At the campground we found many tourists and groups from different countries, including Poland. It was a must to say hi to our comrades. We were invited to dine with them but since they were mostly elderly people we sort of skipped it. There was a group of 20 or so English speaking young people camped beside us. Their behavior intrigued me. It seemed like their activities were very well planned. They did everything together. Later they sat in a circle and either prayed, meditated or discussed something very quietly. Strange. It looked like the AA meeting (I guess it was not).

The French on the other side seemed to have a lot more fun and beer and wine.    

J.: At night in Meteora it was 35C. I like this type of whether. Warm… The chirping of the cicadas made the night “pleasant” and almost impossible to sleep. 

Thursday, July 15, 99: Meteora—Athens

J.: In the morning we visited the monasteries in Meteora.

G.: Since the footpaths were not sign-posted, naturally we got lost. But once we climbed to the top we knew where we were. Two Americans came along. I think at some point they panicked but when we found the right path they quickly caught up with us. It really was not necessary to visit all the monasteries. Essentially they were all very similar inside, so we saw only two. The views from any of the tops were stunning. The mountains looked like they were drawn by a cartoonist. I couldn’t absorb everything. It was so different from anything I saw before.

J.: We set off to Athens around noon. The road from Meteora to Athens was very good.

G.: Good road but “not so good” pavement on one of the gas stations. The concrete floor was so slippery I could slide 10 meters on it. There Jacek survived his first ever fall on the hard surface. It was enough to slightly accelerate and the bike slid off to the side. Fortunately Jacek displayed a lot of "electricity in his ass" (some call it skill) and he quickly jumped off the falling bike. Long discussion with the gas bar attendant (mostly sign language) followed the incident. Finally the rider of the all and powerful KLR overcame his emotions and we rode off. Ironically, the gas station ran out of gas.

J.: The highway toll was cheap—US$ 1,5. We pitched our tent in Shinias right on the Ionian See, 30 km from Athens. There were lots of Greek families at our camping. It’s true that the mainland belongs to Greeks and the islands—to foreigners.

Friday, July 16, 99: Athens

J.: A bit disappointing. The only interesting spot in Athens is Acropolis. 

You can see it in about 3 hours. The rest of the city is a modern metropolis. We walked around the downtown area visiting numerous souvenir shops. 

On our way back to the camp, we came across a church fair.

G.: It was some kind of an orthodox celebration. Priests stood at the church entrance in their fancy and richly ornamented robes and recited holly passages while all the people listened. Around the church and particularly on one of the streets there was a long chain of stalls with every imaginable item. It was a good opportunity for all souvenir and memorabilia vendors to make a “buck” or rather a drahma. It was a very busy and colorful event.

J.:  Right after that, we found a beach bar with life music. They played very good salsa and other Latino-American music. To our surprise, the beer was awfully expensive: US$ 10! I guess that covered the band as well. Later we found out that it was a private party for employees of some kind of wealthy company. So, the customers were rather rich. Most of them spoke good English. In the bar I met some Polish tourists (very young). They had just arrived at the camp and they were going to stay there for 2 weeks! What can you possibly do for two weeks on the beach and not get bored?!

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Saturday, July 17, 99. Athens—Nafplio  

J.: It was a short ride. On the way we stopped at Pireas and Corinthos. In Pireas we were supposed meet my friends (Ania, Ewa, Pawel - the captain) who were sailing around Greece on a hired boat. Unfortunately we missed them.  

G.: It was my first time going south on the Peloponessus. Red ragged mountains were the feature here. We arrived to Nafplio in the evening. The city and its setting were just beautiful.

A positive first impression made us decide to spend an evening in town. We quickly set up on a nearby camping and returned to get a glimpse of the Greek nightlife. Saturday was supposed to be the busiest evening and indeed it was. It seemed like young Greeks from all over came here just for the evening. We walked around, looked, had a few beers, tried to mingle and looked again. Naturally we tried to make some kind of connection with Greeks but honestly it was not that easy. Greeks love their language and they are rather reluctant to make contacts with foreigners. Oh well… tough luck… At least we saw how they partied.

Sunday, July 18, 99. Nafplio & Mycenae

J.: We spent another day in Nafplio. It was a beach day

as well as an educational day: we visited the ancient site of Mycenae. 

The plan was to stay in Nafplio and its vicinity for a few days. According to the Lonely Planet book, the ferry to Crete to be on Wednesday. Out of curiosity, we asked a travel agent. It appeared that we could catch the ferry the next day in the afternoon.