Progress on our drive/ferry to Greece (1 Viewer)

[nicholsong]

This is a follow-up on my thread 'Friend doubting my plans' here

Friend doubting my plans

A good friend has commented on our upcoming trip with the MH to Greece, saying that planning it would be too complicated for him, but can anyone see the problem in this itinerary:- Dep Katowice Night wilding in very South of Poland Transit Slovakia in under 8 hours (Covid rules) Enter...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

See the itinerary and the COVID requirements for Slovakia, Austria, Italy and Greece there.

We were 'armed' with both Vaccination Certificates and Antigen Swab test Certificates(timed/dated for 48 hours before anticipated entry into Italy).

We left Katowice at 1040 on Tues 8th. We crossed Slovak border where there was nobody doing any checks, not even a hut.

At Austrian border we stopped to buy a 'Go Box' - putting €130 credit for transit to Villach) just after that a guy came out of a hut, asked where we are going , reply 'Italy, response 'Have a nice time'. No papers.

At Italian border there was nobody, not even a hut. On northbound carriageway there was a stopping area, presumably Austrian.

So now we have passed the hurdles we might have face with no inspection of certificates and only one verbal question. I sort of lost a bet with Basia, because she said nobody would be interested in stopping us and papers, but I wanted to be prepared so as not to miss a booked ferry.

Of course this trip is all within the EU/Schengen so may not relate to entry into the Area.

That is the Admin. bit.

On Day 1 (Tues) we left Katowice, crossed into, and transitted Slowakia and entered Austria, where we parked about 30km further on in a grassy tree area outside a closed restaurant. Day 2 we travelled from there to the Italian border S. of Villach and stopped at a deserted ski-lift CP with some nice views and just a Concorde MH for company. Day 3 (Today), mostly on M/way(too busy with trucks for my liking - thought the Italian economy was on its knees) to a peninsula S. of Venice, where we are parked on a small quay overlooking another lagoon. A few cars and one other MH. Very tranquil.

We have done 1,120km in 3 days - not normally our style, but when we can only leave Basia's Mother for 4 weeks and one wants to take MH to Greece it has to be done. Only 260km to go to ferry at Ancona in 21/2 days so should be easy.

So far, so good. Will update in days to come.

Geoff and Basia

 

[gus-lopez]

Glad it has gone ok.

 

[suavecarve]

Cracking stuff.
Photos, we need photos, we need lots of photos

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[Riverbankannie]

Have a great time. Hard work getting there but it will be fantastic once there.

 

[pampam]

Pictures please

 

[Mousy]

We absolutely loved our Greek trip so are very envious of yours. Hope you have a fantastic time, can’t wait for more from you.

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[Riverbankannie]

Do you think nicholsong is on a very very slow boat to Greece?

 

[nicholsong]

Do you think nicholsong is on a very very slow boat to Greece?

Not so slow Annie but we have had two ferries and a couple of days driving down and up part of the Peloponnese to collect stuff from my ld boat.

So now I have time to update.

Firstly apologies for no photos, as we are using the camera for those and have not yet learnt to transfer from a Samsung Android phone to somewhere on our computer system which is run on W10 and Google Chrome. So if anyone can give us a tlesson we are receptive. [I already tried on the internet but what I found did not relate to our setup.

NOW BACK TO NARRATIVE OF OUR TRIP

We left you at Rosaline, next to a lagoon S. of Venice.

After the night there was plenty of activity on the water the next morning. Then we set off on atrocious roads, rattling and banging our way back to the Autostrada, despite the fact that we had programmed 'Avoid' - never mind.

We then stopped in Verruchio, which s a very attractive town. We scouted the restaurants and settled for one at the top of the town with views out across the countryside to the Adriatic. A totally wonderful meal and worth all the expensive price. Bottle of liquer left on the table was over-indulged in by the Captain, who needed some 'support' on way home - first time with Basia in 10 years.

Next day we shunned Autostrada, thinking hugging the coast would give us views - Wrong! Lots of holiday traffic and speed limits, so very slow progress. We had chosen a Sosta inland at Morro D'Alba which was an up and down road to reach, but on arrival the notice said key from **** bar (Closes SAT 1300) It was 1315. However I walked up the steep slope to find it open - Can't afford to close after Covid? Pleasant 2-bay parking under trees. We opted to order a take-away pizza because Basia had never had one in Italy then went to the bar for an aperitive.

