Friday 6th July 2018
We are up at 6am and on the road at 7am in order to take advantage of the cool of the morning. No point in talking about the weather, it’s just scorchio every day now. Early mornings are the best time to ride if we can.
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| Up before the sun |
Our route quickly starts climbing up into the mountains towards the Albanian border. It is a lovely road of stunning vistas and hardly any other traffic at all. At times we drive for twenty minutes or more without seeing another moving vehicle.
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| Time to pack up the tents |
The mountain roads are mainly white asphalt with the occasional bumpy section but no potholes at all. Cant say the same back home in Yorkshire!
As we climb higher the temperature stays around 30C as altitude compensates for the increased fierceness of the sun.
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| Mountain view |
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| Nice hairpins and sweepers |
After a few hours it’s time for a tea break. Well Americano and cappuccino anyway with a glass of water and a ham and cheese toasty each at a cafe in a small village. It’s pleasantly shady in the courtyard and a group of old guys at a nearby table greet us like long lost friends.
“Deutsch?”
“Oh Inglis, very good”
“BMW very good”
You get the gist. We while away half an hour, me making use of the open WiFi while nodding and smiling at the growing number of customers. The bill comes to all of €5.20. We like it here in Greece.
Another hour of traffic-less twisties and we pull in at one of the many travellers water points on the road. It’s a small oasis for the weary traveller and wonderfully cool under trees.
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| Water for the traveller |
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| Cooling water break under the trees |
We drop down into a broad river valley and ride into a sizeable town. This is Konitsa our planned stopover for the night. It is only 2pm but we’ve had about enough. It’s damned hot.
The Grand Hotel Dentro is just the job. Underground garage parking for the bikes and all air conditioned.
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| The Grand Hotel Dentro in Konitsa |
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| The view from the hotel terrace |
An old boy called Yanos greets us warmly. His wife and daughter run the place and he has a small farm where he rears sheep and goats and grows veg for the hotel table. He has worked around the world on cruise liners and has a fair command of English. Just as well because the only word of Greek Mick and I have learned so far is Yamas. We make a point of learning how to say "Cheers" wherever we go.
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| Yanos or John in English he tells us |
Yanos can talk the hind leg off a donkey and as we sup excellent Kaiser Pilsner on the terrace he proceeds to do just that. Football, politics, religion, history, travel and geography are all on the table. He tells us he has been out that morning fishing and has caught a kilo of trout. Guess what’s on the table this evening?
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| Trout as fresh as it gets |
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| Night falls over the chimney cowls of Konitsa |
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