Into Greece!

After the weeks of preparation and public commitment that "we're going in early May", I've got into the habit of looking at Dawn and saying, "This is it, we're here, we're doing it!". It's true to say that we never quite lost the faith but it wore a bit thin when the more I looked at the Landy, the more that I found to do; jobs that I couldn't have left.

The geography of Greece is truly amazing as it is absolutely spectacular with huge mountains plunging into the sea. It's not the Alps, but when you look around and everything is at least 1,500m and many many peaks are well over 2,000m, it is quite an eyeful. As an example, yesterday we reached the coast just below our previous campsite at Delphi. The road took us along the beach and then headed up and up, round hairpins and seemingly ever upwards. It was so high, easily over 1,000m, that it began to feel just a bit too airy and then we were off inland over a high area of cool pasture. That road gave us clear views across the Gulf of Corinth to the Peloponnese at the other side. That's our destination for the next few weeks.
We had spent our first three nights in Greece at a beachside campsite near Mt Olympus and there we did very little - behaving very much like the locals working in the campsite, who should have emptied the toilet paper bins in the campsite loos and picked up the litter on their bit of beach right in front of the taverna.
We had topsy-turvey weather, with a lot of rain one day. That's when I started to worry again about the Landy roof leak. I had thought that once we were in Greece I wouldn't need to worry about the weather "Rain, what's rain?".
The barman at the taverna is the uncle of Panos, who had greeted us at the campsite reception and showed us to the beachside pitch. Uncle-of-Panos was obviously saving himself for a gruelling summer season, because he did absolutely nothing all day and evening. That probably explains why he needs to charge €3 for a bottle of Mythos. I can't find the translation into Greek for "Happy Hour" but there was no sort of pre-season shakedown to test bar capacity. Readers won't be surprised to hear that I was happy to buy the rest of my Mythoses at the supermarket outside the camp gates ( apparently owned and run by another of Panos' uncles who's not on speaking terms with uncle number 1).
The weather hasn't been particularly settled and perhaps the profusion of flowers is even more intense than normal as a result of the rain. It's lovely to look at because it's all so big. There's Oliander all over, in gardens and hedgerows, along the side of the road and Bouganvilia climbing up the trees and shrubs.
Camping at the beach is a wonderful experience and you find yourself looking out to sea and on occasions there's a reward. Here it would be Dolphins. We saw them first cruising along the coast, with the telltale arched backs and fin above the water. They were quite a way out but I know from watching the Moray Firth Dolphins from the work b&b in Spey Bay, that theses Greek ones were bigger.
Later they appeared again but this time put on the sort of show that I've only seen in photographs. They jumped clear of the water, splashing back on their bellies. Once or twice they managed to snap back to hit the water nose-on. It was a great watch, just a pity that it's not caught on camera.
So on Thursday last week we got up ready for a straightforward day's drive south. The clouds were menacing over 2,700m Mt. Olympus, but it never rains on the coast does it? Well it did today.
My Geography teacher at LMS, Mr Dudley, defined the Meditterranean climate simply as HASW3. I've never forgotten that. It stands for Hot Arid Summer Warm Wet Winter. Mr Dudley was very particular and said that for Arid we should really use Dry. Now there is clearly a difference between arid and dry. Dry implies some rain.
After a wet night and a brief interlude for breakfast, we had just got packed up and the heavens opened. Being the experienced wet packer-up-er-ers that we are, we loaded-up and headed towards Delphi and tried to avoid the motorway for the first hour or two. Our sightseeing-through-the-window was frequently interrupted by what were now cascades of water coming from the front of the Landy. The tiny leak through somewhere in the roof must have let water in again. We were more than a match for the trickles of earlier days, but this didn't seem to stop; it was much more than what could have leaked in during the night. "It must be coming in as we travel", we both agreed.
I stopped at a filling station and guess what - it's Thursday and on Thursdays Shell have an offer. Today it's V-Power diesel for the same price as the standard stuff. At €1.189 per litre it was a bargain - bingo!! Putting V-Power diesel into an ageing 300TDi is a bit like putting Viagra into an ageing...
Not only did the filling station guy put a tiger in our tank, he also told me where I could find a hardware shop, namely a branch of Leroy Merlin the famous French chain. There I planned to do some shopping for Landy roof leak stopper.
So we continued across the high plain, through the Greek hinterland.  It's remarkably similar to China - no I mean it. Swap Greeks for Chinese and everything else is the same. The towns we passed through are a complexity of houses, shops, mechanical repair places and small industries. There's quite a bustle about the places and no obvious signs of an imminent crisis. Yes there are many buildings and areas of ground that seem unfinished, but I genuinely remember that this is a feature of many Southern European towns.
As we drove along one of the main roads through Larisa, I was amazed to see the Holy Grail of home mechanics (and professionals) alike. I let out a loud "Oooh" and pointed to a beautiful shop front sign: Würth. I've never seen a Würth shop but I do know that they have loads of gear for the automotive specialist. So I put the Landy into a handbrake turn and we went and parked outside. Lots of discussion followed and then I was the proud owner of a tube of top quality silicone seal and a mastic gun far better than my trusty one at home. "This is our cheapest version, but I can still do you a good price". €17 later I was leaving happily.

