Text: Peter Johansson
Editing: Christer Lundstedt
Photos: Christer Lundstedt, Peter Johansson
Videos: Christer Lundstedt
Wednesday 27th of December
04.22 A long travel day has begun with breakfast in my parents home in Skulnäs. Soon there will be a car trip to Örnsköldsvik's travel center.
05.01 Despite the early hour, there are plenty of people at the Örnsköldsvik travel center. There are many people who want to go away or are they going home? The Christmas holiday is over now.
05.12 Through the bleak darkness of the December morning, our southbound train travels forward at high speed. I wonder how Christer is doing. He probably hasn't woken up yet. He is with his father in Oxelösund, where he spent the Christmas weekend.
06.13 In Härnösand, a woman wanted to sit on the seat where a man was already sitting. However, there was no double booking. The man sat in the right place but in the wrong train car.
07.02 It is +2˚C at the railway station in Sundsvall. I just got a new seatmate.
08.30 There is a hint of dawn light as we now leave Söderhamn.
10.24 I have just finished my journey from Örnsköldsvik to Arlanda Airport and Christer should have started his journey from Nyköping. Here at Arlanda, one woman just failed to slip into Sky City building from the track area. She lacked a valid ticket and was therefore not allowed to enter. I'm currently sitting on a bench at the SkyBridge.
10.33 Christer is not on his way here at all. He is still in Nyköping, waiting for a delayed train.
11.06 Canceled trains create problems for Christer. For some reason, the train he booked from Stockholm to Arlanda will not run today. However, he will get here after buying a new ticket with Mälartåg. Here in Sky City, it's rebuilt again. Gone is Skygrill, Trattoria Milano, where we dined at Easter and that Asian restaurant Eurasia.
11.39 While waiting for Christer's arrival, I quench my thirst with a beer, a Hazy Bulldog APA at the Pocket restaurant. There were once other restaurants here, New Orleans and O'Leary's. It was a good beer. What about the beer where we are going to travel?
TIME ZONE CHANGE
GREECE
20.34 For the first time during our backpacking trips, we have taken our pack from a Greek luggage belt. The last time we were in the country, our luggage did not have time to be reloaded in Kiev, Ukraine and did not arrive on the plane we arrived on. Now we are having a drink and a sandwich here at Elefthérios Venizélos International Airport before the journey continues towards the central parts of Athens.
Thursday 28th of December
Christer will soon board a delayed Mälartåg in Nyköping.
Peter drinks a beer at Pocket, Arlanda.
Christer is waiting for a connecting train at Stockholm Central.
Christer is waiting for pizza at Barino, Arlanda.
A completely new environment in Terminal 5, Arlanda.
We are on the plane on our way to Greece.
Peter is having an evening meal at the airport.
Elefthérios Venizélos International Airport southeast of Athens.
We emerged from the underground at Athinas Street.
Evening in Monastiraki, Athens.
Greek TV in room 603.
08.23 We have woken up this first morning in Greece and Athens. We are preparing ourselves for Πρωινό, breakfast, and then we´ll return to the streets of Athens. We were last here in 2011.
09.22 Our breakfast selection is both wide and tasty. We have picked for ourselves and are filling up with energy for today's sightseeing. 09.56 Right after breakfast, Christer takes the opportunity to film the view from our room window. Now he films himself and me too. 10.45 As an introduction and overview of our upcoming city walk, we are now up on the hotel's roof terrace and looking out over Athens. There are many houses in all directions. We also look up at the Acropolis rock. We're not going there today. We would need many days to do and experience everything Athens has to offer. 11.05 Now we are out in the bustle of the square outside the hotel. Here there is life and movement. It's cars and marketing. Everything possible is offered and called for at the Varvakios market. Near our hotel is also the antique shop Big Bazaar with an amazing variety of stuff. Do they really notice if something is stolen?
The view from our hotel room.
The great city of Athens.
Athens Center Square Hotel has a lovely rooftop terrace.
Christer is looking at Athens.
The Acropolis rock with the Parthenon temple can be seen.
Peter enjoys the morning sun.
11.15 Initially we followed the street Athinas north to Kotzia Square. Here is the Athens City Hall but there was honestly not much to see here. Now we turn back towards the center.
