Greek Driving Adventure

I have often toyed with the idea of renting a car during my visits to Astypalaia, but honestly it is a scary prospect. The roads are super narrow, windy and steep. As you can see from this photo, the road is actually a one lane road that has been divided in half with a white line. This is not a one way street folks, another vehicle could come barreling around the corner at any moment.



The roads are not well maintained, so there is also a bit of teeth jarring bumpiness. At least this stretch has a guardrail to make you feel a bit more secure as you hug the edge of a road that drops off of a sheer cliff.



Did I mention that I am driving in these difficult conditions with a manual transmission? Greece does not have automatic cars, so practice your shifting if you are going to come and rent a car. You will need to practice starting from a stopped position on an incline, as it can be quite troublesome for the uninitiated. Luckily I have a long history with standards, as my father insisted I learn to drive one when I first got my driver's license. I also got lots of practice driving in the canyons of Southern California, or else I think I would have been completely terrified.



Local drivers take it all in stride, they drive fast with quick reflexes. They simply weave around anything in their way, from other motorists to pedestrians. They might give you a little beep of the horn to let you they are passing you, they have no qualms about it. I however would never pass on such a road.



We had a great day in our rental car. We went to two great beaches, one of them was down a long, steep, rutted dirt road. I was afraid that I would not have the power to get back up, but we made it just fine. Andrea was impressed with my driving skills, I even drove through a gas station.



Pictures from the beach soon.