A long drive...

 

Apparently there were wild boar in the hills - but we didn't see any!

Aimile gingerly made her way down the mountain and back to the main road and we bore off left heading for the distant hills. We had to traverse the serious mountains indicated by the blank patch on the road atlas. It was steady climbing and the houses and farms were thinning out and reflecting the tough living conditions up at this altitude and distance from civilisation. I made sure we had a full tank of petrol as the stations were getting fewer and farther apart and this was not place to run out. The border, when we reached it, was pretty small. No questions, we were waved to a bay with a table and ordered to empty the car. we never found out what they thought they were looking for, but poked into everything and their dog sniffed everything and moved on to the next victim. 

One remaining hurdle, would Greek customs take us apart. Since Brexit any parcels coming into Greece had been held up and scrutinised and taxed. It was a chilly blustery day at that altitude, which encouraged the officials to stay indoors. Aimile rolled up to the Greek building and a sliding window shot up and a head sporting unruly blond curls thrust itself out and shouted, 'Oh what a lovely car' She came out in full uniform, gun on hip, obviously more interested in the car than any possible taxes. Questions about Aimile followed, how old was she? Where had we travelled?  How did she drive? Photos too. I guess we were back in Greece and much relieved. It was all down hill to Ioannina. A faint air of anti-climax and by contrast achievement. We weren't actually home, but being on Greek soil felt like home. It was completed by the hotel receptionist recommending a traditional Greek restaurant serving oven cooked dishes at a counter where you picked what you fancied. Wholesome Greek family cooking.

The lake at Ioanina - grey as always, but diving Grebes gave us a great display

Fortunately we were up early for breakfast as it soon became obvious we had made a complete bags of our calculations for the drive to Pireaus and catch the ferry at 16.00. It was all of an 8 hour drive and we had to keep pressing on. There is a new motorway from Ioannina to the equally new and beautiful bridge at Rio across the gulf of Corinth. Ioannina lived up to its reputation and provided the only real day of rain in the 50 days we were away. We saw very little of the mountains and scenery on the way down as it was shrouded in cloud, even the Rio Bridge is blurred in the photos we took. We were never going to manage the 16.00 ferry, but there was another at 17.30, that was possible. We managed it with 1/2 an hour to spare. This would put us back on Syros by 22.00. Not ideal, but we could live with it.

Chris

It was a long, long drive through heavy driving rain. But Chris was determined to sleep in his own bed that night. I'd decided not to go back home until the blog writing was finished and and had come down to earth a bit. It had been quite a ride... Chris could relax at home, but if I went back I would be straight into work! And anyway, I'd be leaving again for a course in London in just over a week. On the ferry we spent our last few Euros on some fast food, beer and wine. The sea was rough and the boat seemed slow. We were last on the boat and first off. The purser started calling for us over the PA system as we were holding up all the trucks. 

We needed milk but had no cash. So first a trip to an ATM, only to find both our Greek accounts were down to just a few Euros - no wonder the cards had stopped working! A hastily selected bottle of wine turned out to be sweet - but Chris found a bottle of bubbly in his fridge, which seemed an appropriate way to mark the occasion.

We'd done it - after fifty days, we were home!   Jacky