14. Apr, 2016

14. Apr, 2016

FRIDAY 1-5-15

The total silence last night was spooky, something we had not encountered since leaving home. We even got to hear a cuckoo, something I haven't heard back home for years. There seems to be a pair of them flying around us here.

My first visit to a shower block since we set out from home. I decided to have a wet shave under the shower, only to discover on opening my wash bag that the shaving foam was in fact a large can of deodorant spray. Still, I now know it is possible to shave using 'Head & Shoulders' hair shampoo on my face.  I've been shaving mostly with an electric shaver for convenience. I've had them before and don't really like them; to me you can't beat a wet shave. I bought a Philips three-headed shaver in Las Vegas in 2008 for the same reason, hated it, I felt as if it was just filing my beard down rather than cutting it. Recently I decided to give it another try and purchased a Braun Series 1 190s. I have to say I'm impressed. I get a nice smooth finish and it actually feels as if it’s cutting; a bit like the effect you get with a garden strimmer. On the other hand you could save the money and just stick your face in a revolving strimmer.

Today is my youngest daughter Nicola's birthday, and to celebrate, the Greeks have given themselves a National Holiday, so even less will get done here today.

The weather is warm and sunny and due to get quite hot again. We have spent the day relaxing outside the motorhome and treating ourselves to a barbecue this evening. We now have a number of new neighbours. One young Greek couple with a tent, one German couple with a motorhome and now a couple from Holland who I had a nice long chat with this evening. They were singing the praises of the Peloponnese Peninsula which I had planned to tour but had decided against. What should I do?

Tomorrow we are hoping to get up early enough to catch the 07:40 bus to the Delphi historic site which isn't too far away but too far to walk.

14. Apr, 2016

14. Apr, 2016

14. Apr, 2016

THURSDAY 30-4-15

We had been joined by a few HGV's overnight but hadn't heard them arrive. The day was lovely and having had a shower and breakfast I dumped our grey water and we hit the road heading for Delphi, which is some distance off the E75 toll road towards Athens. What a cash cow that road is. The EU gives them the money to build it (signs erected along the route stated how many squillions of Euros had been spent on each stretch), and then having had somebody else pay for it, such as us UK taxpayers, they sit on their arses in toll booths asking for our money to use it. The toll fees were getting higher and higher the further we moved south. It started off as a couple of Euros a time and finished up at ten Euro’s. Given its weight and dimensions this vehicle is ‘Class 2’. How do they get round that? Put up a picture of a motorhome in the ‘Class 3’ category along with everything else other than a car and screw us accordingly. At the booths I just moaned about roads being very expensive and I won't come again to be met with a shrug of the shoulders and a little embarrassment. Fair do's it wasn't these poor souls fault and they were at least getting a job out of it.

We paid a total of €46 in tolls today, that's about £35. I'm peed off enough now to reconsider our touring around Greece. I think I'm growing tired of being a tourist. Everywhere you go there are crowds and queues, and everyone's on the make at your expense. The world has just got too small, too many people trying to get to the same places. Even at Cape Helles at Gallipoli yesterday, just as we were leaving three coaches pulled up at the same time. That's about 180 people, it's just too much.

Along the way I had to smile. It's a dual carriageway and quite busy, and there, stationary in the outside lane, is a pick-up truck. At the rear of it is a man in a yellow tabard waving oncoming vehicles around him. On passing I see that in front of the vehicle are two BB graduates shovelling piles of tar on to the highway. Back home they would have speed restrictions and cones out for a couple of miles before anybody undertook that kind of work.

The road up to Camping Delphi (GPS: N38.478537 E22.475060) was narrow and very winding, but our brilliant Ford Transit dealt with it beautifully. There were an awful lot of gear changes required but since I'm sitting there anyway I may as well do something useful.

The campground is a lovely spot. There is a French & German (it's nice to see they get on so well now after that little misunderstanding in 1939) motorhome rally here this weekend so we've left them to the larger camping area and we've grabbed the lower tier, and we have it all to ourselves. After the wonderful views, the peace and tranquillity is an added bonus. From here we shall catch a local bus to the Delphi historic site not too far away. We'll stay here a few days to rest and relax before moving on.