Ozzie

Ozzie

Sunday 3 July 2016

Sun 3 Jul 2016. Delphi to Athens

Sun 3 Jul 2016. Delphi to Athens
Caravan park resident Antignione came to look at our map and to photograph our truck; she had studied Anthropology, has a job as a social worker and lives in a village nearby in winter and in a caravan on-site in summer. Following our pleasant chat, said goodbye to the beach. Final views over Gulf of Corinth as we climbed east towards Athens via mountain roads today. 


At Distomo, drove up hill to memorial for the men, women, children and babies of the village massacred by Nazis during WWII in retaliation for a partisan attack. The villagers have been through many international courts including the Hague, unsuccessfully seeking compensation. 



















Distomo today

Had intended to look at Hosios Loukas, a UNESCO listed Byzantine Monastery (for its architecture, "pseudo-kufic" brick patterns and mosaics from the Macedonian Renaissance). Alas, the dead-end road in the middle of nowhere was crowded with buses and vehicles, the people all dressed to attend a holy day celebration. We were decidedly under-dressed, so went on after a quick glimpse of its outdoor architecture.



Hosios Loukas monastery overlooking valley













Stopped for lunch in very pretty green valley with pine trees, although, as we left, noticed significant die-back in the forest. We mused there must be a lack of water or else this pretty area would be populated by farmers. The mountains gave way to arid bare hills. 



Graffiti, graffiti, graffiti.....













Caught our first sight of Agean Sea as we came into Athens via the port road. Grateful that it was a Sunday and minimum traffic on roads in to the Capital, made it easy to locate the campground we plan to stay at, as well as the FUSO workshop. Booked in (under frowning eye of the obviously strict madam), rinsed washing and hung it on the frame out back to dry (didn't want HER to see and say "no personal washing lines!") GirlRob had a spritzer whilst plotting the bus and train lines for tomorrow's excursion into the Acropolis and all things Greek ruins, pleased to be able to refer to the Knopf MapGuide for Athens (a thoughtful gift from our daughter's in-laws). BoyRob had a beer and cooked up a tasty tuna casserole with peppers. Just got our showers completed before a load of young people arrived in a Con-Tiki bus and took over the amenities block.

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