Parga, where the beaches are a lot better than the internet connections...
I wrote this post in Athens a few days ago. Was going to finish it off earlier but didn't get to an internet cafe yesterday. I'm in Parga (west coast of Greece, seaside town, beaches, lots of sun, very nice on the whole!) and the internet connections here are apparently flaky, so when I completed the post and hit "Publish", the whole thing died. The guy at the cafe threw up his hands and said something about nothing working in Greece so I gave up. Hopefully I'll have a bit more luck today... Anyway, here's what I've been doing over the last week and a bit.
After Istanbul, we got onto an overnight sleeper train to Thessaloniki. It took about 14 hours for us to get there, including a four hour wait at the border during which we were repeatedly woken up. First it was the Turkish passport check, then Turkish customs, then the Greek passport check then finally Greek customs! Got to Thessaloniki feeling a bit tired!
Thessaloniki, a.k.a. Salonica and Solon, is in the north-east of Greece and was at one stage the second largest city of Byzantium. It's now the second-largest city in Greece. Amongst the many concrete apartment buildings you can find archaeological sites, some of them quite extensive, like the Roman Forum in the center of the city. There's also a church (St. Demitrius ?), which was originally built in Byzantine times and has been partially destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries.
After a day in Thessaloniki we got on a bus to Litohoro, a small town at the base of Mt. Olympus. Litohoro is quite a charming little town by itself and has spectacular views of the mountain. We were originally going to do a two day climb to one of the many summits but unfortunately the cold weather has lasted a bit longer than usual the refuge was snowed in. Instead, we took a taxi 1 km up the mountain to a place called Pirea and took the 10 km hike down the mountain.
On Thursday we headed off for Athens, which was great. Athens gets a bad rap for being dirty and full of concrete. This is possibly true for much of the city but the central areas are fascinating. Things have been cleaned up since the preparation for the 2004 Olympics but there's still enough of a dilapidated feel to the city for it to retain plenty of character. Been spending most of my time around the Acropolis and the Plaka, the old town where most of the touristy bits are.
I think I could get used to the Greek lifestyle. People start the day fairly late (it's a Saturday today and most of the shops were only opening around 10am), and have a nice long siesta in the middle of the day. At around 8:30 the restaurant districts start to fill up--on weekdays too, Perth! After a meal, probably involving a basic but sturdy red wine, several types of bread, some feta, olive oil and vast amounts of lamb, the patrons of the streetside cafes and bars take their places for some people watching. Okay, so it is a pretty patriarchal society, and you do see a lot of old guys sitting around playing backgammon while their wives are no doubt in the kitchen preparing the nights meal. On top of that, nothing ever gets done in a hurry. But people haven't forgotten about enjoying life over here!
We had a night in Meteora after Athens. Meteora is famous for its six 15th century Byzantine monasteries which are perched atop giant stone monasteries. Very spectacular.
With legs still aching after Mt. Olympus and Athens, we made our way by bus to Monodendri, right next to Vikos Gorge, where we had an invigorating 5 hour hike. Vikos Gorge is huge; at some points the walls reach over 1km above the bottom. To add to the excitement, rockfalls have engulfed the path, leaving only a steep incline of (thankfully not too unstable) gravel.
Our last stop in Greece is Parga. Got here yesterday and it was off to the beach. Today we took a boat to Paxos and Antipaxos to get a taste of island life and swim in some amazingly blue water. On the boat to Brindisi tomorrow night.
If I get time I'll add some photos but for now you can see them at the same place as usual (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sajaraki/).
After Istanbul, we got onto an overnight sleeper train to Thessaloniki. It took about 14 hours for us to get there, including a four hour wait at the border during which we were repeatedly woken up. First it was the Turkish passport check, then Turkish customs, then the Greek passport check then finally Greek customs! Got to Thessaloniki feeling a bit tired!
Thessaloniki, a.k.a. Salonica and Solon, is in the north-east of Greece and was at one stage the second largest city of Byzantium. It's now the second-largest city in Greece. Amongst the many concrete apartment buildings you can find archaeological sites, some of them quite extensive, like the Roman Forum in the center of the city. There's also a church (St. Demitrius ?), which was originally built in Byzantine times and has been partially destroyed and rebuilt several times over the centuries.
After a day in Thessaloniki we got on a bus to Litohoro, a small town at the base of Mt. Olympus. Litohoro is quite a charming little town by itself and has spectacular views of the mountain. We were originally going to do a two day climb to one of the many summits but unfortunately the cold weather has lasted a bit longer than usual the refuge was snowed in. Instead, we took a taxi 1 km up the mountain to a place called Pirea and took the 10 km hike down the mountain.
On Thursday we headed off for Athens, which was great. Athens gets a bad rap for being dirty and full of concrete. This is possibly true for much of the city but the central areas are fascinating. Things have been cleaned up since the preparation for the 2004 Olympics but there's still enough of a dilapidated feel to the city for it to retain plenty of character. Been spending most of my time around the Acropolis and the Plaka, the old town where most of the touristy bits are.
I think I could get used to the Greek lifestyle. People start the day fairly late (it's a Saturday today and most of the shops were only opening around 10am), and have a nice long siesta in the middle of the day. At around 8:30 the restaurant districts start to fill up--on weekdays too, Perth! After a meal, probably involving a basic but sturdy red wine, several types of bread, some feta, olive oil and vast amounts of lamb, the patrons of the streetside cafes and bars take their places for some people watching. Okay, so it is a pretty patriarchal society, and you do see a lot of old guys sitting around playing backgammon while their wives are no doubt in the kitchen preparing the nights meal. On top of that, nothing ever gets done in a hurry. But people haven't forgotten about enjoying life over here!
We had a night in Meteora after Athens. Meteora is famous for its six 15th century Byzantine monasteries which are perched atop giant stone monasteries. Very spectacular.
With legs still aching after Mt. Olympus and Athens, we made our way by bus to Monodendri, right next to Vikos Gorge, where we had an invigorating 5 hour hike. Vikos Gorge is huge; at some points the walls reach over 1km above the bottom. To add to the excitement, rockfalls have engulfed the path, leaving only a steep incline of (thankfully not too unstable) gravel.
Our last stop in Greece is Parga. Got here yesterday and it was off to the beach. Today we took a boat to Paxos and Antipaxos to get a taste of island life and swim in some amazingly blue water. On the boat to Brindisi tomorrow night.
If I get time I'll add some photos but for now you can see them at the same place as usual (http://www.flickr.com/photos/sajaraki/).
posted by sajaraki at
4:51 pm
4 Comments:
Amazing pictures Ives.. blue waters of Paxos, the trek down the mountain looks grtt..
amazing to see.. syd habour, to little india, to the ottoman empire to... good dose of culture
keep up the good work, love to see more..
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Anonymous, at 11:56 pm
I say briefly: Best! Useful information. Good job guys.
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