Rodavgi to Trikala, Greece

The view from our window this morning

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

Where we ate breakfast

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

The view as we drove

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.

The view from our room.

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

The view from the pool

Preveza to Rodavgi, Greece

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.

The museum of Nicopolis
More of the museum.

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.

Some of the ruins
Some of the archaeologists

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.

The Taverna where we ate last night is on the left.
Closer view of the taverna
Inside
Our room is on the top right
Our room
The mountains from our window this morning

Preveza, Greece – Day 2

Today the weather was nice and we explored Preveza.

Preveza main shopping street

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

Pantocrator Castle

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

The front door

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.

The coast by Pantocrator Castle
The open door.

Once we were inside it was fun exploring.

Inside
On the ramparts

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

Preveza waterfront
We spent a fair bit of time trying to figure out what this ship was unloading.
The Main Street in the old town

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

Afternoon coffee

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

The fisherman and his 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

To Rempetiko Steki Restaurant
We sat by the fire
Anchovies
Octopus
Dinner

Corfu to Preveza, Greece

Before leaving Corfu today we drove into Corfu old town and explored the fortifications.

Bridge over the sea water moat leading into the fortifications.
St Georges church and the fortress
Mortar cast in 1684

We climbed to the top of the fortress, enjoyed the view then headed back to our car and drove to the ferry.

The stairs to the top
View from the top
Leaving Corfu on the ferry

Once we landed on the mainland we headed south to Preveza where we are tonight.

When we were ready to leave for dinner it was pouring rain. We don’t like to drive at night but the restaurants are all at least a mile from our hotel so we drove and found a great place near where we parked.

Greek salad and squid
Shrimp. You can see one of our glasses of ouzo in the picture.

Corfu day 2

Today we explored a bit of Corfu. We drove north along the coast. There weren’t a lot of places to pull over but we found a beautiful placeto go down a side road. Across the water is the Albanian coast.

Church where we stopped to enjoy the view
The coast from our stop.
Beach with businesses closed for the season

It is definitely the off season. There are lots of places closed. But it was a beautiful day and we had fun.

Another place we stopped to enjoy the view

For dinner we walked to a nearby fish restaurant. When we asked the owner what fish was good he motioned us to come to the kitchen to see the choices.

Duke coming back from the kitchen.

We arrived about 8 for dinner but other people didn’t start arriving until 9. It seems like in general people eat dinner here at 9.

My Octopus
Duke’s fish.