Greece has come and almost gone without us really noticing.. We entered from Turkey after yet another chaotic border crossing. We had thought they were behind us but at least now we are in the EU there will be no more dramas.
It has rained relentlessly since we arrived. Driving, pouring rain. My memory of Greece has always been of spectacular scenery and beautiful coastlines. It's Adrian's first time here and I have kept telling him to imagine it with a blue sky and a sparkling sea. The trouble is that it the sky is so heavy, the sea so grey, and, with only one rather pathetic windscreen wiper, the view from the car is very restricted. The one saving grace is that the roads are fantastic, thanks to our EU contributions. We battled on to Thessalonikki and the uber cool hotel that was our home for the night. I had to keep reminding myself that we weren't in Italy yet. We had a view of the decaying, tatty dock area and so were able to remember that Greece is actually bankrupt.
We started to do the time trials this morning as I really wanted to see the hanging monasteries. This turned out to be a big mistake as the road was terrifying in an old car with poor brakes. The road twisted and turned and there were 1 in 3 drops. There had been lots of landslides and the road was in poor condition; full of potholes and covered in mud and gravel.. for the newer cars with better brakes and for the serious racer's it was a delight, of course. But we should not have attempted it. We gave up after about 50kms of terror and found a way to get back on the motorway. Phew, the relief of it. The net result was no hanging monasteries for me after years of wanting to see them. Oh well, we'll have to come back in a Hertz special.
We are now at the port waiting for the overnight ferry to Ancona, Italy. Arriving early we had a great lunch with a few companions and are now just waiting. My idea was to find a little sea front taverna with bobbing blue and white boats and fish straight out of the sea. The actuality was more like sitting on a roundabout, in the rain, under an umbrella. But, the food was great and all was very jolly.
The new road infrastructure here is incredible. How glad they must be that they are in the EU. Through the mountains we came through tunnel after tunnel; some over three kms long. The road cuts through everything and makes very light work of traversing a very large mountain range.
Tomorrow, Italy and a rush, as always, to get to Viarreggio and our hotel. There are time trials through 'Chiantishire' but, after today, the old car needs an easy time of it. So it is motorway for us. The benefit is that we will have time for lunch. This rally is getting just too decadent. Three lunches already in 34 days! I think that it is actually against the law to go through Italy and not have lunch.
If you have been looking at the results page on the main rally sight you may have noticed that we are consistently last. What a hoot! We love being last. It is really because we do not stick to timings and so collect huge penalties in not doing so. It is now a point of honour for us to remain last. Sod's law will probably mean that we creep up the table over the next few days. I do hope not though. In making the decision not to bother with time trials I always said that if we say that we have driven from Peking to Paris no one is going to ask 'what position were you?' But, now, I really want to be able to say 'we were last!' Making it to Paris is to win. There are 20 cars that have retired. At least we are still in. Now, if we can just remain at the bottom all will be well.
We are hoping for a little karaoke tonight. A sort of mini cruise for some clapped out Rallyer's. We need some jolly japes to gather strength for the last couple of days. What a feat and we're nearly there.
It has rained relentlessly since we arrived. Driving, pouring rain. My memory of Greece has always been of spectacular scenery and beautiful coastlines. It's Adrian's first time here and I have kept telling him to imagine it with a blue sky and a sparkling sea. The trouble is that it the sky is so heavy, the sea so grey, and, with only one rather pathetic windscreen wiper, the view from the car is very restricted. The one saving grace is that the roads are fantastic, thanks to our EU contributions. We battled on to Thessalonikki and the uber cool hotel that was our home for the night. I had to keep reminding myself that we weren't in Italy yet. We had a view of the decaying, tatty dock area and so were able to remember that Greece is actually bankrupt.
We started to do the time trials this morning as I really wanted to see the hanging monasteries. This turned out to be a big mistake as the road was terrifying in an old car with poor brakes. The road twisted and turned and there were 1 in 3 drops. There had been lots of landslides and the road was in poor condition; full of potholes and covered in mud and gravel.. for the newer cars with better brakes and for the serious racer's it was a delight, of course. But we should not have attempted it. We gave up after about 50kms of terror and found a way to get back on the motorway. Phew, the relief of it. The net result was no hanging monasteries for me after years of wanting to see them. Oh well, we'll have to come back in a Hertz special.
We are now at the port waiting for the overnight ferry to Ancona, Italy. Arriving early we had a great lunch with a few companions and are now just waiting. My idea was to find a little sea front taverna with bobbing blue and white boats and fish straight out of the sea. The actuality was more like sitting on a roundabout, in the rain, under an umbrella. But, the food was great and all was very jolly.
The new road infrastructure here is incredible. How glad they must be that they are in the EU. Through the mountains we came through tunnel after tunnel; some over three kms long. The road cuts through everything and makes very light work of traversing a very large mountain range.
Tomorrow, Italy and a rush, as always, to get to Viarreggio and our hotel. There are time trials through 'Chiantishire' but, after today, the old car needs an easy time of it. So it is motorway for us. The benefit is that we will have time for lunch. This rally is getting just too decadent. Three lunches already in 34 days! I think that it is actually against the law to go through Italy and not have lunch.
If you have been looking at the results page on the main rally sight you may have noticed that we are consistently last. What a hoot! We love being last. It is really because we do not stick to timings and so collect huge penalties in not doing so. It is now a point of honour for us to remain last. Sod's law will probably mean that we creep up the table over the next few days. I do hope not though. In making the decision not to bother with time trials I always said that if we say that we have driven from Peking to Paris no one is going to ask 'what position were you?' But, now, I really want to be able to say 'we were last!' Making it to Paris is to win. There are 20 cars that have retired. At least we are still in. Now, if we can just remain at the bottom all will be well.
We are hoping for a little karaoke tonight. A sort of mini cruise for some clapped out Rallyer's. We need some jolly japes to gather strength for the last couple of days. What a feat and we're nearly there.
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