Nina von Kalckreuth
After driving through the night with the ferry from Santorini back to Athens and twisted embryo sleeping positions, we arrived in Piraeus tired at 9 a.m. There we stocked up again with hamster purchases: Greek bread, olives, pickled peppers, pastries and fruit. With four bags full of food, our backpacks, tent and sleeping bag, we, the pack donkeys, made our way towards Corinth to explore the Peloponnese.
A trip that originally should take 2-3 hours to our destination Nafplio cost us the whole day. We went twice in the wrong direction by train, ten minutes by taxi, almost three hours by bus, two hours waiting and finally hitchhiking to get to the completely remote area "Iria Beach Camping" to come ashore as this was the only one open in several kilometers in March. Although it was only half an hour away from Nafplio by car, there were no connections to get there. A nice lady with a smashed car took us stray dogs from the street, who happily stuck out their thumbs. Tip: it is also easier, because a bus goes directly from Nafplio to Athens. With the "Rome2rio”On the side and above all at the counters, we could easily find the public transport in Greece.
Nothing was going on in the camp, which is why the next day we hitchhiked back to the beautiful city of Nafplio. After only a few meters and a few astonished looks, what the hell two young tourists were looking for in the country on the gravel road between the tangerines and lemon plantations, we were taken by a nice Greek farmer in his truck. Since we couldn't speak Greek and he couldn't speak English, we talked with our hands and feet. After a twenty minute drive, he let us out at a bus stop and we took the bus for the last ten minutes because we were back in civilization. Hitchhiking worked out well in the pampas, presumably because the people who met us with their cars knew that we didn't have many other options and felt a sense of responsibility.
Nafplio gave us a few hours of stroll and a rented moped from the nice Greek George, with whom we could pickle back into the pampas at 50km / h. The next day we met Maren, a nice old lady who stood out on the bus from Nafplio with her colorful yellow backpack, bright red jacket, big purple glasses and perfect Greek. We seized the opportunity and wrote down our number with a small message on a piece of paper "Would you like coffee?" We met her in a Drepanon cafe and talked about her story and why she emigrated to Greece. She said that she had been living in Greece for 39 years - the reason for your departure: the Greek musician Mikis Theodorakis, whose music still captivated her in Germany in her twenties.
After a very strong, Greek coffee, which put me in an uneasy trembling mode for a few hours, we went on with the moped Epidaurus to the ancient theater. Again, the off-season benefited us, as the imposing theater was only rarely visited and we were able to try out the characteristic acoustics of the theater in peace. And best of all: as under 25 we were allowed to enter the theater for free.
In the evening we scooted through the beautiful Greek landscape with a moped at 50km / h, between olive trees, mountains, tangerine plantations and empty spaces. Vasili, the owner of the camp, even organized a nice gentleman for our trip home the next day, who brought us out of the pampas to Nafplio, because we couldn't fit the small moped with two people with backpacks and sleeping bags. We brought our moped back to George and stored our backpacks with him. We visited the "Palamidi fortress”From the 18th century, to which it felt like 1,678,450 steep stairs led to the fact that I, the sports cannon, reached the top with breathlessness - but there was a nice view as a reward.
Before we were taken to the airport by bus, we discovered a classic Greek restaurant, “Karamalis Tavern”, where we got fresh fish, meat dishes, a vine leaf starter and a dessert on the house. There were delicious daily specials that were presented to us by the waiter and which also attracted many locals.
Our original plan to take the ferry from Patras to Ancona and from there a bus back to Germany to avoid airplanes fell flat due to the Corona times. Nevertheless, it would have been a relaxed trip across the sea, which would have cost us only € 150 per person there and back. So if you have a few days left, you can consider an alternative ferry trip as it is more environmentally friendly, cheap and relaxed!
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