Some places “hook” the traveler, even without knowing why. As I told you before, one of them is the “Road to Santiago” due to its special atmosphere created by thousand of pilgrims from all over the world. Another country that usally hooks the traveler is Greece. I know a lot people who need to come back to Greece again and again. I am one of them (I have been 11 times in Greece, the last four cycling there). Cycling at the sunrise in one of the 1000 greek island, finishing with a bath in their cold and clean waters, and having a nice dinner with "mousaka" and "retsina" wine in a taberna in front of the sea, matches for us the meaning of “ideal holidays”. Greece is a beautiful, safe, and cheap country with friendly people and where you can put free your mountain byke on the ferries. There is no good cartography there but with the Lonely Planet guide and a plain roadbook you can manage it. Recently the greek editorial ROAD begins to edite good maps (e.g. scale 1:50000) of the main islands.
In spring 1996 we (Julia, Bea, Anna and me) made the tour of the beautiful island of Crete, going later to cycle to the small and beautiful Saronic Gulf’ islands (Spetses, Poros and Hidra).
In summer 1997 Roser, María and me went to cycling to the north aegean islands of Thasos, Samotracia and Lesbos. We came back in love with these islands where we could nearly touch the neighbour Turkey.
In summer 2000 Contxa, Bibi, Maria and me we cycled first in Alonisos and Skopelos islands (Sporades islands), then we went to the Pilio peninsula, Meteora, and Zagoria National Park, then we went to the Ionian islands of Paxi, Lefkada, Cefalonia and Itaca, and we finished inland visiting Delphi. It was a great tour!.
In summer 2006 we came back to cycling in Ikaria, the green Samos, Quios and Lesbos. There were more 800 kms of cycling, retsinas and mousakas!.
