Blogs from West Macedonia, Greece, Europe

First time back in thessalonica since hitchhiking to Ankara after O levels 44 years ago. O christ I'm getting old! No memory of it at all. It's 40-42 degrees down here. Not really suitable for cycling or indeed much else but plod on no doubt I will. Drinking milk, juice and the occaisional beer by the litre, can barely keep up. Only about 500km to ' Stambul where I meet Lin on the 20th (courtesy BA natch) Hopefully to resupply clean smalls, a new tyre and an oil change. Rivetting stuff n'est-ce-pas? No, ok well this is optional reading and content is bound to be about as fascinating as a bloke on a bike can make it.For what it's worth , Greece is a great country, lovely folk and so far no miseries at all so ... read more

We got up at 9:15am to take Rachel up to Papous village to stay overnight at Thea Koula’s house with her granddaughter Alexandra who speaks excellent English. We also had lunch at Thea Koula’s which consisted of delicious flattened meatballs, potatoes, grilled zucchini and peppers and pork. We stopped again at Lidl for laundry detergent, olive oil and such. When we got back to Mikrokastro Steve was so exhausted didn’t even say anything he just went into the down stairs bedroom and passed out for 4 hours. I did some laundry and caught up some on this journal then once the laundry was done I hung it up outside to dry then I took a 2 hour nap. I woke up when Steve came upstairs, and then right when he laid down the phone rang. Then ... read more

Nie uwierzycie co mnie spotkalo!!!! Kupilam dzis ROWER:-)))) Przerzucam sie na nowy srodek transportu:-) Jak zawsze wmieszalam sie w nowa przygode. Jestem od tygodnia w Grecji. Pierwsze 3 dni spedzilismy u mamy Konstantina w Salonikach. Konstantin polecial spowrotem do Norwegii, a ja wybralam sie do Kastorii odwiedzic kol poznana w Finlandii na wymianie studenckiej. Kastoria, 60 km od Albanii, 100kilkadziesiat od Macedonii. Juz mialam stopem przez Macedonie do Serbii na najwiekszy na swiecie festiwal brassbendowy jechac, a tu spotkalam kolegow ktorzy dookola swiata na rowerach jada. Europe maja za soba, ja rowniez. Porzucam wiec stopa i jade z nimi do Turcji, Libii, Syrii. Wigilia w Jeruzalem a potem Afryka. Ile z nimi wydole - wytrzymalosciowo pod wzgledem kondycyjnym i psychicznym nie wiem. Na razie daje sobie na probe 10 dni. Naucze sie duzo, zdobede doswiadczenie w ... read more

On our first trip to Kastoria, we had such a list of things to do that we really never got to explore the town so today Evy and I got up earlier to catch the 9 am Kastoria bus. At the last minute, Benjamin and Joshua decided to join us (I think it was the news that we would be using the INTERNET that changed Benjamin's mind). It seems each time we take this bus the fare is different, so I really never know what we will be paying. I have taken to just holding out a handful of coins and letting the conductor select the correct amount. It was a crisp morning with a clear blue sky when the bus pulled into town. We decided to walk along the shoreline shops and restaurants that curve ... read more

Despite having done some shopping yesterday, there are still a few items we found we missed, so after breakfast Evy and I set off to walk to the closest supermarket 6 km from here. With the sun shining and the lighter weekend traffic, it was actually a good walk through the countryside, though by the time we got back, having walked over 12 km, we were both zapped. In the early afternoon, Tashos, our upstairs family's oldest son, dropped by and said he would like to take us to Lake Prespa. Later on, his father Louis came by and invited us all to go out tonight to Ouzo in Kastoria so, after a souvlaki dinner at home, we all piled into their car (along with Lea, his wife) and headed off. Lake Kastoria, with the lights ... read more