Greece Here We Come

Leaving Turkey for Greece

Having a frappe with a friendly Greek

Lunch break in Komitini

Dinner in Fanari

Our chef at Fanari

Eceabat to Kesan (20th May,112km @) 15.8kph)

Big day today.Stiff headwind for 100km out of 112. Were told by guide Hassan that the Gallipoli Peninsula only has 6 wind free days per year so did expect it. After 40km stopped at Gelibolu, a nice fishing town with a quaint harbour (reminded us of Ulladulla Harbour) where we had morning (turkish) coffee. Feeling quite fresh after break we thought we'd try for Kesan 60km on. May as well get all the wind out of the way in one day rather than having 2 days of it.
The wind was so strong the Poppies which lined the road were nearly horizontal. At one stage we were both in granny on the flat.
As the road changed direction the climb started and we had a little mountan 630m to climb.
Anyhow we did finally get to Kesan which is 30 kms from the Greek border. We are both feeling a bit wind blown but this hotel actually has hot water. (not only saying they have it). Only 1 flat today.

Kesan to Alexandropolous (21st May, 81.5 km@ 21.3k/h)

We were with the wind today as we cruised towards the Greek border. A lovely day of rolling-hills, a good road surface and wide shoulder.
It was pretty exciting doing our first real border crossing. From now on we will be in EU and will hardly need our passports.We had to show it 3 times leaving Turkey and then ride through "no mans land" before entering Greece.Lots of soldiers with mashine guns on Turkish side not on Greek side,
We arrived in the seaside town of Alexandropolous and it was obvious we were in a more western country. Greece is in the European Union and has higher standards in most things. Of course the prices are correspondingly higher.
We camped in the Municipal Camping ground - the first work out for our tent. The camp ground which had very good facilities, was right on The Aegean Sea. So after a quick dip it was a short stroll along the restaurants lining the foreshore. The Greek food was great as was the beer which accompanied it. We slept well in our little tent which was good because we were planning an early start the next day. It was great to be in Greece

Alexandropolis To Fanari (22 May, 97.37km @ 19.8kph)

Today was the perfect touring day. We had a good night in our tent and were on the road by 7 am. We asked as we checked out where there were some more camping areas and were only given one spot:Fanari on the coast. So we decided that would be our aim as camping was good and cheaper than hotels.
A couple of hundred metres after take-off we stopped at a bakery and stocked up on bread, just out of the oven. We rode for approx. 5 km and the road turned into a new auto bahn. Bikes and tractors not allowed. We couldn't see another road so the temptation of brand new hotmix with a 2 1/2 m shoulder was just too much. We went for if for a f ew kms. (fun) We then saw a spot where we could get off and continued on the old highway which was very good and had hardly any cars.
Of course, while the autobahn carved through the mountains and had fewer bends we started climbing over a pretty high pass.The gradient was "do-able" but it went on for 7/8 kms. A bit of a heart starter.
We stopped for breakfast up top and plonked ourselves on a few rocks near remnants of a stony old road. There was an information board which told us the rocks we were sitting on were part of the first Roman road build outside Rome, a trade route from Rome to the East. Pretty exciting.
As we sat there enjoying yoghurt and bread, a road cyclist flew past. Dream road if you love hills (You'd love it Bruce). We then had a great downhill to a wide fertile valley . Just on cue for morning tea,(50km)a village turned up with a cafe. We have now discovered the Greek ice coffee, frappe as we joined a chatty (German spoken) man on the shady verandah. For lunch we stopped in a rather busy town (Komitini) in a park with the most beautiful grass. Don got the laptop out and found an unsecure site and enjoyed reading /writing emails. This laptop has been great so far. A well earned long lunch. Again a chat with locals, this time in English.The local cafe owner was full of good information and in for a chat.
After lunch we flew, with a good road/tailwind.Big chainwheel Sue!! It was such beautiful scenery with corn, wheat fields and other fields just filled with bright red poppies. I love them.
We arrived at a lovely fishing village and started asking for the camping area, only to eventually be told it doesn't open until June 1. It is obviously a bit of a tourist spot but we are pre season and not many people around. So it was "flash packing" again at the local hotel. Don't really mind. After showers and our daily washing we took a walk through the village and settled on a little tavern in the back streets. No menu but the proprieter took us into the kitchen and showed us what was in the fridge. Boxes of seafood packed in ice. Pick what you want. Price is per kilo. We settled on fish and Greek salad and 2 local beers. Deliscious. Half way through our meal he appeared with 2 glasses of ouzo and a plate of mussels filled with rice cooked in prawn stock. Wonderful! As his German was about 1/2 as good as mine, we started comunicating by drawing pictures on the paper table cloth.
On the way out we a had a little talk to a retired seaman who was sitting chatting to the local (greek orthodox) priest. What a great day!!!

Fanari to Kavala (23rd May, 94.3 km @ 20.2kph)

Flat ride through very fertile land . Yesterday in an inland valley today costal delta with bird sanctuary.
A couple of mishaps such as losing our map!!!!! And the tourist office ladies in Kavala were not interested in giving us any tourist information.No one seemed to know about the coastal road we want to ride tomorrow. Has it been made into an autobahn where no bikes are allowed or is the "under construction" road on the (new) map? Finally we got a straight answer from the waiter at our resort tavern (where we are camping) He rides a motor bike so he knew: yes, we can ride on it ( bikes are not allowed on autobahns) but not much shoulder but we will go 7 am Sunday morning so shouldn't be much traffic. We only plan to have a short day tomorrow and again camp. After that we head north into the mountains and Bulgaria. Don't know how much internet connections we will have.
Thanks to all who has sent us emails. (donsigrid@gmail.com) Good fun getting them., Keep them coming.