Tag 51-53 - Heading for New Shores!

Hello! Our thirst for adventure is far from quenched, and after our (very short) detour to Austria, we decided to head straight for our final destination: Greece.

So we set off for Venice and boarded the ferry. Unfortunately, there is no option to camp onboard during the off-season, and for over 50 days, we had to spend the first night outside of Gretchen. This short break was well deserved.

As a result, Gretchen handled the journey better than we did. Even before it started, we went through a true odyssey. And it should traditionally take place on the sea, not in the harbor... To board, one of us had to bring Gretchen to the deck while the other had to go through security. I have no idea why the passenger (in our case, without luggage but with flip-flops) was being screened, but Gretchen with all of our things and the driver was not. It wouldn't have been so bad if we had been informed that I could not simply get back in the car after the security check, but had to board separately. As a result, I had nothing on me except for my passport and ticket, and it took a long time to load the cars. I ended up freezing, without a way to contact Jan and with the irrational worry that we would end up on different ferries. The crew spoke little to no English, so they couldn't tell me where I could find my car or its driver. Luckily, Jan managed to board with our luggage for the night after about an hour in the car queue.

The journey took 26 hours and was quite boring. We used the time to plan a makeshift travel route and find a climbing area for the first few days. At least we found a large sofa near the reception where we spent the night in sleeping bags under bright lights.

The next afternoon, Greece was already in sight, and after some waiting and malfunctioning elevators, we were able to embrace Gretchen again. Finally, we had to wait in the car at the port of Igoumenitsa for a good hour because a truck blocked our way.

Anyway, we were finally in Greece - the country we had admired in pictures before our trip, the country known as the birthplace of democracy, and last but not least, the country where the climbing mecca of Leonidio is located, which was one of our central goals from the beginning.

Relieved, we realized that the weather was much better than we feared (the travel guide mentioned snow in the winter) and headed for Parga to take advantage of this. We took a first look at the beach, picked a few mandarins, and then found a place to spend the night.

We found a large parking lot that used to be a small campground - only the half-collapsed reception and an abandoned toilet house were evidence of that. Now the area serves as a parking space for boats and cars for the locals, not to mention a garbage dump. Not the most romantic atmosphere, but you can't have it all.

The next day, the beach more than made up for the night, and it was so warm that we could actually swim and sunbathe. We didn't give ourselves much rest because Jan, in particular, was eager to get back on the rocks after such a long climbing hiatus.

We reached Pyli, a climbing area near Meteora, by country roads where we had to stop over and over again to admire the view. But more about that in the next entry.

Until then, stay tuned and sunbathe on!