Greece is world famous, especially for its beaches, its friendly people, its good food and the ancient ruins that date back to when the ancient Greeks invented democracy a few thousand years ago. Of course there are other things to experience in the country on the south-eastern edge of Europe - you can hike, climb mountains or take cheap ferries from island to island. Those who want to explore all of Greece prefer to take a rental car and go on a road trip like through America. Going in the morning, never knowing where you will be in the evening.
After our hike through the Enipeas Gorge (read here) and the climbing of the giants of the Olympus, now follow me on the rest of the path. We ride to the Oracle of Delphi and to Athens. This is the story about the urban art - the unknown side of greece.
Better you keep your eyes open on the go. You have to be naive and want to be surprised. About the people, but also about normal life. And a landscape that has more to offer explorers than the well-known sights, world-famous cities and much-visited attractions. If you make a stop on the beach near Litochoro, just down from the new, mirror-smooth street, you will find old bunkers hidden in a few bushes: The loopholes stare like half-open eyes at the sea, right on Variko Beach.
Loopholes stare like bloody eyes
Who built it? Who should they protect against? 400 kilometers away is Turkey, the old master, the old enemy. Or maybe they come from the time of the German occupation, built out of fear of a British invasion? They are looking like new. And a small and open toilet is there too. Strange place indeed.
It is clear that the old holiday home, which is a little further down the beach road in the forest, is not that old. It must have been made at great times, because everything in the ruin breathes the timeless style of old James Bond films. A semicircular counter, a couple of overturned armchairs. Large glass surfaces let in a lot of light and gray vinyl records are still lying on a cupboard.
Good morning, beautiful Greece!
One is called “Beautiful Greece”, but this house is more from the “Interesting Greece” section. Who may have been on vacation here? Former officials? Millionaires? In any case, no little people with little money, because the old home without a name still looks exclusive and noble today as a perfect modern ruin.
Completely different from the abandoned gas station, which is later on the roadside. Barred and locked, it reminds you of the old Richfield Gas Station in the USA where "Easy Rider" was once filmed.
There are no gas pumps, there is no light or electricity. A touch of the past, a monument to bygone times, only here a bit more modern and a bit more Greek: in the repair shop next door, someone deposited stacks of old tires.
They are better here than in the world of olive trees, in which we later find an abandoned van that has probably rotted away in the undergrowth for decades. Pictures worth seeing, spectacular like the sight of the classical ruins of Delphi and the Acropolis, only much smaller and more new. An enchanting sight that makes you forget that the entire contents of the oil pan have seeped into the ground here, albeit many years ago.
The same certainly applies to the Buis, which we discover a few days later, abandoned and simply left standing on the roadside, but meanwhile already picturesquely polished by sea air and weather. The chrome has turned pale, the blue looks almost white. The small, half-ruined church nearby is more colorful. The roof is half open, the doors are anyway. An altar stands free in the nave, which God has probably already left long ago. Now parties are going on here, it looks like. Because beer bottles are in the corners.
Where else should you go? There, where the country is largely left, because in Greece more and more people are moving to the big cities, there is not much left of rural life. Empty churches, empty farmhouses, empty weekend villas. Empty factories with tightly locked gates. A carefully packed car, the owner of which may have long since forgotten, where it is now. Such ghosts of cars stand here as often as ghostly ruins of houses, not only uninhabited, but apparently abandoned. They still have to belong to someone. They have probably not wanted to have them for a long time.
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