Greek Mainland

After a two and a half hour ferry trip to Volos, we walked to our hotel, the Azur. The room was Tokyo small, but functional and I had a narrow balcony for external activities. I went for a small stroll and found the church and the main shopping street.

The following morning I skipped the unappealing “Continental breakfast” and went for a longer stroll along the waterfront which was more pleasant than I could have imagined. I found another church where they were conducting a morning service.

We had a car being delivered; this time a Peugeot 3008 – a larger automatic, and headed north towards Edessa for a two night stay.

Along the route, the imposing Platamon Castle came into view and we made an unscheduled stop. Built about a thousand years ago, most of my body parts enjoyed the experience, but not my knee. The cobblestones were a little challenging. 

After the castle we headed for Mt Olympus, Greece’s highest mountain at 2918 metres, or 9570 ft. It’s climbable although anyone doing so needs to scramble over rocks to get to the summit. We chose the easier option of driving as far up as we could – about 4000 ft. The “base camp” equivalent is a town called Litichoro which was a picture postcard town that looked more Swiss than Greek. From there the winding road took us by some breathtaking scenery. It was definitely worth it. 

Mount Olympus is said to be the home of the Greek Gods, of whom there are 12 main deities. Serial cheater Zeus is the main man. Hera, his long suffering wife had a penchant for revenge. The others were Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Demeter, Hestia, Hermes, Hephaestus (who hardly gets a mention), and Poseidon. 

The legend goes that they lived in a palace at the top of the mountain eating Ambrosia and drinking Nectar, miles from the nearest convenience store.

The total driving time for the day was around six hours, but the roads were decent and there wasn’t a lot of traffic. 

The hotel was half an hour outside of Edessa, not that far from the border with North Macedonia. I have discovered that uttering the words “North Macedonia” upsets Greek people more than you can imagine. It’s Greece’s equivalent of the “N” word. They refer to it as Skopje, which is North Macedonia’s capital. 

I’d booked a jacuzzi room, which I got. Annoyingly, Dimitra and Chloe, who hadn’t paid any extra for the bathing pleasure, were given a free upgrade. Not only did they get a bigger jacuzzi than me, their bed was round and their balcony wasn’t staring at a brick wall – they had a huge south facing space overlooking the countryside. Tongue in cheek, I told the owner of my dissatisfaction. I should never have told this Greek Manchester United supporter that I was an Arsenal fan. 

The next morning delivered beautiful sunshine, and although a little cooler, still fine to walk around in shorts and a T-shirt. So I did. I hadn’t spoken to my knee about this activity though, and there was high protest. 

In the afternoon we went to Edessa to see the waterfalls. I suggested that someone else drive, and that I would sit in the back and close my eyes. Dimitra volunteered Chloe! There was initial protest, anxiety, and a few choice swear words, but we eventually arrived at the waterfalls and I congratulated Chloe. We were all still alive. 

The waterfalls were impressive coming from every orifice of the mountain. Visitors were able to walk behind the largest waterfall and receive a light misting.

The evening meal was at family restaurant called Daphne’s run by Daphne who looked like she’d had a hard life. I got the impression that she’d just killed the chicken, in my souvlaki, with her bare hands.

My last full day in Greece before heading to Bulgaria was going towards Thessaloniki, Greece’s second largest city. I was told in no uncertain terms that I would be driving. I agreed in the interests of survival. 

The first stop was the archeological site at Pella where Alexander the Great was born. Despite the historical significance, I have to say it was scruffy and unimpressive. Having said that, it was nice enough to wander wound the wuins. 

Alex was born in 356 BC. He was the son of Philip II of Macedon, and Olympias of Epirus. If I ever go on to conquer large swathes of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, it will be said that Patrick the Mediocre was the son of Bill of Sydenham, and Irene of Penge. Phil was murdered by the captain of his bodyguards, Pausanias of Orestis. Pausanias was once a young lover to Philip. Things were different back then. The assassination took place in front of Alex when he was just 20 years old. Al was now in charge and he decided he wanted to conquer as much as he could. He did, getting as far as modern day India. At 13 he was tutored by Aristotle and his many talents began to emerge, including mathematics, horsemanship, and the bongo drums. He was apparently deeply religious, and was said to have directly killed between 100-200 men during various battles. I guess people stopped counting. I love a religious killer. He died aged 32 of typhoid and has since had many cities in other countries named after him, most notably, Alexandria in Egypt. 

Next up was the museum up the road, linked to the archeological site, where they house all the stuff they found. It was a fairly interesting and modern museum. My conclusion; Greeks do like a pot. 

We pressed on to Thessaloniki and checked into the Holiday Inn. I went solo around the city with my first stop at the house where Kemal Ataturk was born in 1881. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was the father of modern Turkey. Next was the Roman built Rotunda which was highly impressive, but I couldn’t really see the point of it. Just a round, domed, cavernous space. 

I didn’t loiter long and from there I headed to the Galerias Arch built in honor of Roman Emperor, Galerias. Galerius was the emperor from 305 AD to 311 AD and the arch was built to commemorate the final victory battle against the Persians. Galerias was best known as a persecutor of Christians, but was also said to have a fabulous sense of humour, and was quite the wit himself. Known by his friends as hilarious Galerius. 

I then found a super church with a beautiful inside, followed by the Agia Sophia church which was better on the outside. 

I kept heading down and finally reached the sea with the rather impressive White Tower dominating the skyline. It was a little busy with bloody tourists, so I went to see the statue of Alexander the Great, first. 

Circling back, the White Tower had calmed down so I bought my ticket and enquired if there was an elevator. Of course there wasn’t, but the steps were wide and gentle and the climb was worth it. Fabulous views of the surrounding area. 

I’d done 15,000 steps by the time I was back at the hotel. We dined on the rooftop balcony watching the sunset and John and Sam turned up again. It was John’s 44th birthday. Great to see them again.

SMy final morning in Greece, I drove us to the bus station a few minutes down the road and said a small prayer for Greek motorists as I handed the car key to Chloe. I boarded my Flix bus headed for Sofia, Bulgaria.