Rugged mountains, beautiful beaches, cities and villages, white from afar, stepping up from the beaches and ports on the green mountains. Generally friendly people. Drivers in Greece are much more considerate than anywhere else in Europe (they drive to the right of the lane, and move over onto the shoulder to let overtaking traffic pass. The truckers are very professional and do not hold up traffic), and when you stop to fuel, a man (so far always a man) who has been sitting outside the station appears and pumps the fuel for you. It was also less expensive than Italy, but so is everywhere else (Italy charges more to pay for the paint on the highway that everyone ignores). But you want specifics.
I spent the first night in a campground on the lake in Ioannina. It was the site of a former rowing club, and I awoke in the morning to the sound of young people doing laps in the drive and parking area. Apparently the owner still trains young people in the sport. It was a pretty nice place, but the WC was a long ways away from the tent!
I had breakfast and coffee here.
Yes, that's baklava. But the selection was overwhelming.
I then rode to Igoumenitsa, and had coffee downtown on the water.
From there, I rode down to Préveza, where I took the tunnel under the Adriatic to Vonitsa. Along the way I was often by the beach.
My goal was to get to Patra, and find a campground. To get to Patra, I took the bridge, another beautiful structure similar to the one to Dubrovnik. I tried to get a photo, but none turned out. Basically, it is a four tower suspension bridge, but each tower has four legs that all meet at top. From the top, there is one row of cables that come down to support the road deck in the middle of the deck. From the side, you see the towers and the cables look like a fan, reaching down from the tower top to support the road. Great engineering combined with beauty.
So I found a place to camp, had a good hot shower, and a good meal.
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