It’s another brilliant day as we make our way downstairs to wait in line to disembark. We need to move along today, because we have a car booked and they say they will only be there until 10:30 at the latest. We are scheduled to dock at 10:00, and judging from yesterday, we might have a slight timing issue. As we watch the captain docking the ship we have flash backs to Adelaide when it took us hours to dock and we ended up ditching our car for lack of time. Here, the port guy (a handsome Greek who rode up on his motorcycle sporting white trainers) is yelling at the crew telling them where the gangways should be – and the ship is obviously not in the correct position. Argh, not again.
But, finally, somehow, we are docked, hard alongside and we can disembark. We’re off in a flash, heading into the 1 street little town in search of our rental car. Which is super simple to find – right where they tell you – 50 meters from the end of the pier. We check in, complete the paperwork and are out of there before half of the folks on the ship are even thinking about leaving.
Today we are working our way north of Katakalon, up to the Kylinni peninsula to explore the Chlemoutsi castle. It is in the opposite direction of Olympia, which is where everyone on the ship is going – and where we’ve been previously.
We’ve got our GPS and have a good idea of where we are going. But the helpful rental car guy gives us explicit instructions: First light – left; 2nd light – left, then straight. Turn left at the 65 KM to Patra sign. If you see the 42 KM to Patra, you’ve gone too far and must turn around. Your GPS will tell you differently – it is OK – you can turn in plenty of places and you will be fine. With that ringing endorsement – we’re gone.
We head out of Katakalon, past the beach, into the little inland villages and towns, turning left at the main intersection of Road #9 and out into the Greek countryside on little roads and lanes that cut through gorgeous flowering bushes and isolated villages. I mean, seriously, I can’t get enough of these roads. They are little and narrow, and nobody is on them except us, as we pass through foliage crowding in on us then olive or orange groves. I’m loving it.
And yes, our GPS tells us to go a different way than the Rental guy’s instructions, but now I see what he is talking about with the distance signs, because we turn with 75 KM left to Patra – and wind through these little towns and lanes, in and out of small villages, heading every so slowly to Chlemoutsi. We miss one turn, but it is simple to circle back, and we are on our indirect way again. As we are gliding through the olive groves and orange (or tangerines?) groves on either side of the car, we suddenly spy the castle up on the hill above us. Neat!
The road continues to wind and turn, and we follow Google Girl as well as signs to the castle. Google Girl fails us though, at the very last minute, when a sign to the castle points left, and she tells us to go right. Darn it! We follow her, but end up circling helplessly below the castle with only goat paths and what looks like a steeper version of the Valparaiso hill from hell leading to the castle. No. Not again.
Backtracking, we follow the signs this time, winding through the little village of Kastro, finally turning on this teeny, tiny, one lane cobblestone street that takes us up, up, up through the little village houses, depositing us onto a small gravel plateau that is the parking lot for the castle. Success!
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