http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Greece en-us Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:47:30 +0000 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:47:30 +0000 We said goodbye to Thessaloniki and headed south to Kalampaka. We stopped in Veroia Beroea in Biblical times at the Altar of the Apostle Paul. The white marble steps lead to beautiful mosaics that tell the story of Paul39s call to the people of Macedonia show him preaching to the people here Acts 1711. We stumbled onto a 14th Century church while walking to the town center. The faded fre http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Greece/blog-791903.html On the way back to Thessaloniki we decided to drive to Mount Olympus. What the heck...we are only here once We found Olympos on the map but would you believe the GPS kept saying no results found So we headed southwest we figured that we couldn39t miss it Olympos is actually a range of mountains Olympus being the tallest. Our poor little car chucked sputtered up the mountain. The speed http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-791895.html From Neapolis we headed to Ancient Philippi. Finding it was quite the adventure because it was called Filliopi on the map didn39t even register on the GPS But it was worth the effort. Phippi is named after Alexander the Great39s father. During New Testament times it was a busy Roman colony. It boasted a great library theater forum. Today it is ruins. Paul preached here established http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Macedonia/blog-791889.html Sorry about the blog delays...we got back late yesterday then there was a stream of water flowing down from the ceiling in our room. By the time we finished changing rooms it was 1 am It39s never a dull moment Bright early Monday morning we took off in our car to Kavala the Ancient Port of Neapolis. Dodging motorcycles mopeds we explored the countryside of Northern Greece. The wheat http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Macedonia/blog-791863.html http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Macedonia/blog-791804.html SIFNOS IS SMALLER THAN SERIFOS SO WE ARE ONLY STAYING FOR 2 FULL DAYS. TODAY IS SIZZLINGLY HOT AND WE ARE HAVING A LAZY DAY. WE EXPLORE KAMARES. IN THE MORNING. IT IS A SMALL BAY WITH A PORT AND SANDY BEACH WITH THE USUAL TAVERNAS LINING THE WATER FRONT. WAITERS WAITING EXPECTANTLY FOR YOUR CUSTOM. THE SMELL OF HOT BREAD AND CAKES OOZING FROM THE BAKERS AND LAZY CATS SNOOZING ON THE STEPS WHICH ME http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Sifnos/blog-791736.html After a delicious breakfast of pasteries and fruit we walked along the Old Beach to the White Tower the most recognised monument in the city. Climbing beding through the rooms we learned about the history of Thessaloniki. It is amazing how many people immigrated to Greece throughout the centuries.We hopped on off the city bus tour. The priest was preparing for a baptim at the Church of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Macedonia/blog-791558.html Northern Eastern Coast Greece from 12 to 16 June 2013Before leaving Ohrid we spotted a place that was selling bikes so we stopped. I got a very girly bike very unlike me but it was only to ride around towns after all. They didnt have one for Tom so that is still on the list. After leaving Ohrid in Macedonia we headed over the beautiful mountain range to the Greek border. Unfortunately w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Macedonia/Dion/blog-791538.html Can you believe we are on to our second round of visitors....Time really flies.Before our friends arrived we had another truly splendid evening at George39s. He was celebrating the arrival off his first grandchild a little girl who is named Mavreta after his late wife and so put another lamb on the spit with all the trimmings....Those of us who were there were invited to join in the festiv http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Ionian-Islands/Paxos/blog-791520.html We just checked into our hotel in Thessaloniki Four people arrived but only 3 suitcases made it. It seems that one suicase wanted to go to Rome firstThe hotel is wonderful and the staff is great. We drove past the White Tower as well as the Church of Agia Sophia and the Church of Dimitrios. We plan to take the hop on hop off bus tour of the major sites tomorrow. Hopefully we will make it to wors http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-791448.html Today we are in Mykonos it is quite cool this morning and we took our time getting up and having breakfast before getting off the ship. We had to catch a bus to get to the town and as we got off the bus it started to rain it wasn39t really cold just not hot and sunny. We walked around the beach front then up into where the shops were but the cobblestones were quite slippery and we kept getti http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-791422.html WE ARE LOOSING TRACK OF THE DAYS NOW I THINK ITS TUESDAY. TIM IS DISPATCHED TO GO AND FIND BREAKFAST WHILST I SLOWLY WAKE UP. AT HOME IT IS USUALLY THE OTHER WAY ROUND BUT AFTER LAST NIGHTS TREK HE HAS A PENANCE TO PAY. Nothing unusual there then.I AM BOILING THE SMALLEST SAUCEPAN FULL OF WATER FOR OUR COFFEES IT TAKES 2 SAUCEPANS FULL TO MAKE 2 MUGS.OUR FIRST TASK TODAY IS TO TRY AND WORK OUT THE http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Serifos-/blog-791411.html Knossosis surprisingly close to Heraklion about a twentyminute drive. The development is a park and we entered through a gate with coffee shop and a small garden. Moving from there into the rock remains is so gradual that it almost surprised me to recognize the structural remnants of many walls. Kriton gave us a thorough introduction much of which we have heard before from him or the lec http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/Knossos/blog-791355.html Santorini today We had to get up early because we went on one of the ships excursions to the Nea Kameni volcano and walked up to the rim where it was steaming and smelled of sulphur. There were also little holes on the track where steam was coming out and it was hot to touch. After that we went on the tour boat to the thermal waters and had a swim. It wasn39t very warm and because of the mine http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-791273.html This is the last port day of a marvelous cruise with lots of ports. We are tired on this day and in no hurry to get up around and off the ship. We have no plans with no tour scheduled.Though we could sleep in we are up early. Breakfast in our room which you get nice choices on the Junior Suite menu. We take our time as we are thinking it might rain though it clears off for us So we disembark a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/Chania/blog-791197.html As we entered the port to Rhodes early this morning we could see a medieval castle standing high on the hill and a high castle wall surrounding part of the town. The weather is hot and sunny again and I don39t really want to get off the ship off it is going to be like yesterday39s shopping but the castle looks quite cool so we got off and walked around the outside of the town wall along the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/blog-791128.html The most recent Mama Mia movie inspired me to travel to Greece. Maybe inspired isnt the right word here more along the lines of started a small spark of intrigue that turned into a massive raging fire of longing by the end of the movie. Im not sure what it was about this country that drew me in. Maybe it was the likeness to New Zealand. Maybe it was the atmosphere portrayed in the movie. Ma http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Poros/blog-790972.html Crete offers you a very relaxing holiday where you can sunbathe visit ancient cities like Heraklion and Chania enjoy the culture and the traditions the Greek cuisine. This is the largest island of Greece and also the most populated one.This island receives tourists from all over the world especially due to the variety of attractions and excellent combination between modern and ancient luxury http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Crete/Heraklion/blog-790921.html The hire car has clearly had enough of us and on the steep climb out of Porto Germeno it refused to get out of second gear. This along with the fact that I seemed to have accidentally ticked the use narrow potholed roads where often bits are missing button on the sat nav made for an interesting first half hour. The roads were pretty much deserted until suddenly just a few miles from Athens the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Attica/Piraeus/blog-790865.html We are a bit behind with our blog but will try and catch up tomorrow morning. Today we docked at Piraeus in Greece. We got up and had breakfast then got off the ship and went by bus to Athens to see the Acropolis and ruins. It was really hot. we walked to the top and saw the Acropolis and Parthenon. There were lots of people. Then we had a look around the little street shops dad brought a top tha http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Central-Greece/blog-790771.html