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On 6 April we finally bid farewell to our home at CAMPING BUGANVILLA, outside of Marbella. We had certainly made some wonderful new friends and seen lots of sights that would live with us for a long time.

The night before we left, a chap who had been camping beside us came over and asked a few questions about our trailer. We had been advertising it for sale but with a delivery date of 1 July. He said he had a friend that might be interested, could they take a look at it? After an inspection and negotiations over price they agreed to our price and delivery terms. It means that our trip from Greece back to Spain will be hurried as our ferry arrives in Venice at 7:30 AM on 26 July. That will leave us just five days to make the trip. I don’t envisage any problems but we will be driving long days.

As we were driving towards Madrid we were stopped by the Guardia Civil, the Spanish National police force. They do not have a reputation for friendliness and our last encounter with them, in 1991, was anything but pleasant. This was the first time that we had been stopped by any police during our entire trip. It turned out that they were just doing a routine check and wanted to check the papers for the car. This was done quickly and politely, and we were on our way in no time at all.

As we had only had a quick day trip to Madrid last summer we decided to spend a couple of days there seeing more of the sights. Madrid is certainly a fascinating city with something for everyone. We toured a couple of the museums and art galleries, and made an excursion 30 kms south to visit ARANJUEZ, the summer palace of the Spanish royal family. The palace and museum are both lovely and the garden is charming but we were a little early for many of the flowers.

Our next stop was in Zaragoza. This was on the Thursday before Easter. There was a procession with hundreds of people involved moving floats of Jesus and the Virgin from one location to another. The band was composed of bugles and drums. More bass drums than anything else and you could actually feel the rhythm vibrating through the ground. All band members were dressed as “penitentes”, that is in costumes that to North Americans resemble those of the Klu Klux Klan, flowing robes topped with cone shaped headress. Eerie and impressive.

We spent Easter weekend with our friends outside Barcelona in their cottage. It was not designed for winter living and on 11 April the temperature dropped to 2 degrees and we had a snow storm! Easter in Spain? Not what we expected, but we had a pleasant visit sitting around the fireplace.

Our ferry to Greece would sail from Venice soon so off we headed. We knew gas would be expensive in France so we filled up just before we left Spain. Even so, we drove a bit more than 600 kms in France, paid about $115 for gas, and $85 in highway tolls. In Italy the gas was a bit less but from the border to Venice, some 600 kms, we paid $100 for gas and $65 in highway tolls. While we were driving across Italy we ran into some snow on the highway and as we came out of one of the tunnels, we were hit with a gust of wind, a patch of ice and the trailer started to do a tap dance. I really thought that we were going to lose the trailer that time. Scary with a capital “S”!

We arrived in Venice a couple of days early and took the opportunity to re-visit the city. Our previous visit had been in 1993 for Carnival and we really hadn’t had a chance to see much other than Saint Mark’s Square with thousands of other people admiring the people in their ornate costumes. The Square was still packed with people but we were able to see a bit more of the city this time.

Our campground in Venice, Fusina Camping, gave us a 30% discount because we were sailing on a Minoan Lines Ferry. A nice perk that we hadn’t known about when we chose the location. The campsite also had an old London bus that was being set up as a “Cyber Bus”, with computers, Internet and E-mail. I was able to use their service and get two articles back to THE RV TIMES.

The actual ferry trip took 24 hours and cost about $780 return from Venice to Igoumenitsa on the north-west coast of Greece, just south of Albania. Our passage included a “camping on board” service. We did not have to book a cabin but plugged the trailer into the ship’s power system and slept in our own beds. We could not use our gas stove but were able to have a cold lunch with supplies from our refrigerator. We left Italy at 9:00 PM on 21 April and arrived in Greece at 9:40 the next night. Something we weren’t told was that the ferry always stayed on Greek time. When we went to eat dinner at 9:30, the restaurant, which was supposed to be open until 10:00 PM, was closed. It was already 10:30! The crossing was as smooth as glass and after passing through passport control at the dock we drove 8 kms south and set up in what would prove to be just about the best campground that we would find in our two months in Greece.

