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.
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.
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!
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.
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