Greece 2015 (#6)

Part 6: May 13th – 16th

By Watracz Is Traveling

Day 18: Athens

May 13th, 2015

View day 16 route on Google Maps

Athens

I enter the center of Athens before 8 a.m. and I can hardly move in the crowded streets. The city is filled with cars, motorbikes, and scooters. It’s hard to get used to the number of vehicles and to moving on junctions ruled by chaos, where whoever’s stronger wins. Four columns of cars drive in three lanes, almost rubbing against one another, and scooters squeeze through in between. I’ve only seen things like that in videos made in India. It’s crazy. When I reach the parking lot by the Acropolis, I start to feel safer. I buy an entry ticket and stand at the end of the line that’s more than 100 people long.

Acropolis

I begin my tour with the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, one of the largest ancient odeons, where up to 6 thousand spectators could fit in the 32-row auditorium.

I pass the Temple of Athena Nike, then through the Propylaea, the gateway to the internal section of the Acropolis, and I reach the Parthenon: a temple built for Athena. It’s almost 70 meters long and over 30 meters tall. Renovation works are underway at the temple, cranes and scaffoldings are all around.

From the hill you can clearly see how big the capital of Greece is. The bright buildings of the urban center with 3.5-million residents stretch out all the way to the horizon.

After a walk through the Acropolis I head north-west, to the hill of Ares: the Areopagus, near the Church of the Holy Apostles.

Just a few dozen meters further stands the Hephaisteion, the temple of Hephaestus and Athena, built around 415 BC.

Continuing east through the excavations, I get to the Stoa of Attalos, a 116-meter-long structure that looks like a museum, and houses sculptures, coins, and other ancient works of art — or what’s left of them.

After taking a good look at the exhibition, I go to the Roman Agora, an ancient market located north of the Acropolis, where the Tower of the Winds stands; it’s an octagonal marble structure built in the middle of the 1st c. BC.

From there I head south, pass the Acropolis and enter the Theater of Dionysus.

Acropolis Museum

A few dozen meters south of the Acropolis stands the archaeology museum, opened fairly recently, in 2009. Photography is forbidden inside, but I manage to take out the camera a couple of times and snap some photos in secret. The museum is huge and going through it takes me more than an hour. Around 2 p.m. I take a lunch break and rest in one of the restaurants by the museum.

After lunch I turn south-west, to Mouseion Hill, with the Philopappos Monument. You can see the Acropolis in all its glory from here. On my way back I buy a souvenir T-shirt, wine, some sweets, and a few bottles of ouzo. I go back to the parking lot, get on my bike, and ride off to the next attraction.

National Archaeological Museum

This museum sits north of the Acropolis; it was built in 1889. It’s divided into a couple of sections, including sculptures, ceramics, and metallurgy. It’s one of the 10 most important museums in the world. It has approximately 20,000 exhibits, set in chronological order from the Neolithic age to the Roman period.

It’s after 5 p.m. now, and there’s almost nobody else inside, so I can take my time, take photos, and read through the descriptions in peace.

I really like the golden masks and a collection of jewelry from the 16th c. BC.

I finish my tour of the museum after 6 p.m., then I get on the bike and go back to the campsite. The city is much less crowded than it was in the morning. I take my supper, a shower, and get on with sorting the photos.

Day 19: Temple of Poseidon, Delphi, Larissa

May 14th, 2015

View day 19 route on Google Maps

My last day in Greece. Even though there are still a few places I want to see, I already feel like I’m going back to Poland. Around 8 a.m. I pack up my tent and head out towards the Temple of Poseidon, located some 70 kilometers away from Athens. The road takes me right by the sea. On the way I pass fishing villages, rocky beaches, and lazure seasides.

Temple of Poseidon

Around 11 I reach the temple on a hill, maybe 60 meters above sea level.

After visiting the ruins I stop for a bit in the shadows under the trees and take a sandwich break. Then I ride north, pass by the capital, and turn east. I arrive at the temple in Delphi at 4 p.m.

