MagBazTravels in 2018
Barry and Margaret Williamson
Igoumenitsa
Epirus
Greece
December 2018
Introduction
In combination with our Carado
motorhome
and two Paul Hewitt touring
bicycles
we continued to pursue our collective and co-operative life of travel
throughout the year. We stayed in 94 different places spread over 9,840 miles,
mainly within and between the UK and Greece. More narrowly focused than in most
of the preceding 23 years on the road, we included only seven ferry crossings (6
of them overnight), adding around 2,000 miles to the year's total.
We travelled and stayed in only 15 countries, giving more time than usual to
cycling: in Greece at the beginning of the year and in Northern England and
Scotland during the long hot dry summer months. The motorhome behaved well (as
did we), many thanks to its annual service, safety check and MOT by Service
Manager Kevin and his team at Dick Lane Motors in Bradford. Themistocles
Vasilopoulos, owner and manager of the Ford Agency near Pirgos in the Greek
Peloponnese, added his healing touch when spores from eco-diesel grew in the
injectors, causing the engine to stutter and miss. Themis diagnosed the problem
and provided the cure: a bottle of 'medicine' to be added to the next filling
of diesel. It worked.
Having travelled overland from Greece to the UK in May, we made our way slowly back
in October over the Brenner Pass and the Adriatic. Towards the end of the year,
in fact right at the end of the year, we made a faster journey from Greece to
England and back to replace our traditional touring bicycles with the latest
that technology can offer the cyclist, whilst retaining for ourselves the
premier role of pedaller. The full illustrated
story of this radical* change of
life can be found on our website: Volt Shimano Bikes. Paul Hewitt played his usual
unrivalled role in sourcing the bicycles and preparing them, immaculately
making the modifications and adding the accessories we needed. All this whilst
we were in Greece or on our way back to Leyland in Lancashire to collect them.
In line with the contemporary trend to list the 'ten best' whatevers, according
to the Lonely Planet, the Daily Mail and even what the Guardian misleadingly
calls 'travel' articles (such as the top ten places to buy feta cheese in
London), we have chosen our own ten highlights from the year, in nothing but
chronological order.
* This is 'radical' in its true
meaning: fundamental or root change, with the same etymology as the radish
(Latin radix “a root”)
Our Top Ten Highlights of 2018
Spring in Greece
The words themselves speak of delight and privilege, just to be there at
that time of year. Particularly in the southern Peloponnese when the harvesting
of olives, oranges, lemons, grapefruit and melons is over, when the harvest of
tourists is yet to come, when the oil and the juices are flowing, when the
birds are returning and the wild flowers are replacing the nets on the floors
of so many orchards and olive groves.
We took an off-season apartment for a while, where we met and were adopted by Sooty, the most
accomplished and endearing of black kittens. Raised as a trash-cat, he rapidly
took on the mantle of house-cat with a predilection for the finer things of
life – sofas, beds, chicken, positive strokes, window seats from which to look
down on the world - and did we mention chicken. Within all this he retained his
friendship with the other outdoor cats, joining in their games in the overgrown
field next door and begging with the rest of them when do-gooding German ex-pat
ladies came around with sacks of cheap cat biscuits to give away. We both miss
him and were pleased to find four hungry
'Sootys'
to feed on our present campsite near Igoumenitsa!
Journeys Between the UK and Greece
Over the years, we have travelled to and from Greece both over the seas and
over the land. There are five ports on Italy's Adriatic coast (Trieste, Venice,
Ancona, Bari and Brindisi) which operate ferries across the Adriatic to two ports
on the west coast of Greece: Igoumenitsa in the northwest near the Albanian
border (now at the start of a 390-mile-long motorway to the Turkish border, following
the line of the Roman Via Ignatia
from Rome to Constantinople), and Patras in the Peloponnese, south of the entry
to the Gulf of Corinth (with a newly completed 130-mile motorway to Athens).
Travelling between Greece and the UK overland there are a large number of routes
to choose, starting from a dozen or more ferry ports in England to a similar
number in the Netherlands, Belgium and France (with perhaps a new route
starting soon from Ramsgate to Ostend – a favourite of ours from the good old
days of Sally Ferries and their excellent Swedish smorgasbord). The journey across Europe can also include Germany,
Austria, Italy or Hungary before heading south through the Western Balkans:
Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, with perhaps a side trip through Bosnia
Herzegovina.
On a number of occasions after a summer in Scandinavia we have come down through the Baltic Republics, Eastern Poland,
Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, entering Greece from Bulgaria or Serbia and
Macedonia. There are enough permutations and combinations of countries and
routes to last a lifetime of travel (subject to the future restrictions of
Brexit).
In the Spring of 2018 we took the shortest overland
route to the UK from Greece through Albania, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia,
Austria, Germany and the Netherlands for the ferry from the Hook of Holland to
Harwich. We did try to enter Bosnia Herzegovina from Montenegro en passant but it was a Sunday, so the Bosnian
booth selling compulsory 3rd party insurance was closed.
We had to retreat across the no-man's land (no-women allowed either) to the
amusement of the Montenegrin border guard who let us back in.
