22/12/24
We woke fairly early, probably subconsciously eager to make it to Athens. Reaching Athens felt like it would be a momentous moment in the trip and would be the longest period of rest that we had since leaving. We weren’t there yet though, and though not as tricky as getting to Bari, Athens wasn’t known for being cycle friendly.
We didn’t bother with breakfast before we left, and set off swiftly, once again on the national road. The road was very close to the sea and after Kineta it was right on the edge, obviously a beautiful place to be, above the endless blue. We were then treated to one of the highlights of the national road.
We climbed up and around the cliff on another one of those Bond movie-esque roads. We could see old guard rails where the road had been moved back, presumably from erosion. Up above us was the huge motorway, it was quite a feat of engineering, despite the fact it was just for cars. Likewise the high speed railway, which was only built recently, traversed the cliffs.
We crossed the old tracks, now neglected but perhaps they’ll make a nice cycle route one day, and descended. Sadly we were now in a very built up area, sandwiched between the town of Megara and the motorway. We endured the boring road and after going under the motorway, turned towards the port, where we would catch the ferry to island of Salamis.
After passing some more chemical plants, once again with ‘no photographs’ signs, we wondered if the ferry was even running. It was a rather quiet road, if so. Then came the familiar rush of cars towards us. Yep, definitely running. We thought we should hurry and pedalled fast to make the next crossing.
We needn’t have bothered. On the deck of the fairly large ferry, for a relatively short crossing, there were three men sitting and chilling. We rode on and they advised us it would be about twenty minutes before we left. A cafe was at the port so we nipped over, hopeful for some caffeine. Alas, the electricity was out and the ‘barista’ was heating water on gas stoves for instant coffee. Far too used to the good stuff, we bought some cartons of fruit juice instead.
As we walked back onto the ferry there were two other local cyclists who’d arrived and were inspecting our bikes. We chatted for a bit as they were interested in our adventure. We sat upstairs and stuffed in some bread and jam, washing it down with juice. The ferry soon began to move. It wasn’t far to Salamis, fifteen minutes maybe. We let all the cars go and slowly disembarked, lingering for a moment on the dock.
The onward road was pretty and lined with woodlands. We noted that it would be an easy place to wild camp with little likelihood of drawing attention. The road entered a small village and climbed a hill to leave it, descending fast into the town of Salamina. We hadn’t had any coffee and decided it would be a caffeine free day for a change. There were dozens of coffee shops, often with English names like ‘All About Coffee’.
Another ferry was needed to get back to the mainland. The port at Salamina was enormous. Lines of large ferries were docked. It was only €1.20 for the ferry to Perama, no charge for a bicycle. We were crossing the straits where the famous Persian defeat to the Greeks in the Battle of Salamis took place. There must have been plenty to see, but we were solely focused on getting to Athens.
Once again we waited for all the cars to drive off first. The mainland was busy. It was like being back in Italy. City roads with two lanes, laden with cars that don’t give much space. We were still following EuroVelo 8 though it was struggling to find many cycle friendly paths. We went up a steep hill shortly after leaving the port and were then detoured round an unusual park by the sea. It was the site of a huge fertiliser company that defined the region for a hundred years. Now the buildings were half demolished and the land retaken by the people.
Next to the park was the port of Piraeus. Now, this was a gigantic harbour and though we took some convincing it turned out the cycle route uses the port roads to great success. We circled round the entire waters edge, massive boats all around us. We were sad to be chucked out onto the busy roads again.
There were a few steep hills to climb as we went up and down between two much smaller harbours along the coast. We got sent down a one way street lined with fancy restaurants. There was an alternative GPX track that we wanted to try but it immediately tried to send us over a tiny bridge with those large metal barriers that forbade bikes. So we went back to the official route.
Once we were past the Peace and Friendship Stadium with its attached park, we got chucked onto another stroad. Another mile or so and we were heading past a shopping centre, finally away from the cars and we found all the Greeks equally enjoying the rare, walkable streets. We were also led onto what is presumably the only cycle path in Athens.
It was a pretty much straight path that led all the way into the heart of the city, and 90% free of traffic. The surface fluctuated between painted red tarmac and the occasional cobble. It was periodically covered in people, obviously craving somewhere they could walk without fear of being smushed.
It was such a relief of a path that we went past the place we wanted to turn off to find our apartment. It wasn’t all bad, we instead cycled right below the Acropolis, which was an excellent way to arrive. After the uphill struggle against the cobbles we finally managed to find our accommodation and although it was on the second floor we’d become accustomed to carrying everything up.
We wandered off to the nearest Lidl, about a twenty minute walk. It was a disappointing shop that lacked a big range of products but happened to have a huge block of vegan feta as well as bargain bags of fruit and veg for €2. On the way back we popped into another shop to get some pizza toppings. It was lashing it down with rain at this point. The streets just turning to rivers.
It was extremely pleasing to know we had nowhere to cycle for four whole days. It was to be the longest break we’d had in more than two months and we were thrilled.
Surly They Won't Make It 