My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
Today was the first grey day we have had on this trip. Our drive along the cost to Fanari where we are tonight was beautiful. We’ve been doing a lot of taking things slow and easy, so I haven’t been posting every day.
This morning the owner of Nysa Boutique hotel where we stayed the last two nights served us a wonderful breakfast then saw us off.
Our breakfastVivian on the right with Duke and I
We took back roads following the coast east and explored as we went.
Along the way we stopped for groceries
In Fanari we are staying at Nero Seascape Suites. We walked to a restaurant on the coast overlooking the Aegean for dinner. The grilled seafood we had was delicious.
This morning on our way to Moustheni where we are tonight we stopped to tour The Cave of Alistrati. I think it is the most beautiful cave I have ever seen The stalactites and stalagmites and other formation made the cave magical.
Our guide led us along the trail about one kilometer into the cave before turning around.
Tonight we are staying at a lovely little boutique hotel called called Nysa.
This is our hotel. Our room is on the top right.
For dinner we went to a local pizza place.
Our pizzaMany of the formations sparkled. I think that was because water percolating through quartz created the formations
For desert we ordered the small version of a treat that sounded really good on the menu.
We had two lovely nights in Kato Poroia. Each night we had a great dinner at a restaurant in the village. And each meal with two main dishes, a shared Greek salad and ouzo cost us about $35.
Our restaurant the first night – To, ΣτέκιΟur dinner the second night at The Kiosk restaurant
This morning after breakfast at the hotel we drove about two hours south east to the town of Drama.
Breakfast at our hotel
Along the way we stopped at a bakery for coffee and treats
Yummy
We had another great meal tonight in Drama at a restaurant in town. The meal was great. I especially liked the fresh fried anchovies.
This morning before leaving the Hotel Arte SPA & Park we took advantage of the Spa one more time.
We used the sauna, steam room, and “Experience Shower”!!
From Velingrad we headed south towards Greece and the Mediterranean. The drive was only about 140 miles but the route through the mountains took almost 4 hours.
Our route todayEntering Greece
Tonight we are staying in the little town of Kato Poroia not far from the Greek – Bulgarian border. There is only one other room occupied in our hotel.
Hotel Epavlis
For dinner we went down into the village and ate at a little restaurant called The Kiosk – To Κιόδκι. I think we were his only customers tonight. We had a great meal.
The restaurant Our Greek salad.We had ouzo to go with our dinner.
Today started the last phase of our trip. For the next month we will be traveling in North Macedonia, Kosovo, Bulgaria and Romania.
We almost always have breakfast included in our hotel stays but we didn’t in Thessaloniki because in big cities it is fun to find a bakery locally. This morning we found a wonderful one. They make their own croissants!
Bakery ΚΟΥΚΟΣ
At 11 we checked out of our hotel and stored our bags. Next we planned to visit the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle. On the way there I saw a shop selling silk shawls like one I have and love. I bought a new one for €10. The shop also had a lot of what looked like decorated sticks. I couldn’t figure out what they were. The shop owner explained that on Easter children carry decorated candles to church.
Decorated Easter candles
Finally we took a taxi to the train station and caught our bus. At the border the bus driver took all the passengers’ passports to be processed. We were the only ones who had to get off and be questioned. My theory was that that was because they couldn’t quite figure out where we had entered the E.U. (It was a few weeks ago in Africa where we entered the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco). Anyway we showed them our flight details to enter Greece and we were on our way.
We also bought Duke new sunglasses at H&M and then walked to the museum. It was an excellent Museum. All the exhibit explanations had English translations and it provided us with some much needed context for the Macedonian region of Greece that we have been traveling in.
Entrance to the Museum of the Macedonian Struggle A Macedonian I met inside the museum
Our bus was scheduled to leave at 3:30 so we found a place for coffee and then killed an hour or so in the lobby of the hotel.
Coffee
Not far from the border we got off the bus and got a taxi to Winery Popova Kula in Demir Kapija where we are tonight.
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