Next day we had ferry departure at 1630 from Ancona to Patras, so wandered slowly to port, checked-in, refreshments at quayside bar. Ferry was 2 hours late arriving. Boarding easy. We were 'Camping on Deck' so MH was 'Sea home'. We were parked under cover but outside lane and had a open 'window' by the cab door for views. We were not hungry so had snack supper in MH. We slept till Tannoy 'Reveille' at 0830 by which time Albanian coast and Corfu were in sight. Forward lounge for coffee and croissant. Moseyed around till lunch which we partook in the buffet on two excellent salads.

We stopped at Igouumenitsa and after only 7 of the 25-30 MHs were left on board.

I have to pause here to say what an excellent ship Anek's Superfast XI is. Every thing was ship-shape and kept clean, the crew were very helpful and the food we experienced was all worth what we paid. It felt ore like a cruise than a ferry. Only glitch was a tempramental card key to the MH. deck.

Because of 2 hour delay on departure Ancona we docked at 1815 and surprisingly we were off at 1832 then a 5 minute delay while our Vaccination Certificates were properly checked. As it was late we opted for a park4night beach spot 20km from Patras which was fine.

Next day we high-tailed it along the Toll M/way to Corinth and then S. down the E. Peloponese coast to Galatas opposite Poros, collected my possessions from my old boat, spent the night outside the boatyard where there is a beach and taverna where we ate.

Ferry from Piraeus(Athens)-Patmos is 1430 in two days time so we plan to go more than halfway next day, which takes us to Kolfos, a small port village which I had sailed into many moons ago. Again park4night finds us a quiet spot at the end og the village. We take pot-luck on the nearest taverna and stike lucky as it seems to be a favourite with the local Greeks - always a good sign.

Next day is anticipated as a not so pleasant drive to Piraeus, but made worse by all three satnavs going haywire-has there been some problem? We got lost round Elephsina but did arrive in time to collect re-scheduled tickets at Blue Star office. We then queued and watched some chaotic boarding, including our own where the guy guiding us was indicating left and shouting right.
The ferry Blue Star 'Chios' was OK but not a patch on the Anek one to Patras. However the 8 hours passed and we arrived late in the evening in Patmos. As I know the island we just hopped 1 km over a hill to a bay with good parking and shade by a beach and an excellent taverna which we know and like the food.

We arrived on Thur and are still here on Sun, apart from a shopping excursion by MH and another on foot. The patron recognised me immediately - after i had taken off my mask. We have use of the outside toilet, water(by can) and they are going to cook the fish that a boatman donated to us last evening.

Tomorrow is sorting out cassette emptying, but that will either be at the boatyard which will store the MH till Sept. or a Swiss friends houe in his outside drain - He and I were born on the same day/same year (Ides of March). He unfortunately will arrive from Zurich the day after we leave.

We still have nearly 3 weeks here.

Geoff

 

[Riverbankannie]

I’ll let you off, sounds like you have had some busy days.
As for the photos, I would think that google drive or google photos would allow you to store in the cloud and access from your W10 laptop. I would think that your Samsung android phone comes with it pre-installed so as to give you automatic backup. You just have to load the app onto your laptop to access them.

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[ChrisL]

As Riverbankannie has said, check the "photos" app on your phone and see if your photos are already there if not you can set them to be backed up by following the instructions here once your photos appear in the photos app then log onto google photos on your PC and download them onto your hard drive.

 

[funflair]

Hi Geoff and Basia

Enjoy your trip and keep the report’s coming. If all else fails with photos can you email them to yourself?

 

[TUCANO]

Who ME jealous, just A LOT

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[fullfat]

Brilliant have a Fix beer for me

 

[125BEER]

Enjoy your time there.
Cafe Vagia for chocolate cake
Taverna on geranou beach
Im on me way.....

 

[jongood]

Nice one Geoff, hope you have a great trip
Jon

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[nicholsong]

UPDATE ON EVENTS SINCE MY POST#8

As mentioned task for the next day (Mon) was to sort out cassette emptying.

We had an e-mail from our Swiss friend to say that there is a town sewer pumping station at the bottom of his road, easily found and there is a large sh*t chamber with a hinged lidand a tap and hose so that problem was easily solved. We then found parking large enough for the MH in 2 CPs near a good s/market, so shopping solved.

