Mafia?

So we made it over to Thassos and drove around the Island to find the 'Waterfront Bungalow' we had booked on the internet. Not quite as it appeared on the website would be an understatement! Obviously the owners wouldn't write that it resembles a prison camp in their advertising material, but that is the closest thing we could compare it to. Dirty, cramped and quite a way from the water - we were only there for 10 minutes before we decided to make a break for it. The owner went from being nice to a lunatic in an instant too - but seeing as she had our passports we had to compromise and pay for a night there - I think we would have paid for a month there just to get out, and if she hadn't had our passports we might have tried busting out of the compound in the SJ, but in the end we just paid the cash and were pleased to be free!

After all that, we found a great hotel on the hills just above a town called Potos and decided to make it our base for a couple of days. Day two on Thassos, and we decided to give the SJ a rest - renting a 250cc quad bike - what a great vehicle! Of course you can't go round corners on it (as we discovered), and if you were to come off it would probably be the end of you, but brilliant fun all the same. We spent the afternoon taking an offroad trail up some mountains to the old town - probably an hour of trail riding with just the odd mountain goat for company - a welcome break from the tourist infested beaches. One thing that we have learnt from visiting all these countries is that wherever you go, there is always Coca-Cola, and it is generally cheaper than water. An hours ride up a mountain, and the one village shack with life in it was a Taverna selling local honey, olive oil, and of course cold Coke - served by a 5 year old.

Two days was enough for us on Thassos, so early on the third day we went and hopped on the ancient car ferry - amusingly you get about 10 greek sailors all directing the cars onto the boat, and all giving conflicting instructions - all they do is all keep shouting louder and louder until you work it out for yourself and park behind the car in front. We hit the motorway and aimed for Thessaloniki - the biggest town on the map that was on our route. After visiting an internet cafe we found a great hotel - 'Daios' and the contemporary design, brilliant air con & facilities, and free mini-bar made it the perfect place to stop. The town was actually really nice too - with many new buildings including the most amazing car park we have ever seen (really!) - you take a ticket, drive on to a turntable and get out, then a robotic arm comes out of a hole in the wall, lifts your car up and takes it away to be stacked up. It is surreal. Then when you come back to collect it, you pop your ticket in and it tells the machine which car to go and retrieve. Amazing.

Greece was hot though, and by the time we made the port town of Igoumenitsa the following night the temparature had risen again to an almost unbearable level - the sign board in the town read 47 degrees at one point, so we spent the afternoon hopping from cafe to cafe to try and stay cool in the air conditioning. Jennifer has invented the 'Suzuki Shower' in a bid to cool down a little while on the road - step one - buy an ice cold bottle of water from a garage, step two - tip the whole lot over your head. Simple. Unbelievably, the Suzuki itself stood up to the extreme temperatures remarkably well - we've put a little bit of water in and a little bit of oil, and coming over the mountain just before the port it ran a bit hot on the steeper climbs, but it kept going.

So we took an overnight ferry from Greece to the port of Brindisi in Italy, which went really well - calm crossing and by the time we had got some sleep it was time to disembark.

We headed south straight away and into Calabria - which we thought was really really nice. Very quiet, but a welcome change from the bright lights and beach bars of Greece. We stayed the first night in a small town called Amendolara in a lovely contemporary hotel, and had our first taste of the Calabrian timetable - ie everything opens for a little while at some point in the morning, then everyone has lunch, and then of course there needs to be some resting so everyone goes to bed for a few hours, then everything opens again in the early evening for a few more hours.

It seems amazing that so many people live with such a little amount of stuff - looking into peoples houses in the evening they just seem so bare, but they all seem so content playing cards and sitting in the street chatting and watching the world go by.

The following day we decided that we had to head for cooler climbs, so crossed the mountains onto the Western shores of Calabria where we spent our second Italian evening, in another small town called Scalea.