11.28 We are back at Monastiraki Square where we got off the metro yesterday. There is no shortage of people in this neighbourhood. 11.35 People wander around, a man plays the bouzouki and sings. Next to the HM store there is a small Orthodox church, Kapnikarea Church. We also photographed it in 2011. On the other side of the church are some musicians playing various instruments. Soon we will continue our Athenian walk. 11.46 It's time for a bench break. We are together with, among other things, pigeons at Mitropoleos Square. Here at one end of the square stands the Metropolis Cathedral, Athens cathedral from the 19th century. 12.10 It's decorated for Christmas, cover music is played on a stage and oranges hang from the trees. We take a new bench break at Syntagma Square, which can probably be considered the most central place in Athens. 12.35 As an end to the visit here at Syntagma, we treat ourselves to a self-picked orange each. 12.41 It was refreshing oranges. The fruits look so good hanging from the trees, but the oranges we have picked and eaten on site over the years have not exactly been like the ones you buy in the fruit sections of the shops. They are full of seeds and so sour that it almost hurts to eat them. The music is more distant now. On the east side of the square is the Hellenic (Greek) Parliament. On the cobbled ground below the parliament in the direction of the square, the high guard evzones in traditional uniforms patrol. Their patrolling brings to mind Monty Python's Silly Walks.
No shortage of goods at Big Bazaar.
Kotzia Square with its fountain.
Cozy restaurants at Monastiraki square.
The Kapnikarea Church from the 11th century is completely embedded in the modern city.
Metropolis Cathedral in Athens.
A Christmas teddy bear on Syntagma Square.
12.58 The birds are sining to the sounds of the music. We rest on yet another bench. This time we are in the large park behind the parliament, Ethnikós Kípos (National Gardens).
13.34 The bench was left but was soon changed to another. We are now below the Zappeion which is a conference center and exhibition hall. More precisely, we are sitting in the Zappeion garden. It's a lot of sounds from the birds here. 14.01 A bit below ground level are the remains of some Roman baths. We are probably heading towards, if not bath, then at least food. We need to have lunch soon. 14.34 We took a look at the statue of Lord Byron, the Hadrian Gate and the Temple of Zeus before our entry into the genuine district of Plaka. Here, after some searching, we have settled down at Lyra Restaurant (https://lyrarestaurant.gr) to eat gyros and drink beer, Aλφα, Alfa. We sit outdoors in a small alley. 14.47 Almost all the tables are occupied here at Lyra. Next to us sit an exciting mix of women. They appear to be of Iranian, Jewish, Arab and Turkish origin. The entire Middle East at one table. 15.20 That was perfect and exactly what we needed. We got tasty meat, good vegetables, good bread and a lovely cold beer. Life is good!
Christer in front of the Hellenic (Greek) Parliament.
Evzones, a guard force guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the parliament.
The conference and exhibition center Zappeion.
The British poet Lord Byron took part in the Greek War of Independence and has been given a statue in Athens.
We walk through Plaka.
Christer at a table outside Lyra Restaurant.
15.47 After a continued walk through Plaka, we have now returned to Monastiraki square. Shortly before, we passed the area where the Romans built a square (agora) shortly before the birth of Christ.
15.55 We took another route back to the hotel and have now stopped at the insanely decorated Christmas patisserie Little Kook. 16.27 It's great to explore a big city block by block, street by street, but it's not so bad to come home to a hotel room either. Now we take a half-time/period break on this full day in Athens. You manage quite a lot in one day, but we would have liked to have more days in this city, but the Christmas holidays are not as long as you like. 17.23 There has been a downshift in speed and pace, although we still deserve a little rest. 18.29 This is not going to happen by itself. We had such pace in the steps out on town. Now an hour or so later we are groggy and sleepy. We need to shop and something else, we should also have time to eat. 19.53 We made a visit to a supermarket, Masoutis. There we bought some items for tonight and tomorrow. Before riding the lift, we each had a free cup of lobby coffee at our hotel.
Lyra Restaurant served amazingly good gyros.
An Ottoman mosque has become a Greek museum.
Here you can buy the drink salep made from an orchid root.
The intensively decorated Little Kook for Christmas.
Plenty of restaurants lining the streets of Monastiraki, Athens.
Acropolis in dark version.
20.31 After Christer, with some difficulty, checked in our details at the upcoming hotel in Sparta, it is starting to be time to go out on the streets of Athens again. In the Junior world championships in ice hockey, the United States just won against Switzerland with a whopping 11-3.
