DAY 56

Monday 5 September 2011


D Day. D for Doom. Would the vaunted VW mechanics of Alexandroupolis declare our transport-home unfixable? What then? The scenarios were dismal. The van started and we drove over, then waited, and waited, and waited for some word. Finally the two Yannis/Johns, service and general managers, consulted and John the One Who Speaks Good English flashed his winning but not necessarily Good News smile (we'd learned) -- There are two choices, he pronounced. You can go.... and maybe it will be OK, but we think only for a few days. And keep adding those fuel enrichers.. @ $23 per fill-up. Or we can try to repair, but parts are a big problem. 

Call for parts, see how long that would take, and how much, we said. Wait. Big smile. Unfortunately, they do not have these in Germany, too old. How much do we owe for Friday, an hour and a half, 5 mechanics, overtime, pull the valves apart and adjust and finally get the car to turn over? Another big smile from GM John... nothing, no charge. Whoa, that wouldn't happen in LA, I admit. It wouldn't happen in Athens either, he said, but here in the countryside, we're different. Efcharisto!

 

So we had no choice. We took off for Athens, a nine-hour drive taking two tanks of gas. We tried to keep the engine running, in order to make it to Sebastian's buddy and his mechanic, somewhere south in their little bitty town. The last conversation with Sebastian was encouraging; he really didn't think it was serious, and the worst case was that the insurance company would have to tow us back to Germany and find us another camper van. 


We passed Mt. Olympus -- quite impressive, a brooding giant behind two other huge peaks. The Spring of Daphne, of Venus... but we dasn't (is that a word?) stop! Tolls! -- 29 Euros/$42!! Cruised through gorgeous mountain passes. Then we saw a sign for Thessaloniki -- oh noooo! Somehow Charles navigated us in a circle, what a time for that! 


What next? -- the inside electric power was gone! No lights, but much worse: NO GPS! With his last gasps, James Bond directed us back, avoiding toll roads. We drove till we couldn't drive no mo', stopped at a restaurant that turned out to be a Grand-Central-Station-of-tour-buses-till-2AM-nightmare including lots of noise and smoking (did we mention everyone in Europe smokes like they have no clue it's killing them?), and somehow slept. Next day, the Holy Grail (our only chance, slim though it seemed): Sebastian's Greek buddy.

DAY 55

Sunday 4 September 2011

Another slow day where we caught up with the blog (let us take this opportunity to thank you all for reading). Dian found two Euros under a beach chair, Charles hiked over a mile to bring back groceries and a special treat, tiramisu. Nicole worked in her sketch book.

We watched a man clean his three octopi in a basin. We picnicked on the beach again, then took a walk along the shore which led us to a temporarily abandoned swanky beach lounge which we explored.

Steeping in her hot shower, Dian came up with a truism: soap is democratic. In other words, a bar someone leaves behind is as good as new after a little bit of lathering, and will be for the next person.

DAY 54

Saturday 3 September 2011

Nicole and Dian walked to the Lidl to purchase some provisions, and it's a good thing they did because the remainder of the day was shrouded by a sporadic downpour with lots of thunder and lightning. During one of the lulls Dian died her hair blonde!

The greek couples around the corner from our spot gave us watermelon, pumpkin seeds, plums, and a pork chop, while we gave them a pear and Dian's inimitable version of "Never on a Sunday," complete with Greek dance steps from both parties. Opa!

DAY 53

Friday 2 September 2011

After a big fried egg breakfast, we said goodbye to our new friends and checked out of Camp Natura heading for Turkey. About 30 km (18 mi) from the border we pulled into a rest stop for the WC, and went we went to leave the car didn't turn over. Certain we hadn't let it "glow" long enough (pre-ignition ritual), we tried again, but nothing. Again. Again. Finally we decided we needed the roadside assistance that came with the van. Once again our KPN Dutch phones failed us, would not put a call through. We hailed a German couple who called for us, and a big white truck came within 20 minutes. He put our red van up on his truck bed and Charles went in the truck cab while Dian and Nicole waved at passing cars from their perch in the van. The best garage in the biggest town was just behind us, but we had to go an hour and a half in order to find a place to turn around and head back.


We were dropped at the VW dealership in Alexandroupoli, which looked like a good bet. Even though it was a half hour from closing time, a team of as many as five mechanics dug in to solve the problem, led by the very short "guru" dressed in black, who was obviously "the man." Ninety minutes later their collective efforts got the car to turn over, but the prognosis was still dismal: they all agreed the engine was "not good," and that their fix might not last more than a few days. We were sure there wasn't any misunderstanding because finally a colleague arrived, to cheers, who spoke very good English, and he confirmed the bad news. They agreed to give it a more thorough look to see if it was salvageable, but that wouldn't be till Monday. Fortunately, there was a camp nearly across the street called Santa Rosa. The price was reasonable and the location lovely, so we told the manager Apostolos we'd be there for three nights.

We picnicked on the beach staring at a ruby red sunset.

