Per fiets van Praag naar Istanbul

The next morning, Saturday, it’s raining when I wake up. The first rain I see since Athens, when we had one heavy rainshower one evening. The temperature is moderate (about 20 degrees C) and the clouds are very low. The peaks of the mountains are not visible. The weather is as predicted. I get up and enjoy a great breakfast in the “Aufenthaltsraum”. After breakfast it is still raining. Not comfortable weather to visit Innsbruck. I decide first to write a part of my travel report. I am behind several days. When I have been writing for something like half an hour, the rain stops. I finish writing, and take my things to go to Innsbruck. It is about half an hour by bus from the village. The busline runs regularly. In Innsbruck I first go to the trainstation to check if the train to Düsseldorf runs normally. The Treinreiswinkel has never answered my question about this subject, although I have posed it at least 4 times. The answer at the information centre of OBB is that the train runs normally. I will check it in the evening when the train before mine leaves. I walk from the train station into the town. It is a chic town, with a lot of luxury things and shops. The type of tourists is different. In Venice many tourists walked in slippers, here you see good shoes and hiking boots. Some people are prepared to go hiking in the mountains. I would have loved to go up with the cable car into the mountains, to have a great view over Innsbruck and the area, but the clouds make the peaks invisible, so it is no use taking the cable car. I walk around, have a look in a few shops, and for lunch eat a very big pasta salmone at the pizzeria. This time no cheese on the pasta, but really a lot of salmon. Anyway you can see that Innsbruck is located very close to Italy. Many signs also in Italian, many Italian tourists who come for a day and many staff in shops and restaurants who easily switch to Italian. Austrian is still a different language than German. The Germans speak about “Kartoffeln”, the Austrians about “Erdäpfel”. Quite a difference. After lunch, with a nice view on the river Inn, I go to the railway museum. This is a little bit disappointing: difficult to find, small and a lot of written materials. The rolling material you can usually only see from the outside. There is a factory for the production of church clocks and bells nearby, but when I arrive there, it is already closed, after 4 pm. The weather is reasonable: only a few drips of rain every now and then. Only, there are no nice views on the mountains. After 5 pm almost all shops are closed, and will stay closed till Monday. On Sunday, no shop is open. I walk back, and to go the old town. Small, but fine. Many tourists of course, but not like Venice. The atmosphere is friendly and open. (Almost) no police, no private security, no soldiers. I sit on a terrace, have some lemonade with elderberry syrup and wait till it is time to go to the railway station to check my train live. I am there at 8 pm, and the train is already at the platform. It is an incredibly long train (about 15 wagons, or maybe more). The parts for Hamburg and Düsseldorf are together in one train. There are several wagons for the transport of cars and motorcycles. I am disappointed about the wagon for the bikes: we have to hang the bikes, there are only 5 places and there is no space for storing luggage, so we have to keep everything in the cabin. How will I organize that when we go off in Düsseldorf? I have many pieces of luggage, and my cabin is 3 wagons from the wagon where are the bikes. I will think out something. After I have seen the train, and that it’s there, ready for departure, I go to the supermarket at the station and treat myself with a very luxury bar of Swiss chocolate. I think I deserve it. When I wait at the bus stop to go home it starts raining, and in Thaur I walk from the busstop to my room in the rain. But it has been dry almost all day that I was outside. This is (fortunately) not as predicted. One of the few things these days which are better than expected.