The following morning after a few credit card and language problems (all resolved by walking to an ATM) we set off up the coast. The car seemed especially slow, and after a quick inspection we discovered that the bottom mount of the right rear shock absorber had broken in half, and the shock absorber was hanging dangerously close to the road. We pulled in to the nearest town, but because it was a Sunday, everyone was in church or sat in the Piazza with a Cappacino (or wine!). A quick call back to England got us the phrases we needed (mechanic, garage, welding), but the town we were in had no such facilities. We headed back on to the main road, hoping one of the service stations would be open where we could at least bodge it up to get us to the next town. We passed a nice looking guest house and restaurant so thought it was safest to stop for the night and resume our search for a mechanic on Monday. We were warmly greeted by the owner, who didn't speak any English (relying on our broken Italian), but who seemed to understand our predicament, so we booked in for the night and he made some calls to his 'friends'. This guy was one of the friendliest and most helpful people we have met so far on the trip, however he did seem to be the stereotypical mafioso type, with an enormous house, pair of new Mercedes (in black of course) all from owning a small b&b (which was empty?). Anyway, he was helping us out and gave us a great price for a room so all was well. He made out that one of his friends would be able to come out and look at our car that evening, so we thought we may as well have lunch. On a Sunday afternoon in the middle of the mountains, all of a sudden people started arriving - they all appeared to be 'family' but from it being empty one minute to being full the next there must have been 50 people for lunch. We were welcomed to join in (and given a glass of stale wine) by the most hilarious and clumsy waiter (also one of the family). We didn't really know what we were ordering, but he seemed to understand that we wanted lunch, and a few minutes later a large plate of meat, cheese and bread came out. Then some more vegetables. Then some more. And more. Then a whole course of mushrooms. We ate everything and were stuffed. Then came out the pasta course! A huge plate of three different types of pasta - it seemed impossible but we couldn't not eat it so we struggled on. It was lovely food, but we were a bit relieved when it was done as there was just so much of it. Then, the main came out - a huge bowl of roasted meats, with bowls of potatoes and salad to accompany. We were honestly astonished! Two hours of solid eating and we couldn't move. All we could do was waddle back to our room and watch the olymics. So later that evening, we were't really sure what was happening with the car - all of a sudden a mint condition Ferrari Dino came rumbling down the hill - it was our hosts mechanic friend - so we now have the B&B owner with his black mercs, and the back street mechanic in Armani and driving a Ferrari. He had a quick look, and then somehow we arrived at the conclusion that he would take the keys to our car and come back later to fix it, so he rumbled off in his Ferrari with our keys in his pocket (nervous to say the least!). So when we awoke the next morning the car had gone - our host said it would be back with us at 10. But then he did say everything happens at about 10. We sat outside and waited but nothing came - our host didn't look worried - and at about 1400 we thought we might as well get some lunch. We made it clear we only wanted one course and sat down to some spaghetti when all of a sudden our car appeared back. 100 Euros later and we were fixed. Mafia? You decide.

So we got on our way yesterday afternoon and drove to Salerno on the coast, and today we are in Napoli doing the tourist bit. We are staying in a Monestary! Rome tomorrow!

We have been following the Russia/Georgia situation on CNN and are very relieved we are not there. We wouldn't have travelled through Georgia but we would have crossed into southern Russia where there have been military movements.

Greece!

So, on our last day on the Black Sea, we took the truck down to the next port to get some dinner, and disaster - the clutch made a big clunk and the smell that followed was overpowering to say the least. Luckily, our friendly Hotel waitress 'had a friend' who may be able to help, so we blasted across town to a backstreet truck garage. The mechanic had a quick look on the forecourt and then decided he wanted a further look from underneath, so hopped in and drove it towards the pit which they usually use to inspect lorries. Terrifyingly, he didn't seem all that bothered that he was in a vehicle about half the width of his usual customers - and it was only a second mechanic shouting and waving his arms that prevented him from disappearing into the pit (in our truck!). Unphased, he realigned himself and drove on - the final result being that only about two inches of rubber each side supported the whole weight of the car while he inspected it. A final thumbs up and he reversed it back out of its precarious position at about 30mph.

I thought that this was the end of my little micro adventure, however, negotiating rush hour traffic trying to keep up with our waitress was a whole new experience - we went through car parks, across gardens, pavements, forecourts - all hilarious.

I quite like the Bulgarian style of driving now!

Bulgaria was quite cool, hot and very cheap - all seems to be being bought up at a tremendous rate by us Brits.

We did a 13 hour drive today and have made it to the Aegean Sea in Greece - it would have been quicker but the Greek side of the first border we tried was closed - brilliant - love those borders.

Off to Thassos tomorrow so will write as soon as we can.