Cycling
Over the 30+ years in which we have cycled together we have seen the opportunities
to ride shrinking from anywhere to almost nowhere. In the early days, when
traffic was much lighter, we could ride from the UK to Istanbul, Tromso or the
Slovakian/Ukrainian border; across France from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean;
from Naples to Palermo (and so on), working the route out as we went along,
mixing roads of many different kinds. Now we must look for places where it is
safe: the long-distance cycle paths of the Netherlands and Germany, as well as
the country roads of Greece, Spain and Portugal. There is a plethora of
'official' cycle routes throughout Europe (even including the UK) but they
invariably consist of little more than signposts along tortuous back roads and
sometimes tracks. Frequently, a sign is missing and so the route is lost, or (as
in English town cycle paths) it abruptly ends at a busy main thoroughfare.
This year we did enjoy some great spring rides in Greece, including some of our
classic routes and climbs. The UK's hot dry summer tempted us to re-visit old
haunts where cycling is still possible: the Yorkshire Wolds and Moors with the
Vale of Pickering in between; the Howardian Hills; the Northumbrian border
country; Glencoe and Loch Leven. However, we were still appalled at the
behaviour of some British motorists, particularly on narrow lanes (some of them
designated cycle routes) where we were expected to get off the road and cower in
the hedge; never have we been shouted at and abused so often. We began to feel
that we should add blue flashing lights and a video camera to our crash helmets
and 'Hi Vis' gilets jaunes jackets.
All this compares unfavourably with our cycling in the
Netherlands
in June, dressed like everybody else in ordinary outdoor clothes. Separate
cycle paths everywhere, safe and well-signposted, with good dedicated maps and
specialist services for cyclists along the way, including cafés with generous
helpings of delicious appelkeuken
(apple cake) and slagroom (whipped
cream).
In some European countries there is a law that drivers must give 1½ metres (5
ft) clearance when passing cyclists, and it noticeably works. In the UK this is
just advice in the Highway Code and so, like much else, it is simply ignored.
Some drivers seem to compete to see just how near they can get without making
contact or slowing down. Nowhere outside the UK does one see so many oversize
cars/jeeps driven by oversize people on ego trips with (of all things)
personalised number plates. What's going on?
Successful Complaints
We had previously won complaints against the professional incompetence of
solicitors on two occasions and against lettings agents on two further occasions.
In 2018 we added one more to each tally, with four-figure sums in compensation
in each case. Barry also retrieved a four-figure sum taken illegally by a
person-finding agency when they failed in their self-defined mission. The key
to success is to know more about Ombudsmen (and Ombudswomen), their Codes
of Conduct
and Complaints Procedures than the so-called professionals do – and all from
the back of a Ford Transit parked in a corner of some foreign field.
The Croft
In the
summer months we had the great pleasure of making our way to the Isle of Skye
for a second visit to the home of Rebecca and Kevin (Bec & Kev) on their
croft in a remote corner of that misty island. The location of the croft along
the edge of a loch is such that the Outer Islands (the Hebrides) can be seen in
one direction and the Cuillin Mountains in another. Magic.
We have written much of the role that Bec & Kev have played in our lives
since our first meeting in Alexandroupolis in the far Northeast of Greece in September 1997. They constructed
our website in 2005, whilst living in the Tropical Rain Forest in Northern
Queensland, inland from Cairns, where we visited twice. We met them again in
2015 for two 14-day tours (Northern England and the Peloponnese) when they were
spending a sabbatical year in Europe. Now re-located to life on a Scottish croft,
they are still writing programs online for companies in Australia!!
During our summer visit they told us of plans to reafforest (with rowan, birch
and mountain ash) some parts of the croft that they already manage as a habitat
for ground-nesting birds. We contributed to the cost of some trees, which we
hope will form a grove perhaps in our memory: it will be good to feel that we
have made a difference somewhere along the way.
Barry Crawshaw
Early in October we met Barry and Muriel on a campsite at Standlake in
Oxfordshire, near where they now live. We had met them twice previously in
Scotland, but for many years we had known Barry only through the letters and
then emails we exchanged with him in his role as Travel Editor of the MMM
(Motorhome Motorcaravan Monthly) magazine. During the early years of our
travels, we wrote 15 articles for the magazine,
starting with 'Germany: A Motorhome
Journey'
with a theme of following great rivers, and ending with 'Australia: The Big
One'
a description of a 6-month, 16,500-mile complete circuit of that empty
continent in a ruinous campervan we bought and thankfully sold in Brisbane. Our
favourite article (and perhaps Barry's) is 'Kamping Karpouzi',
our wry introduction to life on a Greek Campsite (not for the faint-hearted).
We also acted as the MMM's voluntary travel consultants for the Balkans for a time,
until we fell out over its over-commercialised, sexist and racist approach to
motorhoming and to travel. But we stayed and remain close to Barry, with whom
we have much in common from his love of the open road (and at one time the open
sea), walking and cycling, to his knowledge of accessories (he reviewed new
products for the magazine) – all paralleled by his career as a teacher of
Physics. How special is all that?
