The pilgrimage continues further eastwards, this time through Greece from Igoumenitsa to Pireas. I started mid october and walked 17 days.The tour was 460 km and luckily mostly along coastlines. I didn't have to walk up and down that many steep hills! The greek orthodox church is not at all involved with pilgrimages so it was up to me to find the accommodation, sometimes unsuccessfully. The weather was mostly good and I met many interesting greeks. All in all a very good pilgrimage.
Click on the first picture to start the lightbox slideshow with commentary.
Click on the first picture to start the lightbox slideshow with commentary.
The harbour in Igoumenitsa.
Early next morning breakfast in the harbour terminal.
I left town at dawn.
Honey season seems to be over.
Here the cows seem to be in charge.
The tourist city of Parga is just behind the cape.
Oleander flowers.
Wrachos Beach was almost empty this time of the year.
I was the only hotelguest. Here I'm trying to send some messages back home. The mobile signals were very weak.
The Preveza harbour wasn't that crowded either.
A fisherman selling todays catch.
And another one trying to catch fish themselves.
You weren't allowed to walk through the tunnel. Some officials were very kind and offered me a ride in their car, thanks!
A lot of new motorways are being built despite the ongoing financial crisis.
Vonitsa. Typical fishing boats in the Ambracian Gulf.
Scenery from the hotel balcony.
Typical greek dinner: Greek salad, souvlaki, bread and wine. Needed also water after a hard days walk. Baclava as dessert.
A new beautiful day in Greece.
But the hard shoulder looked more like a dumping ground.
Here live the former citizens of Amfilochia.
There were many birds living in these swamplike small lakes.
A vagabond slept here.
The endstation for a bike in Agrinio.
Dressed for light rain.
Almost all cafes had free wifi.
Here You can cross by tollbridge or ferry.
It was thanksgiving in a couple of days. I didn't know greeks celebrated the holiday.
A grounded Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.
171 kilometers to Athens.
Traditional dish in Greece: stifado, usually made with rabbit meat.
It´s easy to build roads near the coast because it is very flat compared to the inland.
Having an after lunch powernap.
This 5o5 has not been in the water for a long time.
On october 28th greeks celebrate ohi day, usually by parading. That day 1940 the prime minister of Greece said "ohi!" (eng. no!) to an ultimatum set by italian nazis.
The ancient town of Acrocorinth, now just ruins.
The Corinth Canal. 6,4 km long, width 24,6 m and depth 8 m.
Diolkos trackway, built in 6th century B.C, enabled boats to be moved overlands from the Aegean Sea to the Ionian Sea.
The walls are about 50 meters high.
Time for a short break.
The result of the financial crisis.
Hotel Siagas, Agii Theodori. Turqoise water and an empty beach.
No place for mistakes here!
This man was biking home to Switzerland.
Onboard the ferry to the Isle of Salamina.
No restaurants here, but a fully stocked supermarket!
The final ferry trip to Pireas.
In these waters around 480 B.C. king Leonidas defeated the Persian navy led by Xerxes.
The Holy Trinity Cathedral was the former landmark of Pireus.
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