Nea Iraklitsa

September 25, 2015

I just wasn't into the ride today, but I ended up someplace quite wonderful.

I planned to ride the coast road, and expected an easy, flat ride with small towns and cafes and snack bars. I started out on the road leaving Ofrynio Beach, and didn't look too hard at the map. The first few miles were as expected.

I stopped at a cafe that turned out not to be open yet, but used the restroom. When I came out, there was a bike shop van outside and a guy looking at my bike. It turns out he owns a shop in another town. He said bicycles are more popular than they seem now, more so in summer than in winter. Hmmm....if this is winter, I don't think I could ride here in summer. It's hot now!

I continued on, and the road ran out. It just stopped. I ended up backtracking more than a mile to find a road that connected up to the highway. It wasn't the big motorway, but still a highway with much more traffic including big trucks. It climbed up and down, not hugging the coast too tightly. It also didn't go through many towns, so there were not a lot of interesting stops. The scenery was still nice, though, and I passed occasional signs to archeological sites. The signs didn't indicate how far they were, so I didn't go off route to see them.

Roadside shrine, by the highway. These are quite common.

There was one structure on route. I was going to stop. There was a tall set of stairs going up to the base. When I got there, there were a couple of big lorries parked there, and 2 drivers were having quite an argument. I decided it would be best if I didn't stop.

The views continued, but were not constant, as the road moved closer or farther from the coast.

I took a turn off the highway into the town of Nea Peramos, a beach town with lots of bars and cafes, somewhat bigger than Ofrynio Beach where I had stayed last night.

I went into one of the beach tavernas and had lunch, a large Greek salad, a soda water and a limonada. The waiter said "That's all?" but I couldn't finish the whole salad. The lemonade was the lemon flavored Fanta drink. I haven't been taking many food pictures. Here is the salad, showing the large chunk of feta cheese on top, with olive oil and oregano.

I left Nea Peramos, but stopped in the next town, Nea Iraklitsa. I went into one of the beach hotels on the way out of town, Villa Mediterrane, and asked if they had a room. They had one, but it still needed to be cleaned. I took a quick look, and it seemed really nice, with its own balcony, facing a courtyard, and with a kitchen. While they cleaned it, I walked down to the grocery store and picked up some things for dinner and breakfast. Then I checked in, showered, and visited the beach. This is a great spot. The rooms facing the beach are all occupied, and the other guests all seem to be families with kids. The people above me are noisy right now, but I hope they'll settle in early.

Way back when, near the start of this trip, on July 28 when I was complaining about the roads in Latvia, my post included a picture of my feet in the Baltic Sea. I think it's only appropriate to show a similar picture in the Aegean Sea.

Here we go.

My feet in the Aegean Sea. Now I really have sock lines!

Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 2,990 km (1,857 miles)

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