30 May 2012: Visited the UNESCO Archaeological site of Butrint, only a 10 minute drive down the road from our campsite. It is a microcosm of Mediterranean history, an amalgam of monuments representing a span of over two thousand years from Hellenic Temples to Ottoman defences of the 19th Century. We walked around the peaceful site for a couple of hours including a visit to the well run museum before any tour buses arrived. http://www.butrint.org/butrint_1_0.php The Great Basilica:

The 3rd century BC Theatre (later adapted to a Roman design):

Just next to the site entrance was an intriguing ferry:

On our way back to the campsite we passed a turkey herder:

Our campsite deserves a more detailed mention as it is quite extraordinary. It is run by a very friendly family and is basically the garden surrounding their house. The facilities are in the fresh air but brand new and kept spotlessly clean. Both the WC and shower are open to the sky and the wash sinks and dishwashing sink are outside against the neighbouring fence:

Here is Paul brushing his teeth at the washbasin:

Brave Heart with Paul using the laptop, wi-fi available all over the site and free of charge.

https://sites.google.com/site/caravancampingalbania/ There is even a wild tortoise who visits us each afternoon:

31 May 2012: We spent the morning on the beach feeling like we were either trespassing on a private tropical island or were the invited guests of a multi-millionaire film star, expecting Brad and Angelina to walk by at any minute, such was the idyllic atmosphere. Pre lunch drinks:

View Meteora, to Ksamil, AlbaniaGreece in a larger map 29 May 2012: More mountain driving and we came to the Albanian border and just a short wait in a queue of people making the crossing and our passports were stamped and we were in. We were very soon flagged down by police who wanted to know where we were going. They seemed surprised that we were driving to Sarande but waived us on. Well, the journey took us up an extremely long steep winding road with a sheer drop to one side, somewhat nerve racking what with the on coming traffic preferring our side of the road and us having to dodge the occasional pot hole. However, this road was nothing compared to the coast road both sides of Sarande which was mostly a wide asphalt road which would unexpectedly turn to a moonscape complete with craters and crevasses for ¼ to ½ mile stretches each time! The oncoming traffic would be dodging their potholes and we would be dodging ours and both trying to dodge each other. We arrived at our campsite to be greeted by the very friendly owner who showed us around and told us to help ourselves to the vegetables growing in his garden while his wife made us frappe coffee. What is more, we have free wi-fi! So here we were today staring back at Corfu where we were but a few weeks ago, staring across at Albania and imagining what it would be like. Well, now we know! Looking seaward we see a scene of paradise, small pine clad islets bask in the turquoise water and white sandy coves abound, apparently some of Albania’s finest beaches. This is what we saw on a short stroll this afternoon:

The scene looking back to the land is quite a contrast as the style of building is unlike anything we are used to.

Some buildings are only complete on the ground floor and have pillars protruding upwards ready to take another floor at some time in the future. Others have clearly been abandoned for the time being and yet others have been sabotaged by the ‘building police’ because they were built illegally. An example of a sabotaged building:

View Pireaus to Delfi to Meteora in a larger map 28 May 2012: What a crazy place! Believe it or not there is one of Greece’s better roads in cooee of these monasteries and countless stairs hewn out of the rock for access. Some still require a flying fox type mechanism to transport goods and they must all feel isolated from the nearby town once tourists have left for the day. There are 7 that can be visited and each of these is dramatically perched on the rocks. Crazy monasteries of Meteora:

This is the one we climbed up and went inside:

Brave Heart our T4, in the Meteora campsite:

27 May 2012: After about 3hrs driving through beautiful mountains and then across a vast low flat plane, we reached the town of Kalambaka and then the village of Kastraki where we found our campsite literally at the foot of the monoliths of Meteora. It was like driving through Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth! See www.campingkastraki.gr or www.campingmeteora.gr for interactive maps and more interesting information.

We took a short stroll towards the base of the nearest monastery and this is what we saw: Agios Georgios Monastery:

One of the monoliths with Paul in the foreground:

Roussanou Monastery from a distance:

Tomorrow we will explore further into the area.

