Athens Greece

Delphi was hard to leave, I knew I could stay there another day.. easy!  But I've got a plan, and sometimes it's best to stick with it.. how to absorb so much history in such a short time!?

Here are some little snipets of my ride from Delphi to Athens...  sorta liked the look in the rear view mirror!

I see these everywhere.. in all shapes and sizes, in memory of someone who has died here on the road.. many times in the middle of nowhere and there are candles burning inside.. very dedicated to their losses..

Old meets new...

On to the supersize city of Athens..!!!  Part of the decision to leave Delphi for Athens, is the weather takes a big turn to several days of heavy rain tomorrow.. I'd rather ride today, it's nice! Looking forward to getting there of coarse.. but it's even better when you know you have a place to stay, a new friend and host!  And with a handy Garmin gps, it guides me right up to the house of this big city of 11+ MILLION people, no worries.. I love that!

Here I meet a lady, Polytimi Boznou, who has invited me to stay with her while in Athens.. introduced by another friend Ian Coates..!

I arrived to her house a bit before she did and got the photo!

I'm not sure how she sees out that visor, but she says its good! ;-)















Poly has recently bought this nice bike, and looking forward to some adventures of her own.. we have lots of stories and info to share.. ;-)

We immediately know we will get on well and surprisingly she has my 4 days in Athens completely scheduled!

Being that it IS raining nearly the entire time I visit, the schedule and my Athens experience is more about the people than the destination..looking back at all of my favorite places on my trip so far, I noticed that each of them were my favorites when I had good people around me..

First stop, Poly's BMW Club meeting with the presidents 40th Birthday (George Bernados in the white shirt) to boot!

 Poly and I at a very beemer blue bar..

We both love to be surrounded by good looking men, and we've achieved that here!! How lucky are we!!! ;-))))

(Thanasis Pafilis, Spyros Kapodistrias, Vassilios Exarhos, Konstantinos Fountas, and me!)

Try to say all their names 10 times fast.. ! (Glad they are not fussy about the bike I ride.. ;-)  So Night #1 in Athens, was a treat, really had a good time.. so much so, that the birthday boy ends up giving me gifts! Is this a Greek tradition I might learn to like?? ha! A club t-shirt, stickers, patches, calendar.. thanks George!

Probably the easiest thing to do with Night #2 is to post the interview/video they made.. Poly invited another bike club she attends over, called Los Touristas.. they came bearing treats (really yummy box full of desert cakes) and video camera!  Oh dear, should I be worried? With a few prepared questions, I did my best to answer them all... I sound like an absolute idiot, (as usual), but it was so nice of them to have an interest.. and I really love the music and photos at the end!!  Thank you Poly, Spyros, Vaios and Los Touristas Moto Touring Club!!  And if you around Athens, they are worth meeting..! www.lostouristas.gr ;-)



Want to meet more interesting Greeks on bikes??

Night #3 we meet Orestis and Elias at a coffee shop around the corner.. Two very interesting men who travel a lot on their bikes and many more interesting stories to share..  I think this is part of the fun traveling by motorcycle rather than by camel.. or backpacking.. I might be wrong but there seems to be such a feeling of "brotherhood" if I can use that term as a woman in the biking world.  It seems like meeting with family at every stop, in every town, in every city.. it's the greatest club to be a part of.. the World Club!

 

Orestis wanted to meet to also do an interview for an online biker magazine,  www.bikerstime.com  as well as on to his personal blog at orestistrips.blogspot.com.

And Elias has also done a lot of traveling and had many good tips and stories to share as well!!  I have to admit, I am really really embarrassed by the attention... but love that I had an opportunity to meet these guys as well.. all organized by Poly!

But wait!!  She has one more to meet tonight...Poly says I must meet the best looking biker in Athens..  Alex!

Sheez.. what can I say.. Poly has lots of awesome biker friends (and they are all good looking!) While they are talking, Poly has arranged for Alex to show me around Athens and Acropolis tomorrow.  Well.... okay!  And somewhere in there they have decided I won't be taking my bike, instead to ride on the back of Alex's beautiful red 1200gs.. Well.. okay!  Did I mention.. I love my life!??!!

Athens to be continued..