like she wanted to come out at all! So
we did wonder if she may have made it her nest now and laid some eggs of her
own. We thought it likely she would come out when we were not watching, which
would have been a pity as we were curious as to the size of the snake. When we
just saw a head poking out, it seemed no bigger than a lizard. Well, after 3
nights in there, she decided to come out, so from our kitchen window we watched
her very cautiously, slowly and quietly slither out. It seemed to go on and on
forever and, for the tiny head that it had, it sure was big! It was the same
type as the one that had been up in our tree tops.
No sooner had it gone (over to next door again) than I saw
yet another snake rush out from under the shed, literally jump up in the air
and chase a lizard, which duly scampered up the very same cherry tree.
However, the snake did not manage to catch it but went up the tree after it
and then became very interested in the old birds' nest that the other snake
had just emerged from. It had a very good look around inside before coming
down again but then started going underneath our property, so again Adrian
tried to dissuade it, then it started to climb up one of our piers (the
supports our house stands on) and curled through the middle of it (they are
hollow). Luckily, when it saw Adrian it did decide to slither off over to
our neighbour's garden again.
We only saw one other snake after that (a different type)
and as far as I know the snake which had been in the nest hole for 3 nights did
not come back again, although I found out that snakes lay their eggs and then
go off and leave them to hatch by themselves in a couple of months' time, when
they are fully able to fend for themselves. I think though that she had only
been interested in the poor, helpless young starlings. However, 2 days before
we left to drive home, we saw a pair of blue tits which were very interested
in the very same nest hole and it certainly looked as if they were about to
build their own nest there. We were not there to see what transpired but I
certainly hope they had more luck than the starlings did!
Nature studies aside, (for now anyway) - although that
said, there was one day I was hanging my washing out when I heard a roaring
noise getting nearer and nearer. I was just wondering what on earth it could
be, when I saw a huge black cloud of swarming bees coming my way! I started
to run inside, afraid they might have had intentions of landing on me but I
needn't have worried, as they flew right over my head and I was fine, but I
found it a little worrying all the same! We were pleased that one of our
cherry trees had ripened in time to pick the fruit before we left. So
Adrian picked what he could and they were very sweet and juicy too.
The Journey Home from Bulgaria (via Romania,
Hungary, Slovakia, Poland & Germany)
Then on Sunday 12th May we managed to pack everything up,
take it down to our motorhome and go off on our travels once again. We had not
been to the Black Sea coast before, so after a bumpy drive east our first
stopover was Burgas, where we managed to park up beside the beach. We had a
longish walk along the front to the pier and docks in the morning. After lunch
we drove north, along to Varna - still on the Black Sea. We had brilliant,
hot sunshine during the morning but this all changed in the afternoon when
we had torrential rain with thunder and lightning. Cars were littering the
sides of the roads, unwilling or unable to drive in such conditions,
whilst the roads became flooded and awash with water.
However, not long afterwards the sun came out and we had
clear blue skies again all evening and it turned quite hot again but we did
have problems trying to find somewhere to park there and ended up in a large
empty car park by a complex/resort. We were not allowed to drive down to it
but we walked down after tea and dipped our feet in the Black Sea! We moved
on the following day, not far but very close to the Romanian border, where
we found a really lovely, very quiet place to park up on the cliffs
overlooking the sea. Another bird paradise here with cuckoos, owls,
orioles, nightingales and numerous bee-eaters which apparently make their
nests in the sandy cliff face. We watched them soaring/gliding along the
cliff edge, so effortlessly, their wings appearing to be transparent in
the sunlight and showing their beautiful blue and green hues. We also
spotted two different sorts of shrikes - a red-backed shrike and a
lesser grey shrike, plus another new bird - a pied wheatear.
It was lovely and warm and we decided to stop another night
but drove just down the road so we could get closer to the golden sandy beach.
There were a few people coming and going, having picnics etc, but overnight we
were all on our own. It was so peaceful, without any barking dogs! We walked
along the beach, dipping our feet again but sadly came across a dead dolphin
which had been washed up. We weren't even aware that there were dolphins in the
Black Sea. We sunbathed on the beach for the rest of the afternoon. After tea
we saw another camper (Bulgarians) drive along to the end of the beach lane,
down to where some wetland lakes start and we walked along to see where they
were, as we could see sails in the distance. Two women and a man were
kite-surfing the waves. We didn't stay to see any of the lakes or birds as the
mozzies were a problem.
