Tuesday 21st April.
Diakofto back to Patras
Day dawned, the sun mercifully has come out again and we knew that we really were going to have to drag ourselves away from this very comfortable accommodation. At the railway station the jovial ticket man, come porter and for all we knew, driver assured us that the train left at 10.55. As it was only 10.25 we left the bikes and went off in search of a postcard for Pat. On returning to the station five minutes later a deputation was waiting by our bikes urging us to ‘get on board’ as soon as possible. So we flew about like lunatics threw the bikes and all the luggage into the guards van, apologised to everyone and flopped into our seats – only for nothing to happen until 10.56 when eventually the train tooted it’s way out of the station. What that was all about we don’t know, maybe they were just being helpful and ultra efficient.
But what really impressed us as we chugged our way west was the distance we had traveled on the bikes to get to Diakofto. It really seemed like miles and we congratulated each other.
In Patras we’ve booked our tickets to Corfu and now just hope the ash cloud disperses and Rosie gets out to join us. Vivi has had a haircut, we’ve had an unpleasant experience with some minor (in age) beggars and the bike spoke has been fixed – and that’s more than we’ve done in one day for some time, we would normally save a couple of those jobs for tomorrow!
The very smart new haircut, wash, blow and dry. And a new friend!
If anyone had told us that we would be hanging around bicycle shops for hours at a time, we would not have believed it! However, Harry’s bike shop is a real hive of activity and there is a constant flow of customers. We met up with one of the students we had seen on bikes a month ago, and had a long chat with the ‘Ozzie Greek’ who was full of information of where and what to do last time we were there. We were almost disappointed that the spoke was mended so fast, but had we attempted to fix it ourselves it would have taken days. Harry is the nicest chap and never seems to charge for anything.
Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd April
Patras to Corfu
There has been a lot of hanging around in the last few days and today was no exception. The boat to Corfu leaves at 23.59 tonight so we have a long day ahead. We walked a long way up to the old castle and the Roman stadium and other ruins. These are situated well above the new town and the views are beautiful.
Looking down, possibly on the Greek economy!
Unfortunately, the local powers that be have rather neglected to take advantage of the possibility of enticing tourists here. The castle looked impressive from the outside but sadly was all locked up, there is graffiti everywhere and nobody cares.
Marble steps leading down from the Roman Odeon, the castle and the stadium.
We thought we’d see if we could drop the bikes and our luggage off at the ferry and then go out for some supper but they weren’t having that, so rode back into town. It was then that the whole ‘great escape’ almost came to an end. Crossing the railway lines which do not cross the road at right angles but run at an angle almost along the road I got my front wheel caught in the rut (this is the moment when Vivi heard that male alarm cry Oh Phaaaark!!) and I took a dive over the handlebars landing on my palms and knees. Extraordinarily nothing broke but there was no time to sit and feel sorry for myself, the next thing I heard was the clang of a train and a hundred moderately concerned Greeks urging me to get out of the way.
On boarding the boat we took the now obligatory photo of the ferry and met a young Canadian couple staggering under huge rucksacks – both front and rear. They asked how long we’d been traveling for and when we said about seven and a half months (and thought rather smugly that’ll impress them) they replied that they left Vancouver 9 months ago and had been heading West ever since!!
The ferry was amazing, the biggest boat we’ve ever been on and our cabin vast (well it would have to be it was the only one left due to a surge in passengers because of the Icelandic volcano eruption!) – if we didn’t have to get off at 6am it would be a real pleasure to be on!
and then it was gone!
and within minutes it was gone and we were all alone with nowhere to stay on Corfu.
Diakofto back to Patras
Day dawned, the sun mercifully has come out again and we knew that we really were going to have to drag ourselves away from this very comfortable accommodation. At the railway station the jovial ticket man, come porter and for all we knew, driver assured us that the train left at 10.55. As it was only 10.25 we left the bikes and went off in search of a postcard for Pat. On returning to the station five minutes later a deputation was waiting by our bikes urging us to ‘get on board’ as soon as possible. So we flew about like lunatics threw the bikes and all the luggage into the guards van, apologised to everyone and flopped into our seats – only for nothing to happen until 10.56 when eventually the train tooted it’s way out of the station. What that was all about we don’t know, maybe they were just being helpful and ultra efficient.
But what really impressed us as we chugged our way west was the distance we had traveled on the bikes to get to Diakofto. It really seemed like miles and we congratulated each other.
In Patras we’ve booked our tickets to Corfu and now just hope the ash cloud disperses and Rosie gets out to join us. Vivi has had a haircut, we’ve had an unpleasant experience with some minor (in age) beggars and the bike spoke has been fixed – and that’s more than we’ve done in one day for some time, we would normally save a couple of those jobs for tomorrow!
The very smart new haircut, wash, blow and dry. And a new friend!
If anyone had told us that we would be hanging around bicycle shops for hours at a time, we would not have believed it! However, Harry’s bike shop is a real hive of activity and there is a constant flow of customers. We met up with one of the students we had seen on bikes a month ago, and had a long chat with the ‘Ozzie Greek’ who was full of information of where and what to do last time we were there. We were almost disappointed that the spoke was mended so fast, but had we attempted to fix it ourselves it would have taken days. Harry is the nicest chap and never seems to charge for anything.
Wednesday 21st and Thursday 22nd April
Patras to Corfu
There has been a lot of hanging around in the last few days and today was no exception. The boat to Corfu leaves at 23.59 tonight so we have a long day ahead. We walked a long way up to the old castle and the Roman stadium and other ruins. These are situated well above the new town and the views are beautiful.
Looking down, possibly on the Greek economy!
Unfortunately, the local powers that be have rather neglected to take advantage of the possibility of enticing tourists here. The castle looked impressive from the outside but sadly was all locked up, there is graffiti everywhere and nobody cares.
Marble steps leading down from the Roman Odeon, the castle and the stadium.
We thought we’d see if we could drop the bikes and our luggage off at the ferry and then go out for some supper but they weren’t having that, so rode back into town. It was then that the whole ‘great escape’ almost came to an end. Crossing the railway lines which do not cross the road at right angles but run at an angle almost along the road I got my front wheel caught in the rut (this is the moment when Vivi heard that male alarm cry Oh Phaaaark!!) and I took a dive over the handlebars landing on my palms and knees. Extraordinarily nothing broke but there was no time to sit and feel sorry for myself, the next thing I heard was the clang of a train and a hundred moderately concerned Greeks urging me to get out of the way.
On boarding the boat we took the now obligatory photo of the ferry and met a young Canadian couple staggering under huge rucksacks – both front and rear. They asked how long we’d been traveling for and when we said about seven and a half months (and thought rather smugly that’ll impress them) they replied that they left Vancouver 9 months ago and had been heading West ever since!!
The ferry was amazing, the biggest boat we’ve ever been on and our cabin vast (well it would have to be it was the only one left due to a surge in passengers because of the Icelandic volcano eruption!) – if we didn’t have to get off at 6am it would be a real pleasure to be on!
and then it was gone!
and within minutes it was gone and we were all alone with nowhere to stay on Corfu.
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