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In Thessolonaika I began my online arrangements for airline reservations back to the US and on to Thailand. It was quite an adventure because I had to fax an agreement and my main passport page to purchase the ticket. I succeded in finding a hotel with a fax machine and then headed out of town. The traffic was impressive. I decided to see the palace and tomb of Phillip of Macedonia in Virgines. I arrived looking for a campground and spotted a caravan parked on a nice spot near the parking lot. I asked Ine and Ton (Holland) if I could put my tent nearby. They kindly fed me some wine, bread, cheese, and peanuts and the next morning I explored the ruins. It was a very good museum. The burial mound had been turned into a museum and the relics were displayed on site. I hate it when the good stuff is sent to the national museum and only copies are displayed at the actual site. I saw the amphitheater where Phillip was killed and enjoyed the palace (basically just a pile of stones). It was getting dark as I approached Athens and there were no campground or hotel signs to be seen. I checked with several places before I found a service station that would let me pitch my tent. I proved to be a loud choice. I was between two roads and the traffic never stopped but I just plugged in my earphones and slept well. After an exhaustive search in Athens traffic, I found the Parthenon and paid my fee to see the ruins. Of course, all the good stuff had been carted away by the British so I feel like I saw the Parthenon in installments. Nevertheless it was pretty cool. On the way down the hill I dumped TBGS for the first time. The way down was by very narrow and very steep cobblestone streets. At one corner I stopped to figure out the way to go and my foot slipped on some dust and down I went. It caused me no damage (except my pride) and gave the brake lever a jaunty new shape. I couldn´t wait to get out of Athens traffic. On to Delphi...along some great mountain roads. There I found a nice hotel and secured the ¨motorcycle discount¨. The hotel had raised its prices since the Lonely Planet review but the proprietor was a motorcycle person and gave me the old price. Delphi was in a stunning setting and the view was tremendous. The ruins were ok. I looked but didn´t pay to go in. The roads in Greece were interesting. The same road would change from narrow, twisting, and bumpy to smooth and well-surfaced, then back again. Some of the views of the Med were amazing. Small villages, olive groves, and farm animals everywhere. There were even goats sunbathing on a secluded beach. |
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