Europe 2002

From Ashford to Athens

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(days 16 to 16)

Alpine adventure (Days 1-4)
Viennese whirl (Days 5-9)
Slovenian theatre (Days 10-12)
Bombing it through Belgrade (Day 13)
Litohoro lazing (Days 14-16)
Olympic ideas (Days 17-19)
We are sailing (Days 20-21)
Assisi amblings (Days 22-23)
Breton brouhaha (Days 24-26)
Encore en Foix (Days 27-28)
Barcelona and back (Days 29-31)

Full diary [fast connections]


Day 16: Litochoro

After yesterday's extremely lazy day, I had an early start and set out at 9am to the train station to catch a train to Katerini, the nearest 'big town' Yes, it's so dead here you have to catch a train to go shopping. I needn't have bothered - I waited for two solid hours before a train finally arrived.


Waiting for the train

OK, big town is something of an overstatement for Katerini, but it had a small supermarket where I could buy us some food including my first breakfast for several days. Attempts to phone the Youth Hostel in Athens were less successful - I resorted to phoning my sister back home and getting her to look up the new number for me on the Internet.

The delights of Katerini exhausted, I headed back to Litochoro on the train. The train staff aren't too keen on stopping there since it's a request stop ... on this occasion the driver overshot by about 100 metres and we all had to walk back up the track.


Ever felt like an asylum-seeker?

The waitress in the restaurant where we had dinner yesterday (mmm... kebab) had apologised that "Summer had ended" and she seemed to be right. Yesterday's unbroken sun was replaced by a rather dull day of weather.

The drizzle forced us under cover and rather more games of Hearts and Ludo than usual in the evening (joined by a giant grasshopper), but it dried up later for a spot of sausage-frying and rock-juggling.


Andy writes his diary


Dealing the cards


Mr Grasshopper


Rock-juggling