Us, the cycling team
We have a visitor! Come along and read for yourself what we experienced day by day on the road.
Day 1
On a cool and grey Saturday evening, our visitor arrives. Sabi has had an adventurous journey by plane and bus and we are all happy to welcome her and her bike to the south of the Peloponnese. Our destination is Athens, to where we will cycle. We are looking forward to travelling the country together for the next two weeks. The timing is perfect. After a few days of heavy rain and a slight drop in temperatures, we are now in for a period of good weather again.
Day 2
We start our first day as a team of three highly motivated. Sabi's bike is reassembled, our luggage packed, the cappuccino drunk, time to go. There is not anything new to tell about the route. We feel like a small cycling tour group as the three of us cruise through the hilly landscapes. Around noon we reach Monemvasia, a rocky peninsula on the east coast of the Peloponnese. There is a pretty little village on the peninsula. The narrow lanes are lined with small shops and restaurants. The perfect place for a midday rest. A few kilometres further on is a beach where we want to spend the night. We are not the only ones. It is practically an unofficial campsite, there are already over 10 campers and vans on the beach.
Day 3
The next day is the mountain stage. We drive through a sparsely populated area and therefore we have bought enough supplies, as you never know exactly how long you will have to wait for the next shopping opportunity. As always, the goal of the morning is to find a place where we can have a coffee. We find an inconspicuous bar in a small village. With only a few words of English we get our coffee and eat our lunch right away. Once again we get a very friendly welcome and are presented with fruits. We are still preoccupied with the weather. In this mountainous region the weather is unstable, sun and rain alternate. But the mood is dazzling, with good music in our ears we pedal up the mountain. On the way we have to do a small repair on Sabi's bike, no big problem. In the evening it is a bit more difficult to find a place to sleep. In the end we spend the night right next to a chapel at the end of the village. In the course of the evening, a group of women from the village passes by. Gesticulating wildly, they want to explain something to us, like it's going to be cold, rainy, thundery, we still don't know exactly. Fortunately, one of them has a key for the toilet in the chapel, so that we even have a proper toilet at our disposal.
Day 4
The night was rather chilly and we are glad to activate the muscles and produce warmth again. The second part of the mountain stage is coming up. We cycle through areas reminiscent of Canada, Tuscany or Northern Europe, witness the birth of a baby goat and whiz down the mountain. Our food supplies are almost exhausted, there are no shopping facilities in any of the villages. We are all the happier to reach a village with an open restaurant at lunchtime. A typical Greek meal to celebrate the day. Afterwards we jet down the mountain and clearly feel the temperatures rising again. We are back at the sea and spend the night in Leonidio, a real climbing paradise.
Day 5
It is an unexciting day along the coast. We like to remember what a privilege it is to be able to enjoy such beautiful stretches. We spend the night again directly on the beach, where only an alarm system disturbs the peace.
Day 6
And then it happens. The first flat tyre. There is a thorn in Sabi's back tire. Now we can put our repair skills to the test and Beni masters this with flying colours. For the night we want to go to a camp site. On arrival it looks completely deserted, we are not sure if it is still open and the first impression is spoiled by a pistol lying on the table. On closer inspection it becomes clear that it is just a toy. We then find the owner, also called "cat mum" by us. She always has at least 7 cats and 2 dogs in tow, which follow her wherever she goes. A funny, even a little irritating picture for some of us.
Day 7
The next day starts like the last ones again with sunshine. We tackle the last hills towards the sea on our bikes. In Ancient Corinth we take a look at the history of the country and marvel at several stones and ruins, which should not be the last during our trip in Greece.
Day 8
The following morning we drive to New Corinth, a lively town with good coffee. When we hear the name Corinth, one image will probably come to most people's minds: the canal. This is exactly what we want to see. Once a masterpiece, today its former pride has unfortunately has long gone. The canal is in urgent need of renovation, the walls are in danger of collapsing and have slipped at one point. The bridge at the northern end no longer works (it is left under water so that ships can pass) and so the canal has not been navigable for some time. The renovations would probably be very expensive and most of today's cargo ships are too wide for the canal anyway and could not pass. We drive along the entire canal and imagine how the ships used to pass through or how they, before that, even used to be pulled overland from one side to the other by manpower.
Day 9
We are getting on faster than expected, which is why we head south again instead of aiming directly for Athens. Aegina, an island, is our next destination. We want to stay two nights and explore the island.
Day 10
The weather is not so nice for once, but we still take our bikes and ride a few kilometres on the island to a small village. For once we fall into the tourist trap. Lunch is expensive, the food rather mediocre. The island is beautiful, but doesn't knock our socks off.
Day 11-15
Hello Athens. We have reached our destination. By ferry from the small, quiet island to the hustle and bustle of the city. We hold our own in the city traffic and move into the Airbnb. The neighbourhood is exciting. There is not a white wall to be found, everything is sprayed with graffiti, some more, some less worth seeing. The city is very lively, there are countless restaurants and cafés and many ruins and stones. First and foremost, of course, the Acropolis, which we also visit. October 28th is a public holiday in Greece and one of the few days in the year when the Acropolis can be visited for free - good for our budget. And because it was so beautiful, we go up again in the evening to catch the last rays of sun. At the Panathenaic Station we feel like Olympic athletes and enjoy a drink at the rooftop bar. The days pass and towards the end we all realise that it was enough city for us now. For Sabi, it's time to pack her bags, take her bike apart and head back to cold Switzerland. Thank you for visiting, it was a real pleasure to share this adventure with you.
For us, it is two more days in Athens before we can welcome the next visitor...
