arrived at the port in Gythio at about 3pm and decided to ride directly to the famed Greek city of Sparta. i did not really do much research about the roads of the Peloponnese but as
i arrived on the ferry saw I noticed the mountains rising immediately from the coast.
so i started the short 25 mile ride to Sparta and got there at a nice time in the evening and found a decent place to stay.the next morning i headed out and the road began to go up and up and up. then it started to rain, then it started to piss down and get quite cold. i soon came to realize that i was not prepared for this, did not have rain protection for my panniers,
not a good rain jacket or rain pants. after spending weeks in hot Mediterranean weather i did not expect this. all i could do was just keep moving forward up the switchbacks crossing mountain. i eventually came across a nice looking mountain lodge and walked in completely drenched and asked for a room. i was planing on riding all the way to Kalamata this day but the sky gods had different plans for me.
The next day i rode only 2km more to the summit then had about 36km of downhill over the other side of the mountain back to the ocean. later in the day i took the evening train to Patras where i needed to go to catch the ferry to Italy. arrived at about8pm and noticed a disportionate amount of Harly Davidson motorcycles everywhere. it was a Saturday night in the third largest city in Greece. i rode around the city for an hour or so and stopped at a hotel and the man at reception told me there was a week long european harley convention going on. the room he showed me was way overpriced for it's value so i carried on down the road.
the next morning i woke up to the distinct sound of roaring motorcycle engines and made my way into town to purchase my ticket for the ferry. at 4pm i boarded and enjoyed the comfort of quality trans Mediterranean oceanic travel.
May,28 Salerno, Italy
The past four days have been a fantastic adventure of cycling through the Italian country side. I arrived at the port in Bari early in the morning on Monday May, 24th and was planing to find some cheap accommodation after the long ferry ride from Greece.
However after riding around the city for about 30 minutes I decided to just start riding down the road towards Naples. Seeing the sign pointing to the direction that i wanted to go helped me make my decision to ride on. It was about 9am so I had a whole day ahead of me. it was a industrial sprawl for about 25km riding out of Bari and the road was lined with prostitutes hanging out on the highway. i pulled over after a hour and got a cappuccino and had a look at my western europe lonely planet guidebook and saw that there was a town called Matera which was on my route. This town is a UNESCO world heritage site and a place where a lot movies have
been filmed because of it's historical old city that has been preserved. when arrived in Matera at around 2:30 in the afternoon it did not seem like a very special place at first site but after cresting the hill leading into downtown i saw i saw the beauty of this place. i rolled into the center of town which revealed a very attractive piazza and found a place to stay and explored the town that evening. it felt good to be in italy and had a very good first impression from this amazing historical city of Matera. I had a great nights sleep this night.
after a good breakfast i got on the road pointing to the amalfi coast, wanted to get off of the main roads so i had a good look at my maps and went up into the hills on the much less congested country roads. however i was not expecting the hills i was yet to
encounter, the road began to go straight up and then straight down, then up, then winding down, then winding up. it was nice to be off the highway but the climbing was getting a bit much for my fat ass. at least the weather was perfect and the scenery brilliant.
this was am epic day for me because it encapsulated the vision of freedom which bike touring is all about. just simply being on the road,self sustained with the freedom to go where you want and when you want. was also listening to interesting podcasts all day on the i pod.
at the end of the day i found myself in a village at the top of a ridge and got a room above the local bar. for 18 Euros this was some classic accommodation.
after the perfunctory cappuccino and croissant i headed out for another day on the road. the hills that i climbed the day before rewarded me with some smooth winding roads heading down into another valley. today was another day of riding up and down.
i was hoping to find a place to camp but instead ended up staying in a bland but accommodating hotel.
off again the next day, down another valley and up the next taking the small but punishing country roads, heart and lungs pumping with music in my ears,ideas,visions and dreams moving in and out of mind. this is life on the road. i am feeling connected to my body
and to nature. a very simple, primal connection and opening up to the inherent vulnerability of humanness. this night i stayed in a town near the coast called Eboli, then went onto Salerno to catch a boat to Sicily.