The next morning, after again a delicious breakfast, I pack my luggage, and put it in the garage, besides the bike. My train leaves at 8.44 pm, and it is 8 km cycling from Thaur to the trainstation. I can leave all my luggage and the bike till the evening at the accommodation. That’s great. I walk to Hall, where I got off the train earlier. Hall is a small town with an old, characteristic centre. It is a bit desolate with all shops being closed. The church is open, there are free toilets, and there are even lockers for the cyclists to put things in and with electricity in the locker, so you can safely charge your battery or smartphone. After 2 hours I have seen enough of Hall, and I take the train to Innsbruck. On my way I can see that it would have been better to go off not in Hall but in one of the next 2 stops, as you can go to the road from there directly, instead of through a tunnel like in Hall. That would have been much easier with the bike. Knowledge for the next time. When I arrive in Innsbruck I see that in the old town the shops are open. But only in the old town. All other shops (except 1 or 2 supermarkets) are closed. And that in a touristic town like Innsbruck. Austria is more conservative than Netherlands in these things. The old town is nice. Small but beautiful. Touristic, but not too touristic. The Dom (cathedral) is interesting. Very richly decorated building, baroque style of early 18^th century. I have a look at the base station of the cable car going up to the mountains. The weather is fortunately dry (a bit sticky even), but it is still very cloudy, so it is not worth going up. All 3 batteries of my camera are empty, so no photo’s anymore of the last part of the day in Innsbruck. At the end of the afternoon it is time to go back to the accommodation, pick up the bike, load it with the luggage and cycle to Innsbruck. I go a little bit earlier than planned, as the sky looks quite threatening. And I am not fond of having every piece of luggage wet in the last 8 km. Back in Thaur I load the bike and quickly cycle to Innsbruck, without any rain. There I arrive very early. I know the way to the platform, which is already indicated. Not every day a train stands at the same platform, that can vary per day. I know the elevators and quickly arrive at the platform. Then I have to wait for the train to arrive. It comes early, already at 7.40 pm, more than an hour before departure. Great! This means that we have a lot of time to prepare. I park my bike near the entrance of the sleeping wagon, and bring all my 8 pieces of luggage to my cabin. There is no conductor to be seen, but the door is fortunately open. Then I hang my bike at the appropriate place. I lock it, so it is not too easy to take. I install myself in my cabin, and eat a baguette as dinner. Soon the steward of our wagon comes, and we get a lot of refreshments: water, juice and Austrian sekt. What a luxury, that is different than in a plane. And we get our menu card for breakfast. We can pick 6 items from a long list, which we will get tomorrow morning. Of course it is not a 3 star menu, but it is more luxury than I have ever seen before in a normal train. We leave on time, and when we go more north towards Germany I can see that there has been a lot of rain there.  I go to bed early. There is nothing to be seen when it is dark, and tomorrow will be a long day. When I am already in bed the German police comes to check the train, while we are riding.

I do not sleep very well, waking up regularly. The train is divided in Nürnberg. After more than an hour standstill we continue our trip, and slowly go to Düsseldorf. The breakfast is good, and my belly is filled. We arrive only 10 minutes late. That’s better than ever before with a night train in western Europe. The conductor helps me with my luggage, as she promised yesterday. All my luggages stand on the platform, and then I have to take my bike out of the bike wagon, 3 wagons further. When I am back with my bike the luggage is still there. I try to take the elevator, but the loaded bike hardly fits in the elevator. It is quite small. With a lot of trouble I manage. The train to Venlo is overloaded with bikes: we have 5 bikes and a bike lorry at the bike place. No conductor comes, so no troubles about that. We are with a young German couple who are going to cycle for a long weekend in the south of the Netherlands, a middle aged Belgian couple who have cycled in the south of Germany and are on their way back home, and me. The young Germans want to try to catch the next train in Venlo quickly. They have 7 minutes to change. I take my time and have 1 train later, like the Belgians. In Venlo we are again with 5 bikes. I do not see the Germans, so probably they have caught the earlier train. In our train to Schiphol, there are 2 places where bikes can stand, but the Belgians and I are in the same place. With 3 bikes and the trailer the place is overloaded. But, surprisingly enough, the Dutch conductors do not make any problems. Also my ticket is not a problem. I have a ticket for Düsseldorf – Arnhem – Zwolle, but due to the railroad construction works between Düsseldorf and Arnhem I have to travel another route, again. The Belgians leave in Den Bosch to take the train to Roosendaal and from there to Antwerpen. I go off in Utrecht, and meet with a good friend of mine in the station hall. He has only less than an hour, as the station is closed with gates, and if you are longer in the station than 1 hour, it costs you 20 Euro. We celebrate my return with apple cake and fresh orange juice which tastes delicious. I take the train of 2.15 pm to Leeuwarden, and again it is full with bikes. We manage to organize it in such a way that everybody can go off at the right station. The conductors come, but are not interested in my ticket. They only check other people. Fine! I decide to get off in Heerenveen, and cycle from there. In Heerenveen my ticket is not valid to open the gate to go out, but I manage to go through. I cycle back home via Akkrum, where I have a last meal at the pizzeria. At 7 pm I am back home, after a travel of 109 days. The wind during the trip from Heerenveen to home was NW, so from the front, against me. Maybe it is symbolic for this trip: starting with unfavorable wind and returning with unfavorable wind. Also in between there were a lot of unpleasant things. Of course there were many nice moments, but the trip was not as nice as I had hoped it would be. It was a difficult trip, both physically and mentally, with a lot of drawbacks. Next time better, hopefully.

After I have checked in I bring my things to my room. The bike has found a good place in the shadow at the inner court, behind the building. The room is small and very basically equipped, even though it is the most expensive room of the whole trip. The bathroom is almost as big as the room.