We then moved on to a dead-end track running along a sparsely populated bay - the laundryman lives at the end. And half-way along which are some trees and a small cafe. We have had 3 nights parked in the shade of the trees, except for last 3 hours of sun.

Half an hour after we arrived the cafe owner Kostas, who was painting his chairs ready to open, came out with a plate of water melon and also said that we could use his toilets, which are open 24hrs and are spotlessly clean. He hs not yet opened the cafe but we have the boatyard 500m away which has a lovely taverna/cafe on a raised deck overlooking the next bay. It is now run by George who used to have another upmarket one elsewhere on the island but started running this one this year and has made it wonderful with soft sofas and lots of nice tables., not like your average boatyard cafe.

After our first night here we walked from the end of the track for 40 mins. to my favourite beaqch(in all the world?). It is just golden sand including the floor of the taverna, run by a lovely family who I have known for 30 years, so there were big hug all round. The mother cooks very well so we had an excellent lunch, including delicious zuchine(?) balls. The father brings nearly everything across the hill by two donkeys, which just passed as I type. He has a smallholding just 200m from our parking and grows wonderful tomatoes (care of the donkey shit) so we have wonderful salads.

Next day we walked to the village in the next bay Grikou(1 1/2km) where there is a bus service 3/4 times a day but it meant waiting 1/2 hour so we walked the 3km to 'town, shopped, met up with a couple of friends one not seen for 15 years. Then the bus back to Grikou where the taverna does wonderful home-made Taramasalata, followed by A good salad and we shared a large portion of goat, Basia's first, but not last she says.. Then walked back to MH. No supper needed.

Weather has been warming up - 28C yesterday, so a bit hot for walking, but today we have much more wind.., which is welcome. Sea temperature is quite warm in the bays.

We feel fully established on the island and have been welcomed everywhere, even by people I have not met before. Basia says she is in Heaven and really glad we made the effort to get here.

Got to stop as we are off to the boatyard cafe for an Amstel and probably lunch there too.

Cheers, 'see you'

Geoff

 

[pjay]

Sorry, just caught up with this thread Geoff, not jealous at all, have a goodun.

I think we need a few pictures.

Pete

 

[Littlewheels]

He has a smallholding just 200m from our parking and grows wonderful tomatoes (care of the donkey shit) so we have wonderful salads.

You don’t get this on Master Chef

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[nicholsong]

Enjoy your time there.
Cafe Vagia for chocolate cake
Taverna on geranou beach
Im on me way.....

You have obviously been here and I agree with the fish taverna above Livardi Geranou.

Were you here with a MH? I need to check out the road for grounding with our overhang - may take a scooter from Billi's to reconnoitre..

Yiassus

Geoff

 

[fullfat]

Excellent write up I can taste the Bekri Meze from here

 

[busby]

Not so slow Annie but we have had two ferries and a couple of days driving down and up part of the Peloponnese to collect stuff from my ld boat.

So now I have time to update.

Firstly apologies for no photos, as we are using the camera for those and have not yet learnt to transfer from a Samsung Android phone to somewhere on our computer system which is run on W10 and Google Chrome. So if anyone can give us a tlesson we are receptive. [I already tried on the internet but what I found did not relate to our setup.

NOW BACK TO NARRATIVE OF OUR TRIP

We left you at Rosaline, next to a lagoon S. of Venice.

After the night there was plenty of activity on the water the next morning. Then we set off on atrocious roads, rattling and banging our way back to the Autostrada, despite the fact that we had programmed 'Avoid' - never mind.

We then stopped in Verruchio, which s a very attractive town. We scouted the restaurants and settled for one at the top of the town with views out across the countryside to the Adriatic. A totally wonderful meal and worth all the expensive price. Bottle of liquer left on the table was over-indulged in by the Captain, who needed some 'support' on way home - first time with Basia in 10 years.

Next day we shunned Autostrada, thinking hugging the coast would give us views - Wrong! Lots of holiday traffic and speed limits, so very slow progress. We had chosen a Sosta inland at Morro D'Alba which was an up and down road to reach, but on arrival the notice said key from **** bar (Closes SAT 1300) It was 1315. However I walked up the steep slope to find it open - Can't afford to close after Covid? Pleasant 2-bay parking under trees. We opted to order a take-away pizza because Basia had never had one in Italy then went to the bar for an aperitive.

