Category: Europe and Africa Spring 2024

We woke up to a much grayer day than yesterday. We have been lucky to generally have very good weather on this trip, so an occasional gray day is to be expected.

Around 11 we checked out and drove 76 miles and a little less than 2 hours to Katerini where we are tonight. Katerini is right next to Mount Olympus. Olympus is in the clouds today but our room is supposed to have a mountain view so hopefully we get to see Olympus tomorrow.

This afternoon we went for a walk and explored the village.

We had dinner at our hotel next to the fire. I had wild boar and Duke had steak. They were each excellent.

We woke up to beautiful clear skies this morning. It was a perfect day to visit the 6 Meteora Monasteries. The rock formations would be stunning by themselves but the monasteries on top of formations make it a magical place.

When we got back to the hotel we used the spa. In addition to the heated pool they have a steam room, a sauna, and a cold room.

We had a great dinner at the hotel restaurant.

We had breakfast in the lovely restaurant/ bar at Nisista Lodge.

After breakfast we drove east and a little north to Trikala. It was a beautiful drive through steep mountains.

Trikala is near the Meteora Monasteries. The Monasteries are set among and on top of very impressive rock formations some of which we drove by today. We plan to explore them tomorrow.

We are staying at Ananti Resort in a corner room with a wonderful view of the mountains.

After dinner we went outside to check out the view. It is going to be around freezing here tonight.

The Nicopolis Archaeological Museum was closed the last two days. But today it was open so before we left Preveza we visited the museum and a bit of the ruins. And today entrance was free. That made Duke’s day!!

Nicopolis was a sprawling Roman town founded in 28 BC. In 31 BC, in the Naval battle of Actium Octavian defeated the fleet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. This ended the Roman Republic. Octavian became the Emperor Augustus. He founded the city of Nicopolis near the site of the battle. The city existed for more than 1000 years. I absolutely love how close we are to such monumental history.

The museum is relatively new. I thought it was excellent and very very interesting.

As we drove through the area of where the city of Nicopolis used to be you could see ruins on either side of the road. At one point we got out and explored a bit. There was an archaeological dig going on.

From Preveza we drove into the mountains to the village of Rodavgi. We are staying at Nisista Lodge. Our room has a fire place and a great view of the mountains. The owner suggested we eat at the nearby local Taverna. It was a tiny cozy place. The food was good and it was full of locals coming and going.

Today the weather was nice and we explored Preveza.

I saw a ruined castle (Pantocrator Castle) on the map so we decided to check it out

We walked up to the door but it was closed and we assumed we weren’t going to be able to get inside.

The coastline was beautiful so we knew that at least we would be able to take a walk. But first we went around the other side of the castle and luckily found an open side door.

Once we were inside it was fun exploring.

Next we drove back into Preveza, parked, and walked along the waterfront.

We found a cafe and had coffee. Each coffee came wish a small pice of dark chocolate.

On the way back to the car we saw a fisherman catch a fish.

We went back to the hotel rested and read for a while. About 8 we drove back into the center and had one of our best dinners in Greece