The picture isn't all that good because the camera insisted on focusing on the olive tree in the foreground. Still, you can see the white caps on the waves going out into the Ionian Sea. I shot this at about four in the afternoon and there's been a wicked rain and wind storm for some hours. It doesn't matter as I'm inside ... now.
It was dry and looked fairly good this morning so I decided to wing it and go in for my dental appointment on the scooter even though rain storms were forecast for the whole day. So long as I stayed dry going into town, I'd just live with getting wet on the way back.
Driving in Pyrgos is pretty cool ... so long as you forget every rule of driving law that you ever knew. There are very few stop signs or traffic lights as no-one would pay attention to them anyway. The city is largely grid-locked with traffic but it keeps moving as people are exceptionally good-mannered about taking turns. At every intersection you're essentially crossing against the red but it works because people going the other direction know you're going to do it and you know they will too. The vehicles all do a turn and turn about between people going east to west and those going north to south and it's hair-raising as it's all done with inches of clearance but it works. On a scooter, it's a total blast!
Oh yes, do keep moving or someone behind you will climb right up your tailpipe. Also, don't stop at the stop sign for the railroad tracks as the car behind will go right over you. It's not road rage or anything like that, it's just how everyone does here. If you kink it up, you'll be unkinked into a road pancake very quickly, not because anyone is angry but rather because you were stupid!
(Ed: what about the rain?)
Yah, the rain. I lucked out through a couple of hours in the city ... until I came out of the supermarket and saw the storm clouds nearing Katakolo. (You can see the exact route by clicking the MAP tab at the top of the blog) So I stepped it out and was hauling the freight on the way back. The scooter still has more in the motor at ninety kph but the wind was quite heavy and she was dancing. She's easily the most dangerous two-wheeler I've ever ridden but it's ok so long as you know how she behaves. If you go too deep into a corner, you're going down for sure but you can come out of the corner honking fairly hard and she likes that. She's a crazy bitch but I love how she dances!
There's no good reason why the good Lord sometimes favors dumb asses but you know it's true and that explains why I got away with it. Nary a drop of rain on me the entire morning and the storm started no more than five minutes after I got back. Yah, I'm laughing!
There's also an invention for the day: pajama jeans. I wore a pair of fleecy pajama bottoms under the blue jeans and stayed toasty warm the entire time. This ride was a hoot!
Sorry there are no pictures from Pyrgos but they will come! It's not supposed to rain tomorrow and I'll almost certainly go back into town so hopefully I'll get you some pictures then.
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