Surly They Won't Make It

20/12/24

We hadn’t slept in the tent for a while and it was nice to be camping. It’s friendlier on the purse and also we sleep very differently. It really makes us appreciate the luxurious living we have, but also question whether being so comfortable is really that good for our state of mind.

We went onto the beach in the morning to see what all the sea noise was, but it was just the darkness making the waves seem loud. It was a lovely sunny morning and the views across to the mountains of northern Greece were wonderful. 

Back onto national road 8 we went, along the coast, nipping off occasionally where the route makers had deemed it viable. It was a variable road, at times immensely busy, then it would seemingly be in disrepair with large, deep holes, cordoned off. We stopped for a coffee after about ten kilometres in a little town called Derveni. After trying to find a cafe where we could sit by the sea we relented and went in the next place we saw. The lady asked for €4, which we thought was steep, then when €3.50 appeared she said it was good enough and she didn’t want the extra 50 cents. 

We sat there for a while, almost an hour, trying to find somewhere to stay in Athens for Christmas. There were so many places it was impossible to choose. We gave up eventually and pushed on. It was pleasant cycling, warm enough to be in a t-shirt later in the day, and mostly flat.

On one of the little detours we stopped for a little snack. The clear blue water lapped at the small coastal walls. It was fairly idyllic. We passed mosques and gardens and a lot of unfinished houses. There’s a very good article here about why there are so many. 

The route took us along the coast to Corinth. But this isn’t the same as Ancient Corinth. The former is the modern town, which was relocated from the ancient town, due to an earthquake in 1858. So we  decided to detour. Ancient Corinth was one of the largest cities in Ancient Greece. It’s now barely more than a village, with the ruins of the city preserved as an attraction. The whole area is dominated by the acropolis, which sits on a huge rock several hundred metres above. 

We had to travel about five kilometres south and 100m up to reach Ancient Corinth. The little guest house we were staying in was surrounded by orange trees. While we waited for the owners mother to arrive and let us in, we sampled a delicious mandarin growing opposite. 

It was a small house with everything but a kitchen sink. That was outside or we could use the basin in the bathroom. We walked to the shops, passing the ancient ruins, which were unfortunately closed as of 15:30. There was a good view from above though. Food was a little pricey here, there were only independent stores. We got some broccoli and salad as well as some bread. While in town we found a taxi driver, he agreed to collect us in the morning so we could visit Acrocorinth. This would avoid the 400m of elevation we’d have to climb otherwise.

We made some pasta for dinner and lay on the bed watching our current favourite show, ‘Accused’, both British and American versions in succession. We still hadn’t organised a place to stay in Athens and we were getting closer. We stayed up later than we should have, but eventually found somewhere that was central and would allow us to take the bikes in. We had nowhere where the hosts were but they messaged us back at 2am for some reason.