We travelled bus from
Istanbul,
Turkiey over the
Greek border. This is by far the weirdest border crossing we have ever done! Especially as we were now entering the
EU where we thought there would be more checks and balances. Think again. It appears you cannot walk across this border so the building is not really set up for individual immigration checks. As we approached in the bus it looked like it was going to be a very long wait indeed.
Nekminit, our driver had pushed his way through the lines of cars, his co pilot getting out to move a few cones, and we were parked by ourselves under cover. A border guard came out and as we filed out of the bus we handed him our passports and he checked our photos. The driver told us to go and wait at the cafe.
Ten minutes later we boarded the bus and someone came and handed out the passports, all stamped and ready to rumble. Hmmmm ....
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| And here we are in Greece, rain and all |
THE DESTINATIONS
We travelled by bus all the way through Greece. The buses are lush and comfortable, stopping every 3hrs for food and toilet breaks.
Once again we had decided on the road less travelled taking a route that most tourists don't.
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| From the bus window |
This was our first stop along the route. It is a quaint wee working town with not a lot to offer but we enjoyed the peace and quiet for a few days. Rather strangely, this was the most expensive room rate we had encountered thus far.
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| A wee shrine |
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| A random military store! |
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| Fort wall |
Second largetst city after Athens
Back on the tourist trail here. This is quite a well know place in Greece. We loved it! We had an apartment in the centre of the city and everything was well placed for walking.
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| Walking up to the lookout |
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| The fort wall up the top |
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| The view over the city |
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| More of the fort wall |
The water front was a lovely place to hang out too.
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| A tourist trap pirate boat |
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| The main square |
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| Yet more ruins in the middle of the street |
VOLOS - population 100,000
This was such a surprise city for us! Where we were staying we thought this might be another backwater town that no one knows about. Turns out it is a place where very wealthy yacht owners moor their yachts over winter. The shops are certainly of the ilk to cater to them.
The water front was a delight.
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| The working end of the pier |
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| Selling fish from source |
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| The afore mentioned winter moorings |
There is a super long pier, approx 500m long
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| Looking back from the pier |
ATHENS
We had an interesting and protracted bus journey to Athens. We kept detouring around all these small towns yet not dropping anyone off or picking anyone up? Turns out, the farmers had blocked the main highway at certain junctions in protest of something. One way to see more of the country.
We came upon a protest in the city. We didn't join in as we could understand what it was about.
Our primary reason for visiting Athens was, of course, to see the Acropolis. Fortunately we discoverd that during the off season, the first Sunday of each month there is no entry fee. Bonus!
We lined up at the western entrance at 7.30 on Sunday morning.
The building of the Acropolis dates back to the
5th Century BC. It is quite an awe inspiring experience to reflect on the physical work it took to accomplish this mammoth task without mechanical machinery.
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| Theatre of Dionysus 6th C BC |
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| How to make a wall |
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| The Bronze Forge |
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| The Odeon Of Herodes Atticus Theatre |
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| Soldiers performing something? |
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| Entranceway steps |
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| Old and new |
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| Parthenon - 436BC |
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| Propylaea - ceremonial gateway |
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| View of the city |
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You can see the top frieze which was taken to
the British Museum by Lord Elgin |
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| Part of the frieze they missed |
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| Erechtheiom 421-406 BC |
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| Sanctury of Zeus and Polius 500BC |
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| Main Entrance from the inside |
We visited the National Archaeological Museum.
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| Gold! |
Cool Pottery
Bronze age
We visited the Panathenaic Stadium, the home of the first modern olympics where the first modern Olympic Games were held in 1896.
And wandered around the waterfron of Pireus.
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| And fed the street cats |
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| Fancy modern speed boat |
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| One of the many ferries servicing the many Greek islands |
And a final trog up Lycabettus Hill, the highest point of the city. Makes you realise how vast and sprawling Athens is.
The wee chapel up the top
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| Residential, Thessaloniki |
THE FOOD
The street market, Komotini
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| The size of these leeks though! |
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We discovered these stuffed spiral
pastries in Komotini |
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| A Greek feast including Ouzo |
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We ate lots of the spanakopita from
the square in Thessaloniki |
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| Ditto! |
Our wonderful hostel hosts in Athens cooked us a traditional Iranian feast. Javad is from
Iran and this wonderful experience went some way to compensating the fact that we weren't able to go to Iran this trip. We had
Fesenjan, a chicken stew rich with ground walnuts and
pomegranate molasses. Accompanied by the following ......
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| Tahdig - burnts butter rice cake |
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| A lovely fresh salad to clense the palate |
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| Komotini |
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| Komotini |
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| Thesaloniki |
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| Volos |
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| Athens |
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| Athens |
You could tell it was coming up to Christmas!
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| Angel cakes, Komotini |
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Gift wrapping, Thesalonika
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| Volos |
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| The stable of the above scene, Volos |
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| Christmas tree sale, Athens |
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