On our first full day in Greece we drove to the town of Ioanina and came face to face with a few very interesting facts. The Greeks are without a doubt the worst drivers in Europe. Solid double lines mean nothing. Passing on a hill is just a challenge as is passing on a curve. Two lanes actually means that you can easily fit four lanes of traffic on it. Speed limits are there for others and stop signs might just as well not be there.

Very eye-opening. Thank goodness we had had some experience in Portugal and Italy but even those countries seem law-abiding in comparison. Another thing we found was that the price of gasoline was the cheapest that we had found in Europe and also that competition was alive and well in Greece. In the same village the price would vary by as much as 10 cents a litre. We purchased gas at a low price of 99 cents a litre to as much as $1.12. Grocery prices seemed reasonable but wine was a bit more expensive than in Spain. We used a currency conversion of 1/2 cent to the Drachma. It was actually a bit less than that but that was the easiest to use and always left a safe balance when “hitting the wall”. Throughout Europe we had found that we were limited to taking out the equivalent of $500 from “the wall”. In Greece we found that we could get $1,000. When you are paying a $3.00 transaction fee every time you use the ATM it is nice to be able to get more and thereby save a bit of money.

Perhaps the most interesting thing that we learned on day one was that history in Greece is amazingly old. In our first small museum we saw an axe head from 200,000 BC! From that point on there was a continuous collection of artifacts right up to a display of modern art. Greece is the centre of western civilization and all of the museums reflect this.

We headed south, down the west coast of Greece with the Peloponnese as our first target. To get from the mainland to the peninsula we had to take a ferry from Nafpaklos to Patras. For those of us who are used to the terminal control at BC Ferries, this came as quite a shock. You just kept driving towards a boat until somebody finally noticed you and gave you directions. We noticed that everybody was backing on. Oh Boy! Backing is not my forte so I was relieved when I was directed to drive on. Great. Unfortunately this meant that I was going to have to back off. On arrival at Patras a member of the ferry crew asked me what language I spoke. He then started giving me instructions in English. With less than four inches clearance on either side of the trailer, with no mirrors to look in and following his directions I was backed up, onto the boarding ramp and down in no time at all. All this with 150 cars, full of Greek drivers, staring at us and waiting for me to get off. I am not sure if I could have done it without his directions.

From our campground on the Ionian Sea we visited Olympia, site of the original games in 776 BC. The Games reached the height of their prestige in 576 BC and were held in honour of Zeus, popularly acclaimed as their founder. The games were held every four years until 394 AD when they were banned as part of a purge of pagan festivals. In 426 AD it was decreed that the temples of Olympia be destroyed. What you can see today pretty much reflects that ruin but the museum is excellent and contains many statues and carvings that at one time adorned the site. I had my first swim in the sea on 27 April. I must admit that I didn’t spend all that long in the water but I did get in.

We drove south, on very narrow roads with many switchbacks on mountains that resembled a lunar landscape. We set up camp in Gythio in an olive grove beside the sea. It made us think of the campground in an apple orchard that we stayed at in Peachland a few years ago. From here we spent a day driving around the MANI PENINSULA. The people of the Mani regard themselves as direct descendants of the Spartans. Independent, fierce and prone to blood feuds, they built tower houses to fight from. Many of these towers are in ruins but many are being restored by Greeks who are returning from overseas to retire in their homeland. The landscape was some of the most rugged and scenic that we have seen anywhere. Steep cliffs falling away to pebble beaches, narrow roads leading to charming fishing villages. Wild flowers everywhere and poppies that were a deeper red than ever grew in Flander’s fields.

Very little remains of ancient Sparta but only 6 km away lies the fortress town of Mystras atop Mt Taygetos. It was built by returning French crusaders in 1249 and suffered many ups and downs during its existence. It had, at various times, a school of humanistic philosophy, a thriving silk industry and a population of some 40,000 until it was finally destroyed in 1825. Since the 1950s much restoration has taken place and many of the churches, monasteries and convents are worth visiting. Unfortunately the huge Palace of the Despots, which was the highlight of the site was closed for renovations when we visited.

