Day 212-216: Athens to Mt Parnassus

May 2, 2025 to May 6, 2025

We’ve spent a few days bimbling north and west in Greece. Heading in a not-very-direct route to Delphi (another ancient pile of rocks). Along the way we have passed plenty of other ancient sites. You don’t get very far, very quickly if you start looking into the history (even just Wikipedia level history) of the sites around Greece.

Unfortunately, the big touristy sites (Acropolis, various Athens Agora’s, Temple at Delphi) are surrounded by fences and an entry fee. Fortunately, the fences are see-through, and you can see nearly everything from the road or a nearby hill. And this is on the best-known sites – there are lots of others, some sign posted, some not. The (magic) map has some information about some of them, or others are just a mystery (like the 6 stone sarcophaguses on the side of the small track near to Delphi). One we stumbled on while looking for a place to sleep - the Ancient Tower of Thisbe. No fence, no security, just an Ancient Tower. With a Greek flag. And a pretty good view for a campsite.

The main attraction though is the scenery. Spring in Europe is always good. And it’s stunning in the south of Greece. So many flowers. So many pleasant smells of nectar, blossom, cut grass, figs. Even the vast fields of olives have a scent, especially where they’ve been trimmed. And mountains! Still snow capped in early May, we spent a couple of days going around Mt Parnassus (Delphi is on one side, a great WarmShowers host on the other). We couldn’t drag ourselves away from the view, so we’ve spent a day watching the mountain. It doesn’t do a lot.

There are plenty of wind turbines around. Lots and lots. We’ve talked briefly to a person working in the industry – there are several sizes, the big ones have a tower that is 100m high and a blade of 70m. 170 m from ground to tip – they are HUGE! The turbines themselves we don’t find unsightly (they’re doing an important job of providing power) but it’s a pity about the access road networks that snake up the side of most of the mountains.

Today's ride: 256 km (159 miles)
Total: 10,346 km (6,425 miles)

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