Sun 17 Jul 2016. Olympia to Patras to Arta to Ioannina

Sun 17 Jul 2016. Olympia to Patras to Arta to Ioannina
Washing dried/folded/stowed, showered, paid. Our old gent (His English was a struggle, but French was excellent “Cats is malade of eyes”) held his hand up to stop the traffic, and waved us safely out onto road from campgrounds; we've had a restful time here. Again appalled at lack of respect for road rules. Double lines are obviously for overtaking into incoming traffic - if you flash headlights or blow horn first then oncoming vehicles move to side, or verge, and wait for you to pass before they can do the same thing! It has to be countenanced, even if unofficially, because the road authorities do not provide passing lanes, or places to overtake. 

In rural towns, pumpkins and gourds made eye-catching displays. But shocked to see so much rubbish dumped on road verges in surrounding local towns. Has their local council gone broke, no one to pick up/dispose hygienically/ ecologically? Saw several dark folks of African appearance - obviously no rubbish collection for refugee areas either. People in much of Greece seem to have lost respect for their towns, environment, law - or themselves really. Every man for himself attitude. Lakes are rare, or dangerously low, and so many of freshwater lakes are polluted by rubbish, plus agricultural runoff. Properties eg tobacco fields grow right to water’s edge, cattle pasture on shorelines degrade integrity of lake walls. Greeks seem to do very little to protect their natural resources.

Once in the north, it was pleasant to get to some greener areas, with flowing water. Rio- Antirrio bridge at Patras, spanning the Gulf of Corinth, was spectacular in its height and "sails", with ferry terminals underneath. Guy and Cheryl said they’d planned to leave on one from here to Brindisi. Had a baguette and coffee lunch, moving north again.

Passed the National Parks of Mesalonghi -series of lagoons, wide sandy delta. New roads, bridges, tunnel works. We read they’d uncovered archaeological ruins and set them aside for future diggings. Turned into a blustery cool day; so novel, enjoying the drive. Might have been wishful thinking, but we thought we glimpsed grey clouds in distance...

The oleander flowers prolifically in Greece, from white to pale delicate pinks, to deep reds. Pencil pines and isolated stands of sugar are always a surprise. Drove past our final bay, rock ledges, fish farms, before turning inland towards Ioannina and its lake. 













Arrived late arvo, found Ksimil Caravan Camping in pleasant grassed and shady spot right on Pamvotida Lake. Ducks diving, gulls circling, fish jumping - can't be as polluted as we were led to believe (but won't be swimming in it just the same!) Amenities a bit far away from the campers but nice to have such a serene spot. 

Watch those cannonballs, BoyRob

Ioannina fortress and Byzantine Tower

I'm ready for another lesson Mamma...

OK, twist your neck backwards in a figure 8...

BoyRob assembled a meatballs and peppers pasta (yummy) and GirlRob finally got Outlook going on computer including download of six months’ worth of emails. Now we'll be able to send out the updated itinerary to family and friends. Reinstalled Google Maps and checked distances between Skocjan Caves and Dolomites, as well as between Geneva and Cinque de Terre - both possible with two days driving, so revised itinerary will work. Reinstalled Blogger - so maybe can do a few blog posts eventually... 

Air rapidly cooled as we ate dinner on the lake in the mountains - could not believe we were actually COLD in Greece!!! Campers around us rugged up in jumpers and blankets; Wanderoos held out in shorts and T-shirts revelling in the change! Light changed prettily from evening to night. BoyRob settled in to more of his novel in the waning light whilst GirlRob made the tea and used the remaining hot water to do the dishes. Left computer on to do 44 auto updates overnight....

Sat 16 Jul 2016. A whole day off in Olympia

Sat 16 Jul 2016. A whole day off in Olympia
There seemed to have been a slight weather change in the early hours, enough overcast this morning for a good sleep-in! There are cats everywhere around reception (including a mother with new kittens), you have to move them off chairs to sit down. One of the cats was leaning looking into still waters of the pool, transfixed with its own reflection. Greece is full of cats; GirlRob thinks the Greeks themselves are catlike, well-groomed, can't be called, not rule-driven, independent, stare when want something, doze part of the day away.... 

Had baked beans and eggs for breakfast, and set up computer in shade. So happy to have a laptop again, downloaded all photos taken in past two months onto portable hard drive - feels so much safer having the SD cards backed up. Rearranged our itinerary to reflect the extra 2 weeks in Turkey and removal of corresponding two weeks of Northern Europe from tail-end of this trip. Changed the route to do north before any more south (in effect Switzerland before Italy), so it will be 5 or 6 weeks before we turn south again (ie as late in the Summer as possible - we have to do something to manage this heat). Tried to send revised itinerary to family and friends, some of whom have been concerned with our whereabouts since the two recent terror attacks - gunnings at Istanbul airport, and the carnage at the Bastille Day parade in Nice. And whilst updating the devices using the internet up at reception heard of deaths in attempted coup in Turkey, the imminent threats to their logistic hubs, that their president is urging people to take to the streets to support democracy, and that the Australian Consulate is warning travellers to not venture outdoors for any reason. We were lucky to have had such a peaceful happy time there two weeks ago. Anyway, settings and email on computer so out of date, it will take hours (days?) to update and download before its usable...