Delphi is one of the must-see sights of Ancient Greece. It's apparently the centre of the earth and this location was determined by Zeus (Jupiter) who was asked where it was. He arranged for two eagles to be trained so that they flew at exactly the same speed. Then he had one taken to the edge of the earth where the sun sets and the other to where the sun rises. On his command, the two birds were released at the same time and flew towards each other. The place where they met marked the position where Delphi was constructed.
The campsite chosen by SWMBO was perfectly perched on the steep hillside just below Delphi and very far above the olive groves and coastal town of Itea on the Gulf of Corinth. We had an infinity view. It was breathtaking. A beautiful campsite with hardly anyone else there. The view extended from the mountains of NW Greece on the right across to the sea and with the mountains of the Peloponnese across the gulf. The temperature was into the 20C and as John Kettley would have said, " perfect unstable air for a cracking thunderstorm). Singing - "John Kettley is a weatherman, a weatherman, a weatherman. John Kettley is a weatherman and so is Michael Fish". (If that song has gone swoosh over your head, then you're just not old enough).

So having taken our wet tent down just in time in the morning, we got it erected just in time in the late afternoon before the mother of all thunderstorms got started. First it was fun as it was in the mountains across the valley but then it came nearer and the flashes got more intense. Home cooking was cancelled and we hid in the tent. If I had a pound for every time this has happened on camping trips, I'd be a wealthy man. The rain persisted down and we eventually made a run for the camp taverna and there the heating was on and the lamb tasted great.
Of course the Würth sealant remained unused in its tube.
That night the flashes continued but the rain stopped and the only noise was the church bells; two sets of chimes each hour, one from one bell and one from another - separated by an inexplicable 4 minutes. I guess the time keeper of the church clocks was also waiting for busy season!
Delphi is an amazing set of ruins / excavations including the Temple of Apollo, amphitheatre and the Stadium where the early competitive athletics were staged. We got ahead of the coach tours and the heat of the day and had a good walk up and then down the step hillside on which the early remains have been located.

Later we went into the beautiful museum into which hundreds of artefacts have been transferred for safekeeping and display. These range from tiny trinkets, through warrior headgear, to larger than life statues of brave men and women. Well they were so well endowed they were bound to be brave.
I tried to take some photographs of Dawn and the statues but ever time I did, one of the museum attendants came over and stopped me. I got a bit rattled by this as other people seemed to manage. There were some Chinese that were taking photos of all sorts of stuff. It was only later, discussing this at the campsite with Mich, a new Landy friend, that we discovered the attendants weren't saying "no photos", they were saying "no posing"! Apparently Dawn wasn't allowed to pose in front of the statues! Bizarre!
It was a pleasure to go down the road to the campsite and to "that view". The weather was great and Dawn indulged in some "infinity cooking" of aubergine, peppers, courgette and two huge pork chops.

Meanwhile, I had a new friend Mich, 25 years in the REME and 25 years outside it. He had a haircut like David Bowie and knows a lot about Defenders. I borrowed a step ladder from the nice man at the site office and scraped the three joints across and along the roof and then applied the Würth sealant. It's a job well done - the only problem is that it hasn't rained since so I can't be sure.
It was too good to last. Our idyllic campsite was the target of a convoy of Dutch caravanners and mobile homers. They all arrived at the same time and shattered the atmosphere. They took ages deciding where to position themselves, calling out, organising each other. They surrounded another Dutch tent and the only other Dutch people on the site were not amused either.

Once they got settled it was out with the satellite dishes. Presumably they can't get enough of Holland - either by travelling together and only speaking to other Dutch people or by watching Dutch TV, in Greece! Whilst we were sitting out marvelling at the mountainous sillouette at dusk, they were in their motorhomes watching telly!

It was a lovely site and a fantastic setting. However the Peloponesse beckons and so we left on Saturday 30th heading for the Corinth Canal.