Sunday 1st May 2011 (May Day) – Near Thisvi, Greece

The WiFi wasn't working this morning so I went down to reception to check on it. I used my many years of I.T. Knowledge to diagnose the fault and suggest a solution – switch the wireless router off and back on. Of course it worked and I was able to post the blog up to yesterday. During this time we had a chat with the campsite owners who had been running the campsite since 1983. They also said that many of the campsites between them and Athens had closed, including the Blue Bay campsite and the EOT (government run) campsite just down the road. Apparently the Blue Bay campsite was very good but it was run by three brothers who fell out with each other and it closed last year. We said goodbye and left with a free Greek campsite booklet (more comprehensive than our book) and a mini chocolate Easter egg each.
We intended to us a minor road that would take us south across the mountains but must have emerged too far west on the main road and missed the turn. We decided instead to use the main road
just west of Thermopylae and were travelling towards it along the main road quite happily when the road suddenly turned into a very wide dirt track. After a certain amount of confusion, we realised that if we continued along the dirt track we emerged on the eastbound carriageway of the motorway! We soon turned off south on the road towards Gravia and we climbed steadily up into the mountains. At Bralos we tuned east and passed signs to many archaeological sites, resisting the temptation to investigate. We cut off again on a minor road to Davlia before crossing the E692 and travelling through Distromo and on to Hosios Loukas.
All through this trip on lovely rural roads we saw people picking wild flowers. This is a tradition on May Day in Greece and the flowers are often made into a wreath that is hung on the front door of their houses. The wreath brings Spring's blessing to the house and is is left there until early June. As we approached Hosios Loukas we saw a family with their car bonnet covered in flowers that they had just collected. The woman was just creating her wreath from them and she waved and called out a greeting as we passed.
Hosios Loukas is a monastery and one of the best examples of Byzantine architecture in Greece. We came here over 30 years ago and remembered being impressed but we couldn't remember much more! The setting, surrounded by mountains is lovely and the architecture and frescoes are beautiful. We were able to enjoy it almost to ourselves, probably because everyone else was enjoying their May Day family meal. We had a picnic overlooking the site.
Returning a short distance we took a road that travelled down the fertile valley full of olive trees and vines below the monastery. On then using deserted roads to Kyriaki where we were encouraged to demolish some bunting (actually red and white roadwork tape) that was too low for the van. This was very lucky for us as we were then able to ask for directions to the next village, only to find that we needed to turn right (no signs at all) and had demolish some more bunting. Between here and Aghia Anna we passed, literally in the middle of nowhere in the mountains, we passed a park with a children's playground and temporary rides. Families were there picnicking and the children were enjoying the rides, all obviously celebrating May Day although I am sure that it is also very popular in the heat of summer.
We came to an amazing viewpoint just before Thisvi. Here the road descended in many curves down to the village far below. People had stopped their cars to admire the view and we couldn't resist the temptation to wild camp. Parking just off the road, we got out our chairs and had a drink whilst taking the view of the Gulf of Corinth, its many islands and the hazy Peloponnese beyond. Although the view was hazy, it was lovely. It must be a fantastic view when it is clear – make a note to return! Most of the people passing us (many of whom tooted their horns and waved) were in pick-up trucks, a sign of the agricultural nature of the area and one such truck passed us with two lads standing in the back holding on the roll-bar behind the cab. “Good evening” they called out as they passed and as they got to the bend one of the lads got out with his bicycle and set of to free-wheel down the hill. We watched him go – I measured it the next day as a fall of 500m over a distance of 6km (nearly 4 miles) – what great fun.
Photos: Hosios Loukas; Mosaic of Christ washing the feet of his disciples; Mosaic of Christ; Wild camping in Henrietta with her bouquet of May Day flowers.