When I have settled, I go into Venice to see the town. I notice that there are everywhere signs of the many things that are forbidden (walking in swimsuit, walking with your bicycle etc.). There is a lot of police, and every day I see armed soldiers walking around. Venice has nice buildings, and is of course unique through the number of the canals. The town lives almost only from tourism. Every house is a shop for tourists or a restaurant.  So it seems. I know that in the smaller streets behind there also live “normal” people with normal jobs. I wonder how to get from my hotel to the train station. All the bridges to the train station only have stairs, no part for rolling objects. The vaporetto’s (boats for transport of people and their luggage) do not take bikes. I ask at the municipal information centre and get the answer that I can take my bike on my shoulder. I am disappointed about the stupidity of the answer, but it is an indication for the helpfulness of Venice. There is no other way to the train station than over the bridges. My conclusion is that Venice is totally not friendly to cyclists. More in general this is also true: Venice is not friendly to tourists. There are signs everywhere of what is forbidden (also the private persons and companies put up signs, like “No picnic”), but the municipality hardly provides facilities. Banks to sit on are almost totally absent, litter bins are very rare, and taps for water, like you see them in many places in other countries, are also almost totally absent. Are you surprised that tourists use whatever place they can find to sit? The tourists pay € 3,– city tax per person per night. It looks like Venice wants to have the profits from the tourism, but does not accept that many tourists also has disadvantages. I check the train, and see what train I will take in 3 days to Innsbruck. There is place for bicycles, but only 2 per wagon. I have a reservation, so that should not be a problem. The train is very popular with cyclists, as it goes directly to Munich (München). It is an ideal train back for cyclists who have cycled from Munich or Innsbruck to Venice. This route is very popular to cycle, as it is not too steep, only one pass to take, and the views of the landscape are spectacular. When I check the train, I see more than 20 cyclists waiting to take the train. I take the vaporetto through the Grand Canal to Rialto (the famous bridge with shops on it). From there another vaporetto via the San Marco square to Lido. Lido is an island in the lagoon of Venice, near to the town. Lido has some beaches. But it is too hot for me to lie on the beach. I eat a cake from the bakery and take the vaporetto back. In the evening I have a meal in the pizzeria. It is pricy for what you get for it. The temperatures go down a bit in the evening / night, but not much. My room is cool, because the building used to be part of a church complex and is old. Thick walls etc. And I have airco, which is almost a necessity here. The next day I first have breakfast. It is a really good breakfast, especially for Italian standards, where breakfast is not very extensive. We have choice of many types of bread and sweet things, there is ham and cheese, yoghurt, juice etc. Not bad.  I take the vaporetto south around the town to San Marco square. The route south around is not very interesting. Much less nice than the route through the Grand Canal. I walk around San Marco square. This is one of the most famous places of Venice. I decide to queue for the cathedral. It takes half an hour waiting time. Behind me German people and before me a Russian family from St Petersburg. Quickly we start talking. They are, as so many Russians, surprised that I can speak “so good Russian”. When we want to enter, the Russian family has a problem, because their day backpack is too big. They have to bring it to the luggage storage around the corner and then come back. I have to translate, as the guard from the cathedral speaks little English, and the Russians also speak little English. The cathedral is nice, but here the same as everywhere in Venice, many rules and few things are allowed. Venice gives you the feeling that it is a favor that you are allowed to visit the town.  After having seen the cathedral I make a plan for the rest of the day. The museum of naval history is nearby. I think it is interesting to see, but it turns out that it is only military naval history. That is not enough to get me into the museum. I eat an ice coupe on a terrace near the water. The temperatures are high and the sun is intense, though not as intense as in Greece or Turkey. In the afternoon I find by chance a boat excursion to Murano, Burano and Torcelli. They are the 3 biggest and most important islands in the lagoon of Venezia. Murano is famous for its glass. Already long ago the municipality of Venice decided that glass might not be produced anymore in the city (because of the risk of fire), so it was banned to and concentrated on Murano. On Murano there is much nice glass, but the problem is that even on the island itself there is a lot of Chinese imitation sold. So, it is very difficult to say if you buy real Murano glass or Chinese imitation. The excursion is nice. We visit a glass production place, where we get a short demonstration. It is too hot to work for the workmen, so they are already home and the production place is only open for demonstration. Afterwards we have the chance to visit the shop, of course. Torcello is the smallest of the 3 islands. We can walk to the centre with the old church and the museum. The museum is already closed. There are a few nice places to eat in rest and green. Maybe an idea for tomorrow afternoon, as that is the last day in Venice. There also go vaporetto’s to the islands. Burano is very special with its houses which are all painted in a different color. It gives a very colorful view. We have almost an hour to walk around. I find a sandwich salami at one of the food stalls. Finally something not sweet: no icecream or cakes, lemonades etc. This tastes well. After we are back I find a place to have dinner. I take the (cheap) tourist menu. But with drinks, covert tax (for using fork, knife and spoon) and service tax (12% for that the staff serves you) the meal is not so cheap anymore. This is typical for Venice. In the evening I see in the schedule of the trains that my train from Düsseldorf to Arnhem is not running. There is a replacement bus. What is happening now again? Another works on the railways? I send an email to the Treinreiswinkel. This is not comfortable. We have just found a solution for the problems with Innsbruck and now we get new problems. I get a bit desperate about all these setbacks.

