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The last few days in Greece


Home -> Europe -> Greece -> Travelogue Greece -> 23 to 25 May 2014

Friday 23 May, the last few days in Greece

The last few days of the holiday have arrived and we don't do much, we stroll from apartment to the beach, to a terrace, through the village and back to the next restaurant.
We are the only ones on the beach The port of XylokastroOn the 24th we lie quietly on the beach when we suddenly hear a strange sound. With an incredible force the waves rush towards us and bridge a height difference of about 25 centimeters. We are about a meter and a half away from the previously so quiet water and suddenly the waves hit us and drag all our stuff into the sea, including the cameras, telephones and clothes. But I myself also get dragged. These are just three waves that hit the coast, but it takes us a lot of effort to get all our stuff out of the sea again, the underflow is so strong back to sea. And we are not the only ones who have to run to save their clothes from the sea. We are astounded by what just happened.
The port of Xylokastro The port of PachiAfterwards we hear that there was an earthquake near the island of Limnos, about 250 kilometers away as the crow flies, with an intensity of 6.9 on the Richter scale and that we have experienced a mini-tsunami. Only 3 small waves but what an unimaginable power, quite frightening. Now we understand that with a real tsunami you do not stand a chance against so much natural violence. And that just out of nowhere, there was never some warning beforehand!
The sea is as quiet again as before within 2 minutes but everything is soaking wet and we put it to dry in the sun. Now we ave to stay on the beach until most of it is dry.
One camera is completely destroyed and the other one we can just save by immediately disassembling all parts and drying everything. Fortunately, all the photos are already on the laptop but our mobile phones have not survived the adventure intact. We get them back to work, but they keep falling out again. And the equipment is in the name of Teije's company, so unfortunately it is not covered by the insurance. Next time we have to keep a little more distance (in height) from the waterline, because if we read about earthquakes in greece we discover that there are regular earthquakes in this region although most of them are reatlively light.
The port of Pachi Wedding chapel in PachiOn the day of the return journey we can take it easy because we are less than 2 hours away from the airport and will only leave in the afternoon. On the way there we stop in Pachi, a small coastal village opposite the island of Pachaki, for a final Greek lunch. We walk through the harbor for a while and then it is time to drive to the airport near Athens.
Above the port of Piraeus On our way homeWhen we hand in the rental car we ask about the flash cameras that we saw everywhere along the raods and the answer is that there are no film rolls (or whatever they use) and that they have never worked. Good to know for the next time!
Within a few hours we are at Schiphol after a quiet flight but then it turns out that the longest part of the journey has yet to begin.
The trains to Groningen have been cancelled, we have to make several detours and between some places even have to take a bus. I can make a long story of it but I will keep it short: we had to stand 4.5 hours before we were finally at the station in Groningen, our hometown, and then we were completely exhausted. And a complaint to the NS (the Dutch railways) was pointless, although we got an answer that they regretted that we found their services not satisfactory.
But after a good night's sleep, the beautiful and good memories of Greece get the upper hand again: what a beautiful country, we want to go there more often, but then with a little more visits to the beach and less cultural sightseeing. We have completed almost all archaeological highlights of the country in one trip. But we enjoyed everything, again a wonderful trip!

 


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