We thought we would go the next day by driving round to the
other end of the lake by road. We could certainly hear the frogs' chorus
though! However, when we did drive round, we were disappointed with the lake.
We walked quite a long way on sand and in very hot conditions but you
couldn't see much at all as the path did not go round the edge of the lake
and it was covered in reeds anyway. We turned back as very dark clouds
gathered and later in the day drove through torrential rain and floods
again and yet the evening was lovely with a glorious sunset.
Romania
We crossed the border into Romania (currency Lei), paid for
a week's 'Rovinetta', as they call the vignette there, and continued along the
coast, round Constanta and on to Navodari by a canal. We stayed beside the
canal without any problems, although we did have to move further along due to
two big packs of dogs nearby! When we got to Tulcea there were several
notices saying anything over 3.5 ton was not allowed in the centre. We had
wanted a map and tourist office to find the best places to go to see the
Danube Delta. Adrian managed to purchase a map from a petrol station, which
was the best map we had ever had, laminated all over, and made so it was
very easy to fold and did not tear on the very first day (as ours in UK
do)!
We then decided to just drive west and see what we could
find, so this we did and we came across a well on a suitable piece of ground
for us to stay on and near some of the delta (reed beds). Adrian was able to
use the well to bucket water, fill our barrels and then fill the camper tank.
It was slow going but he managed. It became very hot whilst we were there
and we drove down to the end of the road, to the village of Parches trying
to find somewhere to launch our canoe but without knowing the area we were
unable to do so. We then asked at a resort place but they would not let
us stay there. However, they did say that we could go down a rough track
that runs beside them, if we could cope with the conditions of the
road. So we walked down first, decided it would be OK and drove the
motorhome down beside the water where we parked for the night.
It was a lovely spot, beside the Danube Delta and quite
busy with it being a weekend, although everyone else was fishing. After our
lunch Adrian blew our canoe up and off we went along the river, which was very
nice but also very hot. We saw several small snakes, swimming just below the
water surface but I spotted one quite large snake basking in the sun on a tree
trunk protruding from the water but of course when it saw us, it slithered
straight into the water. We also saw lots of frogs, some sitting on water lily
pads, and the noise these frogs were making was quite deafening. In and
around the area it was a haven for birdlife: some of which we saw were
herons, storks, great egret, pelicans, scops owl (seen in daytime),
orioles, shrikes, cuckoos, bee-eaters, swans, divers, shags, a few birds
of prey etc, etc. It was here that I spotted my first ever roller. I
knew it must be, as they are fairly unmistakable. I had always wanted
to see one and in fact saw two. When they fly they are a very vivid
luminous blue colouration. So beautiful. We didn't venture out in
the evening as there were millions of mozzies, which we found dead
all over the motorhome in the morning! However, we were able to
sit and watch a beautiful sunset over the Delta.
The next day we drove very carefully out of the lane but we
were at such a steep angle that the LPG tank was registering as empty and the
engine cut out! We switched over to petrol and managed to start it again and
make our way out. We went back to the place we had stayed the previous night to
top up with water before leaving and Adrian then decided to give the motorhome
a bit of a wash, so I went off for a 'bird spotting' walk. By the time we had
finished it was lunchtime, so we had lunch and it was getting very, very hot
by then and we were just deciding whether to spend another night there or
move on, when a young couple on a motor scooter stopped to speak and we
realised they were English. Well, they live in England, although he comes
from Romania. His father had sadly passed away suddenly and they had come
over for his funeral in Parches. They also had a large campervan which
they had driven over in, so of course we had plenty to chat about and in
fact we stood outside talking until nearly 7 pm! They then went home
and came back again for the evening, bringing with them a bottle of
very nice, homemade, strong, fruity red wine made from his mother
and father's own grapevines. A very nice couple, whose company
we thoroughly enjoyed.