The next morning, after a good breakfast, I walk to from my hotel (near the main bus station of Venice) via the train station to Rialto. Already after half an hour my T-shirt is soaking with sweat. So hot it is (around 32 degrees and full sun at 11 am). The route from the train station to Rialto is only tourist shops and restaurants. Rialto is a nice place, and has a nice fruitmarket. I buy a pound of apricots, and there is even a water tap to wash them. I also soak my cap in the water, so my head keeps a bit cooler. I do not want a sunstroke again. From Rialto I take the vaporetto back to Ferrovia (the train station) and from there to Murano. I want to see what nice glass there is. I have seen something yesterday in the glass factory. I look around at a few places before buying a special vase which consists of many different small pieces of glass which are molten together to a vase. It is packed well, but now I have to bring it safely to my home. I think I will manage. I walk around further and think about going to the glass museum. I skip it, as I am not in the mood for a museum. I see many places on Murano which sell such cheap objects that it cannot be real Murano glass. But it is announced as real Murano. Why does the municipality not forbid this, and check on it? That would be good for tourism! I take the vaporetto to Torcello and have to stand for 20 minutes, as the boat is overloaded. Fortunately we do not sink, like in the song of Drs P. On Torcello I realize that I recognized many things of the 3 islands yesterday already. I do not remember, but I must have been on all 3 of the islands already during my trip in 2011. Then I was in Venice for almost 2 days. I want to have a festive meal (dinner) on Torcello. For Italians it is strange to have dinner at 5 pm. Restaurants get full for dinner at 7.30 pm or later. The place where I sit has a big terrace with parasols and also some tables in the garden. I want to sit in the garden and have the meal there, but this is not possible. “We do not serve food in the garden, only drinks”. Then I go somewhere else. But I do not find a nice place on Torcello and I go back. Then I take only a drink in the garden before taking the ferry and having dinner in Venice. When I go back and ask again for dinner, I get the answer that the kitchen closes at 3.30 pm and is not open in the evening. Surprising…., to say the least. And that in high season. I take the vaporetto back to Venice, and go to my hotel. There is an answer about the trains. Yes, there are construction works at the railway, and I can take the train via Venlo and Utrecht to Leeuwarden. My ticket is valid, and the Dutch conductors should accept my ticket.  I hope so. It means extra travel time of 2,5 hours. I have the last dinner in Venice at a terrace near the canal, and in the evening I pack a part of my things. Tomorrow I am leaving, heading for home.

My train departs at 1.50 pm, so I have time in the morning. But it is too hot to go out and do something. Besides, I have seen enough of Venice, and I do not like the atmosphere at all. I pack my things, leave my room and can use one of the meeting rooms to sit. I take time to write my travel report and my blog, and it is 12.30 quite quickly. As I think I will not manage to bring a fully loaded bike over the bridge (with only stairs) to the train station, I have hired a porter to take the bicycle bags. They have special lorries who are more adapted to going over the stairs. He arrives in time, and at 1 pm we are over the bridge. I load the bicycle, and walk to the shadow. I have to wait, as the train is there only 20 minutes before departure. There is also a German family from Dresden with 2 daughters of about 16 years old waiting for the train. They have cycled Munich to Venice, and now take the train back to Munich, to go back home. We have interesting talks, and especially the mother adores my trip, and tells she also would like to explore Eastern Europe by bike. I believe I inspire some people for new trips by bike. Our train arrives, and there is no space for bicycles in my wagon. This in spite of the fact that I have a reservation. I ask the conductor, and he tells me to go to the second wagon of the train. There is indeed a lot of space, and a good place for my bicycle. I can also leave the bags near to the bicycle, which is more practical than bringing them to my seat. We leave in time, but soon are delayed. The weather in the Alps is good, contrary to the prediction. I see parts of the cycle route from Innsbruck to Venice, and indeed it is a beautiful way. Maybe I should cycle this once, but not go to Venice. I told the conductor that I will take this train to Jenbach, as I can not go off in Innsbruck, because we do not stop there. In our wagon it gets very hot, as the airco is not working. It is only our wagon. I tell the conductor that I want to go off in Brennero and then cycle downhill to Innsbruck. He is not amused: “Das ist schlecht, sehr slecht”. Okay, then I go to Jenbach. In Brennero it is raining, and Brennero also is a very big and complicated station, as it is Italian border train station. I am lucky that I do not get off here. I go with the train to Jenbach and go off there. There I understand why the conductor did not like my plan to go off in Brennero. He has put 5 bikes for Jenbach before mine. In the few minutes stop in Jenbach we take all the bikes off the train, as well as the luggages. Most people are going to Innsbruck to take the Nightjet train to Düsseldorf. I stay for 2 nights near to Innsbruck, on the Jenbach side. So, I take the regional train back towards Innsbruck. Fortunately there are elevators at Jenbach station. This makes the platform change a lot more comfortable. This is not the case in Hall, where I have to bring my bike down the stairs and up again to go out. It takes me some time, but I manage. It starts raining a bit when I leave the train station. This is as the prediction was: 2 days all the time rain during my stay in Innsbruck. I start cycling the 3,5 km to Thaur, where I have my accommodation. Already in February I could not get good and affordable accommodation in Innsbruck-town. When I arrive in Thaur I get a warm welcome, and I have a fantastic room. Big and very well thought-out. Nicely renovated, and comfortable now. The “Gasthof” in the village is still open for dinner, and I have a meal there, after all the adventures of the travel.

