Lavrio Lament

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you may recall that last year, we had a heap of trouble in Lavrio, a port just outside of Athens. Our transmission failed, and while we were waiting for a new transmission to ship from the UK, our mechanic disappeared with a brain tumour, the first gearbox turned out to be damaged and had to be returned, ... and our visa expired. We desperately sought assistance at the Immigration police, and eventually, after visits to the Australian Embassy, port authorities and various immigration offices, we were granted a one month extension visa. It was exceeding stressful and a right royal pain in the arse.

Leonidas, standing guard at Thermoplyae

The actual pass is between these hills and the coast

Well, we're back in Lavrio, one year later, AND THE SAME THING IS HAPPENING. Did you miss the caps for emphasis? Story for this year is that we applied for a special one year visa while we were  back in Australia. We were told that we had to enter Greece within 3 months of applying for it, so we entered in April, before the special visa kicked into effect. When we entered in Lesvos, Immigration told us that this was fine, we could enter under Schengen, and then our new visa would kick in when it became current. We thought no more about it.

View from our hotel in Thessaloniki

Guess where I took this???

Then, in Lavrio, we went to the Immigration police to enquire about extending our visa for a second year. Lucky that we did, as they told us that we couldn't start the new visa without leaving Greece. Now, to tell us this, we had to hire a car, and drive to an office in Gerakas, some 20 km away. In Gerakas, they told us that this was the wrong office, and we had to drive to Pellina, another 20 km away. In Pellina, they told us that the only thing we could do was to leave Greece, and re-enter under the new passport. It took 3 offices, and us bouncing between them for an entire day,  to answer the simple question of how to activate our new visa.

Street dining in Thessaloniki

We ended up in this Cretan restaurant

Thessaloniki street art

So, then we had a mad scramble trying to figure out the cheapest and easiest way to get out of Greece. Ferry to Turkey, impossible time-tabling with ferry changes in Samos. Fly to Macedonia, no cheap flights, prohibitively expensive. Rent a car and drive to Bulgaria, Greek rental cars can't cross borders.

River gorge near Mt Olympus

Down in the gorge

Just the place for a quick dip to cool off.

Meanwhile, the immigration police official came around to our boat. Strange, we thought! He suggested that he might have 'other options' and that we should come back to his office. We did that, except that he met us outside. He said he had a 'friend' who, for a fee, could use the immigration software to fake our exit and re-entry. He asked what that would be worth to us, stressing that 'it wasn't for him'. We said 150 Euro, he said he'd call us back to see if his friend would do it. He could then falsely stamp our passports.

The town of Delphi

View out from our hotel, over to the Corinthian Gulf

View down from our hotel, this land is impossibly steep

Another view to the Ionian sea

Night view of Delphi town

We thought about this, and decided that we did not want to be involved in Greek corruption, and that it could have consequences down the line for us. When the immigration official returned to our boat, he said that 150 Euro's was not enough for 'his friend', and we told also him that we did not want to be involved.

The site of the Temple of Apollo

A small temple niche in wall of a Stoa, one side of the Agora (market-place)

The Omphalos, navel of the world

Treasury of Spartica and the Rock of the Oracle

Back to the original problem. We'd hired a car for a day to drive around to the various immigration authorities. When we returned this car, we begged the owner to rent us a car just to drive to the Macedonian border. We would then walk across, thus exiting and then entering Greece. The distance to Macedonia is about 700 km, so we had a round trip of about 1500 km. So now we're looking at 3 days driving, rental costs and fuel of about 700 Euro, accommodation and food (maybe 300 Euro), just to get a stamp in our passport, to activate a visa that their immigration authorities had told us was already activated. Sometimes, I just sit and wonder how the Greeks manage to run an entire country!!

Circular portals to the temple

Amazing fitted polygonal stones, designed to prevent slippage.

Entrance to the temple of Apollo

Elegant Doric columns

We did just that. Day one, we drove to the Macedonian border (but don't call it Macedonia in front of any Greeks, call it Skopje.... its still a sore point). On the way, we stopped at Thermopylae to say hi to Leonidas, who is still guarding the pass. (If you don't have a historian for a wife, you might need to remember that this is the pass where the 300 Spartans held off Xerxes and the invading Persian army). No problems exiting Greece, but the Macedonian customs would not let us enter without a green insurance card for the car. We could pay 50 Euro for some temporary insurance, but we said we'd like to exit. They pointed to another gate, so we turned around in 'no man's land' and re-entered Greece, 5 minutes later. No problems!! We drove back down to Thessaloniki, a city we really like, and treated ourselves to a nice meal out, in the old Jewish quarter of the town.

Amphitheatre, looking down on the temple of Apollo

The Stadia where the Pythean games were held.

Another view of the columns, with an unusual rectangular column.

Next day, we headed back down the mainland, through the gorges in the mountainous country around Mt Olympus. We stopped at the town of Delphi for the night. This town is built on an incredibly steep hillside. Take a look at the photo down from our hotel room! You do not want to  be scared of heights here.

Sculpture at Delphi museum

Modern sculptures

Greek Sphinx at Delphi

Sculptures from the top of columns

Another Omphylus

In the morning, we toured the Temple of Apollo, the museum at Delphi and visited the Temple of Athena close by.

Looking over the temple of Athena

Village near Delphi

Delphi was a magnificent site, so the run to the border was not a total waste. So we got the car back to Lavrio, spent another day watering the boat and washing. Next stop, we're into the Peleponnese and Poros.