We’re off on a trip travelling overland to Greece via the Balkans – Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Bulgaria and then Greece. Returning on the ferry to Italy. Wow, what an adventure!
(Notes: if you want to only see posts for this trip, click on the link Greece via the Balkans 2023 under or to the left of the photo. Also, if you click on a photo you should see it full size)
Today we return to the UK after 4,500 miles and 12 countries so here’s some memorable moments of the trip.
For our last couple of nights we stayed at a very good French camper stop in the village of Watten (N50.83139, E2.20879). We chose it because it’s only a 40 minute drive to Calais.
We discovered that the neighbouring village, Eperlecques, played a significant role in World War II because the Nazis chose it as the site for the “Blockhaus” (bunker) which was originally intended to be a launching facility for the V2 ballistic missile and a factory for the production of liquid oxygen. It was constructed using thousands of prisoners of war and forcibly conscripted workers.
It was never used because the Allies found out about it and subjected it to heavy bombing including ‘Tall Boy’ bombs which drilled down 30 metres into the ground and created a mini-earthquake. It has been turned into an open air ‘history park’ which provides a lot of information not only about what was going on there, but about World War II.
We walked there not knowing quite what to expect and were astonished to find in the middle of a beautiful forest this enormous, 33 metre high block of concrete and a replica of the 14 metre long V2 rocket. The plan was for 36 of these to be launched each day for three days and the target was England.
The photographs don’t give a realistic sense of the size of the place and how chilling it is. I found it quite terrifying. Half of it was destroyed, but in the other half the Germans went on to manufacture liquid oxygen which they then used to launch the V2s on mobile launch pads. Over 1,400 V2s were launched on Britain and over 1,600 on Belgium – mainly London and Antwerp. After the war many of the scientists and engineers working on these rockets were invited to the United States to become part of the US space program.
After leaving Luxembourg we drove west into France and stopped at this town where there’s a very good motorhome park next to the river (49.7789, 4.7200). The old town has a beautiful square and restaurants where we found delicious monkfish with vegetables and risotto with scallops, with chocolate mousse and creme brûlée to finish off.
This area has lots of cycle tracks and the Trans-Ardenne Voie Verte. We planned to go on a cycle ride along the river but after getting the bikes off the back discovered that one tyre had a puncture, we didn’t have a spare tube or a repair kit and it was Sunday so no shops open. So we walked instead along the river to the next village (loads of cyclists, walkers, roller blade skaters, runners ) and got the train back.
On the way back we stopped off in Luxembourg to visit my cousin Júlia and her husband Nicky in their fantastic house with a labyrinth of rooms for every type of activity – gym, preserves, workshop, sewing etc. They too have a camper van the same size as ours and so were well set up for van visitors. Júlia has a wonderful garden where she grows fruit and vegetables and then preserves them in jars and as bottled juice. We were treated to fantastic meals with virtually everything from the garden. Nicky goes out for a 2 hour cycle ride every morning at 6:30am (he has inspired me!) and before we left he sorted out yet another problem with one of our taps.
We left with a box of preserves and a huge bag of walnuts from her tree.
On the way back we visited our friend Ingrid who lives near Lake Chiemsee – a very pretty area in Bavaria. Unfortunately it rained every day but in between the downpours we were able to go for a swim in one of the nearby lakes and it was lovely to spend time catching up.
We got the ferry back from Igoumenitsa to Venice. It left at 6:30am and so we decided to park overnight in the car park at the terminal. After a bit of confusion where we found ourselves in the parking area for trucks we found a spot for the night. In the morning we were glad we’d made this decision as by 5am there was absolutely nowhere to park.
We had been told to go to the check-in at 5am which we dutifully did to be met by a huge queue. It took us over one hour to reach the counter – next time we’ll get there earlier.
We took the ferry from Astakos and stayed in the campsite at Argostoli, but each day drove around the island visiting other beaches and villages.
Agia Kyriaki was a beautiful beach with a taverna where the owner would let you stay in the car park (N38.3103, E20.4888). We thought we might wild camp there until an Italian camped there showed us the invasion of ants in his van, but we had a lovely swim in the wonderfully warm water.
Fiskardo was a very pretty town with a beautiful harbour with lots of boats. The town was full of cafes and very tasteful gift shops (rather expensive). We had some delicious ice cream and sorbet.
Our friend Caroline described Myrtos beach as the loveliest beach she’d ever been on – sandy, white pebbles and turquoise clear water. It certainly looked lovely but the road down to it looked far too steep for our van. Still at least we saw it from above.
We drove to a lovely little beach called Trapeziaka. Again it was a very steep and narrow road down and unfortunately as it was a Sunday lots of people had driven there and quite a few of them were leaving as we arrived so we had to try to reverse up the hill to let them pass. Then there was a burning smell and we realised the clutch was overheating so Valerie had to run down to all the cars coming up to say “sorry” in Greek and persuade them to reverse, as we couldn’t. The upside was that there was a great taverna at the bottom so we ate a delicious meal as we waited for the clutch to cool down, and all was well.