Did a load of washing, went into town briefly to post latest round of postcards. 

Took the rest of the day off from proposed visits to 1 or 2 museums - BoyRob asking how many headless torsos we actually need to see?? Enjoyed a lazy afternoon following the shade around. Swam occasionally in the campgrounds little pool. Wanderoos commenced a book each that Guy had given us. Such a novelty, GirlRob read by the lamp above the bed until the novel was finished! 

Fri 15 July 2016. Methoni to Ancient Olympia

Fri 15 July 2016. Methoni to Ancient Olympia
We plan to turn north today, hoping to find it cooler as we go. No police last night nor by 9am this morning. Breakfast, showered, paid our bill and went down to waterfront to get better look at castles. 

The day was already a scorcher, turned towards town and ran straight into police who gestured us to pull over, followed closely by the avenging angel’s husband in his red car. They asked why we were leaving town when we had destroyed this man's bicycle - not a great start. Eventually BoyRob got to have a say and drew a diagram of how it happened, pointing out the woman had parked in the road, in a narrow entryway. Police agreed it was a private road and they had no jurisdiction, however they had a complaint which they were obliged to follow up. They offered we could go back to station and wait for them to write up a complaint (adding this wasn't their priority for day) get the paperwork we needed for 3rd party insurance (and deal with the excess) or we could settle it now with the man. BoyRob asked how much – and the price had doubled again! We protested, countered with last night’s offer, and the husband agreed. GirlRob wrote a receipt in English which the man signed. So what did we learn? Custom and practice win out over law and common sense. Nobody happy, we all went our different ways. 

Which country are we in again??

The day improved once on the road following the coast north, green with fruit on trees or in hothouses. Picked up fuel at servo, chatting to a Greek girl who said she'd come back after living in New York for 16 yrs, "cos of my old people", and that Greece wasn't any worse than rest of Europe except for higher taxes. It looked like she had a good business. Her young son was in the office with a tutor learning to read Greek. Not long after we drove out of town, a guy on a tractor gestured us to turn around, then a fellow in a ute flagged us down indicating too low ahead for our vehicle. Decent blokes! Got the right road, crossed damned-up river, then over irrigation channels, and arrived in Olympia. 

Found Camping Diana, campground Boomers had stayed in, and were met enthusiastically by a little 93yr old man who made a great fuss of his first Australians (!!) He led us to a shady site among the noisy crickets, saying as we passed two other campers "lovely Italians" of the first, then almost spat as he said "is a German". As we've noticed elsewhere, there is little evidence of WWII reconciliation in Greece. Had lunch of our fresh breadstick, deciding we would rest until it cooled later in arvo to walk the ruins. 

Two swims and five postcards later, with instructions from our courteous old man (who turns out to be a historian in his spare time), we purchased a Seniors Pass (based on our Swedish EU visa) to all museums and the primary archaeological site, and drove down to see Ancient Olympia, built on a prehistoric site, on the southern slopes of Knossos Hill. 

What a relief to find the ruins scattered on fairly level ground - minimal climbing!! Wandered through Temple of Zeus (which once housed the colossal gold and ivory cult statue of Zeus, one of Seven Wonders of World), Temple of Hera (both temples with beautiful Doric columns), Nero’s house (the Octagon), and Stoa.

Phillipeion

Temple of Hera

Picture of mosaic floor

"New" ruin on top of Nero's house

Adorned with life-sized statues in niches of a two-story semicircular building, the Monumental Fountain and aqueduct must have been truly impressive in its day. 

Nymphaion - Monumental Fountain

The minor pieces of restoration were non-intrusive, retaining the integrity of the site - eg part of a plinth replaced with a corner of marble to demonstrate its former glory. Later Roman influence was obvious in the remains of patterned fences and buildings made from thin orange baked bricks. 

Went through Monumental Arch into Stadium 1, sloped grassy sides (used to have mud seats for the unimportant spectators), and a stone platform for the judges. It was fascinating to see the Bases of Zanes, where bronze statues were erected, paid for by the fines of athletes found cheating in the Games. 

Bases of Zanes

Separate games were added much later for women, and named after Hera, the wife of Zeus. Admired Hera’s Altar where a parabolic mirror is placed every four years and ceremony held where "Diana" ignites the Olympic flame to commence its journey to the city of the current Olympics.

The sculptors house had been razed as part of the eradication of all things pagan, and replaced by a basilica.

 

Walked into town for a meal of traditional Greek food and drove back to our camp ground, one of only two overnight guests.