Hello from sunny Greece.  Since my last post we have been to Pompeii where Greg and Michelle explored the buried village.  Nick and I decided to give it a miss, as we have been before, and went in search of a campari and soda which the guide book said ‘one should sip while watching the crowds at the Piazza Navona‘.  As I didn’t do this in Rome, I people watched in Pompeii instead!

Saturday we drove to the East coast through very rugged but lush and rather beautiful  countryside. We took the overnight ferry from Brindisi to Patras.  We shouted ourselves a room with an ensuite – what a treat.  Viewed from the ferry, the sea is deep blue not green like New Zealand. Fortunately the sea was like a mill pond.  Patras looked very run down.  You can see Greece is in a financial crisis. However, the drive to Athens was lovely.  We took the toll road which varied in standard as we could only go 50 or 60 km in places!  Whitewashed houses with orange terracotta roofs dotted the coastline and the sea looked sapphire as it sparkled in the sun.  Tomorrow we head into town and hope to book a trip to the Greek Islands and  Tuesday we plan to show Greg and Michelle  the wonders of Athens.