The Road Less Traveled

As a general rule, my driving is usually limited to the island. That’s primarily due to the fact that Greeks on the mainland (well, most Europeans) consider the lines in the road simply a recommendation. Dotted lines, double lines, curves with zero visibility…all places where passing is completely acceptable. Driving in the shoulder? Sure, why not. You see, as an uptight American driver, it drives me crazy when people drive on the line or expect me to take a 120 degree curve at 50 miles an hour in our top-heavy Jeep.

But I digress. Last week, we opted to drive across the country instead of flying because there are so many places that I’d never been in all of my years here. That meant that in order to see the Greek countryside, I was going to have to take my turn holding my own against the Greek drivers. So, I popped a couple of tranquilizers and gave it a whirl. Just kidding, folks. Truly, once I got over my own cultural shortcomings and stopped being shocked at daredevil driving maneuver, it was a beautiful drive, especially on the new EU funded highways.

First, we passed Mount Olympus. Yes, THE Mount Olympus, from where the ancient Gods ruled the mortal world. I heard that you can hike up to the peak and that is definitely on my future to-do list. Any takers?



There were so many gorgeous vistas that I couldn’t stop to photograph (since we were basically on a cliff), but when there was space to pull over, I would stop and snap the picture like this one of the River Venetiko.



Then, I would hop back in the car and off we’d go. A couple of times, we would take a detour to a place that my parents had heard of, but never been to, like the village of Kastoria.



The town of 80,000 inhabitants circles two natural lakes, a rarity in Greece. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the water, but we didn’t stay long since it looked like rain was on the horizon. Boy was it ever. An hour after we left, we drove right into a hailstorm.



What’s worse, the cars in front of us sped to an overpass to protect their cars…and blocked the road. Yes, you read that correctly. They lined their cars up side by side from guard rail to shoulder and no one could pass. We had to wait in the road (getting pelted with grape-sized hail) until enough people behind us laid on their horns and bullied the others into clearing a lane to pass. The hail was so loud that Parker took cover underneath my scarf. Poor little guy.



Eventually though, we cleared the storm and made our way home several hours later. Our poor Jeep has dozens of small dents on the hood. Scars from taking the road less traveled.