Delphi

I begin my tour with the Archaeological Museum built in 1903. The museum is pretty small and going through all the exhibit rooms takes me about 30 minutes.

The Dancers of Delphi (The Acanthus Column)

After leaving the museum I take a walk through the ruins of the old temple of the oracle, starting with the Roman agora. Then I take the Sacred Way, by the Athenian Treasury, reaching the ruins of the temple of Apollo, the actual seat of the Delphi oracle. All that’s left of the temple built in 4th c. BC are the foundations and a handful of columns.

Going on, just above the ruins of Delphi I reach the theater, which held 5 thousand spectators in its heyday.

At the top of the ruins sits a Roman stadium, almost 180 meters long. Every 4 years, the stadium was the location of the Pythian Games, the second most important after the Olympic Games.

I finish my sightseeing at 6 p.m. and ride further north, towards Poland. It’s about to get dark, so I’m wondering if it wouldn’t be better to set up a tent somewhere on the way, get some sleep, and then set out in the morning, but I keep going for now.

Around midnight I reach Larissa, and my bike starts acting up again; the motor turns off on the highway all of a sudden. I guess the Greeks didn’t do a great job fixing my alternator, and it’s not charging the battery properly. I stop at a gas station, take off the seat, connect the voltmeter and indeed, the charge is barely there. I can either risk it and keep going homewards like this, or go 200 kilometers west to Ioannina, where I could try to refurbish the alternator at the same place it was previously repaired. I decide to head for Poland after all. I turn off my heated grips, the full beams in my headlamps, and ride on, hoping it’ll be fine. In the early hours of the morning, completely exhausted, I get to the Macedonian border. I find a gas station, set up my tent in a truck parking lot, and go to sleep.

Day 20: Gevgelija, Kumanovo, Belgrade, Budapest

May 15th, 2015

View day 20 route on Google Maps

In the morning, I quickly get going. I pass through Macedonia, and before noon I reach Serbia. At the border, armed soldiers are searching every vehicle coming from the south. People are getting out of the cars, their luggages are pulled out, and dogs are sniffing the car interiors. I’m wondering if the amount of alcohol in my case isn’t above some legal threshold and if I’m going to get in trouble. The car in front of me is good to go, and it’s my turn. Asked if I have anything to declare, I reply I’m a tourist and have only the tent. Luckily, they don’t even look inside the case, and I can go.

Early in the afternoon I arrive in Belgrade and pay a visit to Miroslav and Sanja, who hosted me a few weeks back, not sparing delicious food and high-proof alcohol. I pay them back with sweets, wine, and ouzo. In turn, I get 2 bottles of homemade Rakija. Miroslav tries to convince me to stay with them longer, but the fact that I want to get home quickly trumps that and I get on my way. I lose quite a lot of time on the highway because of roadworks and multiple detours, but I eventually reach Hungary. I only stop to fill up the tank and eat. The further north I go, the colder it gets. In the small hours I’m way too tired to ride, and stop before the Slovakian border. I find a spot in a clearing, put up my tent quickly, and go to sleep.

Day 21: Banská Bystrica, Rabka-Zdroj, Krakow

May 16th, 2015

View day 21 route on Google Maps

After an early morning wake up, I quickly set out further north. It’s cold. I put on all the clothes that I can, including the rain suit, as I enter Slovakia. I go through Zvolen, Banská Bystrica, and Ruzomberok. I enter Poland in the afternoon. Even though it’s 20 degrees Celsius, I shiver with cold. I stop for lunch and order hot tea, mushroom soup, and a second course of potatoes, salad, and a cutlet as big as the plate. The whole thing sets me back PLN 23. I love Polish prices.

I guess my couple of weeks in the south decreased my tolerance of low temperatures. At the restaurant, I only take off the helmet and the gloves, and I keep on everything else. After lunch I ride to Rabka-Zdroj, then to Myslenice, and in the afternoon I finally reach Krakow.