20.55 Just like in the morning, we have been up on the roof of the hotel and enjoyed the view, this time in the dark. The Acropolis rock with its temple is beautifully illuminated. 21.20 After the rooftop visit and the evening view of Athens and the Acropolis rock, we are now at the nearby restaurant Alexandrino. Now the draft beer from the brand Mamos arrived, time to stop writing. 22.21 This restaurant, it was not a wrong choice. We were served good Greek food in large quantities. The beer also got better with almost every sip. 23.46 Towards the end of the day, Christer has booked tomorrow's trips. In addition, we drank a beer, an IPA each. Less happy news is that the musician Magnus Lind is dead. In addition to having played the accordion in the band Perssons Pack and being married to the Ainbusk singer Marie Nilsson, he was also a picture producer at SVT during the occupation of the West German embassy in Stockholm in 1975. He then stood next to Bo Holmström when he shouted his now classic "Lägg ut! Lägg ut!"
We have dinner at Alexandrino's.
Christer's dinner, kebab politiko.
Friday 29th of December
07.48 We are awake and in the near future we will also get ready to move to a new place for us. Athens was a reunion, but the rest of this Greek trip will take place on the Peloponnese peninsula, which will be a new acquaintance for us.
08.53 We managed to have breakfast this day as well. Now we will make sure that step by step we get to the next place of residence and hotel. What we are leaving soon has taken good care of us. 09.39 At check-out we were assumed to be from the Netherlands. The girl at the reception had waved goodbye to a lot of guests from there who were all going home with the same flight. She thought we belonged to that gang too. However, we are not going to fly home. Our journey has just begun. Now we are at Omonia metro station. We stayed near it during our last visit to Athens in 2011. With newly bought tickets, we will go underground to the Larissa railway station. 09.49 Departure times are shown on the board inside the railway station. We will mostly wait for our train. As I said, we are at Larissa Station, where we were also in 2011. Then we were waiting for a train to Thessaloniki. 10.04 No trains arrive at the station building. For that reason, we are now out on a more train-safe platform. 10.22 There is a lack of information about train departures on our platform. We are trying to go underground to switch to another platform. We are looking for one where lots of people are waiting. No matter how we search, we cannot find any information about where our train will appear. 10.33 A train with Thessaloniki as destination is waiting for the platform we changed to. We will not go there again. We switch back to where we were from the beginning.
Omonia Square, Athens.
In the Athens metro.
Peter in place on the train.
Christer travels by train from Athens to Kiáto.
The Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge was completed in 2004.
We have arrived in Patras.
10.46 We had barely changed platforms when the right train came in. Now we are on our way on Greek railway tracks again.
11.34 The tickets have been checked and we leave with a view of the sun-glittering Mediterranean. 11.43 Suddenly we crossed the Corinth Canal. It was very narrow. Can any boats really fit in it? Unfortunately, we didn't have time to take any photos. Now we have officially arrived in the Peloponnese. 12.09 Here at the small station in Kiáto, we have changed the means of transport from train to bus. The railway is only electrified until here. After several attempts I got my seat belt on. We are sitting in seats 23 and 24. 12.30 Today's road is called Aftokinitodromos 8 or A8 for short. About an hour remains of the journey on it. 13.11 We are approaching the next home location on this trip. Spanning the water, the strait, the bay, is an almost three kilometer long bridge. Officially called the Charilaos Trikoupis Bridge, it connects the Peloponnese with the mainland of western Greece. The bridge was inaugurated the day before the opening of the 2004 Olympics. 13.32 The bus dropped us off in Greece's third largest city, Patras, also spelled and called Patra. 177,071 inhabitants live here the last time they counted. Now we just want to get some kind of lunch before we check into our hotel. 14.02 There are plenty of places where people want and can eat. Finding a good alternative is not going so well. For the time being, we have sat on a park bench in Platia Olgas park. Christer checks his mobile for possible candidates for the lunch. 14.23 There will be lunch at Le Coq (https://lecoq.gr) near the park we were sitting in just now. I'll order a beer and maybe a hamburger to go with it.
The flower clock at the Plateia Trion Simmachon in Patras.
Good lunch at Le Coq.
Beautiful nativity scene on King Georg I's square.
Santa is also here.
Agios Andreas (Saint Andrew's Church).
Agios Andreas has a beautiful interior.
