30 days plus one: 4300 km tour of Greece

[hayabusaTravels]

I was thinking how to proper celebrate the fact that my Hayabusa celebrated "20 years of life" in September 2019, so after last year "I conquered" Turkey, this year came Greece.
What better way to celebrate your "motocycle birth month" then taking it on a country tour!
Greece was in my plans for a few years now, especially because of my passion for ancient history.

The journey began on September 1, 2019 when I set a personal record, namely 722km (448mi) in a day: Giurgiu - Pella.
The route was Giurgiu - Pella - Ioannina - Zakynthos - Ancient Olympia - Kalatama - Sparta - Mycene - Piraeus - Crete - Santorini - Athens - Sounio - Delphi - Thermopile - Platamon - Meteora - Kavala - Giurgiu.
4300km (2671mi) in total on wheels, plus distances traveled by ferryboats, four of them, one being the night ferry from Pireus to Heraklion, Crete.

The road was devoid of the "adventures" of Turkey: this time I left with a Garmin Zumo 396 LMT-S, installed on the handlebar using a RAM mount.
I crossed Greece with the same tired laptop that died in the first day we arrived home.
Fortunately, the HDD was safe and I was able to copy all the materials to the working computer through an adapter.

For starters I leave you with a teaser, then I will post stories, videos and pictures from each location, as I usually do.
Cheers!

 

[Mr Brown]

@white.Busa will be interested in this!

 

[VIPER]

OOOOO i can not wait to read this adventure.

 

[Red05]

 

[hayabusaTravels]

We left for Greece at 7.30 in the morning with the thought that we would take some breaks on the way.
After the inevitable stop at the a gas station in Giurgiu, we headed towards the customs, which we passed very quickly.

We didn't even get out of Ruse and Kitty wants a break: hungry.
Found a restaurant on the way, ate and took off.

The roads in Bulgaria were easy but long and GPS worked very well.

Large column of trucks at customs ...
The first payment in GR 1.70euro at the entrance on the Serres - Thessaloniki motorway, which ended after 5km, putting us on a national road, then again the highway.
Near Thessaloniki we had to make a right on the highway to Edessa, I hadn't set the GPS and I missed that exit.
I stopped at a toll booth with free pass because it was under construction, I put the GPS and it took us to the right track.

At 28 km from Pella we stopped at a petrol station for hydration.

Rideing at 90-100km/h on that one lane road, I look at the GPS to see at time it says we arrive ... and when I look, the GPS was no longer in the socket !!
Felt like my heart just stopped for a moment! I stopped, rode against traffice for a while looking to see if the GPS unit were on the ground somewhere.
As I was rideing slowly trying to avoid incoming traffic, I saw the GPS resting between the handlebars and the dashboard!
That's panic for you: you can't see what's right in front of you!

The nonsense was that I didn't get it right in the socket. It has to click in. The GPS is mounted directly to the battery and I have to take it with me whenever I stop because it is powered even if I take the key out.
All Greece I remembered this: every time I put the GPS in the socket, I make sure it clicks there.

Arrived at Pella without accommodation booked in advance, we walked around a bit and stopped at a group of people asking for a hotel.
One of them took me to a nice hotel.

The GPS didn't find the hotel I would have liked to stay at, namely House of Arts ...
The hotel where we stayed: 35 eur/night without breakfast.

Later in the evening we went to eat at a tavern in the city.

The city is small and neat, but we were too tired for walks, so we retired to the room.
Pella is the city where Alexander the Great was born, being the first place on my list of objectives.

 

[Mr Brown]

You and @pashnit need to hook up and write a book about traveling via Busa...
Great write up! Keep it coming.

 

[hayabusaTravels]

September 2, 2019:
We woke up at 8, ate something and took it to the museum and the archaeological site.

High heat, over 29°C.
At the archaeological site Kitty remained at the entrance, although she had a ticket. "Too hot for old stones" - said Kitty.
The museum is in the city, but for the archaeological site you have to walk 2 km. There is nowhere to buy your water, coffee ... nothing.
The ticket from the museum is also valid for the archaeological site, costing 8 euros / pers.

