We heard yesterday that there is a major strike in progress in Greece at the moment. It involves truck drivers, including the ones driving fuel tankers and there are fuel shortages over the whole of Greece. We filled up with diesel on Saturday but apparently we were lucky to do so. We decided to check out the situation today whilst stocking up with supplies and visiting a local ancient site. We drove into Paralia Akratas to the supermarket, then through Egira and up the hill to Ancient Egira (or Aigeira) high above the modern town. This was a large site with a Mycenaean-type palace on the acropolis, a theatre just below, an agora further down the hill and the associated Roman port some 3km away. The gates of the theatre area were locked but we could see almost everything from outside. The theatre was impressive, carved into the natural rock but there was very little else to see, except that is for the fantastic views, including the small Akrata peninsular where our campsite is located. The site is almost opposite Delphi on the other side of the Gulf of Corinth and in ancient times, with the polished marble of the buildings shining in the sun, it must have been possible to see it from here.
We returned to the campsite for lunch and noted that all of the fuel stations were closed. Later we learned that there was no diesel available in the area and only one station on the National Road that was selling petrol. We were also told that trucks were protesting by blocking 10km of the National Road near Patras. The strikers are making an announcement this evening and we can only hope that they will call an end to the strike.
Photos: The theatre at Ancient Aigeira; View of the Akrata Peninsular from Ancient Aigeira – the campsite is on the tip of the peninsular.
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