Blogs from West Macedonia, Greece, Europe - page 2
March 11th 2009
Our tentative plan is to wheel our stuff from the apartment to the town square, a distance of about a block, and then to either catch a taxi or take the metro and then the bus to the bus station. We quickly spot a taxi, but I am unable to communicate to him where we want to go, and so we give up. At the taxi stand, we find a driver who can under stand the address in combination with my bus driving pantomime and we are soon on our way. I find it interesting to compare the various taxi dashboard “shrines” around the world. In Thailand it was distinctly Buddhist - here it is a small metal relief of the Mary and a baby Jesus that adorns the dash. The taxi ends up costing not ... read more
First Stage: Igoumenitsa - Kozani with Jon
Published: September 27th 2008Europe » Greece » West Macedonia » Kozani
September 12th 2008
6th September 2008 - Igoumenitsa The ferry arrived in Igoumenitsa on the west cost of Greece on Sunday, 6th of September around 6:45. Jon and I left the ferry on the bikes and imidiately started our journey towards Ioannina, heading east for Thessaloniki (distance: 375 kilometers). The first hills were exhausting since I did not train at all for this trip, and the first day of cycling included a climb to 700m and down again. Jons tire exploded of the heat his breaks had caused on the steep way down the hill - something I will remember to check downhill. I had my first Frappe in the nice coffee where he stopped to change his tube. I like Greece :) We did not reach Ioannina as hoped, where there is the first camp site, but we ... read more
Mikrokastro - The big cookout!! - Day 23
Published: November 16th 2011Europe » Greece » West Macedonia » Kozani
June 27th 2007
A cookout was planned at Pappous and Yiayia's house in Mikrokastro for everyone to come say farewell to Steve, Alice and Magda. We’re not sure whose idea this was or how it ended up being here, but Xristos did at least volunteer to man the barbeque. Steve and I slept in a little and Magda went to Siatista with Xristos to buy paper goods, soda, beer and meats for the cookout. She bought 17 kilos (about 40lbs!) of meats!! Holy Crap!! Steve, Alice and I drove into Kozani to get the CDs, souvenirs, luggage locks (for the bus), tape and packing materials. First we went to the liquor store and bought (to bring back to the States) a bunch of different ouzos and tsipouro. Tsipouro is a strong distilled spirit containing about 45 percent alcohol by ... read more
June 26th 2007
We actually had a decent nights sleep last night! We drove up to Siatista today to do some errands. First we dropped Magda off at the bank and parked the car. We met up with her at the blanket store and I picked out one for me and one for my mom. Steve got one for his bed too and he also bought a rug for his room that’s really cool. It’s kind of like bronze shag with chenille alternating rows in cream color. It’s gorgeous! We also went to the post office, bakery and to Vodaphone to buy a phone to replace the one Steve took swimming. The bakery had a vast array of exquisite confections and I was overwhelmed trying to choose. I ended up picking out some Boston Crème like things and tried ... read more
June 21st 2007
Since we were in Santorini; Steve has been talking about going to Chalkidiki to visit his cousin Stergios, who works at a restaurant in Pefkochori, a beach resort area. The original plan was to go straight to Chalkidiki from the airport in Salonika, which would have made perfect sense since the airport is actually on the peninsula of Chalkidiki . Chalkidiki is a peninsula that resembles a hand with three ‘fingers’. The ‘fingers’ are named Kassandra, Sithonia and Athos from bottom to top. Kassandra is the most developed and is where Steve’s cousin is for the summer and Athos is where Mt Athos and all the monasteries are (off limits to women and non Orthodox men). However when this was first brought up, Xristos decided that we should wait until the weekend, so he and his ... read more
Florina Monastery & Edessa Waterfalls - Day 16
Published: November 16th 2011Europe » Greece » West Macedonia » FlorinaJune 20th 2007
Today we plan to go to Florina to visit Steve’s cousin who’s a nun at the monastery of St. Marcos. This cousin is another of Christos’ sisters. We actually managed to get up and get ready to leave around 9-10am, shocking! It was about an hour and a half drive to the monastery with me, Steve and Alice in the Yaris and Magda, her sister, her mother and another nun from Mikrokastro in the Vitara. The monastery is in Florina which is only about 18 kilometers from Albania and it is set way up on a mountain overlooking the entire valley with beautiful views. The monastery is fairly new and they are adding on a dining hall and kitchen wing for when they have visitors come to see the church (usually a tour bus full). It ... read more
June 18th 2007
A couple of problems sleeping last night first it was really warm in the upstairs where we were staying as there were no screens so mosquitoes and flies came in if you opened the windows and also a dog barked right outside our windows off an on all night. Steve ended up getting up and chasing the dog down the street to get him to stop. So we resolved to buy some fans first thing when we went to Kozani (the closest city) to solve the heat problem and I wore earplugs when I slept for the rest of our stay in the village. Magda had gone to the bakery for some ham and cheese croissants for breakfast, so we ate those and drove into Kozani to look for fans and to use the internet café. ... read more
Santorini to Salonika to Mikrokastro - Day 13
Published: November 16th 2011Europe » Greece » West Macedonia » KozaniJune 17th 2007
I woke up just before the alarm went off and decided to get up and finish packing the last minute stuff and have some breakfast. Steve and I went up to breakfast while Alice finished getting ready. I’m really going to miss the breakfasts at the Lilium! By the time we ate and went back to the room to make a final check it was pretty much time to drag the luggage up 2 flights of stairs (Steve!) to the pool area and go check out. We got to the Santorini airport about an hour and 15 minutes before boarding. Security seemed more than a little relaxed (to say the least!) than in the States or even Athens . We boarded a bus from the gate that took us to the 737 out on the tarmac, ... read more
April 2nd 2005
Hármas határvidéken fekszenek a Prespa tavak, Görögország, Macedónia és Albánia osztozik rajtuk. Aki erre a vidékre ellátogat, egyből rájön, hogy miért nem akar a tavaktól egyik ország sem megválni. Már az odaút is lenyűgöző, ahogy a hágón (Pisoderi Hágó) átérve elénk tárulnak a tavak, visszanézve pedig havas hegyeket látunk. A két tó, a Kis és a Nagy Prespa tó 850 m magasan fekszik, őket csak egy kis földsáv választja el egymástól, őket pedig hegyek övezik, aterület 1977 óta nemzeti park A Kis Prespa Tó majdnem teljes egészében Görögországban fekszik, csak a délnyugati csücske lóg Albániába, a Nagy Prespa Tó a legnagyobb a Balkánon. Görögország utolsó falujkában töltöttük az éjszakét, Psaradesban. Jó későn, már 8 körül értünk oda, már sötét volt, de szállást azért találtunk a Rooms Arhondiko nev... read more