Next day we had ferry departure at 1630 from Ancona to Patras, so wandered slowly to port, checked-in, refreshments at quayside bar. Ferry was 2 hours late arriving. Boarding easy. We were 'Camping on Deck' so MH was 'Sea home'. We were parked under cover but outside lane and had a open 'window' by the cab door for views. We were not hungry so had snack supper in MH. We slept till Tannoy 'Reveille' at 0830 by which time Albanian coast and Corfu were in sight. Forward lounge for coffee and croissant. Moseyed around till lunch which we partook in the buffet on two excellent salads.

We stopped at Igouumenitsa and after only 7 of the 25-30 MHs were left on board.

I have to pause here to say what an excellent ship Anek's Superfast XI is. Every thing was ship-shape and kept clean, the crew were very helpful and the food we experienced was all worth what we paid. It felt ore like a cruise than a ferry. Only glitch was a tempramental card key to the MH. deck.

Because of 2 hour delay on departure Ancona we docked at 1815 and surprisingly we were off at 1832 then a 5 minute delay while our Vaccination Certificates were properly checked. As it was late we opted for a park4night beach spot 20km from Patras which was fine.

Next day we high-tailed it along the Toll M/way to Corinth and then S. down the E. Peloponese coast to Galatas opposite Poros, collected my possessions from my old boat, spent the night outside the boatyard where there is a beach and taverna where we ate.

Ferry from Piraeus(Athens)-Patmos is 1430 in two days time so we plan to go more than halfway next day, which takes us to Kolfos, a small port village which I had sailed into many moons ago. Again park4night finds us a quiet spot at the end og the village. We take pot-luck on the nearest taverna and stike lucky as it seems to be a favourite with the local Greeks - always a good sign.

Next day is anticipated as a not so pleasant drive to Piraeus, but made worse by all three satnavs going haywire-has there been some problem? We got lost round Elephsina but did arrive in time to collect re-scheduled tickets at Blue Star office. We then queued and watched some chaotic boarding, including our own where the guy guiding us was indicating left and shouting right.
The ferry Blue Star 'Chios' was OK but not a patch on the Anek one to Patras. However the 8 hours passed and we arrived late in the evening in Patmos. As I know the island we just hopped 1 km over a hill to a bay with good parking and shade by a beach and an excellent taverna which we know and like the food.

We arrived on Thur and are still here on Sun, apart from a shopping excursion by MH and another on foot. The patron recognised me immediately - after i had taken off my mask. We have use of the outside toilet, water(by can) and they are going to cook the fish that a boatman donated to us last evening.

Tomorrow is sorting out cassette emptying, but that will either be at the boatyard which will store the MH till Sept. or a Swiss friends houe in his outside drain - He and I were born on the same day/same year (Ides of March). He unfortunately will arrive from Zurich the day after we leave.

We still have nearly 3 weeks here.

Geoff

Is Patmos famous for St John writing his gospel there? BUSBY.

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[125BEER]

You have obviously been here and I agree with the fish taverna above Livardi Geranou.

Were you here with a MH? I need to check out the road for grounding with our overhang - may take a scooter from Billi's to reconnoitre..

Yiassus

Geoff

Hi Geoff
No on foot im afraid,the track is quite steep if I remember.Scooter first good idea
Yamas
Tim

 

[Podney]

Fantastic!! Enjoying reading of your adventure,keep it coming. Thank you.

 

[busby]

Is Patmos famous for St John writing his gospel there? BUSBY.

Just checked and it is.Was there for a week back in 2001 when island hopping just after I retired.Lovely island,really enjoyed it.BUSBY.

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[MitchandJenny]

Hi Nicholsong.
Many many thanks for taking the time to post this superb story of your Greek odyssey, it really lifts us out of the “trapped” situation we are all in and reminds us of our own wonderful 3 month trip round the peleponnes.
The people are the most memorable thing
we remember. Their warmth and genuine friendliness was beautiful, as was their simple but astute outlook on life.
“ We have the sea, fish, olive oil, tomatoes, wine and the sun, what more do we need “
Fabulous!! Enjoy.
Mitch and Jenny. X. X

 

[125BEER]

Did you do the recky to geranou?

 

[SiJui]

Great post Thankyou, one day we will get to do it! Sounds a beautiful place. Enjoy the rest of your trip !

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[hobbyist]

re samsung to windows 10 use your usb charge lead plug into usb on laptop/pc then go to file folder on your computer your samsung should appear click on it and and look for DCIM folder select photos you want and copy to your picture folder on you computer
you can also charge your phone this way