After the short ride from the Turkish Border Crossing to the one into Greece there were only a few cars queued up to get through. For some reason the small queue had a long wait while cars were waiting to be searched by Customs. After they had moved on I got to move up to the first window where my passport and registration were quickly checked and I was stamped in. Next I had to undergo the rigorous Customs search…..I opened the Top Box and after a quick rummage around on the things on top while asking how long I had spent in Turkey he told me to get going and enjoy Greece.
I made it into to Greece.
It was quite pleasing to be through the border without any issues, and seemingly with the bare minimum of paperwork. It was great to be looking ahead into another country to see what was there to be seen.
It was also a change to be starting off on a major freeway.
That had clearly posted speed limits.
After the brief concerns over heading towards Yunanistan the signs were directing me into Greece and towards Thessaloniki - I was on the right track.
It was long after heading off down the major freeway at around 120km/hr that I had one of the scariest experiences of the trip. A fair sized bird swooped straight towards my head. I ducked quickly down to the left onto my tankbag and out of the way to avoid getting struck in the helmet. This caused brief wobble before I was stable again thanking my lucky stars.
This was the first time where I could legally cruise at 130km/hr on a smooth highway. I soon got over the monotonous noise and buffeting that comes with 130km/hr and settled back in at around 110km/hr - it is more relaxing.
I soon arrived in Alexandroupoli and was keen to find something to eat and fill-up with petrol.
Alexandroupoli is a relatively small town on the coast and is quite different to most of the places I had seen in Turkey. The streets have been arranged on an orderly grid pattern and the centre of town close to the water's edge is characterised by tree lined streets and lanes with many cafes and restaurants. The streets were relatively quiet although many of the cafes were fairly busy. I also noticed a difference in the motorcycles in Alexandroupoli compared to Turkey - there were many more larger motorbikes (GS, Transalp, Varadero, V-Strom as examples) in addition to the scooters.
The one-way streets were quiet.
I found somewhere to eat in one of the lanes and had my first Greek Salad in Greece - it seemed authentic enough to me. Luckily I had some Euros with me from a previous trip and was able to use the correct currency without needing to find a bank first…….
After lunch I had a quick wander around and found some attractive areas hidden away within the tight grid network. Small squares had been opened up around some of the intersections and were landscaped to great effect.
One of the small squares.
I'd parked in front of a coffee bar (which seem very popular in Greece) who didn't have any food so when I returned I tried their cappuccino. It was good and gave me hope that I would be able to find a decent cappuccino throughout Greece - things were looking good so far. I used up a few more of the Euros I had…..
On the way out of Alexandroupoli I needed to fill-up with petrol. I had purposefully not filled up leaving Turkey in the hope that Greece would be much cheaper. I found a small petrol 'station' and the attendant had started filling before I confirmed he would take credit card. He had put in about 3Euro by the time he told me he didn't take credit card…..I quickly checked the remaining Euros and it seemed all I would be getting would be 25Euro (at around 4.75E/L). I took the 25Euro worth and headed off back to the nice, smooth and quick freeway.
That wasn't free at all. I assume you are supposed to know that they are toll roads.
I arrived at the toll booth with 1E left over and the toll was 1.40E and they didn't take a card either. I had to pull over to the side and wait while the supervisor came out to fill in the paperwork to pay the toll later. I was given 3 options:
Pay later in cash by coming back to the toll booth that I had passed through.
Pay in cash at the company's offices
Bank transfer to the nominated account.
It will probably cost me a little bit extra to transfer the funds than the toll that's for sure so I am still on the look-out for a branch of the bank.
I continued along the highway and turned off to Kavala for the night since it was a little later than anticipated. I knew I would be better off stopping in a smaller town where it would be much easier to find acceptable accommodation rather than continuing on to Thessaloniki and hoping to find something without knowing where to look.
On the way into town it was obvious that the aqueduct is a major feature and hard not to notice.
Kavala is renowned for the aqueduct.
I rode into town keeping my eyes peeled for somewhere to stay. After a quick pass I had noticed a few options so I parked the bike and headed off on foot. I checked-in to Esperia Hotel since it had secure basement parking and had appeared on my quick TripAdvisor search the day before.
I headed out to see a little more of the aqueduct, a little more of town and then have something to eat.
The Kavala Aqueduct
The Kavala Aqueduct (from the other side)
While I was wandering the streets I stopped off in a paint shop……you may ask why? I had been searching for fuel to burn in a multi-fuel burner that recommends Coleman Fuel, White Gas and something known by many confusing names. I wanted the 'cleaner' fuel since I had read that unleaded petrol isn't as good an option. After I mentioned a few key words to the paint man he reached below the counter and produced a perfect 1L bottle of White Spirit and was certain it was the right mix of aromatic or aliphatic compounds and hydrocarbons and chains of carbon or something along those lines. I was glad to have found the fuel although I knew I would need to test it to be sure I wouldn't blow up.
I stopped for a simple dinner across from the Kavala Castle as the sky grey darker both with clouds and the evening. Again I noticed another difference to Turkey was the availability of pork on the menu which I took advantage of.
The Kavala Castle
As I headed back towards the hotel I felt another drop of rain…..I looked to the skies and hoped that the clouds would not be coming in to spoil the morning's ride towards Thessaloniki.
The sky looked both pretty and slightly concerning should it bring rain.