I wake up early, and am ready for departure at 7.30 am. This to avoid the heat more or less. My GPS navigates me quite well out of the city. I pass the container harbor of Piraeus, who is impressively big as well. Today I have 71 km to do, including quite a lot of hills and 2 ferries. I have not been able to find out if the ferries are car ferries or not. After a little more than 1 hour I arrive at the harbor of Perama from where the ferry to Paloukia goes. The ferry is a huge car ferry, which gets fully loaded. After 20 minutes we leave. My GPS tells me that we are at 34 meters below sea level. The altitude measuring is not really reliable. When we arrive in Paloukia there is a nice surprise: the road is in maintenance, so the municipality has shaved off the top layer, and will put on a new top layer. In the mean time, the road is very rough. I can not cycle on it. The risk that I fall down is too big. I have to walk part of the way. After leaving Paloukia, which is again a much bigger place than you would expect, I finally get to see some green area, some countryside. That I have not seen since I arrived in Aylalik. After that, there were always some buildings in the neighborhood. It is great to hear the insects make noise. It is so impressively loud. And you can not see where it comes from. I enjoy the cycling here. It is also a bit cooler than in the built areas. When I arrive to the next ferry I am relieved. This is also a ferry for cars. So I can get easily onto it, with my bicycle. The lorries have more difficulties. As the ferry has only one exit, they have to enter backwards. This is not easy with a big lorry. After the ferry I have another part of countryside, before, near Megara, the old road comes together with the new motorway, and they are running parallel. I follow the old road, and along the sea, the road climbs and goes down and climbs again. In the heat, it is heavy cycling. I need my water and cola to give me liquid and energy. The middle part today is quite flat. I take a break at a café to have some more liquid. After 45 km I begin to feel my right knee. I had problems with my knees before I left, but the whole trip they have been perfect. So I am worried that the knee is now painful. I still have 150 km till Patras, and not much alternatives except cycling. At a certain moment I have to walk again, up hill. The channel of Corinth, which connects the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf,  and actually makes an island from the Peloponnesus, is impressive. It is not wide, but the walls are 70 m high, and extremely steep, almost vertical. And they are just soil, not concrete. It is an impressive landmark. I am happy that I have come so far today, as this place is only 5 km from the hotel. I have had to walk some parts to give my knee some rest and another movement. My hotel is at the main road through Corinth-town. The staff receives me very helpful. My bags are brought to my room, and the bike gets a good place in the hall of the hotel. In the evening I walk shortly through the town centre, and have some pita XXL (bread filled with chicken, vegetables, pommes frites and tatziki sauce). With a drink it is a big meal. I find a shop where they only sell milk products. They have nice yoghurt in different tastes. I like it, it is much thicker than normal yoghurt.

The breakfast in Corinth is excellent, but I dare not take too much. I leave later than I want, at 8.15 am. Interestingly enough, the heat feels much less when I am cycling now than when I was walking in Athens. Today I have a very flat ride along the coast, mainly following the 8. On one part today I can follow a smaller road more to the coast. When I do this (in the morning) and have a break, there comes another cyclist. I have not met anyone cycling long distance since Serbia, so this is a nice surprise. The man is a German, who makes a long trip at the Balkan and Greece. For my feeling Greece is clearly different from the rest of the Balkan countries (countries of former Yougoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria), and also very different from Turkey of course. Although Greek and Turkish history is very intertwined, especially in the eastern part of Greece and the west coast of Turkey. We stand talking for a long time. Then I slowly continue. My speed is very low today. I look at the beaches, sometimes use the public shower at the beach to make my hat soak in water, so it is a little bit cooler. In the end of the morning, when I am in Xylokastro, I get a phone call: my hotel in Rio (near Patras) for Saturday is overbooked, so they can not host me. If I can please immediately look on Internet if I can agree with the proposed alternative. I refuse, I do not have a smartphone, I will try in the evening. Two hours later booking.com calls again: the problem is solved: the hotel does have a room for me. In the afternoon I pass through villages like Kamari, Stomio and Derveni. The last part of the trip goes faster. It looks like the horse smells the stable. In Egira I have rented an apartment for 2 nights, so I will have a break in cycling. I am glad that my knee holds very well today. I know that the road is almost flat, but still. In Egira it is a problem to find the apartment, to be let in and to have the facilities. The staff is totally not friendly and helpful, speaks no English at all, and is only interested in money. It turns out that the contact person is in Athens, so not near. The hot water is not working because there are problems with the electricity. One of the groups switches off automatically all the time.

