Patras
We departedt Missalonghi and its delightful stilt village at around 8.30 on Sunday June 10th with no wind and in a sunny haze (wasn't Sonny Hayes a London middleweight from the 1980s?) and motored the 17 miles to Patras.
Patras is the 3rd largest city in Greece and is a major ferry terminal . As we trundled across the gulf we saw 4 or 5 large ferries berthing arriving. One of which arrived just as we hit the shallows outside the harbour and gave us a lively few moments.
The marina at Patras is excellent. It cost around €14.00 per night, had basic facilities and a fuel bowser which actually brought the fuel hose to your berth. About an hour after arrival the dreaded Port Police appeared and asked myself and another skipper (who had been with us when the police visited us in Missalonghi) to trot over to his office - sinister or what! We duly arrived, sat down in air conditioned splendour and enjoyed a pleasant half hour chatting, at the end of which he gave us tourist maps of the city and said if we had any problems to get in touch with him. Clearly the Patras Tourist Board must be funding this guy, many of our own tourist offices in Scotland could learn from him (however I do not propose arming the advisors in them).
We did not do much exploring of the city but found supermarkets, internet cafes, butchers, greengrocers etc within a few streets of the marina . The sunsets over the Gulf of Patras made for a pleasant end to each day.
We also went to the chandlers to buy some twee little sock things for our stunningly workmanlike fenders. We decided that we could afford to buy them on the grounds that we have never paid more than £5.00 for any fenders and have actually found most of them when beachcombing in Tarbert. They added a certain cottagey charm to the boat. Gina now claims that she knitted them hersef.
Trizonia
On Tuesday we left bustling Patras for the 20 mile trip to the island of Trizonia with a forecast of force 3 to 4. About 4 miles from Patras is the Andirrion bridge which is, apparently, the largest suspension bridge in the world. It was designed by a French team to bridge the gulf of Patras and do away with the ferries which had previously plied their trade here. Before going under it one has to call the bridge control at 4 miles and again at one mile to be told which channel to take - bloody ridiculous, the largest bridge of it's type in the world which will take most of the British Merchant fleet abreast at one go, and a wee 34ft yacht has to waste time calling in to an operator (probably with sergeants stripes and a gun) who tells him the same as he tells every other bloody small boat - unbelievable!) .
Once through the bridge the gulf narrows and the wind funnels down it quite quickly. We had a great 2 hour sail in winds up to force 6. On arrival at Trizonia we were able to pick a secure berth and intend staying here for a couple of weeks.
It is a small island with a population in double figures.The marina is free but has no facilities although water is available from a meter, and if one shops in the supermarket one gets free water. This really is the idyllic Greek island. It is pretty, the hotel has internet, showers etc and a small ferry takes the visitor to and from the mainland for 1€ each way.
Trizonia is a very economical (well free really), quiet and relaxing and secure place to keep the boat. Many boats overwinter here. A 3 course meal in the Poseidon taverna won't turn your wallet upside down and cause your budget to sink without trace. It is all of €9.50 per person including half a litre of wine each. We sit there most evenings watching the sun go down over the mainland mountains and an old fisherman sat in a plastic chair at the end of the ferry jetty, oblivious to everything .
Gina calls it her "Shirley Valentine Island" although she is not yet looking for a job as a waitress !
On Saturday night we witnessed a Greek Wedding. About 200 people turned up by ferry in the evening and had 2 ferries going all afternoon and evening. Towards the end it was like watching one of those 1960s films about how many people you can get into a mini! The last couple of wee ferries (no more than 20ft long) came in and it seemed that about 50 got off each, all looking immaculate in their finery. Unlike Italian wedding we have seen where the women traditionally wear black (is this a feminist statement by them, mourning the poor bride's future marital sorrows?) Greek women wear bright, fashionable outfits and the men do the best they can .
The bride arrived in yet another wee ferry at sunset, she and the bridesmaids got off to much applause. The old fisherman, about 3ft from them, on his plastic seat, was so moved by the whole thing that he completely bloody ignored them and continued fishing - a man after my own heart!
The evening progressed as the blissful pair were applauded out of the church and down along the candle lit quay, and then the whole throng, dining in the open air, all whipped out their sparklers (sparkly, fireworky things) and celebrated the couple with cheers, whoops and, dare I say it, some serious ululation (a noise between a whoop and a howl, like kids playing Indians - oops - native Americans) by some of the more traditional among the women!
It also has to be said that it is bloody hot here at the moment - around 40 centigrade .
Athens
Whilst on Trizonia we took the opportunity to hire a car from Navpaktos and take a couple of days in Athens whilst picking up my cousin Moyra from the airport and doing the sites. The car costs €300 for 9 days . A more economical solution is to get the bus to Itea or Patras from where buses and trains can be got for a lot less.
Staying at a wee hotel in the middle of Athens, right under the Acropolis we had been expecting it to be traffic ridden, noisy and polluted. We were completely wrong. It was fairly quiet, situated in a pedestrian area from which all of the main sites could be seen on foot. The place is amazing! With the exception of the summit of the Acropolis, all the major historic sites are uncrowded, easily accessible and for around €12 you can visit loads of them.
The acropolis is undoubtedly crowded but we got there at around 10.00 in the morning and had an hour at the top in comparative peace - then the coach parties turned up and we were trampled underfoot as we tried to escape. However it is a stunning place to see and, even allowing for the major renovations going on, is a must see in any tour of the Med .
We found the restaurants in the main tourist area, Plaka, to be reasonably priced and the gift/clothes shops OK if you bargained for everything. On the other hand, the Flea Market, seemed to be a rip off with starting prices being about 50% higher than the Plaka.
For any serious yachtie the Tower of the Winds is not to be missed. It has eight sides exactly matching the points of the compass and was built at a time when the compass had not been discovered.
Moira commented, on arriving at Trizonia from Athens, that we had taken her from the ridiculous to the sublime!!
Greek Roads - A Warning
I can state quite unequivocally that I regard Greek roads as the most dangerous I have ever seen. I have driven all over the world and previously regarded Cairo and, perhaps Bangkok as the worst - they are a breeze by comparison.
After hiring the car we took the "Motorway" to Athens. Whilst, at the Athens end, it is standard 3 lane motorway, the rest is not even dual carriageway. It does not have a central reservation or barrier but consists of 2 normal road lanes (one in each direction) and then two half sized hard shoulders . The whole thing separated only by double white lines. The idea is to drive with the wheels straddling the hard shoulder while faster traffic overtakes straddling the double white lines. As this happens in both directions the laws of physics have to be suspended in order to fit all the cars in. On one notable occasion 5 cars were travelling abreast in the equivalent of 3 lanes.
The modern motorway is generally OK except when we travelled on a Sunday. Greek Sunday drivers are appalling. There is no lane discipline; speed limits are frequently exceded by 50%: motorcyclists happily travel at 120mph between lanes of traffic doing 120kph; motorcyclists normally wear helmets but then wear only shorts and a t-shirt (hospitals throughout the world call motor bikes donor bikes because of the amount of healthy young organs they get after a crash. However, in Greece all that can be left after a motorbike crash is a perfectly formed head in a crash helmet with the rest of the body being a smear of pate on the road!). Oh yes - all these roads are toll roads and one has to pay for the privelege of using the sodding things!! Of course this rant has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that some bastard put a dent in out hire car, costing me 100 euros.
Despite The Above Rant - Athens was amazing and the rest of Greece so far is really exceeding our expectations.