Winter in Greece 2011
Many British people have visited Greece and have an idea of what it may be like to spend some time there. But what would it be like to spend winter there, in the motorhome? We did some research on the internet and asked other motorhomers about their experiences. A pretty mixed picture emerged. A full range of responses included a very negative 'There's nothing to see and everything is shut', and very positive ideas from websites with contributions from fans of Greece. Bob and Anne who actually lived here over a winter provided us with excellent advice. In the end we decided to just get on down here and experience it for ourselves. As we left the media were weighing in big style, riots in Athens and a collapsing economy.
Our experience so far has been very positive. The Greek people have proved to very warm and friendly and when the opportinity has arisen, extremely generous as well.
We left the UK the second weekend in November, having completed our visiting tour to see friends and family. I had my final appointment at the end of October in Norwich with the surgeon who undertook the operation on my foot in July. He tells me that everything is fine, but the post op process seems flawed. The bone ends hadn't yet united on the x-ray, "should be fine", he said. The advice for the previous 9 weeks had been, "essential walking only" and now he said I could play tennis. As I can't play tennis that would have been a miraculous result to the operation, and he wasn't even offering lessons. Anyway, all seems fine, I can walk and ride my bike pain free. I am pleased to be able to get on with life but no one is going near either of my feet again with any surgical tools. Thank you to everyone who asked how I was getting on.
We have adopted a 'no toll road policy' as we have few time restraints and you can see so much more from a National road compared with driving on a motorway. Following a day's drive from Turin across the north of Italy to Reggio Emilia we had to abandon this. The 'A' roads were very slow going, with numerous roundabouts, traffic lights and poor signposting which made navigation extremely difficult. On our second day we opted for the Autostrada, which was featureless, but reasonably priced compared to the Spanish and French motorways. We arrived in the port of Ancona, on Italy's eastern Adriatic coastline on a Sunday lunchtime. Mike advanced on the ticket office, looking for a good deal for the ferry to Greece. He was told that they were all fully booked for the next 10 days, but if he returned at 4PM he might get a cancellation space. We got on and paid €200 less than the internet price. As the camper deck is unavailable in winter we had a free cabin, free meal and an additional 20% off as we belonged to a camping club.
Our experience so far has been very positive. The Greek people have proved to very warm and friendly and when the opportinity has arisen, extremely generous as well.
We left the UK the second weekend in November, having completed our visiting tour to see friends and family. I had my final appointment at the end of October in Norwich with the surgeon who undertook the operation on my foot in July. He tells me that everything is fine, but the post op process seems flawed. The bone ends hadn't yet united on the x-ray, "should be fine", he said. The advice for the previous 9 weeks had been, "essential walking only" and now he said I could play tennis. As I can't play tennis that would have been a miraculous result to the operation, and he wasn't even offering lessons. Anyway, all seems fine, I can walk and ride my bike pain free. I am pleased to be able to get on with life but no one is going near either of my feet again with any surgical tools. Thank you to everyone who asked how I was getting on.
We have adopted a 'no toll road policy' as we have few time restraints and you can see so much more from a National road compared with driving on a motorway. Following a day's drive from Turin across the north of Italy to Reggio Emilia we had to abandon this. The 'A' roads were very slow going, with numerous roundabouts, traffic lights and poor signposting which made navigation extremely difficult. On our second day we opted for the Autostrada, which was featureless, but reasonably priced compared to the Spanish and French motorways. We arrived in the port of Ancona, on Italy's eastern Adriatic coastline on a Sunday lunchtime. Mike advanced on the ticket office, looking for a good deal for the ferry to Greece. He was told that they were all fully booked for the next 10 days, but if he returned at 4PM he might get a cancellation space. We got on and paid €200 less than the internet price. As the camper deck is unavailable in winter we had a free cabin, free meal and an additional 20% off as we belonged to a camping club.
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Snow on the peaks but not on the road
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Squeezed in with the lorries. This was the only time we had electric hook up until our first campsite in England in April
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Greece has proved to provide excellent opportunities for full timing in the winter. Free camping was made illegal a few years ago but we haven't been moved on as yet. We have parked in a variety of locations including, car parks, beaches, and marinas. When we were in Portugal last year we parked with up to 70 motorhomes on a car park and therefore the solitiude of our parking places in Greece took a bit of getting used to at first. We have met a few other campers, but for most of the time we've been on our own.
As usual we haven't really had a plan of where to go while here. We arrived at the port of Patras which is on the Peloponnese.
This is a large island to the south of Athens but before the Corinth Canal was completed, was attached to the mainland. Our research suggested that winter to the north of Athens could be very cold so we spent some time exploring the mainland
while the weather was mild and came back onto the Peloponnese, over the Corinth Canal in the middle of December.
As usual we haven't really had a plan of where to go while here. We arrived at the port of Patras which is on the Peloponnese.
This is a large island to the south of Athens but before the Corinth Canal was completed, was attached to the mainland. Our research suggested that winter to the north of Athens could be very cold so we spent some time exploring the mainland
while the weather was mild and came back onto the Peloponnese, over the Corinth Canal in the middle of December.
What 3T weight limit?
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The Corinth Canal is 4 miles long and there are several ways to cross it. There are two road bridges at the Corinth end. One is above the canal and the other is a submersible bridge with a 3 tonne weight limit. There is also another submersible bridge at Isthmia, at the opposite end of the canal. These bridges are lowered using a winch and cables when a boat approaches and raised again after the boat has passed. The base of the bridge is made out of wooden planks which were very slippery underfoot.