25 May 2012: Despite Stella being somewhat discombobulated, we navigated our way out of Pireaus Port and through the crazy Athens traffic onto the right road out of the mayhem. Only 90 minutes later we found ourselves in mountain country that became more dramatic by the minute. We climbed forever upwards and were presented with more and more evidence of being in the mountains, Davey Croquet hats and Uni-mogs being but 2 examples. Cue Uni-mog:

We arrived at our Delfi campsite and were welcomed by the clanging bells and bleating of a huge herd of goats complete with goatherd just the other side of the fence from the van. We visited the campsite restaurant which had a stunning view of the mountains right down to the sea, the Gulf of Itea. What a day, starting in Naxos, an island in the blue Aegean, and ending up in mountains after an 8 hour exciting journey. Our campsite neighbours were a Singaporean couple who keep a T5 in Basel and were on a 2 month journey through Romania and Bulgaria to Greece and back before returning home to Singapore.

26 May 2012: Happy Birthday Peter Farley! We are off to the nearby town of Arachova which we passed through yesterday before arriving in Delfi, but did not stop. It just so happened that the ‘Classic Trophy Club’ (a classic motorbike club based in Athens) were on a rally and 50+ members were gathering in town causing some excitement with the locals and playing havoc with the tour buses on their way to Delfi along the narrow main street.

Next stop the sanctuary of Delfi which the ancient Greeks believed to be the centre (or navel) of the Earth. Looking about, we could quite understand this as the enormous mountains rising up all around us and the deep gorge below us in their dramatic splendour were totally impossible to capture on camera though we tried.

The ancient site was set on terraces beneath the 2400 metre high Mount Parnassos. Legend has it that Apollo came along and after slaying the Python guarding the oracle of Ge (the Earth), installed himself there. They even held Pythian games every 4 years in honour of Apollo to commemorate his victory over the Python. There’s more detail to this legend of course but I won’t go into it here!

We retired back to the campsite’s super swimming pool for a cool down swim and to plan the next day’s journey to the unusual site of Meteora.

24 May 2012: Tickets are bought for the 0930 ferry leaving tomorrow morning on the 6 hour voyage from Naxos to Piraeus, we drove into the hinterland to explore the lush unspoilt villages we had read about near to the highest mountain (1001m) in the Cyclades named Zeus. The views along the way were spectacular panoramas. So many conical peaks often sporting a white church or monastery on their crest, note the top of the right hand summit (yes, it's hard to see but it is there!)

A view of one of the villages from above:

A scene so often observed but hard to photograph: (I asked permission!)

Paul with a donkey we met on one of the many marble paved streets:

A typical set of church bells:

Not the blue skies we have become accustomed to but neither was it the stormy rainy day that was forecast. The wind has been relentless over the past couple of days and we hope to leave that behind us tomorrow when we hit the mainland and head for Delphi. 25 May 2012: Now sitting on the incredible Blue Star Ferry ‘Paros’ that was nowhere in sight as we sat waiting on the quay, then in typical fashion, 5 minutes before departure time, she comes steaming into view, does a pirouette in the style of a speed boat, ramp goes down, cars and trucks pour off, foot passengers complete with luggage team down the ramp amongst the vehicles and then the same thing happens in reverse, enabling the embarking vehicles and passengers onboard. We have not reached our seats before she is already steaming out of the harbour! A turn around time of around 10 minutes, something the Greeks are very good at. We have the laptop with us as wi-fi is available and there is much catching up to do during the long trip.

View Paros to Naxos in a larger map 23 May 2012: We bought our tickets for Naxos just an hour before boarding, €54 for us both and the van. Luckily this was not our luggage being prepared for loading, even the guys loading it seemed to think it was funny!