DAY 52

Thursday 1 September 2011

Even though we had hoped a city as big as Thessaloniki would have the camper specialists and mechanics we needed, Charles had found only one listing and so we headed for a VW dealership to try to address some of our car issues. We were taken under the wing of Alexandra, who told us of a camp we had to go to, "Heaven on earth" and marked it on our map. She brought in her top mechanic to check our fan belt, and he pronounced our engine "not good." We left there and passed an electric auto shop, but they couldn't address the fridge/sink/etc. wiring issues either. It's a pretty specialized area, it seems. So we decided to set out for Istanbul.

There were two camps we knew of before the Turkish border so we headed for the first, Camp Natura, wondering if that was code for nudist camp. It wasn't. But it was way off the beaten path, with almost no signage. When we finally found it we liked it right away. Nicole said she felt comfortable, and it even reminded her of Texas. It was, again, lucky us, right on the beach, a small camp run by a Greek man named Costas who spoke little English. But being close to Bulgaria, there was a Bulgarian employee named Lina who spoke good English, and helped explain a lot. No Wi-Fi but Costas said we could use his computer any time, even midnight, and we did. Hot showers, laundry and a kitchen to use, and a beach where you could walk out a football field length and still be only up to your knees in water, really warm, clear water. We parked in the back, with ocean view to the front and a rear view that looked like the Serengeti.

After dinner, Nicole and Dian had a good time playing music from her iPod, far enough away from others to not disturb. Mosquitoes were terrible and Dian woke up at 3 to take a nice hot shower, but still missed her baths. Charles went off earlier for a shower and returned an hour later to say he had run into Lina and three of her Greek friends at their camper and had been invited to come back, so he did and wound up having a terrific time eating, drinking wine and talking music, politics and many other things til 4 AM, with Lina, George, Vasilis and Elaine. He was again delightfully surprised at how Europeans in remote corners are so knowledgeable about music. Vasilis works for the national railroad (when he's forced to, torn away from his beloved beach), and Elaine is quite an artist, with many of her pieces on the Deviant Art website. George was the quiet philosopher of the group, and Lina the smiling proof that not all the beautiful Eastern European women came from Czech Republic. Charles declared it one of his best late nights of the trip.

DAY 51

Wednesday 31 August 2011

A Serbian man was playing guitar that morning a short distance from our vans and Dian went over to listen. He was talented, and they enjoyed talking about music. We were glad this little resort town seemed to have better taste in the music pouring out of bars and restaurants than the usual autotune-thumpthump disco, as evidenced by the really good music Mories and had Charles heard as they slaved over their laptops the night before and solidified by a Shirley Bassey tune Charles heard that morning, "and it wasn't even 'Goldfinger.'"

We said goodbye to our Dutch family with warm hugs all around. Isabel presented us with a Magic Hare, that she had made just for us. Using the last of our Macedonia money, we bought pastries, groceries and gas. We crossed the Greek border, where our welcoming customs man was particularly jovial. We opted for a road less traveled into Thessalonika, with so much overgrowth from trees and shrubs that you couldn't stay in your lane. We headed into a big raincloud and some beautiful countryside, lots of stray dogs and watermelon stands, accompanied by the music of Joni Mitchell.

We arrived in the big city and headed for a good spot near the water. (We'd learned something about "free camping" from the Nederlanders). We found a nice spot near a park, which reminded Dian of the Avalon Casino area, where a bunch of youngsters were break dancing for a film crew. Picnicking nearby, we were disturbed by a yelping dog who could only be described as crazy. Nearby was an area with 20 basketball hoops, jammed with players. Charles salivated. We walked to a nearby Greek Orthodox church then settled in for the night, with Charles searching out late night Wi-Fi for needed communications.

DAY 50

Tuesday 30 August 2011

Isabel needed to make three more Magic Hares and mail them, and they were waiting on important papers to be delivered to Thessaloniki, Greece, so we opted for a chill day and found free parking spitting distance from the water. Unfortunately for Isabel, the post office was closed on Tuesdays (?!). We rested and wrote. Dian awoke with a very sore back from climbing the steep hills of Lin (twice), and got some much needed rest.

Charles spoke at some length with the seaside vendor a few feet away. "Alexander... the Great?" Charles asked of the Macedonian, but no, he demurred. However he gave insight as to why Macedonians don't like Greeks- they don't recognize Macedonia's nationhood, which returned in 1989 when Yugoslavia broke back into the six nations it had swallowed. George Bush did recognize them, and signed a formal recognition, and gave them economic aid, and even visited, so Al the Almost Great loved him. When asked his opinion of President Obama, he gave the universal European response: face screwed up, shoulders hunched, hands spread out- don't know.

It was after Nicole had exhausted all the restaurants for their bathroom facilities in the immediate area, that Dian declared she had a craving for a strawberry gelato. Nicole was on a mission. Charles joined her, and they brought back their bounty to the recovering Dian. With gelato at only 50 cents a scoop- the messengers had to indulge, too.

That evening, the weather turned blustery. The Dutch family pulled out their kite, Charles played another game of chess with eight-year-old Goya on the promenade, and Mories cooked a goodbye dinner of couscous and fava beans. Both families' riddles were answered, and an appreciation for the five days we shared was expressed in words and also without.

Charles and Mories went out to find Internet and share a beer, and plan their separate routes to Greece.