Pella reached the height of its development during the Hellenistic period (4th-2nd centuries BC), under the reigns of Philip II, Alexander the Great (both born in Pella), Cassandru and Antigonos Gonatas, when it became not only the largest city of Macedonia, but also one of the most important economic, political and cultural centers in the whole Greek area.

In the year 90 BC. the city was destroyed by an earthquake, which caused Emperor Augustus to establish in 30 BC. a new colony (Nea Pella today), at approx. 2 km west of the old Pella. Gradually, Pella, the great capital of the Macedonian kingdom, has lost its importance, but continues to be inhabited.

During the Byzantine and Ottoman period the small village bore the name of Agioi Apostoloi, returning to the old name in 1936.
Pella was built on the ideas of the great architect Hippodamus of Miletus (498-408 BC), considered "the father of urban planning", the one who restored the hometown and also designed Piraeus, the port of Athens.

We returned around 3 o'clock in the room after hitchhiking from the archaeological site to the city. We ate well for 10 euros.

Complete video of Archaeological Site and Museum of Pella:

Next stop: Ioannina, on our way to Zakynthos, as we have the hotel reservation made.
The location is 250km from Pella.

 

[Red05]

"Too hot for old stones" lol. Kitty seems comfortable with herself. Your passion for history really shows. Very enjoyable thread , better than Netflix

 

[hayabusaTravels]

Thank you!
Kitty's not into history, but she followed me in some places once I explained the importance of the site. It also depends on her mood and how hot is outside.
Her original saying in romanian was more epicly funny, but it's impossible to reproduce in english as it was spoken in a moldavian dialect (old romanian language still spoken in north).

Let's continue:
We left for Ioannina quite early in the morning, without stress, since we were expecting a little under 250 km up there.

Accommodation in Ioannina was at a distance of 1.5 km from the city center.
Absolutely superb road, beautiful landscapes with a minimum of 20 tunnels (see video at the end of this post).

At the entrance to Ioannina, in a roundabout that I was approaching with the gas closed, we felt on our skin how slippery the asphalt in Greece is.
On an absolutely normal front brake, my front wheel starting loosing grip and danced for a moment from left to right.
The problem was that I had to stop as a car entered first in the roundabout, but, everytime I gently pressed the front break, the wheel started to dance away.

Got a bit scared there but I managed to stop in time. That's only because I wasn't speeding. That happened at maximum of 30km/h. If I was traveling 10km/h faster, I would not have been able to stop in time.
Must have applied the front brake at least 3 times.
Too bad that my video camera wasn't on then.
We didn't roll over, but Kitty got so scared that she didn't wanted us to use the motorcycle to go in town after checking in.

The hotel was fine (36euro/night no breakfast), a bit away from the town, but Kitty didn't even wanted to hear about taking the motorcycle.
She already kept asking me what's left to do tomorrow when we leave.
Told her that I didn't know about the asphalt issue in Greece, but now that I do, there are solutions so, not to worry.
Then remembered how I did not took the asphalt into consideration up untill now. Let me tell you that on some wide curves on the highway I didn't quite go at legal speeds.

Never had any issues in the entire trip since that incident, althought I lost grip a few times but at very, very low speeds when I was "break testing" while my front wheel was completly straight.
By the way, my tires were Michelin Pilot Road 4GT, having less the 4000km (2485mi) usage.
After that incident, long gone were the speeding days on Greece's roads, nomater the quality or location.

So as I said, we go to find something to eat.

On the return trip to the hotel, it started to rain and we had no umbrellas.
We pulled into a cafee shop until the rain stopped. That rain costed us 15 euros...

The next day we leave for Killini to get the ferryboat to Zakynthos.

 

[Red05]

Interesting about the roads. Makes one wonder if they are slippery is because of the material or the method of spreading it? Regardless, fascinating trip

 

[hayabusaTravels]

The problem is with the material used as pavement. It's full of calcareous tiny stones, but not on the highways, only in towns and roads between cities. Imagine rideing on heavy rain...