We have set up camp in Maragas, a well run campsite a few kilometers south of the main town and for a change we are not the only van on the site! There are 2 or 3 others and as there are studios for rent and other hotels and apartments in the vicinity, there are enough people around to add atmosphere without making it crowded and we are right on one of the supposed best beaches in the Cyclades! Here is our sunset view at dinner last night, looking at Paros:

We took the bus into Naxos Town and explored the alleys and walked out to the ruin of a temple of Apollo, here is Linda framed by Ariadne’s Arch:

Here is the town looking back from the ruin:

The wi-fi signal is only useable near the reception office so we work offline and wander over there later in the evening to post the blog and send emails. This means we won’t check the weather until later to see if there is still rain forecast for tomorrow. We plan to explore the island by road depending on the weather.

Captain’s table, Naoussa campsite:

21 May 2012: After another stroll around Naoussa, we drove around the whole island of Paros admittedly merely skimming the surface, visiting each of the recommended beach resorts and agreeing that Alyki in the south was our favourite. Naoussa Fishing Harbour:

We have decided to take the van to Naxos tomorrow after reading more about it and checking the weather forecast which currently threatens rain for Thursday.

19 May 2012: We had seen photos of Santorini and read a bit about it but nothing could have prepared us for the awesome approach to the island. The ubiquitous whitewashed buildings of the towns cling to the top of a 300 metre high volcanic cliff which took our breath away.

View Paros - Santorini (Thira) in a larger map We then travelled by bus up to the town, another amazing experience, the narrow 2 way road twisting over and over with countless tight hairpin bends, the buses waiting before the turns with an unwritten understanding of who goes first. We watched the Blue Star Line ferry grow smaller and smaller as we ascended.

The Santorini group of islands is probably the only volcano in the world with its caldera (crater) in the sea. Today’s configuration has been brought about by many eruptions over the years one of which (1,600 BC) was the biggest volcanic eruption to take place in the entire world, ever, and may have marked the beginning of the decline of the Minoan culture as far away as Crete. The small islands in the centre, Palea Kameni and Nea Kameni, are the ‘cones’ of the volcano.
View Santorini in a larger map The civilization that was blown away is thought to have been the lost city of Atlantis and archaeologists continue to uncover artifacts to support this theory. The town was buzzing with tourists, both back packers and cruise ship visitors and we quickly found a hotel with views of the sea and set about exploring.

In further explorations the next morning we discovered the cable cars coming up from the old port and the donkey track that zig-zagged up 587 steps to the town also from the old port.

The time passed and we caught the bus back down the cliff, our bus driver having one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding

his mobile phone to his head whilst he made several calls, one ordering his lunch that was delivered along the way!

16 May 2012: Yesterday we woke to a stiff breeze and headed for the ferry to Delos that would take us on to Mykonos and then bring us back. Delos is one of the great classical archaeological sites of the Mediterranean and the advice was to climb Mount Kynthos first to get the lay of the land before we were too worn out. This we duly did and here is the view from the top:

The ruins are of a whole town and are quite extensive and work is ongoing, here is Paul holding up a doorway:

We spent a fair amount of time walking the tracks from one group of buildings to another before it was time to return to the boat. On to Mykonos, the location for ‘Shirley Valentine’, we walked the many alleys of the town for a couple of hours.

It was a very pretty town but very up market and full of shops aimed purely at the tourist Euro. We sought out a reasonably priced cup of coffee and a baklava which we are starting to become addicted to and took a break on the seafront until it was time for our boat to sail.

View Athens - Paros - Mykonos in a larger map It was a chill out day today involving lots of chatting to new friends. Phil introduced us to John Matthews from Lee-on-Solent (not far from home) who is the fittest 73 year old we have ever met! He rides a battered old bike that has done thousands of miles all over the world. He packages it up, loads it on a plane, lands, gets on his bike with panniers loaded to the gunnels and off he cycles, camping along the way. Here’s the 4 of us including his bike:

Here’s Phil leaving Paros towards Turkey later in the day:

View from our campsite entrance:

We have booked a trip for tomorrow to Santorini, the cream of all of the Greek Islands. It is not possible to get there and back in one day so we will overnight in a hotel.