An interesting evening and in the morning we had just
decided to drive back to the village to see where they were staying, when they
turned up with his mother, on their way into town. So we didn't chat for long
and they were sorry they were going out but said we could go round when they
got back and maybe stay in their yard overnight. They were very welcoming but
in the end, as we had already stayed in the area several nights and had
hoped to see much more before we got home again, plus the fact it was very,
very hot and humid and they were going to be several hours in town, we
decided to leave.
We settled on a petrol station that night, in Tecuci. We
suddenly started having terrific wind, which at first we were very grateful for
as it was unbearably hot and humid. We had opened all the windows and door but
then after a while we realised that dust was blowing everywhere and then found
our motorhome inside and out covered in a sandy dust. It had come through all
our fly screens and even the vents! A layer covered our bed, all surfaces and
in fact just about every nook and cranny! So much for Adrian having just
washed the camper! So the storm arrived with dramatic lightning, lots of
thunder and buckets of rain. We had to shut all windows and door and boil! Yet
when the morning dawned the sun appeared and we had another very hot day.
We shopped in Kaufland before we left. We were not used to so much
choice - a lovely big store. We drove through many, many villages and towns
and saw some very interesting and unusual houses. I couldn't begin to
describe them, at least not so as to do them justice but it was just as you
would imagine Romanian houses to look. They were all very different and
unique with just about every colour, shape, size, design and material you
could think of. Many of them were very ornate and decorative. The only
problem was that they do not give you any places to park and we really
would have liked to walk back and take some photos but it
wasn't to be, which was a great pity.
Lots of horses and carts and people sitting outside,
whiling the hours away. We also saw them gathering in the crops on very large
fields, using only horse and cart. We stopped for the night beside the river
Moldova. The previous night's storm had cleared the air somewhat and it was
feeling much less humid. It all changed completely in the morning though, when
it rained and turned COLD. It was a shock to the system after the last few
weeks and indeed only the previous day! The temperature had gone from being
in the 30's down to 10 C that day. However, the roads were nearly all good,
except when you are directed round the towns! Once again we were unable to
find anywhere to park for the night and ended up in a TIR park, which was
so noisy with refrigerated lorries that at 1.30 am we made the decision
to move somewhere else, although it wasn't a lot better!
Hungary
On to Hungary (currency Forints) where we had difficulty
finding anywhere to stay (again). We drove out of a large town on the wrong
road but came across a zoo with plenty of parking space for us for the night.
We had a nice walk in the evening to a lake, although it was cold. Actually a
good night, even though we were parked beside the parrot etc enclosure and
we were also serenaded by peacocks! It didn't stop raining all day and in
one place we saw the temperature drop to just 8 C! Time to put our clocks
back, so at least we had an extra hour, which was needed as, despite hoping
to make good progress, this was not to be.
We did find the road we had wanted on the previous day but
Adrian had decided to cut across on very small red roads to avoid another very
large town and we then found this was not such a good idea. These roads were in
a very, very bad condition and we couldn't help thinking the road was about to
end, down at some farm somewhere. It didn't but was painfully slow, mile after
mile. So what was in fact just a short distance, actually took us all morning.
Slovakia
No problems crossing the border into Slovakia (Euros) but
found getting round Kostice difficult and also later on the very busy city of
Presov. Eventually we got to Stara Lubovna, only to find that we would be
unable to cross the border into Poland from there as we were over 3.5 ton. So
we continued on to Spisska Bela (near the Tatra mountains) where we turned
off to make our way along to a different border crossing (into Poland),
although before arriving there we found a small lake, cycle path and quiet
car park where we settled down for another night.
Poland
We had a cold but quiet night, although another fairly
miserable day followed. We drove along the road where we had stopped to eat our
lunch 2 years ago (in Tatra mountains) but it didn't look so enticing in the
rain, and continued into Poland (currency Zloty) with no border, so no
stopping, but we were unaware of the drama that was about to unfold! The last
time we were there we had driven on Polish roads (including motorways) free
of any charges but it seemed that had all very recently changed and a lot
of roads had been tolled - and not just motorways either. It wouldn't have
been so bad if there had been toll gates where you either paid on entrance
or exit or you took a ticket to be paid further ahead but there was
nothing to indicate where, when or how we were expected to pay for the
privilege. We started to realise that there were a lot of cameras
overhead and we became concerned, so we exited the road, only to find
that other roads appeared the same. We did not know what to do.
