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Sometimes the hotel tries too hard to be helpful. Like when they iron your under armour..... :)
https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7707/2...b5b39413_b.jpgDelphi by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
LOL!!
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The road to the Greek border from the west coast is again up and over a windy mountain pass that lets out into a huge valley.
https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7454/2...a8ed1d31_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-05 at 12.58.35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7201/2...27f67532_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-05 at 12.59.15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7393/2...e80e51c6_b.jpgMeteora CC-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Here the road meets the main highway that ends at Kakavia. https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7379/2...025830fb_b.jpgMeteora CC-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
You drive up to the passport control of Albania, where they want your passport and bike title. Here they stamp your passport and cancel the computer TVIP.
https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7208/2...57f4c17e_b.jpgMeteora CC by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7397/2...2a552a56_b.jpgMeteora CC-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7271/2...a981e330_b.jpgMeteora CC-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Next there is a short drive to the Greek passport control. They only want your passport here. The agent was so funny when I pulled up beside Dan at the checkpoint he gave me a big thumbs up and said “Sara you are a long way from home”. As he was reviewing our documents he was asking Dan questions about our trip. Then he grinned and said “ clearly you are spies”. Passports stamped back into the Schengen zone. YEAH!
https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7055/2...d59a5f84_b.jpgMeteora CC-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7007/2...a30610ab_b.jpgMeteora CC-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
The last part of the high mountain pass the sign says “drive at your own risk”. Here we saw no oncoming vehicles, there were some rough patches and loose gravel, and at the end a huge step down across the entire road. When we got to the other end it is actually blocked from traffic entering that way.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7573/2...8a8a035e_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-05 at 13.03.06 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7018/2...9fbdb6aa_b.jpgMeteora CC-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Snowplow station https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7208/2...3734dd4a_b.jpgMeteora CC-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr You can see the rocks of Meteora from about 20 km away. The view is really stunning. https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7526/2...3df92514_b.jpgMeteora CC-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7372/2...ea72ddb7_b.jpgMeteora CC-16 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7390/2...34d9b970bd.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-05 at 13.06.49 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
“The Metéora, literally "middle of the sky", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above" is one of the most spectacular and unique rock formations in the world. Immense monolithic pillars and hills like huge rounded boulders dominate the local area.
It is also associated with one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of Eastern Orthodox monasteries in Greece. The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly in central Greece.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteora We arrived in late afternoon, but did get a chance to check out some of the monastery views. https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7417/2...69639d9a_b.jpgMeteora-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7098/2...1fb8bae2_b.jpgMeteora by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7232/2...c8f390cb_b.jpgMeteora-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7129/2...0d3af713_b.jpgMeteora-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7329/2...a6bcf89c_b.jpgMeteora-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7115/2...897a50cb_b.jpgMeteora-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7316/2...fdee3074_b.jpgMeteora-42 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7228/2...05858000_b.jpgMeteora-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7460/2...51cbc5c8_b.jpgMeteora-41 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7392/2...536046a3_b.jpgMeteora-40 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7655/2...075c3646_b.jpgMeteora-39 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7431/2...61f8131d_b.jpgMeteora-38 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7362/2...464bac9b_b.jpgMeteora-37 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7626/2...16104e97_b.jpgMeteora-36 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7256/2...a08eee58_b.jpgMeteora-35 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7447/2...451cc2fa_b.jpgMeteora-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7107/2...16c312f1_b.jpgMeteora-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7702/2...f51cfee2_b.jpgMeteora-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7380/2...f28b827e_b.jpgMeteora-34 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7028/2...06e8eee8_b.jpgMeteora-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7313/2...8723a413_b.jpgMeteora-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7433/2...8df8615a_b.jpgMeteora-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7375/2...17c9c13a_b.jpgMeteora-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7338/2...d3ab75ed_b.jpgMeteora-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We visited the monastery of the Holy Trinity by climbing up thru the rock.
https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7326/2...e8b0929c_b.jpgMeteora-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7792/2...a314b678_b.jpgMeteora-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7546/2...940b6be3_b.jpgMeteora-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7428/2...f1e3c3f2_b.jpgMeteora-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7797/2...920c35c6_b.jpgMeteora-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7606/2...15ce7e91_b.jpgMeteora-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7321/2...350e74b8_b.jpgMeteora-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7339/2...a28bc355_b.jpgMeteora-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7041/2...b5cc623d_b.jpgMeteora-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7251/2...9cde3b38_b.jpgMeteora-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7317/2...25a15a87_b.jpgMeteora-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7298/2...28d661c1_b.jpgMeteora-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7769/2...6cf2887c_b.jpgMeteora-19 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7627/2...bf6203fe_b.jpgMeteora-17 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7288/2...99d06656_b.jpgMeteora-18 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c2.staticflickr.com/8/7509/2...24ed0ba0_b.jpgMeteora-20 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
And a few night shots.
https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7292/2...7188af85_b.jpgMeteora-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7408/2...b87c81eb_b.jpgMeteora-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
Our next destination is Delphi, which you could reach in just over 3 hours on the highway. We planned a better route south thru the mountains with a stop in Agrinio. This took us just about 6 hours for 233 km.
https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7401/2...26f7a651_z.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-06 at 19.14.03 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7766/2...59780939_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-06 at 19.14.44 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr I would say for 5 of these hours we saw less then 5 other vehicles on the road. https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7208/2...eeb12b76_b.jpgAgrino CC by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7419/2...1cefbcdd_b.jpgAgrino CC-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7328/2...ecea1cc7_b.jpgDelphi-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We did see lots of cows, sheep, goats, and debris on the road.
https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7792/2...03e76ca8_b.jpgAgrino CC-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7325/2...155c1b29_b.jpgAgrino CC-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7565/2...6c9d2121_b.jpgAgrino CC-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr There was a short dirt road section in the middle, but this is civilized Greece and the road is a road and there was even trash cans out at the end of the driveways for what was obviously routine collection trucks. https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7412/2...d4432810_b.jpgAgrino CC-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7340/2...50f33c41_b.jpgDelphi-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7682/2...ed1b8f22_b.jpgAgrino CC-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
We went up and over several mountain passes and past aqua blue lakes.
https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7425/2...fae2841d_b.jpgAgrino CC-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7196/2...19ee9f07_b.jpgAgrino CC-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7564/2...5d3c0cdb_b.jpgDelphi-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7793/2...f36efac1_b.jpgAgrino CC-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We had picked Agrinio not for its appear, but for the great deal on heels here. Our Greek friends say it is the ugliest city in Greece, but it was nice actually. |
We had a short 180 km to get to delphi and small village on the side of Mount Parnassus.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7668/2...ed42f6a2_b.jpgScreen Shot 2016-06-06 at 17.23.13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr We are headed here to see the 4th century BC ruins of the temple of Apollo. We took the small secondary roads for the first half. Again we saw 1 car. There were some very steep tight switchbacks like a mini Stelvio. https://c5.staticflickr.com/8/7271/2...3fc9de18_b.jpgDelphi CC by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7418/2...249d2f9c_b.jpgDelphi CC-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7743/2...4ffc0cdb_b.jpgDelphi CC-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7036/2...1e3efdce_b.jpgDelphi CC-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7371/2...cbca2dfa_b.jpgDelphi CC-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
You will ride thru thousands of olive trees.
https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7347/2...6c710bdf_b.jpgDelphi CC-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr Where else do you ride into Olympic Hotel and really mean it. And of course the family run place is owned by Nick the Greek! https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7719/2...96a63e59_b.jpgDelphi-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7747/2...4b4d5584_b.jpgDelphi-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr |
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