14.37 The lunches are served. It is time to do as so many times before. Time to eat lunch.
15.18 It was again a delicious meal. We have now checked in and are staying in room 304 at the Olympic Star hotel. The room is currently without power. No, now Christer found the right switch. 16.16 On King Georg I's square in central Patra, we have seen the heroes of Christmas. Here is both Santa with reindeer and Jesus with guardians and other accessories in the stable. In the Junior World championships in ice hockey, Finland just scored 2-0 against Latvia. Goal scorer was Jesse Pulkkinen. 16.44 We easily made our way to and into the magnificent Agios Andreas (Saint Andrew's Church). It is said to be one of the largest churches in the Balkans. There are also supposed to be relics of the apostle Andreas (Andrew). It's quiet and beautiful in here. 16.52 After seeing Andreas (Andrew´s) reliquary and the Cross of Andrew, we are outside again. Outside the church, two little boys are playing football. They have even arranged for easy goals. 17.04 We leave the church behind to find our way back to the home areas. Outside the church there was also a small ice rink. Once again we have seen Greeks skate with moderate success. We'll probably take another route back. Then we´ll get to see more of the city. 17.34 After walking back again, we are now close to where we got off the bus. Here at Plateia Trion Simmachon there is a clock made of plants. We are now heading towards the bus station. From there we will be traveling tomorrow so it might be wise to check what we need to know. 17.59 The bus station for the company KTEL left something to be desired. It is small, there was not much information and no ticket machines. Well, at least we know where the bus station is. 18.41 People laugh and smoke, "Last Christmas" is played and we sit outside and drink coffee at Coffee Brands on Kung Georg I's square. George I was born in Denmark and was King of Greece between 1863 and 1913. He was assassinated by an anarchist school teacher in Thessaloniki. His wife Olga was the niece of the Russian Tsar Alexander II who was also assassinated.
Here are the relics of the apostle Andrew.
Saint Andrew's Cross inside Agios Andreas.
A small skating rink at Plateia Agiou Andrea.
Afternoon coffee at Coffeebrands.
Christmas decorations on King Georg I's square
Peter at the Chinese restaurant Golden Dragon.
19.03 Now that's enough coffee! Did I really write that? We have a few more things to sort out.
19.48 After checking out some possible dinner restaurants, we bought something for the evening at the Andrikopoulos store. Now we are back in room 304 again. 20.53 We can't stay here or can we? A certain hunger is there, but is there really the will to go out again? 21.28 Christer and I strolled through the city and up to the Chinese restaurant Golden Dragon. That name sounds familiar. I was just about to order non-alcoholic beer. It is important to watch out. 22.32 It was classic Chinese food. It was filling and tasty without anything excessive in any direction. Now we have to wait for tonight's event. We have not seen any other guests at the hotel. Do they keep a low profile? 23.33 We keep tradition alive and drink balcony wine. This is the fourth time we do it on the trips. When and where is the next time? Right now we are drinking Cavino Ionos. It is a red wine from Achaia, Peloponnese, Greece. The wine is made from Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon. 23.59 It wasn't the most flavourful wine I've drunk, but no major faults with it. What do we have in our glasses in two days? That's when 2024 will be toasted.
December evening in Patras.
Wine on the balcony, Olympic Star.
Saturday 30th of December
08.27 The night at the Olympic Star hotel in Patras, Greece, has been pleasant. Next, we will see if there are any other guests here, guests who just like us want breakfast.
09.36 Yes, there are actually other guests here. We met two in the lift and more joined in the breakfast room. Now we have to think about when to go to the bus station. Do we need to be there in good time or? We mustn't forget to buy New Year's drinks tonight. It will be too late to do so by the advent of tomorrow on New Year's Eve. 10.37 We went to the bus station to buy bus tickets to Pyrgos. According to timetables we found on the internet, we could choose between leaving at 11:10 and 12:30. The only thing we could buy, however, were tickets for a bus that will leave at 13:45. For being a large tourist country, it is unexpectedly difficult to find something as basic as current timetables for buses. 11.23 We unexpectedly got a few extra hours here in Patras. In order not to just sit around and get bored, we have gone on a walk up a long staircase we already saw yesterday. It will take us to various attractions. It is hard for me to walk here in the Agiou Nikolaou stairs. 11.33 Sweaty, we made our way up the stairs. This was followed by more walking before we reached the Castle of Patras, the ancient fortress that sits above the city. As soon as I catch my breath we'll explore it. 11.57 Once inside the castle grounds, I received a warning from a man in a small house that I was not allowed to fly drones in here. At first I didn't understand what the gentleman meant by no drone. I thought it was something in Greek.
Peter is choosing his breakfast items at the Olympic Star hotel.
The Agiou Nikolaou stairs are steep.
Soon the stairs are defeated.