We stopped at a McDonalds and managed to get on-line but it
was all so confusing and no-one seemed to know or was able to help, so we
continued driving northwest. We still were not sure at all whether we should be
paying but thought not. We found a chain of big stores and settled for the
night in an Auchan car park in Sosnowiec. We had a good look round in the
evening, which was nice as they sold just about everything you could think
of. It reminded us of Walmart in America. Nobody bothered us (in the car
park) that night. A much better, warmer day followed but slow progress
as some of the roads were in bad condition and narrow too, with many
towns and villages to make our way through, some of which were large
sprawls with huge shopping centres. I had never seen so many
McDonalds, just one after the other. We spent another very quiet
night at a petrol station surrounded by rape-seed fields which
looked pretty against the blue sky. We could have been in England!
A lovely sunset ended the day.
We stayed off all motorways and made a wide berth of the
big city of Poznan, which once again was very time consuming and by
mid-afternoon we rejoined the red road (no 2), being a SINGLE carriageway. We
had not gone far when we were stopped by Traffic Control who asked us where
our 'Via Toll Box' was. We did not have one and were then taken to an ATM
machine to withdraw cash for a fine of 3,000 Zloty (approx £700), but
British Citizens CANNOT withdraw more than £200 (880 Zloty) in any ONE
transaction PER DAY.
We were subsequently detained for 3-4 hours before being
eventually escorted by a breakdown service (at a cost to us, plus of course a
waste of more precious fuel) all the way back to the vehicle compound in
Poznan (the city we had spent all morning trying to avoid), where we were
told to stay (at more cost PER DAY) until we had withdrawn all the funds.
We did manage to withdraw the rest of the cash the next day, thankfully,
but extra costs were incurred when we were taken to the Transport Dept.
in order to produce all our necessary documents. The total amount came
to 3,740 Zloty (approx £830)! We had really thought they would let us
off with a caution (being foreign travellers) and as the system
hadn't been in force very long, but they insisted there was NO way
they could do that! We also spoke about calling the police but they
said the police would only take us to the compound anyway. Why
were we made to feel like criminals?
We believe this system to be most unfair in our situation
as:
A) There were no Toll Stations to either pay anyone cash or
to take a ticket.
B) There was no information on where to go to purchase a
'Via Toll Box', or on the weights or prices.
C) There was no information on which roads were affected
(even the Transport Dept could not supply us with a map showing which actual
roads).
D) The VERY small signs on the roadside show a 'ticket' NOT
a 'Via Toll Box'.
E) The forms given to us to sign were NOT in English, so we
were unaware of all the implications. We did NOT sign them.
We had been so very careful to avoid the motorways around
Poznan and driven on yellow, bad condition roads all morning but could not
possibly have known that where we joined the 'number 2' road we would be in so
much trouble! No-one seemed to know the rules, not even in the petrol
stations, where we stopped 3 times to enquire, nor the lorry drivers
themselves. Communication was very difficult, due to the language barrier,
but if the Polish people do not know, how can they expect foreign visitors
to know. The situation was most unwelcoming, especially for those of us
who wish to go sightseeing in this country.
We ourselves curtailed our visit, as we had intended to
sightsee along the coastline on the Baltic Sea but decided instead to take the
quickest route out of the country. We would have liked to have all the
necessary information upon entering Poland at the borders! The fine was an
extortionate amount, especially for a private vehicle, and it wasn't as if we
were trying to get away with anything but simply that we genuinely did not
know what was expected of us.
The Traffic Control Officers who stopped us were pleasant
enough and did try to be helpful to us but told us that there was "nothing they
could do" and we felt that they could have used a certain amount of
discretion, as we had not travelled very far on that particular road, and
escorted us onto a road which would have been toll-free. We have appealed
against the fine, needless to say, and also written to our MEP.
It rained all night but we were OK in the compound and once
everything had been sorted (having fleeced us of several hundred pounds) we
were free to go, so we couldn't wait to make a hasty exit. Luckily our SatNav
worked in Poland and we were able to find our way out of the city of Poznan,
but we WERE nervous of the roads, as although we were told which motorway to
leave Poland by (using toll booths) we did not see any for ages. We just kept
thinking how ridiculously complicated their system was! Once we came to the
toll, it was a case of take a ticket, so no-one to ask how much it was going
to cost us to exit the country, but at least we could then relax a bit more,
knowing that we were all legal!
