Our plan for today was to hike on Mount Olympus and it turned out to be a perfect day for it. Mount Olympus rises almost straight from the Aegean Sea to a height of 2,917 meters (9,570 feet).

One of the owners of Hotel Dimatis where we are staying suggested we start our hike at an Army training facility on the mountain. They allow people to hike through the base if they show ID first. It was about an hour drive to get there.

There was a rope tow ski lift at the point we turned around. It wasn’t operating

The guards who logged us in had told us we could get a coffee at the restaurant. So on the way down we stopped and enjoyed some coffee.

The mud on the trail was a bit slippery. I managed to slip and sit down not far from the car. I had to wash my coat, jeans and shoes when we got back!

We had dinner at Hotel Dimatis again tonight the food has been really really good here. The owners are excellent chefs!

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.