After the morning meal we left for Kilini, the place where the ferryboat to Zakynthos is taken.
We enter Ioannina again and the GPS leads to the highway.

The road is absolutely exceptional, beautiful landscapes.

We cross the Rion-Antirion bridge, near Patras:

We got to Killini around 15 o'clock, we took the tickets for the ferryboat and then went to a little tavern in the vicinity.

Cost: 9.10 euros / pers and 12.80 euros for motorcycles with Levante Ferries.
Huge large boat with several decks...

And here we are in Zakynthos.
Went directly at the beach where I didn't refrain from trying the water.
We stay 3 nights here.

 

[Red05]

The water is spectacular. Wow. Makes up for the bad traction lol. Your daily post with morning coffee is a highlight in my day

 

[hayabusaTravels]

Thank you!
Grab a coffee, for this is a looong post


Arriving in Zakynthos, I decided that the first day would be reserved for the beach and relaxation. Sunbeds at 6 euros, everything else is extra.
The accommodation in Kalamaki, very close to the beach. The motorcycle was on the sidewalk, outside, with the "bag" over. No problem.

This image below is from a the place we found to have good fast food.

Then, here's the beach...

Navagio Shipwreck beach

After a day at the beach, it was time for a bike ride on the island.
We decided to take a short tour, that is to go to Navagio first to see Shipwreck Beach from above, and then to go to the port of Agios Nikolaos where we can take a boat to Blue Caves.

We leave at 9 in the morning towards Navagio.
The road was very picturesque, thank you Garmin. But, I guess without Garmin, I would go around a lot.

We get in absolutely overwhelming heat, I think they were light over 30 degrees outside.
Beautiful beach with the ship wrecked.
It was more beautiful if we rented a boat and visited from the sea side, along with other points on the island.
But, 150 euros/day, as requested for a small motor boat, I clearly could not pay, considering how much more road we have to go through all Greece.

At Navagio parking lot:

Well, it's good that we got here and see the landscape with our eyes.
And what a landscape! From that height, it seemed that the boats were suspended above the water, that they were levitating and did not seem to reach the sea surface.
This beach is one of the most photographed locations in the whole of Greece, Shipwreck beach being outdated only by Santorini.

The beach was initially known as Agios Georgios but on October 2, 1980, a freight carrier, MV Panagiotis, came too close to the waters around Zakynthos Island, on Navagio Beach, during stormy weather and poor visibility.
Some rumors say the ship smuggled contraband; however, official sources did not confirm this, and the captain was not convicted of such crimes.
The ship has been abandoned and remains buried in the limestone gravel of the beach now known as Shipwreck Beach.

After taking a few pictures from the fenced and stamped location as the "official photo spot", we turn right onto a rocky path to look for other angles for photos.
Good thing I was in motorcycle boots ... in slippers or sneakers, there was serious work going on there.

I get closer to the edge and take a few more pictures, remembering that there were many tourists who fell off the rock, looking for the perfect picture.
It is so high that the parachute jumps from here. You get bored in the air until you get down to the water that doesn't sink deep enough to dampen your fall.
The shore is solid, however, if you get hit by sudden strong wind, you may become unbalanced and fall to your death.

Blue Caves

We leave from Navagio to the port of Agios Nikolaos.
My GPS showed us all the villages in between, it was quite a ride.
Tight roads and "emotional" narrow corners, made the ride more interesting.
I rode slowly and cautiously.

More dangerous on the island are those with rented ATVs and scooters.

Arriving at Agios Nikolaos, we put our jackets in the top case and go to eat something. We take our tickets and wait for the boat to take us to the Blue Caves.
Only from the water can be visited, the land being extremely rocky.
Suddenly, a couple of tourists appear, English by accent, on a well-shot scooter. He had bandages on his left ankle and could not walk fine. She also had injuries on her feet. Road rash.

