Bicycle Tour of Peloponnese, Greece,
From Korinth to Olympia
September/October, 2018
Day 5
Cycle from Corinth NW Along the Coast to Diakofto,
Then Train Ride to Kalavrita (Greek Ski Resort Village)
(We Will Get Splashed by Angry Sea Waves and Knocked About
from Wind Forming at the Edge of a Mediterranean Hurricane)
Above Left: Painting on the dining room wall of the Alkyon Hotel.
Above Right: The Bee is ready to go, Terry is placing her jacket in a pannier, and in the background are Sharon, Greg, Linda, Patrick, and Lily also prepping for departure.
Above Left: Ride to the ocean and turn left (west).
Above Right: About to ride past Africa, tandem selfie, and batman selfie.
Above: Beach accoutrements await visitors. A little wind but in our favor here.
Above Left: We will stop ahead for some pictures.
Above Right: The sea is a little angry, the water is about 2 meters above normal level.
Above Left: Our first bike ride pose ...
Above Right: ... just now realizing the Ocean is a little askew.
Above Left: Dennis, Terry, and the Bee; Jerry in the background and Lily just pulled up (photo by Lily).
I cannot remember what the bike issue was.
Above Right: Dennis, Terry, and the Bee; Jerry in the background.
Above Left: Riding along the coast.
Above Right: Eying the Ocean.
Above Left: HINT - When the road is wet, it is the result of rogue waves splashing the road.
Above Right: That wave missed us.
Above Left: Religious Votive (some of the larger types, like this for example, have bottled water or some treat for a traveler inside). Votives are common in rural areas.
Above Right: That's Greg coming up on Dennis and Terry.
Above: Just traveling along and enjoying Greece!
Above: Close.
Above: Enjoying coastal Greece.
Above Left: Closest.
Above Right: Wham! We got soaked.
After this incident there were no more close calls.
Above Left: We had a mid-morning snack at a nice city park on our left, here we are heading out toward the beach for a continuance of our Corinthian Coast bike ride.
Above Right: A very pleasant bike route, it was restricted to traffic for about one kilometer.
Above: Another section of angry water.
Above Right: Our coastal highway had intersected with the railroad tracks such that from here to our destination of Diakofto, we will alternate every now and then for which course will be closer to the beach.
Above: It was around 11 am so we stopped at this little corner of heaven to have a snack and enjoy the view. We will stop at a café for Lunch in about an hour when we reach the Diakofto Train Station. The local mountain train's schedule is such that it may leave early or late depending on its commercial transport needs. It could depart between 1pm and 3pm, so we want to ensure that we are there before 1 pm.
Above: Terry Struck and the Bee at mid-day snack time on a secluded beach on the Peloponnese Coast of Greece on the Gulf of Corinth.
Above Left: Old Stone Bridge for the railroad, uphill from us at the moment.
Above Right: We had entered some sort of national park (as there was no structures for kilometers, except for a few old fishing villages every now and then).
Above Left: Pristine waters.
Above Right: Dirty waters from a 2 meter storm surge and associated storm winds. We had just entered the outskirts of Diakofto.
Diakofto Train Station
Peloponnese, Greece
Above Left: Benton had loaded the Bee. He will drive the bikes up to Kalavrita and we will take the train. It is a very steep climb, we had an option of cycling up but for us those days are behind us. Kalavrita is a Greek Ski Resort. I had no idea that it snowed in this part of the world, it's kind of similar situation to the snow-covered peaks of Hawaii.
Above Right: The train pulled-in, we have enough time to order lunch and a beverage.
Above: Our gang at lunch in a café across from the train station.
Above: The display case of our café.
Above: The display case of our café.
Train Ride from Diakofto to Kalavrita
(Sea Level Coast to Mountain Ski Resort)
Above Left (L-R): Lily, Don, Linda, Ron, and Terry.
Kalavrita, Mountain Ski Resort Town
Above: We arrived at Kalavrita and it is now jacket weather, it is cool outside.
This Holocaust Kalavrita Story must be told: During the Nazi Occupation of Greece, the Men of Resistance in Kalavrita captured and killed a Motor Patrol of German Soldiers. In Reprisal, the Nazis rounded up all males over 12 and shot them, then the Nazis rounded up all women and kids into a church and burned it down using gasoline.
Above Left: It is a wind-screen for a chimney that blocks wind from blowing in, it facilitates a venturi vacuum for sucking smoke out, and it looks sort of like a goose. We could use something like that at our own home in Colorado.
Above Right: Hotel Filoxenia. Filoxenia is Greek for Hospitality. This was our home for the night. Our stay was very somber.
Kalavrita Holocaust Museum
Above: Holocaust Statue. The building in the left image background is the Holocaust Museum.
Above: Unfortunately, the museum closed early on this day and we missed an opportunity to visit.
Kalavrita Walk About
Above Left: Terry visits and collects photos of Pharmacies or Apothecaries from around the world.
Above Right: Newish Village Church.
Above: Dinner with the gang - The restaurant served a local specialty and it was delicious.
Above Left (L-R): Don's hand, Greg, Sarah, Benton, Ron, Sharon, and Linda.
Above Right (L-R): Linda's jacket, Craig, Sharon, Linda, my empty seat, Terry, Patrick's Hair, Marianne, Lily, Jerry, Linda 2, Don, and Greg.
Summary
We had a very good and adventurous day. We dodged land crashing ocean waves while riding along the Corinthian coast and one wave splash had slammed us pretty good. We knew something was going on, ocean weather wise, because the ocean level had risen and the rise was not typical of any tidal activity. Luckily, we dried out quicky as we continued cycling (our panniers and handlebar bag are waterproof). Riding the train from Diakofto to Kalavrita was very enjoyable in itself. We, later, learned the story of Kalavrita's Nazi-Greek Holocaust and we attempted to see the Holocaust Museum but it closed early that day. We did get to see the Holocaust Statue. We also had an enjoyable walk around the downtown area town while visiting shops and, lastly, we had a lovely group dinner.
Unbeknownst to us, a Mediterranean Hurricane (called a Medicane) was spooling up between Italy, Tunisia, and Greece. There are only two places for a Hurricane to form, the other is between Sicily, France, and Algeria. The coming Medicane would pass from west to east south of Greece and it would continue to affect our travels for the next three (3) days. The Medicane had already been affecting our weather today.
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