Wild camping, pretty coves and one massive tuna fish!

The other night was upsetting for us.  We wild camped in a town called Larissa, in a park beside a river.  A small van pulled up beside us and out of it got a man and his 3 young children, and an elderly man and women.  They laid a blanket on the ground and we just presumed they were having a picnic.  They came over to say hello to us and said how much they liked our motorhome and wanted to know how much it cost.  Mel told them the approximate value of €40,000.  Wow, the younger man said that is a lot of money, not many people in Greece could afford that.  He said that there was still a big problem in Greece with unemployment.  They then went back to have their picnic.  By this time, it was getting dark, so we closed up for the night and settled down to watch ‘The Good Doctor’ a series we had downloaded a few weeks ago.

When we woke up in the morning and opened the curtains, the little van was parked behind us and on the pavement next to it, the 2 men were sleeping on blankets and we could see the older women and the 3 children moving around inside the van – where they must have slept for the night.  We presumed (rightly or wrongly)that they must have lost their homes and the father of the children unemployed, the elderly couple probably his parents, and this is how they are now living.  It was so sad to see. I started filling a bag with food to take to them but then thought better of it as I didn’t want to offend.  In hindsight, I wish I had done it now.  Poverty is high in Greece, and there are a lot of homeless people living rough.  We have seen a lot of camps along the roadside, mostly gypsies and you know it’s a way of life for most of them.  But when you see it up close it really hits home. 

Since the crisis hit the country in 2008 they have been bailed out 3 times by the EU, with loans of billions of euros.  A condition imposed on Greece was that they had to adopt austerity measures, which resulted in Greece going into recession. We read that things are supposed to be improving since the crisis of 2008, but years of austerity in the country has caused long lasting damage to its economy and the way of life for most of the people.  Unemployment is at 20%, with youth unemployment reaching 40% and pensions cut by 70%.  That said, poverty is worse in Bulgaria and over the many years that we have been visiting the country we have seen improvements for the better, so hopefully it won’t be long before Greece is on the up again.

From Larissa, we made our way towards Itea.  A town just outside Delphi and one we stopped at last year.  It was a lovely route over the mountain tops with some lovely views.

Village built in to the hillside

Cotton fields are in abundance around these parts, and blows all around the roads after it has been cut.

Cotton field, and nearby factory

Just outside Delphi we came across a World War 1 war grave, with 95 British graves and 7 Russian.

Getting to Itea, we wild camped in the same place as last year, down by the marina and was joined by a Greek motorhome. (N38.43150 E22.42129).

Walking around the town, you can tell that this is an affluent part of Greece - the shops, the way people dress, the cars they drive, the big yachts and no signs of homelessness.  We were here in July last year and it was buzzing with tourists, and now although it is October all the beach cafes and bars are still open and plenty of coaches stop here either going or coming from Delphi.

A surveyor down by the Marina with his very large drone

The good thing about Greece is that you can always find a fresh water tap in every town/village to fill up your motorhome.

Leaving Itea, we decided to move on from here a few kms around the coast to a little bay – Anemokampi (N38.35183 W22.37989). 

Itea from the other side, as we travel the coastal road

We knew the weather was going to be hot for a few days, so it was time for a few days of beach life!

Sonny enjoying his wild camping spot in the little cove of Anemokampi - and not another motorhome in sight!

It’s a small shingly beach, with lovely clear waters to swim in. 

The water isn't that deep and you can see plenty of little fish swimming around.

Mel looking super proud as he had swum out to the rock!

We were just minding our own business, watching the fishing boats come and go and soaking up the sun, when a local fisherman pulled into the bay with a large fish strapped to his boat. It wasn't until he untied it that we saw it was a massive Tuna Fish.

One small boat to catch one massive tuna fish

Mel helping the fisherman bring in his catch

Another fisherman comes to help lift it out of the sea

Trying to work out how to lift it into the van

At the time we weren’t sure how much it weighed, although we knew it was heavy as it took 4 people to lift it.  The fisherman who caught it came back later that day to tell us it had weighed in at a whopping 410kg – the biggest one he had ever caught.  He is going to be a rich fisherman with that catch and it's a moment Mel won’t forget in a hurry!

The view of the cove, with a few fishing boats tied up

Last night we made the mistake of leaving our flip flops outside the motormome door.  This morning both of us were missing the right footed one. Mine was down by the edge of the sea but Mel's one was nowhere to be seen.  We had heard a couple of wild dogs in the night and we figured they must have nicked it.  Hope it tasted good! 
Our next stop from here will be Nafpaktos before going across the Rio-Antirio Bridge into the Peloponnese.

Sally x