A Dead War Poet
During the First World War, our
friend Eve's mother, Sylvia, was engaged to Ewart Alan Mackintosh MC, a young
lieutenant in the Seaforth Highlanders who was killed aged 24 on 21 November
2017 during the Battle of Cambrai. This was the first battle in which the British used
armoured tanks on any scale; it was also very costly with about 45,000 casualties
on both sides.
Knowing that we would be travelling through Northern France in October on our
way to Greece, Eve asked us to search out Alan's grave and learn more about the
circumstances of his death. We found him in the Commonwealth War Graves
Commission's Orival Wood
Cemetery a few miles south of Cambrai, among
many of his fellow soldiers who died the same day. In 2017, a hundred years
after his death, a small chapel in the nearby village of Cantaing was converted
into a memorial to Alan, near the trench where he was killed.
His many war poems include 'Sylvia' written a month before he died, and these lines from his
poem 'A Creed' are engraved on the Scottish American War Memorial in Princes
Street Gardens in Edinburgh:
If
it be life that waits I shall live for ever unconquered,
If
death I shall die at last strong in my pride and free.
Alan was one of the select group of
War Poets whose work and example live on: watch the video of his 'In Memoriam', hear the words, read the words and think what Brexit
really means when Britain's status as a European country is reduced to, and
destroyed by, a single 'deal' focused purely on financial gain for the few! De-regulation,
Globalisation, Free-trade, Endless Pointless Exploitation, Innovation and
Commodification. Was it for this that so many young men died?
Strasbourg
We stayed in Strasbourg for a few days in early November on our way to
Greece and again in late December. On the first occasion we explored by bicycle, sorry that we were
too early for its famous Christmas Market, the oldest and largest in France. We
were shocked to find a large and completely derelict (wrecked? vandalised?) Jewish Cemetery in a southern
suburb, adjacent to Camping Montagne
Verte where we stayed.
On the day of the Winter Solstice (the origin of all other festivities at this
time of year, pagan, Christian and, hopefully, beyond that as well), we
returned to Strasbourg for the Christmas Market, the Marché de Noël, en-route to Greece for the second time in the year. Taking the tram into
town, an overcast sky and light rain added to the sombre atmosphere following
the shooting outrage on the evening of 11th December when 5 people were killed
and many injured in an unprovoked attack on innocents. Among the glitter of the
Market, the messages that filled the streets gave hope for the future, echoing
the sentiments aroused by the earlier massacre at Charlie Hebdo. As do we: Nous Sommes Européens!
Lucerne on Christmas Day
Crossing
Switzerland, between Germany's Black Forest and Italy's Lake Como, we passed
through the Alps via the 11-mile St Gotthard Road Tunnel after spending a
couple of days camped in Lucerne on the banks of its extensive lake. The visit
was memorable not for festive reasons, nor for the splendour of the setting
(although the food and the view helped) but for our first short ride on the bikes we had bought from Paul Hewitt in Leyland a week
before. But their story properly belongs in 2019.
Time at Sea
During
2018 we crossed the North Sea four times and the Adriatic three times, adding
up to about 100 hours on the water travelling 1,740 nautical miles (or 2,000 of
our miles). In 2011, the Year of the Ferry, we achieved our
record of 35 ferries, half of which were needed to travel the length of the
Norwegian coast.
We do love ferries. Particularly the sort that sail away from the British
Islands, en voyage to foreign parts.
The slow ritual of loading trucks, vans, cars, motorhomes; finding a place
below decks for the vehicle; locating the cabin; unpacking; exploring the ship;
deciding where and how to eat; changing to ship's time; the noise of the
engines picking up; the swirl of water from the propellers; the loosening and
letting go of the mooring ropes; the gradual but highly significant gap opening
between the ship and the dock; the initial manoeuvring to get free of the quay;
slowly building up speed as the harbour entrance is passed and the open sea
appears; setting a course for an invisible point over the far horizon. And the
complete reversal of these splendid rituals at the port of arrival in a new
country. We have yet to try the Channel Tunnel.
To fully appreciate this experience, sail to Belgium or the Netherlands from
the King George Dock in Hull, in a ship of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company (P&O). It's a tight fit in the dock for a 31,000-ton
ship, and the only exit is through a lock into which the vessel fits with only
inches to spare. Depending on the tide in the Humber, the ship moves up or down
until it is free to move out of the lock into the main stream, with many miles
yet before it passes Immingham and Grimsby to the south and Spurn Point to the
north, finally reaching the vastness of the North Sea. Recently we watched this
panorama through the dining room window while tucking into a splendid Christmas
Dinner, immaculately presented and served by a crew from the Philippines. With
new bikes in the motorhome's garage and Greece as a destination, what more can
life offer as 2019 approaches?
Perhaps
an end to the nightmare of Brexit, the demise of Trump and all his works along
with a return to sense and sensibility. Let's wrest control back from the
lunatics who have taken over what had been their asylum for too long.
Finally
As the year progressed, Margaret wrote the following illustrated and linked
motorhome travel logs:
Greece to England
and Scotland via the Balkans in the Spring England to Greece
via Austria and the Brenner Pass in the Autumn Greece – England –
Greece Express in December
And
for a wider view from Barry's world: Looking Out 2018
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