The next day in the morning it is repaired. I do not have a good feeling, even though the apartment has all the facilities you might wish for. Even a washing machine is present, so I take the chance to wash everything that is dirty. In the burning heat (up to 33 degrees) everything dries even in the night. The next day I spend mainly in the apartment, and 2 times I have a look at the beach. I do not want to swim, as I am too afraid to have another sunburn. I know how it was in Athens after half an hour at the Vouliagmeni lake. The sun is too strong. Maybe I should swim in the night. In the evening I have a nice dinner. The food is good, the host is friendly, and the price is reasonable. I even get a free desert: many parts of water melon (green with the red meat inside). It tastes very well. I go to bed very early.

The next morning I leave very early (6.45 am) to avoid the heat. I have 61 km till my hotel in Rio, and there are more hills than on Thursday. If I can do this trip, then I am almost in Patras. From Patras I do not have much cycling till I am home. I follow the coast, on the old main road (8). The road goes up and down, but I cycle very fast. The heat is acceptable during the morning. After 1,5 hour I have already done more than 20 km. Before 10 am I am halfway. I buy some peaches in Egio. When I taste how good they are, I regret that I did not buy more. The landscape is beautiful: to the left the mountains of the Peloponnesus, and to the right the Gulf of Corinth. The newly constructed motorway is always close. After Egio the road mostly goes around the villages and stays high. I do not have a beach where I can make a break and put my feet in the water. Because I go so fast, I arrive in Rio (14 km from the ferry terminal where I will take the ferry to Venezia) already at 12.15, so just after noon. Actually it is too early to go to my hotel. Normally check-in in hotels is from 2 pm. Rio is on the foot of the new (2004) bridge over the Gulf of Corinth, where the Gulf is at its smallest. The bridge is an icon of architecture and construction, and I looked forward to seeing it very much. The other reason to stay in Rio is that all the normally priced hotels in Patras are fully booked. I think Rio is also a more relaxed place. Because the bridge is a toll-bridge, and probably not a cheap toll, there are also still ferries crossing the water, with a magnificent view on the bridge. With the fully loaded bike I take the ferry from the east quay of Rio, have a good look at the bridge, take photo’s during the trip, have an icecream in Antirrio (on the other side of the bridge), and I take the ferry back. I arrive at 2 pm in the hotel. My room is ready, but I am not satisfied. I booked a non-smoking room, and it turns out that the room is smelling from smoke. A clean ashtray is standing on the table. Complaining about smoking in Greece is not very useful, and another hotel is not an option. Every hotel on this side of the Gulf is fully booked for the next night. I have to accept it. In the afternoon I relax and do some shopping. Only after 6 pm the temperatures outside are acceptable. Rio has a nice small boulevard / beach with a lot of restaurants. I pick a nice one for dinner. It opens at 8.30 pm, so I have time to take photos of the beautiful sunset behind the mountains, with the reflections in the water of the harbor. When I arrive the restaurant has no free table for me, they say. Everything is reserved. This in spite of the fact that nobody is sitting there. But Greeks go out for dinner very late. Probably this also has to do with the climate. I have some food at another place, take the ferry from Rio to Antirrio, and enjoy the bridge and the area in the dark. Then I see people coming off the bridge. I find out how you can walk over the bridge, and decide to walk in the dark over the bridge back to home. The bridge has a length of almost 3 km, so it is quite a walk. I come back to the hotel at 11.30 pm. It is long ago that I was outside so late. And still it is very warm!