In fact it only cost us 67 Zloty which we were grateful
for.
Germany-Holland-Belgium-France
When we did get into Germany we found we had become
paranoid about road tolls and imagined they too had 'jumped on the money making
band wagon' and were about to hit us with some charge or another that they had
introduced overnight. Once again we stopped and asked in a McDonalds and they
said definitely NOT but we saw a few signs that said 'Zoll' so a bit later on
we asked a lorry driver who said we most probably DID need to pay if over 3.5
ton! It was getting beyond a joke but we left the motorway, although we then
had many towns, villages and narrow roads which were often badly in need of
repair, plus we had an awful cold, rainy day too, so it was pretty slow
travelling and pretty miserable.
Anyway we passed Hanover and Paderborn and continued on to
a supermarket car park in Bekum, where we stopped overnight. It rained all
night. We drove westward and took the motorway again at the Dutch border at
Venlo. In fact the rest of our journey was on motorways (Holland and Belgium)
but it took us all of that day (and evening) before we arrived at Dunkirk.
Antwerp was a huge place with spaghetti junction type roads to negotiate and
far too many miles of nightmare road works. Somehow we took a wrong road at
Gent and found ourselves in a huge traffic jam but we drove a short way
down a road we were not really supposed to (as it was closed off for
resurfacing) and managed to rejoin the road we wanted!
We eventually arrived in Dunkirk, where we stayed for the
night and we were up quite early (for us) in order to board the DFDS ferry at
9.15 am but our motorhome had other ideas. Adrian tried to start the motor but
it was not responding! We were not going anywhere. So we had to cancel our
ferry and book the next one at 12.30 pm. On went the overalls and lots of
clambering about underneath (for Adrian) and laying in the dirt (good job it
wasn't raining that day) to dismantle and try to fix a connection with the
starter motor. However, whilst attending to this, some damage was done to a
cable which he was not sure he would be able to fix/replace whilst there. He
improvised and did manage to sort us out for our final leg of the trip and
we were just in time to line up for the ferry home. Luckily (for once) they
did not charge us any extra costs.
Return to England
It was very cold and misty at the port but we were
pleasantly surprised to see sunshine on our arrival in Dover, for a change. In
fact the following few days were very nice and I did think it may be our only
bit of 'summer' once again! We had a good, calm crossing and put our clocks
back another hour, remembering to drive on the left. We bought flowers for
Mum and Dad's grave and our first Chinese takeaway in 9 months and went
along to the churchyard (in the Essex countryside) where we ate our meal
in the car park. We spoke to the vicar, who happened to come along,
and he said it would be OK to stay overnight there. So this we did and
spent the evening laying flowers, weeding, trimming the edges and
cleaning the headstone on the grave. It was a glorious evening with a
lovely sunset and the birds singing. Mum used to say that she hadn't
heard the cuckoo for years but she can hear lots of different birds
now, including the cuckoo. It really is a lovely, peaceful place,
on the hilltop (where we were married) with a view at night of
twinkling lights for miles, but it did feel quite surreal being so
close to their grave. We had a quiet, peaceful night anyway.
JUNE – Back in Norfolk
We met up with Adrian's mother and father in a restaurant
(in Chelmsford) where we had lunch, afterwards going back to their home (the
place where Adrian grew up) until the evening, when we drove north on the final
leg of our trip, back up to Norfolk once again. We found we had mislaid our
door key, so spent the night in our motorhome but our son came over in the
morning with his spare key. All was very good with our house (no leaks) but of
course the garden was the usual jungle and with 9 months of mail to be
sorted, it kept us busy. We did have a few days of very nice weather but
this soon came to an end, with the rest of June being another miserable,
cold month, which seems to be the norm now but at least we did not have
to endure the freezing temperatures they had had over the winter months!
Not surprisingly, everything in the garden had been very slow to make an
appearance but at least it wasn't apparent that I had lost anything,
so I was glad about that.