And time goes by.
They were a few boats parked on the pontoon and the "captains" were gossiping near us.
The ticket woman told us to wait here.
A group of Romanians passed by, from a romanian travel agency and they all piled into a boat.
But we are waiting...

The boat is leaving with the Romanians and I go to the girl where I took tickets from and ask her when do we leave.
"I thought you left with the group before," he tells me.
"Why would we have gone with them if we didn't come with them?"
She quickly gives us a "pilot" and we are ready to go to Blue Caves, together with a handful of tourists.
Honestly, we were left with the impression that a rowing boat would take us ...
But that wasn't so.

Blue Caves is absolutely superb. The water has a blue glass-like color, difficult to express in words. You have to see it with your own eyes.
It seemed as if, at the bottom, there were a few tons of precious gems.
I let Kitty take pictures for me. The "captain" told me to sit on the right side of the boat. At 116 kg, my weight, I have to comply...
What the girl pointed in one direction, the whole boat was going to take pictures on the side of that direction.
But not me. I felt punished, honestly now. I was in the counter weight position. I had to ask them for a commission to move.
I left the expandable selfie stick back in the hotel room, so I appointed Kitty to take photos.

On the way back, the "captain" stops the boat and keeps asking us if we want to swim.
I would have swam. But the water was at least 10 meters deep and we only knew two swimming styles: the rocky and the axe.
So we sat quietly in the boat looking at the others as they swam through that clear water with direct view to the bottom of the sea.
This time I didn't feel alone anymore because I had Kitty near me as my "suffering partner".
Okay, not right next to her: Kitty on left the "captain" boat. Me on the right side, "on duty" as always.
Be sure to bring sun block if you ever take a boat ride in Greece.

The captain brings us to the port and we slowly drive to the hotel.
We arrive early enough to take a good swim at the beach. I did get "my revenge swim" after all!

Marathonisi, the Loggerhead turtle island

The next day, the last busy day in Zakynthos, we had to see the turtles.
Especially since on the beach in Kalamaki there were some turtle egg nests.

We take the ticket in the morning and take our bus to the port of Laganas where we embark on a kind of boat with glass windows at the bottom.
Unwashed glass, but still...
10 euros / person, from 11am to 5pm with 2 hour stop on Marathonisi island.

On the island you were not allowed with loungers, umbrellas or anything else that would alter the local landscape. You were not allowed to cross the bounding strip.

We saw four turtles. Quite enough for 20euros.
If you go by plane, you can snorkel among the turtles.

Oh well...

 

[Mr Brown]

Incredible pictures, and great writing.

 

[Red05]

Incredible pictures, and great writing.

Yes he has a way by capturing the experience as well as the scenery of making a person feel as though they're there.

 

[hayabusaTravels]

Thank you all for the kind words.

Lets continue...

On the way to Kalamata, we stopped at Archaia Olympia, the site of the first Olympic games dating back to 773 BC.
It's a small town, you have nothing to do there but to visit the archaeological site and the museum.

There is a large parking lot where I left the motorcycle. Then I found that it could go down to the main entrance.

A place of great importance in antiquity, here was the Statue of Zeus, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world, a statue of gold and ivory built by Phidias, a well known sculptor at that time.
The Olympic flame of modern games ignites from here.

The old city is a complete ruin, nothing of the grandeur of the ancient times.
The temple of Zeus, where the famous statue was, is completely on the ground.
You would say that this is obvious but I was expecting more, maybe a little restoration.
At the Olympic stadium, in the area you could see a series of "sprinklers", but big ones, like a block of eight floors in height, splashing water like the garden sprinklers.
It was very hot outside.

Temple of Zeus:

Kitty stood at the entrance, didn't even want a ticket. She sat on a bench, under a tree for the entire visit.
The archaeological site is great, it takes you about two hours to browse it carefully.

The Archeology Museum is opposite, about 800 meters away.
Some statues and valuables but nothing really impressive from my point of view.

