The road to Arakhova, Greece

Heckuva Day! The adventure continues as we left Athens for the beautiful town of Arakhova. The morning started off grim as we overslept our alarm, took forever to get the car rental, got stuck with a stick shift that was parked downhill on a hill (good thing Dad had drivin' one 20+ years ago), nearly ran over a dozen mopeds while battling the horrible (worse than L.A.) traffic in downtown Athens back to the hotel, got lost driving up to the Acropolis and probably should have parked the stupid car and walked up, were nearly blown off the top of the Acropolis by the katabatic winds (but the Temples were impressive and worth the trip and 18 euros), battle traffic again to Hwy. 1, and then we felt like we were home free to Northern Greece. We were wrong!

The overcast skies turned to a drizzle, then rain, then snow and sleet. We should have thought twice when we saw the first car spinning its tires on the ice and snow or the next car the spun around, hit the guard rail and turned around to go home, but no. We, experienced Minnesota drivers, continued up the mountain to our destination. With exactly 13 (unluckly) kms to go, we started spinning the tires and reving the engine, stuggling to get out of second gear on the sheer ice. I hopped out to push while dad attempted to steer us away from oncoming traffic. That failed and we were stuck in the oncoming lane and forced to reverse the car into the shoulder. A kind Greek couple stopped to help and despite the communication barrier, we were able to understand that they would take us to Arakhova and we'd call the tow truck. We passed no less than a dozen other stranded cars on the road and a tow truck - so Dad hopped out to join the tow truck while I continued to our hotel with the nice couple. Three hours later we were reunited.

However, I found out later that dad's adventure continued. Eventually, after many failed attempts to put chains on the tires of the other cars that were stuck, our turn came. The tow truck man had our car on the dolly and was securing it while Dad waited in the truck patiently. Just then, an oncoming car came over the hill a quarter mile away. Dad thought, "He'll slow down, he'll go around us." But then he realized that this car was not slowing down and was not turning to go around the tow truck. Then "CRASH!" the windshield cracked and the car was totaled. Luckily, no one was hurt and our rental car was ok. Another hour passed until they were able to return to the town.

The cost: 200 euros. The memories: priceless! Oh what a night!

Turns out all the roads were closed for the next day and Athens shut down due to snow emergencies (mind you it only snows there every two years). Even the snow resort, Mt Parnassos was closed due to snow - go figure! We scratched our plans and were stranded in our cozy chalet, in the beautiful and quaint town, Arakhova. The end!
Love, Katie

PS Greek Photos:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=z6muajd.45u75tlt&x=1&y=eg53el