Is that a hairpin or a U turn?

I got up when a local cockerel decided to sound revile and struck camp deciding to have breakfast on the hoof.  Elias and Stella where only 3 hours ride north so I had time on my side and reprogramed the GPS to avoid motorways, toll roads and to head for twisty roads.  After crossing a large mountain range I came to a British War cemetery called Bralow which was on an open plain and whose occupants had fought in the 14-18 war.  I stopped and had a look around before saying a prayer for the soldiers and moving on.

Barlow Cemetery.

As I crossed the open plain on a very straight and dull road I was beginning to think that the GPS had misinterpreted my commands.  I was about to stop and check the paper map when, at last, I rounded a corner and the road started to climb.  Then the corners appeared and my God was it worth the wait.  The surface was very good, the traffic light to non-existent and the views stunning.  At one point the hair pins came so think and fast that the GPS thought I had done a U-turn.  I remember one corner in particular; it was a first gear uphill right hander and I knew I was getting into a rhythm when the foot peg gently touched the road with a sound like a giant metal match being struck on rock.  The road went on like this for miles.  When I got to the top I pulled over to take in the view and listen to the tick, tick of the engine cooling.  Heaven. 

By now I was only a short distance from Elias’s house and the road down the far side of the mountain was great fun to ride and went right into the village I was aiming for.  I knew I had found the right house because of the familiar shape of Elias’s bike under a cover outside, then I spotted the man himself waving and smiling.  

View from Elias's house.

Within a few minutes we were sitting outside talking about bikes, Greece, Greek bikes and the amazing view from his house.  A little while later Stella arrived and the party was complete.  It was lovely to see them again and they were both very well and enjoying life in this remote part of Greece.  Their landlord, a lovely 85 year old local man who lives by himself, came down and tried to engage my in conversation and was amazed that I should come to Greece and not be able to hold a conversation, this was explained to me by Elias.  I tried to use the excuse that I visit too many countries to learn all the languages.  In truth I can only safely get by in countries that speak English.

Stella had prepared a delicious supper and we sat down together and Elias offer to open some wine.  Unfortunately he couldn’t find the cork screw so a bit of improvising was needed.  Due to a bit of inexcusably bad admin last year Harriet and I had found ourselves in Wadi Rum in the same predicament so I knew what to do.  Within minutes a screw was inserted into the cork at an angle and some pliers produced, the bottle opened and potential disaster averted. 

While we were enjoying supper the landlord called and Stella was given a large bag of broad beans that had been drying in the sun until the recent rains.  The beans either needed podding or leaving in the sun to dry out even more.  Thinking that many hands make light work I decided to earn my keep and help pod while we all sat outside watching the sun set over the hill and eating our way through Stella’s mothers biscuits.

Tomorrow Elias and I are going to tackle some tracks before I head north and aim for Bulgaria.  At some point I need to make up a day’s riding due to the late boat but that can wait until I finish playing in the Greek hills.