Here's a video of the entire location, including the museum:

Behind the fence is the archeological site:

We leave to Kalamata where we will stay four nights. The stop is a "strategic" one because Ancient Sparta is very close.
There was no point in staying in Sparta, because Kalamata has beaches. Sparta is 60 km away on an absolutely superb road, as you all see later.

About 150 km away from Kalamata I see traffic police for the first time since we are in Greece. With a radar gun.

We arrive at the hotel and check-in is easy because I had already booked by phone from the previous evening.
Since we have no bank card, we must call for a reservation. Most hotels on booking.com in Greece ask for a deposit uppon making a reservation online.

The procedure is simple:
1. check the hotels on booking.com (or other websites) to see what we like (location, facilities, price, images of rooms and parking)
2. make a short list with hotels that we like
3. use Google to find contact details (phone number)
4. call and try to make a reservation
5. if reservation is accepted, locate the hotel on Google Maps. If reservation could not be made, call the next hotel in the list
6. identify the exact GPS coordinates of the hotel
7. enter those coordinates in my Garmin and take a smooth and direct ride to the hotel door.

In case all of the above failed because none of the hotels accepted phone reservation (it happened), then locate a street with lots of hotels and go there.
Pretty much a guessing game there, but it also never failed.
Sometimes you get a better price just showing up there as the hotel does not have to pay fees to online intermediaries.

We also used hotels.com or hotelscombined.com just to see a broad spectrum of hotels in the location, because not all of them are on booking.com

So we arrive at the hotel (Ostria is called) and that was what you need: 50 euros / night, very good and diversified breakfast, plus sunbeds included.
Parking on the street, but there were no problems because I had the motorcycle cover with me.

My Hayabusa has BMW bodyguards:

The hotel has a nice mini zone with tables right near the beach. One could drink the morning cofee near the water front.
In the morning you could see us crossing the pedestrian walk carring the breakfast plate and a line formed at the street crossing point.
It was funny seeing people crossing the street holding a plate full of breakfast "things".
There's no traffic lights there so you cross with one eye on the upcoming traffic and the other carefull not to spill your food on the ground.

After the proper splash - very hot water - we went out to catch the sunset on the cliffs.
We will stay for a few nights here to rest and enjoy the hot sea water.
When we get bored of the beach, we run to visit Sparta ...

 

[Red05]

Gorgeous pictures. What a great place to see

 

[hayabusaTravels]

After enjoying the beach we decide to go to Sparta.
From Kalamata you have two options to get to Sparta: the highway through Gefyra (100km), or the EO82 (60km) that we traveled, the return being on the highway.

The EO82 is absolutely fantastic but dangerous enough that you have to maintain a low speed because you don't know what can encounter on a curve. Many stones on the lane and some goats.

The images above don't really show the beauty of this road, so please watch this video:

About Sparta I am convinced that I don't have to explain too much, each of you knows some information about the importance of Sparta in antiquity.
In short, however, Sparta was characterized by a warrior culture.

The professional and well-trained Spartan warriors (hoplites), with their distinctive red coats, long hair and shields engraved with the lambda mark, were probably the best and most feared warriors in Greece, fighting distinctly in key battles such as Thermopylae and Plataea at the turn of the 5th century BC.

Ancient tradition says that 300 Spartans were able to hold more than 1,000,000 Persians for 3 days and 3 nights at the Battle of hermopylae in 480 BC. This feat gave courage to the Greeks, who a year later, managed to defeat the huge Persian army at the Battle of Platea.

Sparta was also an important member of the Greek force that participated in the Trojan War. Spartan King Menelaos instigated the war after his wife Elena was abducted by the Trojan prince Paris.

The statue of King Leonidas of Sparta was erected in 1968 in front of a football stadium, very close to the archeological site. According to Plutarch, when the Persians attacked Thermopylae and told the Spartans and their allies to lay down their weapons, Leonidas's response, immortalized under his feet, was "ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ" ("Come and take them").