One evening we parked outside a campsite that was shut for the winter. We'd been there about 10 minutes when a man approached, wearing blue overalls, and yellow wellington boots. He had two dogs with him. He walked round the outside of the van and nodded an acknowledgment to us. I immediately thought we were going to be thrown off for trespassing, Mike opened the door and said hello in Greek.
The man introduced himself as Theo, asked where we were from and offered us an electricity supply from the closed bar outside the campsite, which we declined. About half an hour later, he returned with an armful of homegrown mandarins and half a litre of home brew wine.
We accepted the gifts and chatted a until he left. We settled down for the evening but after an hour he was back again, he joined us in the van for a few minutes and then invited us to his house for a coffee. We accepted and were introduced to his wife, Maria, daughter, Katerina and his brother in law. His youngest son was at an after school class studying ancient Greek and Roman history. Another son was away doing eight months compulsory national service. The news was on T.V when we first arrived, Angela Merkel in full flow, elicited dark looks and mutterings from Maria and her brother. Katerina spoke English fluently and acted as interpreter when the miming and gesticulating failed. It was so good to chat to a Greek family about Greece and learn something of their culture and way of life. We progressed from coffee to walnuts, Grappa, wine and then supper, which consisted of bread, olive oil, hard boiled eggs, olives, and tinned tuna. The only item not made in the home or grown on their land was the tuna. Theo built up a roaring fire and we had an excellent evening. Such generosity to us new visitors to Greece.
Duck houses in Galadaxi harbour
We parked for a couple of nights alongside a couple of Greek motorhomes at a town on the mainland called Galaxidi. One of them hada brand new generator on the ground outside. In any other country it would probably have been stolen, but apart from this we couldn't understand what it was needed for. It went on for just 10 minutes in the morning. On our second day the occupants offered us a cup of espresso. Mystery solved on the
generator. Serious coffee addicts.
We arrived at Gytheo in the south of the Peloponnese on Christmas Eve. Over the course of the day we got chatting to Phillipos who was fishing next to the van. When he invited us to join him for supper that evening we
readily agreed. He took us out on Christmas eve to his local where we had Souvlaki and chips served in newspaper. Delicious. He refused to take any contribution towards the bill, so when we went out with him again the following evening we were determined it must be our treat. Supper this time was griddled octopus and a mullet, both caught by him. I dutifully ate most of this as Mike couldn't due to his fish 'allergy', he ordered a Gyros instead. When it came to paying the bill, Phillip was starting to get a bit hot under the collar when Mike insisted on paying so we had to agree to pay for a carafe of wine and coca cola at €2.70. We returned to Gytheo in the New Year and contacted Phillip to see if we could take him out. We were joined by Ellie and Bastian, a German couple we had met and Gilbert, a Frenchman. The six of us had a fabulous evening and Mike and I managed to pay for Phillip but the next day the Frenchman complained that it was too cheap!
generator. Serious coffee addicts.
We arrived at Gytheo in the south of the Peloponnese on Christmas Eve. Over the course of the day we got chatting to Phillipos who was fishing next to the van. When he invited us to join him for supper that evening we
readily agreed. He took us out on Christmas eve to his local where we had Souvlaki and chips served in newspaper. Delicious. He refused to take any contribution towards the bill, so when we went out with him again the following evening we were determined it must be our treat. Supper this time was griddled octopus and a mullet, both caught by him. I dutifully ate most of this as Mike couldn't due to his fish 'allergy', he ordered a Gyros instead. When it came to paying the bill, Phillip was starting to get a bit hot under the collar when Mike insisted on paying so we had to agree to pay for a carafe of wine and coca cola at €2.70. We returned to Gytheo in the New Year and contacted Phillip to see if we could take him out. We were joined by Ellie and Bastian, a German couple we had met and Gilbert, a Frenchman. The six of us had a fabulous evening and Mike and I managed to pay for Phillip but the next day the Frenchman complained that it was too cheap!
Phillipos withwhat became our supper on Christmas Day
In winter many tavernas are closed for the season, but the locals still eat out. The meals have been reasonably priced for us but for many greeks in the current economic climate a taverna meal has become too expensive.
When choosing a meal most restaurants don't offer a full menu and so we have been invited into the kitchen to choose what we would like to eat. This gives us the opportunity to see if the 'pock' or 'pick' is cooked as a stew and if the 'mitt' is 'biff' or 'lamp.' When we visited Athens recently we saw 'leaver' on the menu. *
Our next decision has to be where to go next? We haven't made up our minds yet. We may stay a bit longer and wait for some milder spring weather. (The north of Greece recently had 1.5m of snow). We are also thinking about driving or taking a ferry to Turkey.
*Pork, pig, meat, beef, lamb, liver-just in case I've lost you at this point.
When choosing a meal most restaurants don't offer a full menu and so we have been invited into the kitchen to choose what we would like to eat. This gives us the opportunity to see if the 'pock' or 'pick' is cooked as a stew and if the 'mitt' is 'biff' or 'lamp.' When we visited Athens recently we saw 'leaver' on the menu. *
Our next decision has to be where to go next? We haven't made up our minds yet. We may stay a bit longer and wait for some milder spring weather. (The north of Greece recently had 1.5m of snow). We are also thinking about driving or taking a ferry to Turkey.
*Pork, pig, meat, beef, lamb, liver-just in case I've lost you at this point.
