50. Agistri to Napflion

22 June 2022

Back in the saddle….or should today be described as the hot seat!! But more on that in a bit!!

First…a quick summary of Agistri….or a lesson as to how to do almost nothing for a week!! It was perfect!! After the energies expended over the prior weeks…and Liz suffering from a woozy jet-lag…..a pleasant lethargy set in! A couple of very short bike rides….trips to the beach for lazy afternoons…beers/wines and food…and that was about it! Perfect!!

Agistri is a very laid back wee island (permanent population of around 1,000…and now in shoulder season…I do not imagine the visitors expanded that number significantly!)…yet so very close to Athens…less than hour from Piraeus. There are tiny signs of future gentrification..but for now…it is just lovely! 

We ate in just two tavernas…one with a very grumpy mama (who we made it our challenge to tame!)….& one with an irresistably smiley mama (who it turns out is a famous octopus catcher!!), and her straight-talking daughter! And her Dad who sat, drank, smoked…and chased cats!! He is 83 so totally entitled!! We shared our custom for six days…but then the last two nights…..the smiles (& the food) simply got the better of us. Delightful!!

On Day 6…..my next riding partner – Shennae – arrived. Willing…but nervous (..not surprising really..!)

On day 7 Iain left….to make sure he could get to Leeds in time for the cricket test match. Such a shame it is a dead series…but there is still plenty of pride to fight for!! Plus 15 NZers in the crew…so it will be a blast, notwithstanding the cricket!

I will of course miss him…we had lots of laughs…lots of deep conversations…plenty of arguments (probably an honourable draw…but I imagine neither of us really believes that!!)…but surprisingly no real disagreements (about getting up early or…whatever!). It was a pleasure…and I will miss that constant refrain from behind…”siri, start the music…siri, turn up the volume…siri, pause the music”….may as well have been…”siri, turn the pedals….”…now there’s an idea!

And so to Day eight…today!! Liz was off to Copenhagen to scratch an itch to see the Little  Mermaid. And Shennae and I were off to the Peloponnese peninsular. 

And – thank goodness – I discovered that the ferry we were all catching..to Aegina/Piraeus…to connect to our onwards travel had broken down!! But thankfully I found a local boat which shuttles between Agistri and Aegina…and which was happy to take our bikes!

So an earlier start…and we all arrived in good time in Aegina…at the same time as a ferry to Piraeus…so Liz hopped on that to take time pressure off the hike to the airport….

…..and Shennae and I waited the hour or so before our ferry to Methana (a large island just off the mInland of the Peloponnese…but connected by a tiny isthmus…so I guess not an island at all!)

But that ferry ran well late!! 

So…we STARTED our bike ride at 11.30!

This was at least four hours later than usual! We knew we could not start until 11…but…it was so so HOT HOT HOT……! Immediately hotter than any riding to date! That European heat wave has arrived in Greece! So a baptism of fire for poor old Nae! And the very first downhill had that blast furnace effect….! Usually the faster you go…the cooler the wind. But no…there is a point at which that changes…so that the faster you go…the hotter it feels! (And I do believe that change generally happens at body temperature…ie 36/37 degrees C. And it was well above that from the very start!!)

But Nae coped well…..certainly helped by gorgeous scenery…

…and after a fairly lengthy lunch stop (at 2.30)…we opted to extend the ride with an 8km detour…to visit the spectacular Epidaurus theatre. A 12,000 seat Greek amphitheatre…believed to have the best acoustics of all of them! A real gem!

And then…thankfully….a mostly downhill leg to Napflion. Not a place I had really heard of…but evidently a tourist mecca…and a very pretty town. As we approached the sea…the temperature thankfully dropped…to…:

A quick sweaty check-in to our gorgeous old-town-centre apartment…and straight to the ‘beach’…for a swim. I swear you could hear the sizzle as we hit the water!! Not sure I have ever felt  so hot…and certainly have never been daft enough to expend so much energy in such heat!! 

Beers just disappeared!! Food…very secondary…but Nae could not resist the Caesarian Pie!! Classic!! 

So knackered…only took two photos of Napflion today…but made up for it with a couple of early morning shots!