Personal comments:
The 90% of the archeological site is buried, covered with olive trees, few archaeological remains have been brought to light, but access is free.
You have noplace to get water, so get ready for that when you come.
The Museum is small with few exhibits, however, but quite valuable. (€6/person)
Is located in the town far away from the actual archeological site.
We did not take pictures in the museum because we filmed (see the video below).

The most important exhibit seems to be the statue of Leonidas (although it is not known for sure if the statue really depicts him).

It was worth sacrificing a day of beach to visit Sparta but I wouldn't stay there for a night just for that.

We returned on the highway to Kalamata to see what it looks like, although you have to pay a toll (every highway in Greece has tools starting from 0.5euro to even 2euro, but it depends on the distance covered. The prices are for motorcycle passage, cars pay more).

From here we depart to Piraeus Port (Athens) where we take a night ferry to Crete.
First, we will stop in Mycenae to visit the fortress and the tomb of Agamemnon.

Video with the archaeological site and the museum:

 

[hayabusaTravels]

We leave from Sparta to Mycenae somewhat pressed due to the ferryboat to Crete. Departure at 21:00 from Pireus. I had plenty of time for those 210 km, but you never know what you can meet on the road.
And we had to stop in Mycenae.

Anyway, the road to Mycenae was splendid, beautiful landscapes littered with at least seven tunnels.

We arrive at Mycenae and stop at Agamemnon's Tomb. Big parking, little to no visitors.
Kitty is content to sit on a bench, not impressed by the importance of the place.
To be fare, there is no conclusive evidence that this tomb would belong to Agamemnon.

Above is the Mycenaean Fortress, so we got on the motorcycle and parked in the parking lot in front of the entrance.
Likewise, Kitty took a bottle of juice and coffee and waited for me in the shade on a bench in the parking lot.

The entrance to the fortress is made under the imposing Gate of the Lions.
The "gate of the lions", the most famous architectural element from Mycenae, emblem of the Mycenaean kings and a symbol of their power over the subjects, was the main access to the city.

Mycenaean fortress was one of the most important centers of Greek civilization, a military fortification that dominated much of southern Greece.
According to Greek legends, the city of Mycenae was founded by Perseus, but the historical reality tells us that it was founded by the Indo-European tribes of the Achaeans with approx. 2000 BC.
Built about eight hundred years before the erection of important buildings in classical Athens, at the Mycenaean Fortress was found a beetle of Queen Tiye of Egypt, the wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, none other than Akenaton's father.

However, it was not the first civilization to dominate the Aegean.
The Mycenaean civilization was preceded by the Minoan civilization that dominated the Aegean Sea through culture and trade.
The collapse of the Minoan civilization, attributed to a natural disaster (the eruption of the Santorini volcano) as well as hostile invasions, led to the increase of the power and influence of the Greeks from Mycenae.

Until the 15th century BC, Mycenaean civilization conquered the territories on the south-east coast of Anatolia, which led to direct contact with the Hittite Empire, which controlled much of modern-day Turkey and Syria.
Once arrived in the Hittite vassals cities, the Mycenaeans encouraged rebellions against the latter.
There are theories that such an episode in Wilusa (Troy) rich and vassal state of the Hittites, actually led to the Trojan war, this war being only a clash between the dominant civilizations of those times, both wanting control over the maritime routes from the Hellespont Canal which linked the Aegean to the Black Sea.

Mycenaean fortress is related to Agamemnon, who led the 10-year siege against Troy, as Homer recounts in his poems.

The ancients said that only the Cyclops could have built the huge fortifications at Mycenae.

Strong and proud like the two lions that guarded the fortress, Atreu and Agamemnon gathered countless assets through trade, piracy, robberies and military expeditions.

In Mycenae a true treasure was discovered: unique gold and silver objects weighing more than 14 kg, ornaments and other objects belonging to the Mycenaean kings. Homer said that the scepter of the Mycenaean sovereigns had been made in Olympus and had been inherited from father to son throughout the centuries, calling the Mycenaean Fortress "the rich in gold."
The large number of unique gold objects by execution and design, made the Mycenaean tombs the most significant in the territory of Greece.