We rest outside the castle in Patras.
There has been a fortress here since Byzantine times.
A ferry arrives at Patras.
12.03 We didn't want to carry our backpacks all the way up into the castle so we take turns going further in and further up. The view from one of the castle towers is simply magnificent. You can see the whole city, the strait outside and the mountains on the other side of it. Now we must slowly return down to the city and sea level again.
12.42 In an hour we should be on board the bus. We are now sitting and resting on a bench in the same park as yesterday, Platia Olgas. It was easier to go down the stairs than up. 13.11 There will be an early and light lunch today. We have bought a drink and a baguette. We have used that combo before. We ordered from a cafe, Passenger, at the small bus station. 13.25 After a finished meal, we wait for our bus. Which one will it be? There are several possible candidates. 13.49 In the choice between two possible buses, the answer was the third. Now we are in seats 23 and 24. Wait, isn't that the same seat number we sat in yesterday? 14.21 There are plenty of trees with plenty of citrus fruit on the side of the road. There are plenty of people on the bus too. It is probably best that we arrange tomorrow's bus tickets already today.
The Greek flag on Patras Castle.
View of Patras.
We are having a light meal at the bus station in Patras.
The bus journey begins. Finally!
We have arrived at the bus station in Pyrgos.
Not much activity at the train station in Pyrgos.
15.00 At the BP station we just passed, a liter of diesel costs 1,699 euros. In Swedish money it will be SEK 18,92.
15.38 Our route is anything but straight. It would have been quick to travel along the main road, but our bus tries to include every major village in its itinerary. It swings on and off. We enter one village after another. 16.14 We finally arrive at the bus station in Pyrgos. Here, Christer has bought bus tickets that will take us from here tomorrow. The remaining question is what to do with tomorrow's planned excursion to classical Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympic Games. Pyrgos is also called Dimos Pyrgos, has 25,845 inhabitants and is located in the western part of the Peloponnese. 16.28 We went by the railway station to see if there are any trains from Pyrgos to Olympia tomorrow. However, the station appears to be completely dead and shut down. At the bus station we also saw that the bus times are not to our liking. One option means that we have to leave long before the hotel breakfast and the other option means that we won't be able to get back in time. 16.46 Room 207 at Hotel Marily (https://www.hotelmarily.gr) surrounds us now. Here there is a kettle and a bathtub as bonus items. I will learn to use at least one of these. 16.58 To summarize the aforementioned facts about the trip to Olympia on New Year's Eve, it looks like the following. The bus to Olympia arrives at 13.00 and returns at 13.30. Of course, there is an earlier bus, but then we will be without breakfast and have to wait an hour or so before the site opens. There is a bus back a little later, but then we miss the bus we are supposed to take from here. 17.57 It feels as if the classic Olympia is slipping away from us. We can buy New Year's drinks tomorrow instead of today as planned. However, we should buy something to eat soon and an evening beer.
Hotel Marily, Pyrgos.
Peter has bought some groceries at Sklavinitis.
Evening in Pyrgos.
A hero from the Second World War stands in the middle of the city.
Christer is waiting for the food at El Greco.
Balcony coffee at Hotel Marily.
19.01 Now we have been to the Sklavinitis supermarket and bought drinks for tonight, tomorrow and in the future. We have also bought some snacks.
19.44 After some searching on Google Maps, we may have found a dinner restaurant. Now it's just a matter of finding it in reality. 20.29 We have taken a walk into more central parts of Pyrgos and are now at El Greco Pizza e Cucina and have just ordered pizzas. As a drink, we could choose, among other things, 1/2 or 1 kilo of wine. It sounded heavy drinking so we ordered bottled beer instead. 21.01 The pizzas were hardly culinary but still OK and we were full. I didn't find the promised pepperoni on my pizza and the mozzarella on Christer's pizza was also conspicuous by its absence. 22.13 Here at home in the room at Hotel Marily, I have canceled the plans to take a bath in the bathtub. It's simply too small. 22.47 Yesterday we drank wine on the balcony. Tonight we drank coffee on our balcony. It was cold but still worth it. We have come to terms with the fact that we will not be going to Olympia this time. It has been around since 776 BC maybe it can wait for us a while longer?
The moon is hiding.
You can see 19 photos from December 27 in this photoalbum.
You can see 129 photos from December 28 in this photoalbum.
You can see 70 photos from December 29 in this photoalbum.
You can see 58 photos from December 30 in this photoalbum.