The next day (Sunday) I keep the room, as I am leaving at 7.30 pm for the ferry. So I have the room for myself till the moment I go. I pay for this luxury, but it’s worth it for me. After the quite simple breakfast I first see the fortress of Rio. It is a really big and old fortress, with influences of many parties who have occupied the regions. Of course it has a very strategic position. Who has the fortress, controls the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. I sit with my feet in the sea. So I have felt the sea at least one time during this whole trip. Then I walk to the ferry again, and take the ferry from the west quay to Antirrio. I make a short walk in the town, have an icecream and see a part of the beach volleyball tournament.  After that I go back to Rio, for the last time on the ferry (free for foot passengers and bicycles). I have some food, as there will not be time for food this evening, and go back to the hotel. A little sleep before packing my bags and watching football is nice. At 7.30 pm I leave the hotel to ride to Patras. The last part of Greece. The heat is bearable, but still more than 30 degrees. Only the sun is not so burning, but I still need to drink a lot. When I arrive at 8.40 pm, I am informed that the ferry is 3,5 hours late, and that check in will not start at 10 pm (as usual) but at 01.30 am. The staff of Anek is so rude to even not apologize for the delay, let alone to offer us some drinks or food. The Greeks complain that tourism is less than last years. I am not surprised. With customer service like this, you do not attract many tourists. I talk with some other people who are also waiting for the ferry. From a German / Swiss couple with 2 young boys to an older German couple to a Chinese family of four. The father is teacher of mathematics in high school in Being, the two adult children work at the Chinese embassy in Athens, and have their parents over for a short trip in Italy and Austria. The father really wants to have a photo with him, me and the bike. He adores what I did, translates his sun. No problem, be my guest.

The ferry arrives at 00.30 am. At 01.15 pm the foot passengers (I am one of them, even though I have the bike) can finally go through security. Actually all the luggage has to go through the X-ray scanner, but when the lady sees my bike, she waves me through. I do not know how quickly I will walk through the exit door. It saves me a lot of work. This procedure is not fair, as the luggage of the cars is also not scanned, so why only the foot passengers and the bicycles? We are lucky that we can go on board as the first ones. They are still unloading lorries from the ferry. The ferry was really full. At 2 am I lie in my bed in the cabin. The cabin is okay, but not comparable with the cabin on the route to Piraeus, from Lesbos. We depart with 3,5 hours delay, and will arrive with 3,5 hours delay in Fusina, not in Venezia as promised. The next day, during the sailing, I can see that the ship is very, very old. It must have been used in the far east before as you can still see the Chinese (or maybe Japanese) indications for many things. I have interesting talks with different people whom I saw yesterday already. In the morning we have a stop at Igoumenitsa, and then we sail between the islands. From 1 pm we are on full sea, and there is no land to be seen. The sun is burning hot. In the evening it gets cloudy, and in the night we even have rain.

Tuesday morning we have time to have breakfast as we are 3 hours late, and we arrive in Fusina (on the other side of the lagoon of Venezia) at 09.45 am. The foot passengers can go off quickly. As soon as I can I cycle again, as I am not a foot passenger. The way to my hotel is almost 20 km. I had expected that we would arrive in the old town, as that is officially the only part which is called Venezia. But I was quite wrong. The weather is quite good, and the cycling is going well. It is not so hot. On the dam from the main land to the old part of Venice, there is a good cycle path (which is not usual). I take the time to enjoy the laguna, and watch the birds. There are some special birds, probably little egret (Egretta garzetta). With some searching, I find my hotel, very near to the main bus station, and near to one of the canals. I notice that there is a supermarket of Coop around the corner. I arrive at 11.45 am, and my room is almost immediately ready. I am very lucky with that. The bicycle gets a good place, where it will spend the next 3 days. I am lucky that I can take the bicycle to the hotel. In almost the whole of Venice bicycles are forbidden, even walking with them is not allowed.

The next day I wake up and go into town. I try to find out about the possibilities to travel to other places on the island from Mytilini. But there is really no information on public transport, almost nobody speaks English, no tourist information office, so I do not manage to go out of town. It gets very hot quickly, with temperatures in the afternoon of 35 degrees. I want to see the most monumental church of the island, but it is closed after 1 pm. When I come to the famous fortress of Mytilinini (one of the biggest in the eastern Mediterranean area) it is closed after 3 pm. I arrive at 3.45 pm. I find a nice place where people are swimming, and sit with my feet in the water.

The next day I start earlier and see the church and the fortress. I also meet a woman who works as a volunteer for one of the many organizations who try to help the refugees. There are still many refugees on Lesbos, and for many of them the situation is totally unpredictable. They do not know what is going to happen with them. Earlier came a lot of people from all African countries, also those countries far south in Africa. Now there come also many Kurds, who have a difficult time in Syria and Turkey. There are loads of organizations active to give the refugees support. In Mytilini you see quite many very dark (African people) walking in the town. The second day the temperature reaches 37 degrees.