After a visit to Monemvassia, the Gibraltar of Greece, we relocated to Tolo, outside of Nafplio. It was while we were shoppping for groceries in Tolo that we found out something that isn’t in any of the guide books: Supermarkets don’t sell fresh meat. We had been shopping and buying frozen meats and sausages but could not find any fresh meat. A young man told us that you have to go to the butcher shop for meat. I know we still have butcher shops in Canada but most of us get our meat where we get the rest of our groceries. Likewise in all the rest of Europe that we have visited. Now that we know this we have been able to get some lovely fresh chicken, pork, beef and lamb.

Tolo was centrally located and allowed us to visit many important archaeological sites. Mycenae, which was the centre of power for 400 years, 1600-1200 BC. The palace is set on the top of a hill, surrounded by walls 13 meters high and 7 meters thick. History and mythology are difficult to sort out here because so many of the characters from the Iliad and the Trojan Wars passed through here. Until the amatuer German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann arrived in the 1870s most people thought that the Iliad and the Odessey were just nice legends. Schliemann was able to prove the veracity of Homer’s works, first at Troy, in Turkey and later at Mycenae in Greece. The important treasures from Mycenae, and actually almost all other important historical sites in Greece, are on display in the National Museum of Archaeology in Athens.

With a friendly German couple from our campsite we went on a daytrip to visit two islands, Hydra and Spestses. It was about a 10 hour trip and gave us our first view of the Greek Islands. We would see many more before we were finished but these were our first. Hydra is lovely, no motorized transportation of any kind at all. Donkeys, mules and horses do the work, and do they work! The loads that are piled on their backs are amazing, and to see and hear them climbing the streets and steps of the village is awe inspiring. The streets are paved with marble and the animals frequently slip on the paving stones but always seem to struggle on and finish their chores. It is obvious that their owners care for them because they are well fed and well groomed but also worked very hard. Spetses is also nice but it has trucks, buses, taxis and noisiest of all, motos! Motos are small motorcycles that frequently have no mufflers and make an abominable racket. You learn to live with it but you never learn to like it. On the trip back to Tolo the ship’s captain took out his bouzouki and played a small concert from the bridge for those passengers who were sitting on the upper deck.

It was at this point that the camera I had bought especially for this trip, an Olympus IS 10, packed up. Investigation by the Olympus service centre in Athens showed that the printed circuit board was fried and would not be worth repairing in Greece as it would take 2-3 months for the repairs. Very disappointing. I bought a simple Minolta “point and shoot” that has actually given me some good pictures but is not the equal of the Olympus.

We went to Epidaurus where the theatre is famed for its perfect acoustics. A pin dropped at centre stage can be heard at the top-most row. I am not sure about a pin because the day we were there we joined about 500 Greek teenagers who were doing their best to test the acoustics as well. Not with a pin but with their loudest voices. Epidaurus was originally established as a medical centre and dedicated to the god ASKLEPIOS whose symbol, a staff with snakes entwined, is still the emblem of medical personnel worldwide.

Our last visit on this leg took us to Corinth. Earthquakes and invaders have left little of Ancient Corinth, but the 5th century BC Temple of Apollo is an exception. Many individual statues and columns remain and the museum is good. Corinth was synonymous in its day with sin and luxury, and after 18 months of preaching, St Paul abandoned all hope of converting the citizens and moved on. The Corinth Canal separates the Peloponnese from mainland Greece. Although only completed in 1893 it was dreamed of much earlier, and at various times in history construction was actually started, most notably by Nero in AD 67. It is 6km long, 23m wide and has vertical sides that rise 90m straight up. Looking down from the top, with no guard rails is a vertigo inducing experience.

From here we moved on to Athens and the Greek Islands. That will be covered next time.

Until then, . . .
Happy Camping.