We set about compiling our letter of appeal to the Polish
Authority. We also had to appeal against another fine which had come in the
post, for not putting our newly acquired scooter (which we do not use in this
country) into SORN whilst away. We had bought it to be used and left abroad,
not thinking that, as it was registered in our name, when the tax ran out
(whilst away) it would need to be in SORN. Apparently (unbeknown to us, as we
were away then too) in 2011 it was made law that if a vehicle is not put into
SORN, and your insurance expires, you would also receive a fine for that
too! They were not interested in our reasoning, so that was another £100 to
add to our earlier fine. We were doing well! ALSO, we found out whilst
away that our driving licences had expired! We really got caught out on
that one (as did other people, we spoke to) as we were both under the
impression that the expiry dates on our green paper licence (which in
our case was dated 2025) was the date we needed to go by but for all
of us who travel abroad and are in possession of a driving licence
CARD, this has to be renewed every 10 years (complete with updated
photo, which they print in black and white now, so it doesn't do you
any justice at all)! Yet more expense!
Adrian started looking around for a smaller motorhome but,
as usual, anything even half decent was so far away - and when you go and view
them, you wish you hadn't bothered because they are just not what they're
claimed to be. Obviously nothing will match up to our spacious motorhome which
we have been using for nearly 5 years now. I suppose that's the problem really
but we just can't justify the running costs. Anyway, we gave up on that idea,
for the time being anyway, so Adrian set about doing the '101' jobs on the
motorhome that we seem to have to do each year, in order to get it through the
MOT again and hopefully for it to be reliable for another year possibly,
although we may decide to leave it in Bulgaria when we leave there next year.
It's a very heavy 'machine' for Adrian to work on and to
carry out all the mechanical repairs but he always does a very good, splendid,
thorough job. We also made some changes inside, by reducing the size of our
bed (it was queen size) and making a fair bit of extra space in the bedroom.
Both gas fires had to be completely stripped down and our scooter also had
to be checked over. Our leisure batteries were 'dead' and this became a
big and difficult problem knowing how to tackle the amount of power we
use, bearing in mind that we are never on mains electric. The batteries
do not have a long enough lifespan for us! Then came the usual MOT
time for our car, which again Adrian always services himself. New
tyres all round, due to the amount of time our car had been
left standing before we acquired it (a South African import
which had been stored in a lock-up for a long time but had done
very few miles).
We had problems with the exhaust emissions, brakes etc, etc
and on the morning of the MOT we passed a lorry which threw up a stone that
made a nasty crack on our windscreen, only to be told by our insurance company
that we were not actually covered for our screen! So a new screen had to be
fitted and by the time everything had been sorted, it had probably cost us
nearly as much as the car was worth but as it's not really used here much
it's not worth us getting anything decent. Next job was the MOT and
insurance for the motorhome, which was also an absolute nightmare, as
indeed it always has been. The insurance companies change (overnight) the
places they will and won't insure you for and Turkey seems to have
become very tricky now.
In August Adrian did find another old small campervan
(fairly locally) which we purchased at a low price, due to the fact that the
wooden structure of the body was completely rotten, although the chassis and
engine etc were very good. It is another American (left-hand drive)
motorhome, a Toyota HiLux EFI Sea Breeze. So whilst this will not be ready
to use this year, Adrian has already stripped the bodywork down
completely, after having retrieved all appliances, seats, windows,
fixtures and fittings etc, etc. He is now rebuilding the framework, but
whether we will take the Fleetwood Fiesta motorhome back down to
Bulgaria again or not remains to be seen at this moment in time
(September), or whether we will do something completely different (like
go off to America again) we still cannot decide, but autumn has
definitely arrived and we DO NOT like our miserable winters!
Will keep everyone posted on our plans in due
course.
Images of the Wilson's Journey
Click on any image to begin a slide show with enlarged
images and captions.
In Serbia on the Road to Bulgaria
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qbqapqbgrobflz0/mIk59rgemH
Adrian and Brenda at Work on their House in
Bulgaria
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/wahhzh3syeu6050/9PDdsL8aks
The Motorhome Journey through Greece
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/97mtko9qmpbpuwb/GRp_8gqSeq
The Return Journey from Bulgaria to England via
Poland!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7ceaxlwji5vsion/-WJDrREJaD
|