I am very glad that I have kept my room for an extra night. It costs me some money, but it means that I can go back to the room whenever I want. The ferry from Lesbos via Chios to Pireaus leaves at 8 pm, and we can go on board from 7 pm, I am told. Otherwise I would have had to leave the room at noon, store my luggage at the reception, while hanging around in town in the heat. I decide to try to board early. At 6 pm I bring my bags down, and a quarter of an hour later I leave the ho(s)tel. The boarding is unbelievably easy. 15 minutes after I leave my accommodation I am in my cabin. The bike is indeed, as the travel agency has reassured me, no problem. We have escalators to go from the car deck to the cabins. As luxury as this I have never had it before. My cabin is spacious and luxury. After our stop at Chios it turns out that I have to share the cabin with another passenger. In the morning we are woken up early, at 6 am. This even though the arrival is planned at 6.45 am. We arrive on time, and then I have to find my way from the harbor of Pireaus to my hotel. We have moored at a totally different quay than my maps had indicated. So my planned route on my GPS is not so useful. But I manage to cycle through the busy morning traffic of the harbor of Pireaus to my hotel. As I could have expected, my room is not yet ready. But I can store my luggage and my bike, and go back into town. Pireaus is a city in itself, even though it is “only” the harbor of Athens. But a really big harbor. I find out that the ferry which I want to take to leave Pireaus is only for passengers, and that it might be quite difficult to get a bike on board. Good to know. I do not like to hang around in town, and go back to the hotel. In the lobby there are perfect chairs and tables to write my travel report. Before I am finished, the staff tells me at 10.45 am that my room is already free. I am very happy with this service.

I make myself comfortable, as I will spend 6 nights in this room, take a good long shower and some sleep. In the afternoon I organize myself a 5-day public transport ticket for the whole region of Athens, and go to the centre. There are long queues for the ticket offices. But the automat works fine, with speech in many different languages. At Monastiraki square it is hot (35 degrees). I take care to wear my hat and sunglasses all the time. I walk around and end up at Syntigma square. Food is still very difficult, but walnuts are something which my body always can stand. I buy a big portion of them at the metro station.

On Friday I make a bigger trip through the city, and explore the botanical garden. I drink tea in the local tavern, and get a glass of water with it. Two hours later when I visit the temple of Zeus (or what is left of it) I do not feel well. I go back to the hotel, take a rest and in the evening I go to the final evening of a international folklore dance meeting. I see some dances, but still do not feel well. Saturday morning I want to see the maritime museum of Pireaus. In the heat I walk there, but I feel so bad that I go back without seeing the museum and lay the rest of the day only on my bed. I decide: no more tap water for me in Greece. I do not want to take any risks anymore with my health. I have had enough problems.

On Sunday I manage to get up very early (7 am) and at 8.30 am I am at the entrance of the Acropolis. It is a long way up, as the Acropolis towers high about the city. But I manage quite easily to come to the top, and look around for some hours. I am glad that I came early. When I leave it starts to become really busy and hot. After the Acropolis I walk through the city. The part of the city called Plaka is quite, green and nice. Adrianou is a nice street for shopping. I hold back, as I have to carry everything with my on the bike. And I still have 215 km to cycle from Pireaus to Patras, before I can take the ferry to Venezia (Italy). That is at least the plan. To have some healthy food I eat a tuna salad. But my body does not stand the salad very well. It is very unpredictable what I can eat and what is a problem. I know that fresh fruit is always good: cherries, bananas, water melon etc. In Athens I several times buy 1 kg of cherries. This way I get my amount of fruits.

On Monday I walk around more in the town. The weather is a little bit cooler (only 31-32 degrees, with some wind). I send a couple of postcards and buy some food for the cycling days. Here in the market hall you can get everything. The fresh fish and meat I do not need, but the walnuts and other dried fruits are very good. I see some cultural attractions like Hadrians library, the old Agora and the Kerameika, which was the area where the dead were buried. I feel quite well, better than the last days.

I think I have seen the most important things in the centre of Athens, and on Tuesday decide to try to go away from the centre. There is a very nice location with natural mineral waters (volcanic), in which you can swim, at Vouliagmeni lake. It is quite complicated to go there with public transport, but I manage. I swim a little bit in the water, and I relax in the shadow. The place is not extremely busy, maybe also because the entrance is not cheap. On the other hand: if you see Athens and what Greek people buy for what prices, I do not have the feeling that Greece has economic problems. The level of prices in Greek is much higher than in neighboring countries like Turkey or Bulgaria. The difference can be 100-200 percent or even more. On the way back I take the tram along the coast back to Pireaus. I see not the most beautiful part of the area.

Tuesday evening when I am writing my travel report in the lobby of the hotel, the staff comes with a drink from the house: at first they offer me a small bottle of wine, but I prefer something non-alcoholic, and then they bring me a very nice strawberry lemonade. It is typical for the high level of service in the hotel business here. They really want to be hospitable and make the guest feel comfortable. It is very unusual that you take your own luggage to your room. Most usually the hotel staff brings you your luggage.

I prepare for my departure, as this night will be the last at this hotel. I am ready to continue my travels. For now I have seen enough of Athens, also because it is so hot.