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.
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.
Today was the last day of our Greek road trip. We drove from Katerini to Thessaloniki and returned our rental car. Then we took a taxi to our Hotel on the central square, the Electra Palace.
Our hotel
Around three we went out for a walk and stopped for snacks and beer.
Mid afternoon snack
We thought we would still have dinner about 8 but weren’t hungry so instead went for a walk and then had drinks at the bar on the 7th floor of our hotel.
We walked along the waterfront and turned around at the White Tower. Thessaloniki waterfrontThe main squareG and T on the roof
Tomorrow we will take the bus to North Macedonia. We have had a wonderful time in northern Greece.
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.
Mount Olympus The Army base where we checked inThe mountain from the road upStarting our hike
There was a rope tow ski lift at the point we turned around. It wasn’t operating
The rope tow ski liftWe turned around after going up a bit over a mile
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.
Coffee after our hike
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!
Muddy jeans
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.
The view from our window this morning
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.
We are staying at Hotel Dimatis
This afternoon we went for a walk and explored the village.
Katerini Church
We had dinner at our hotel next to the fire. I had wild boar and Duke had steak. They were each excellent.
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