Athens and Back - the Trip Report

kevm

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This is the trip report to match the questions here.

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php/577838-Athens-and-back

Hopefully it's of some interest. It's my first one of these so be gentle…

It’s a slightly unusual trip in that it will be in three distinct parts:

(1) Getting There. A quick(ish) blast from Grantham to Greece, initially to a small resort in the Peloponnese called Tolo. This part of the trip will be motorways, budget hotels and two sea crossings (one under and one over). Sometime on day 4 my wife will overtake me over my head, land at Athens and proceed on to meet me for…

(2) The Family Holiday. A few days at the beach in Tolo followed by 10 days or so in Athens with my son, daughter in law and her (Greek) family. This will be the usual family fun/chaos excect I won’t understand much of it. I don’t plan on doing much biking in this part so unless anything really unusual happens I won’t be reporting much.

(3) Getting Back. 10 days or so going east (not too far east though), through Bulgaria and Romania and other safe EU and Nato countries. This is the real reason I’m taking the bike. I’m hoping for some nice scenery, local charm and history along with some nice weather.

Wish me luck.
 
Saturday Day 1. 462 miles

An early(ish) start, leaving at about 7:30am to catch the 12:50pm Eurotunnel. Luckily I gave myself plenty time as the Eurotunnel was ridiculously busy and I ended up queuing for nearly as long as the drive down.

Anyway, the crossing and onward trip were uneventful with good weather and I’m currently in a hotel on an industrial estate near Metz. It does have a large shopping centre and lots of eateries nearby. They looked busy (it’s Saturday night after all) so I’m making do with a deli take out from the supermarket. I think I managed to avoid buying horse or pickled songbirds. I might be tempted by a Mcdonalds brekky tomorrow…

A word about the bike - it’s been fab. As a motorway cruiser I can’t really fault it. The MRA screen is great and whoever thiough of putting cruise control on a motorcycle is a genius. The tft screen is a bit invisible in bright sunlight but a clean and polish would probably help.

Tomorrow is a long day in miles (a little more than today I think) as I’m aiming for somewhere around Parma in Italy. That will give me an easy run into Ancona for the ferry to Patras on Monday. And early start then - but nothing too extreme.
 

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I'm having trouble with attachments - it only lets me load one at a time. I know there's a size limit but is that per image or per post? This was before I left this morning.
 

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I'm having trouble with attachments - it only lets me load one at a time. I know there's a size limit but is that per image or per post? This was before I left this morning.

Via Tapatalk I can load more than one pic
 
Picture test
 

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I think it's the size. I rescaled them and it seemed to work. I'm using my chromebook. More tomorrow.
 
You could try postimages.org.

You upload, you select the link for a forum.

So, I think the pictures are then hosted elsewhere.


Anyway, looking forward to the report. Been a bit thin on the ground here for the last couple of years!
 
Keep it coming .. looks like it is going to be a super trip ... we shall all be waiting for a daily update :)
 
I too have thought about my wife flying to Greece - somewhere, and me joining her via a road trip. Plus no need for hire cars etc if you take a second helmet. Looking forward to the pics :thumby:
 
Day 2. Metz to Parma 472 miles

I set off about 7:30 having foregone the Mcdonalds brekkie and instead settled for some leftovers from the night before.

Once again an unremarkable but satisfying day. The weather was dry, bar a very light shower near the start and ranged from 9 deg first thing to about 21 deg here in Parma.
I did get my Mcdonalds fix late morning in the form of a very expensive Swiss McChicken something or other. Switzerland is very nice; clean, efficient, lovely scenery but very expensive. Before I even got through the border post I was relieved of nearly £40 for a motorway vignette. There was a bit more traffic than in France but the queues going the other way were very, very long. I think it was just the weight of traffic but I’m glad I was going south. There were quite a few bikes waiting and it looked a bit tight to filter.

Anyway Switzerland was dispatched in a few hours. Obviously I didn’t see much of it and it’s got to be worth coming back to. Italy was next. I must say the standard of driving on the motorway in Italy is appalling. No lane discipline/indicating, driving too close, drivers on their phones, speeding, etc. A big contrast to France and Switzerland and much worse than at home.

So I’m now in a hotel just outside Parma. It’s a bit isolated but very nice - clean and well equipped and quite cheap. Unfortunately the attached restaurant I was counting on tonight was closed. But the receptionist recommended somewhere, which although was a lot further away than the 5km she said and in the middle of nowhere, was really nice.

Tomorrow should be an easy day. It’s about 3hrs/200 miles from here to Ancona and my ferry to Patras. Breakfast starts at 7:30 here so I’ll get packed and ready for then and get to Ancona in plenty of time to check in at 2:30pm. I might even fit in a nice lunch.

The light is an unusual feature in tonight's room. Risotto always tastes better than it looks and this was no exception. Finally, tonight's parking spot, safely behind a gate
 

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Hopefully I've got the hang of the pics now.
 
I thought I might start posting my view out the window. The first is yesterday, the second this morning. Appearances are deceptive, the second one is a much nicer place and far better location.
 

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Day 3. Parma to Ancona 191 miles

As I thought, it was an easy day. I've got the hang of Italian motorways now. What you need to do is treat the 3 lanes as slow, medium and fast. Unless you’re a lorry, you stay out of the inside (slow) lane. If you’re cruising around the speed limit, you simply stay in the middle (medium) lane. If you come across a slower vehicle, you don't drive really close, flashing your lights and getting angry; you just overtake and get on with your journey/life. If you want to drive like a nutter you stay in the outside (fast) lane out of everyone else’s way. It seems to work quite well

I got to the ferry terminal far too early really so I had time to have a look around and have some lunch in Ancona. It’s probably not somewhere I’d visit if I wasn’t catching a ferry. A bit like Dover. Or Portsmouth.

The ferry loading/unloading looked very chaotic compared with what I’ve seen at home. There were cars and lorries loading and unloading at the same time, and lorries were reversing and going forwards on and off. I eventually got on along with 7 or 8 other bikes (including another pepsi-coloured GS like mine and a broken-down-being-pushed Hayabusa). The other bikers are mostly Greek, with one Italian and an Austrian guy on my GS lookalike. I think we left the port about an hour and a half late but I’ve got plenty of time when I get there tomorrow as my family gets in quite late.

The ferry is actually quite nice. Good food, reasonable cabin and cheap (but slowww) internet. A bit boring though. There is a sign for a disco but I haven't seen anything happening yet.

I'll get to Patras about 4pm and it's 2 and a bit hours to Tolo. Or I could take a slightly more interesting route. I’ll have a think but I definitely want to get there before dark. It’s going to be a bit different in Greece as temperatures will be in the high 20s so I'll be changing gloves and boots and removing a few layers.

Photos - My lift to Greece arriving to pick me up (late); at the terminal and someone else with good taste in bikes. Note the sign with the things you aren't allowed to do in the car park.

PS I promise some more interesting photos soon!
 

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Morning view of Corfu though a slightly dirty cabin window. I'm trying Tapatalk. And a clearer one from outside. It's lovely and warm so should be a nice ride this afternoon.
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Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
 


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