We felt we couldn’t go to Greece and not visit Delphi again as it’s such a magical place. It’s hugely impressive, because of the beautiful location, the height of it, and the sheer number of monuments, even though many are just the pedestals of statues, and you have to imagine what they would’ve looked like with their enormous statues on top.
In ancient times Delphi was considered the ‘navel of the earth’ and was home to the Oracle of Delphi and the Temple of Apollo.The location is extraordinary and you can understand what drew the ancient Greeks to this site.
Archaeological investigation in Delphi started in the second half of the 19th century, but it was not until 1892 that a systematic excavation began under the direction of Théophile Homolle and the French Archaeological School of Athens. The site was buried beneath layers and layers of stone and there was a village on top. The village had to be totally uprooted and relocated so that the archaeologists could uncover the ruins.
The museum is definitely worth visiting. It has some amazing statues. We especially liked the one of the dancing women and the one of the charioteer which in its original form would have had also the chariot and horses but only the charioteer had survived.
We stayed again at Delphi Camping – a wonderful site with stunning views over the Gulf of Corinth. The campsite is owned by the Kanatas family and they also produce olive oil. This olive oil called ‘Mer des Oliviers de Delphes’ is produced from olives of the olive groves of Amfissa – Delphi. These groves have existed for over 3,000 years being the oldest in Greece . Here the ancient Greeks cultivated olives and produced oil before any other part of Greece did and the Kanatas family have cultivated olives and produced olive oil for hundreds of years. The olive oil is called by a French name in order to honour the French team who discovered the Delphi site and worked on the excavations.
In the Pindos we stayed again in our favourite spot at the side of the road next to a spring between the two Papigko villages (N39.9691, E20.7229) and on our first evening were joined by a suprise visitor come to take a drink.
The man who runs the health food shop that we like in Ioannina, Nature and Life, recommended a lovely cafe/bookshop in Megalo Papigko called Koukounari. Giorgos who works there was very friendly and welcoming. The cakes looked wonderful but we managed to resist.
We decided to try the hike up to the Astraka Refuge where people walking the long distance Epirus trail are able to stay overnight. It was going to be quite a strenuous hike climbing about 1,000m up to 2,000m and it was very hot. We started at 7am having prepared our breakfast and lunch the night before to take with us. The trail starts from Mikro Papigko so we first had to walk there across the old stone bridge and then start on the trail proper. It is about 6k in length and has several springs on the way up with covered areas to shelter from the sun. It was the weekend and what we didn’t realise was that this was a favourite hike for local people. We must have seen over 100 people on the way up and down, including runners! Of course, as you go higher the wind is cooler which helps and when we got to the top there was still snow on some of the peaks. It was a beautiful walk, and the higher we reached, the more wild flowers there were.
The refuge gets it supplies via a group of pack horses and on the way up we met the string of horses coming down. When we reached the refuge we met them again coming up.
We moved on from Papigko to a new ‘campsite’ on the edge of the Pindos national park by the Voidomatis river (39.9694, E20.6612). The site is still being established and they also do river rafting.
We went for a walk called the ‘ Ice Age Trail’ which follows the river . There are many information boards relating to the Paleolithic Age 15,000 years ago when the world was emerging from the ice age and our ancestors lived along this river.
The Voidomatis river is amazingly clean and clear and an extraordinary colour. The walk was beautiful but more strenuous than we’d anticipated – quite a bit of scrambling and it was very hot, so we ended up getting a taxi back.
Along the way we climbed up to see the remains of the small Agii Anargiri monastery. All that remains is a tiny chapel with a small door and when we went inside we discovered the remains of beautiful frescoes covering the walls and ceiling.
And then on our way back to the river …
Again we stopped for a few days in Ioannina staying at the campsite by the lake and walked into town drifting between cafes.
We visited the folk art museum which is housed in a 19th century Ottoman Manor House.
It displays traditional costumes of the area , musical instruments and household items such as looms and old kitchen utensils.
Many of the outfits were felted overcoats with rich embroidery elaborated with red silk strings
We went to a fascinating exhibition called “Carving wood, sculpting memory with the shepherds of Haliki” housed in the Gadi Foundation in Ioannina.
For centuries shepherds have taken their flocks up from the lowland plains of Thessaly to summer in the cooler pastures of Haliki in the Pindos mountains.
Natasha Drisou-Lemonos, who curated the exhibition, has interviewed shepherds over many years. She transcribed their words to accompany some beautiful black and white photographs mainly from the 1950s to the present day.
The shepherds use wooden crooks which they carve with intricate patterns. Some were displayed in the exhibition together with some beautiful crooks, boxes and other objects carved by the wood sculptor, Christos Gevrou.
The old synagogue is located within the walled Castro.
It is likely that the synagogue survived the German occupation as a result of the actions of the mayor of Ioannina, Dimitios Vlachides. It seems he convinced the Germans that the Greeks would use the building as a library and that the Torah scrolls and other sacred material should be placed in the municipal museum.
After the war the handful of Holocaust survivors returning to Ioannina sent these to other synagogues including Jerusalem. Many Israelis visit this area and there are three direct flights to Ioannina from Tel Aviv every day!
We have written more about the Jews in Ioannina in our 2019 trip.
http://judyandvalerieontheroad.com/index.php/category/trip/greece-2019/