Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:03 am
* September 15, 2008, morning, Astakos, Greece: Upon leaving the hotel in Itea, I noticed my initials on their doors - cool! Wow, it actually rained! There was even a few bolts of lightning - a welcome sight, as it’s been weeks since I’ve seen rain. Temps are cooler too! I decided to stay in the Port of Astakos yesterday at the Hotel Stratos, which was probably built in the 50’s, and it was $50/night. Decent older place with plenty of plants and charm, but no internet, although, “There is internet café up the street” the hotel clerk said. At dusk there was 27 kazillion birds partying in the neighboring trees and the sound was almost deafening - they were having fun! Oh yeah, and Greece has these extremely-loud crickets of some sort. They were especially noticeable in Serres and Athens. The Hotel Stratos room key is straight out of the past too in the form of a basic, skeleton key, which makes me concerned about leaving things in the room. The view from my deck is stellar! Dinner was pizza at a street taverna and I took half of it with me for the next day. Breakfast this morn was somewhat typical, but no eggs or yogurt, however there was green Jello(?) and the milk at least looked like moo juice, but it tasted odd, so I don’t know if it was sour or goat milk.
I found a few archeological sites yesterday, but it was frustrating as there were no mileages to the spots, and sometimes the signs vanished. One sight was closed indefinitely for repairs and the theater site closed at 2pm, and I of course got there at 3pm. Dang. And check out the modded Mercedes and Datsun hearses. I came across numerous churches that all had adjacent graveyards. Look at the older couple who died in their 80’s - they had such a pleasant smile - they looked like happy people. The numerous churches/graveyards started making me feel mortal, then the song “Dust In The Wind” came on and added to the feeling. We’re all so insignificant and life is a one-lap race - with no practice laps. I still have a number of things to do and places to see before I croak. I’m thankful I’m doing a few of them now. What will your legacy or mark on life be?
I’ll say it again, Europe has all the cool bikes! Danno, there are Trans-Alps everywhere! Check out the awesome Honda 650 supermoto! The Yamaha DT200 was owned by the big guy on the right playing Cribbage. None of us could speak the other’s language, but we all had fun trying, especially the old dude in the background - he was funny. They all had a good laugh at my expense when I hit my head on their sign too.
I got a much-needed haircut today (from a barber named John, pronounced 'Yawnee') and still need to call up Hertz and see which port I can drop off their car and catch a ferry to Italy from. Astakos has a ferry and is a nice port, but no Hertz.
-Tom
Nice initials!
Another beautiful coastline. Oh, ignore the mattress and other trash on the right.
Check out the huge, killer bridge that crossed over the straits to Patra!
This pic is dedicated to Mark "Kato" Kariya!
Unfortunately it was closed for repairs.
Another closed ruins.
After taking the theatre pic, this island-sized machine rounded the corner behind me at a high rate of speed - look at the claws on the front of it! I got my ass back in the car and jetted - taking a pic at the same time! I'm sure it was driven by some local having fun scaring tourists. It worked. I used to run heavy equipment, but never anything like that.
If this was prime, I'd hate to see sub prime!
The view from my deck at the Hotel Stratos in Port of Astakos.
It was a beautiful night. Of the pic of the three ladies below, the middle was my waitress, and the two outside ladies happened to be strolling by and they were very proud that they were sisters. The blonde below is the daughter of the waitress.
I found a few archeological sites yesterday, but it was frustrating as there were no mileages to the spots, and sometimes the signs vanished. One sight was closed indefinitely for repairs and the theater site closed at 2pm, and I of course got there at 3pm. Dang. And check out the modded Mercedes and Datsun hearses. I came across numerous churches that all had adjacent graveyards. Look at the older couple who died in their 80’s - they had such a pleasant smile - they looked like happy people. The numerous churches/graveyards started making me feel mortal, then the song “Dust In The Wind” came on and added to the feeling. We’re all so insignificant and life is a one-lap race - with no practice laps. I still have a number of things to do and places to see before I croak. I’m thankful I’m doing a few of them now. What will your legacy or mark on life be?
I’ll say it again, Europe has all the cool bikes! Danno, there are Trans-Alps everywhere! Check out the awesome Honda 650 supermoto! The Yamaha DT200 was owned by the big guy on the right playing Cribbage. None of us could speak the other’s language, but we all had fun trying, especially the old dude in the background - he was funny. They all had a good laugh at my expense when I hit my head on their sign too.
I got a much-needed haircut today (from a barber named John, pronounced 'Yawnee') and still need to call up Hertz and see which port I can drop off their car and catch a ferry to Italy from. Astakos has a ferry and is a nice port, but no Hertz.
-Tom
Nice initials!
Another beautiful coastline. Oh, ignore the mattress and other trash on the right.
Check out the huge, killer bridge that crossed over the straits to Patra!
This pic is dedicated to Mark "Kato" Kariya!
Unfortunately it was closed for repairs.
Another closed ruins.
After taking the theatre pic, this island-sized machine rounded the corner behind me at a high rate of speed - look at the claws on the front of it! I got my ass back in the car and jetted - taking a pic at the same time! I'm sure it was driven by some local having fun scaring tourists. It worked. I used to run heavy equipment, but never anything like that.
If this was prime, I'd hate to see sub prime!
The view from my deck at the Hotel Stratos in Port of Astakos.
It was a beautiful night. Of the pic of the three ladies below, the middle was my waitress, and the two outside ladies happened to be strolling by and they were very proud that they were sisters. The blonde below is the daughter of the waitress.