Day 28
About yesterday: I forgot to say that the landscape becomes green again 30 km Westwards from my old town.
Perceptions are one thing. Satellite imagery exists (and is free to all) to confirm or dismiss the perceptions.
Finding out whether the development of petrochemical plants is the reason for agricultural activity in the area is another question, much harder to crack.
Back to today
So we passed the bridge between the Peloponnese and the mainland, and stopped for breakfast in yet another small port of local fishermen.
The weather was much better.
Beautiful beach and landscape, beach and port area sheltered from the wind, shower! The locals we saw didn't complain. I posted the place on P4N with pics. And a few hours later I received a notification of deletion of the place because it seemed that there was a possibility that stopping at the place could infringe local regulations. That's right: somewhere in Paris, seated in a armchair in front of a computer screen, someone censors the joy of people who share good tips and disempower people to make their own choices.
The same individual also dismissed the place where we slept last night, on the same flimsy grounds.
First hand experience loses against video game player.
Great! Here is an opportunity to do better for real people :)
After breakfast we drove further North along the Ionian sea, on the old road (i.e. not the highway). Double Wow!
- Wow #1: for the state of the road. If you take that road, follow the speed limits provided before the corners. Many of them are duly justified by the state of the road you don't see yet.\
- Wow #2: the landscape is stunning.
We stopped in a camping site. The feeling was bad but we didn't want to drive further. That is not a place I would recommend. There's a construction site starting from around 7 am, or earlier. The owners require cash payment but don't give a receipt – cheating both the taxes and the customers is not a practice I appreciate much. A honking car from a local bakery just came around to sell bread without showing a face or the goods. That's not the hospitality nor the subtlety that is currency in Southern Greece.
However we met a lovely couple while walking on the beach. They had come ashore to make their dog do his dog things, that it wouldn't do on the boat.
We spoke about living on a boat in the Mediterranean sea – they've been doing that for 4 years, about the endless mechanical problems with the bermuda-style rigging and in mast-furling – that the guy described as designed for weekend boaties but not for everyday use nor rough conditions, about beautiful archeological sites...
Lovely.
Before shutting my eyes, I finished a book in German. Surfing the unknown words became easier as I went through the story, and reading allows me to express myself more easily. Next one please!