"Agamemnon's Mask", perhaps the most precious object among the treasures found, can be found at the National Museum of Archeology in Athens.
Later in this topic.
We will get there but we still have some places to go before that.
From Mycenae, we rode to Piraeus where the overnight ferryboat to Crete awaits us.

Video with the fortress and tomb:

PS: the music is made by me using a free music creator software.
Let me know if you like it!

 

[hayabusaTravels]

We hurried from Mycenae, never visited the museum there because we had to catch a night ferry to Heraklion, Crete.
The road to the port of Piraeus was easy, it went smoothly.
Initially, we wanted to stop at the Corinth Canal, but we didn't. I thought it's better stop directly at the port, take our tickets and then find some food there until the boat leaves.
That's why I don't like having inforced stops. It kills the joy of free traveling when you have to be at one point at a certain time table.

Although it was not the great distance to the port, I thought it best to get there early because we didn't have a ferryboat reservation. Not having a reservation, I was afraid that we would no longer catch interior cabins on the ferry.
On this day we visited Sparta and Mycenae, now here we come to Piraeus.
I arrived in Pireas at 7.40 pm which is ok considering how late I left Mycenaean.
The GPS took us right to the ticket office (I set it up the night before, after finding the exact GPS coordinates using Google Maps).

As this ferryboat trip lasts over 9 hours, we took a private inboard cabin so we could rest overnight.
Cabins are very ok, comfortable beds and showers, wardrobe ... all you need. A real hotel room with no balcony. But you had the whole deck for that.
I stayed in hotel rooms worse than this cabin on the boat ...
Cost: 150 euros with showers included. It was much cheaper if you buy online, but, as you know, I don't like to book in advance because I don't know when I arrive at a destination.
For example, we stood another two nights in Kalamata just because we liked the warm water at the beach and the hotel was really ok.

The Ship was KPHTH II, belonging to ANEK Ferries.
The motorcycle was anchored by the crew, there were no problems.

It's fascinating how many were sleeping on chairs or straight on the floor near the access lanes, or in hall ways between the cabins.
It was full of couples and people sleeping on the floor, either on luggage or sleeping bags.
The ship left with a 9 min delay. At 21.00 they were loading cargo: trucks entered, left the cargo / container and left the cargo hall.

After eating on the boat, we stayed on the deck for a few minutes, more to see the departure, then retired to the cabin.

PS: The car deck is completely closed, you do not have access to the luggage in the car / motorcycle until the morning when you arrive.
Because "someone" forgot some pills in the topcase, although I told her countless times to put them ONLY in the tankbag, I had to talk to the front desk and be accompanied to the motorcycle to take those medicines.

Kitty had troubles felling asleep, often I caught her staring at the window, thinking of maritime accident.
The fact that the onborad radio station kept broadcasting instructions on what to do in case of emergency, for two hours straight, clearly did not help at all.
Then they started to broadcast advertisements for the restaurant and cafes on the boat, all having "super offer prices".

Although the sea was quiet, the feeling on the boat was strange: imagine sleeping in a comfortable bed that rises slightly and descends from the pillow area then you feel your feet rising while your head starts to go down. Then it also swings in the sides, depending on how the ship managed to make its way through the waves.
All this on a background sound of diesel engines with vibrations more present than I would have liked.
Still, in 30 minutes I fell asleep!
After a while, Kiity also fell asleep, although she told me in the morning that from time to time, she woke up as movement kept wakeing her up.

Meals are not included and ferry prices are not so high, but not as low as in mainland Greece.
Desperate to catch a private cabin we never stopped on the road to eat. The point is that cabin tickets are selling fast online and we really didn't want to have to sleep in chairs (pullman seats).

Arrived in Heraklion, Crete at around 6.30 in the morning.
We had the hotel booked in Heraklion and had no stress.
We wasted time by a gas station for a coffee, then went to the hotel where we checked in.
This is a day of rest at the beach followed by a short walk in te evening just to inspect our surroundings.

Here's a complete video from the boat: