Day 7 - Rest

After a great night's sleep (the camping site is very quiet) I spent most of the morning in an Internet café. Despite the fact that this town is very geared towards the tourist, I found it surprisingly difficult to find a reliable wifi connection. So I took the opportunity to do a bit of housework on the blog, notably putting the photos in the right order. Then it was off to the supermarket to find food for tomorrow. I probably bought too much - but I'd hate to have climbed the mountain only to find that there are no shops open. I know that's very improbable, but I always prefer to prepare for the worst on a ride of this nature. I will no doubt get hungry quickly, so the weight should soon start to lighten.

Paralia Katerini - a popular seaside resort. Not to my liking, but on a much smaller scale than Rimmini, in Italy for example.

As for the afternoon, I didn't do very much: just read and talked politics with the son of the owner of the campsite. Interesting chap with some interesting ideas. He believes that the Greek people are under such a strain that they will rise up, but not in revolution, rather that they will abandon capitalism and move to an alternative economy based on the exchange of commodities and skills. He certainly gave me a lot to think about tomorrow as I brave the steepest and longest climb of the trip.
In the evening, I was invited to sit down and have a chat with the couple who I'd camped next door to. It was another one of those 'encounters' that make touring on a bike really interesting. The man, Constantin, apparently created a pacifist movement in the 1990s in Romania. Through this organisation, he met many interesting and famous people. I'll spare his blushes by naming who he's met, but as he tried to bring peace during the Balkans conflict that was raging at the time, it goes without saying that he's had meetings with some of the very powerful people of the day. Apart from the problems of International peace and racism, we also talked about his home country, Romania. I've had the idea of visiting Romania on my mind for a long time, I've always known it to be a beautiful place, but after hearing what Constantin had to say about it, I'm now really impatient to go there.

Constantin and Victoria: a couple I really hope to meet again one day

Constantin took this photo of me

Anyway, back to my cycle tour. The aim for tomorrow is to get to Elassona - no further. It's only about 80 kms, but I don't want to push it further in one day - the ride from Elassona to Meteora will also be very challenging. So, with any luck tomorrow I'll be posting from Elassona with lots of stunning photographs and I won't be back here after having abandonned this category 2 climb on a fully loaded touring bike! Wish me luck!