//Day 41 /21-04-22 /Leptokarya-Volos

The day could not have been more different then yesterday. 

After my squid, Greek salad and retsina I had a good sleep. I woke up quite early, packed and had even time for a coffee on my balcony with seaview. The sun was shining so I hopped into my shorts. I packed Black Horse and started cycling. I had plotted a route via small roads only. Initially the route included 2100 meters of ascent but I was able to replot my route, still on small roads, and reduce climbing meters with 50%….During the day it would go up and down with at the end of the day a climb of 600 meters.

Cycling today was just great. Today’s main traffic were tractors and other agricultural riding devices. Almost no cars or people on the road. The first stretch I followed the coastline but after sometime I started cycling the hinterland. The sun left me around 10 in the morning to reappear just after my lunch around 13.00 and stay for the rest of the day. I cycled mainly small roads connecting small agricultural villages. Olive groves alternated with Kiwi plantages and orchards. Later in the day the main agricultural activity became sheep and goat. In the hills and plains shepherds moving forward their sheep and cows. Goats roaming the stony hills. 

I encountered also a lot of big dogs. Most of the dogs barked, but they only barked if you passed, they didn’t chase you. Some just didn’t care….Most people waved and said hello. 2 guy’s on tractor stopped and asked where I came from. When I said Belgium both started cheering “Brussels, Brussels,…”. After a selfy I was allowed to continue my route.

A short part of the route I  needed to follow the old national road to go through a river valley. The old road had just been re-asphalted and the valley was just beautiful. Although the scenery was stunning and the old road renovated it was clear that this was not enough to keep the gas stations and shops along the road in business. Most of them were closed. The few businesses still in operation did not seem to prosper. The new highway, passing higher in the mountains and it’s high tech tunnels had sucked the life out of the old lady..If you ever drive from the North to Athens I can recommend although to take the old national road.

Later in the day I cycled around a beautiful lake and started climbing the mountains.. A flock of pelicans flew over me (at least I think they were pelicans). Although Black Horse and me needed to work hard to climb the expected 600 meters we didn’t care. The views were just stunning. 

After reaching the top of the hill I was rewarded with along descent into Volos. Volos is situated almost in the middle between Thessaloniki and Athens. It is the 6th most ‘populous’ (not sure what this means)  city of Greece. Most buildings are ‘modern’ as the city has been hit by an earthquake in 1955. The main tourist attraction is the long promenade full with restaurants and bars. Via booking.com I found a hotel and negotiated a non-booking.com rate. I checked-in, had a shower and made a short stroll through the city. A lot of people sipping coffee based drinks on the terraces…. In the evening I had a dinner of fried cheese and mussels….

I was somewhat struggling to find an interesting (good combination of small roads, accommodation, distance ,climbing, things to see) route for the next days.  But when arriving in Volos and saw the ferries departing in the port I yelled “Eureka”. Tomorrow I will cycle to Glyfa ,70K from Volos, and take the ferry to the Island Euboea / Evia. The island is connected in the south by a bridge to the mainland in the city of Chaldika, 100 K from Athens. I wil cycle small roads from Volos to Glyfa and either take the ferry at 12.30 or 14.30 (perfect timing to have a lunch on a terras in a small harbour….), ferry over in 30 minutes and cycle another 20 K to a seaside village with plenty of affordable accommodation  to stay the night. The day after I will cycle 100K across the island to arrive in Chaldika. A cycling man with a plan. That’s me.

Lessons learned :

• Today was how I had imagined to be cycling in Greece. 
• I’m amazed that in contemporary Europe there are still so many shepherds.
• Mussels, tomatoes and feta cheese is not a bad combination. 

Song of the day : Wide open road - The triffids