Greece, day 7

Nea Apolonia-Thessaloniki-Melissochori

In my last post I forgot to mention that the road from the point where I left the sea and entered the peninsula of Halkidiki till where I slept was quite bushy, unmaintained. Recently I also heard in the TV that acacia was a very aggressive species and would weed out all other trees. Traffic volume was not that big but there were many long vehicles to cope with. So I can't recommend that part of the road and would select a different route if I'd cycle in that region again.

The wind is still not dropping. Cycling at 2-3 on an even road would bearly move you forward. I was getting desparate. Trying to escape from the wind I decided to turn left at Agios Vasilios near the Lake Koroneia knowing that I would have to cycle quite steep into the mountain. But I knew that Thessaloniki was at the opposite site of the mountain and was ready to pay that price if only I did not have to cycle against the wind any more. I even imagened that at some parts depending on the direction of the road the wind would  even turn into a back-wind...It was really very steep. I cycled up from around 100 m above sea level to 503 in a very short distance, probably 3 km. Despite my expectations for back-wind I even had to push the bicycle...what a shame :( 

One positive thing-very nice view over the surroundings, including the Koroneia Lake. BTW, last night I slept near another lake. However, Koroneia Lake is difficult to be called a lake. There is no water in there. You can clearly see where the water was but at that point there was no water. I just checked that on the internet. It seems there was an ecological catastrophe similar to that of the Aral Sea. No water inflow and overuse by farmers (The Guardian). A legal procedure has even been started by the European Commission against Greece accusing it of failure to effectively protect the lake.

Lake Koroneia

Entered Thessaloniki after cycling down the hill through many suburbs where cars were parked on the road making it difficult for me to cycle by. My Dakota Garmin GPS was leading me to the down town.

I noticed lots of cycling paths in the city, well implemented and marked but since I don't know their network I still had to cycle along with the cars. One interesting thing-all traffic lights in Greece have only red and green, no yellow light. Due to the warm climate there are many motor bikes. A cyclist waiting at red gets really shocked when a dozen of motor bikes suddenly set off at green with all the noise they produce. Awful! I felt Thessaloniki quite hectic. But there are also pedestrian zones with no cars and old buildings where you can enjoy the city.

Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki

The time spent in Thessaloniki was really short. My goal was the tower at the shore. Left the city as soon as I reached it. 

Trying to avoid the E79 I ran into big hills (of course, what else) toward Oreokastro. Still very strong dead-wind and I have to push my bicycle. I swear bitterly. After great tortures I reached Melissochori. Fortunately, there was a fountain in the middle of the small village, so I was able to finally refill my bottle, great thurst. Fortunately, there was a super market where I could shop some bread and cans. Short upon that I found a suitable place to pitch my tent. It was very close to the road all noise from the traffic coming from Thessaloniki was getting into my ears but I was so tired and desparate and angry with the wind that this did not pose a problem to me. This time I found a good and relatively quiet place and slept well despite the noise.