After Six Months the Final Blog from Kymi, Evia - Sterea Ellada, Greece
Sterea Ellada, Greece
Well the rest of our time in Thessaloniki was spent wandering the streets and finding bits and pieces of ruins all over the city along with more bars, cafes and restaurants. Not to mention running into a couple we met in Sofia. We were sitting in a restaurant and sure enough in walked Andrew and Carol from Darwin, so we had two lovely nights dining with them. Now don't get us wrong. We did enjoy each other's company but boy, was it fun to go out to dinner with someone else! An interesting fact about Greece. We were speaking with the young bloke who worked for EuRopcar who was obviously far too well educated for the job that he said he took two years to find - he had a degree in Economics. He said that Greece currently has an unemployment rate of 25% and 55% amongst 15-26 year olds. How lucky are we in Australia! From Thessaloniki we drove to Leptokaria, which is a lovely beachside village on the eastern coast of Greece and pretty much at the base of Mt Olympus. The day we arrived the wind was howling so a swim was out of the question as while the temperature was reasonably mild the wind made it very cold. So we drove into Litochoro, which is right at the base of Mt Olympus and went for a walk up Enipeas George. The track from Litochoro via the gorge takes you to right the top of Olympus but you cannot do it in one day, you need to stay in one of the refuges along the way for at least one night. So the next day we drove part of the way up the mountain to Prionia and from there walked up to Refuge Hut A which is at a height if 2100M. We were hoping to make it to Skala which is 2911M high but frankly we were stuffed. It took us 2:50 hours to climb up to the hut and it was pretty hard work as after our previous mountain experiences we made sure we had plenty of warm clothing with us. However, it was quite hot during the climb so we carried quite a few unecessary kilos up the mountain. Mind you it was beautiful. We started in forrest that was strewn with autumn leaves, then moved higher into alpine forest with evergreen pines then higher into ground that was shale rock with no flora. We could have stayed at the hut over night and climbed the rest of the way the next day but two things: we were not prepared for that, i.e., no toothbrush or clean underwear and we had a lovely apartment waiting for us at the beach. So we headed back down the mountain; a trip that took another 2:10 hours. It was a shame that we did not know more about this walk earlier but, I must admit, a fairly basic search of the web did not reveal much and the Tourist Information booth in Litochoro was closed the previous day when we went searching for information. Anyway, it gives a reason to return to the area. From Mt Olympus we drove to Meteora; an area of amazing rock formations with monasteries built on top of a number of them. Apparently there was once twenty monasteries but now only six working monasteries remain. History tells us that when the Turks began to invade Greece in the 14th Century the monks sought refuge from the bloodshed by building safe havens on top of the monoliths. Originally they accessed their havens by ladders or they were hauled up in nets but these days it appeared to us that they have a very easy life. They access the monasteries via vehicle and climb a few steps and if the 'Gucci man bag carrying' monk that we saw is doing it tough knock me down with a feather! Regardless, the area is amazing. We did some great walks to a number of the working and nonworking monasteries and took some fabulous photographs. We did not pay the €3 each to go into the working monasteries as the Gucci monk put us off especially as we saw so much homeless and poverty in other areas in Greece. From Meteora we drove to Delphi. Delphi is built on the slopes of Mt Parnassos and overlooks the Gulf of Corinth and the views were spectular. Unfortunately, as with many of the views in Greece, the photographs did not do them justice as there was a constant haze of smoke caused by farmers burning off the cotton crop after it is harvested. Such a shame! Ancient Delphi and the Sanctuary of Apollo were a little disappointing, but this was only because we have been outrageously spoiled and had seen far better ancient sites in our earlier travels. So we had a bit of a rest day after our strenuous climbing the previous days at both Mt Olympus and Meteora as (sadly) I had sore arms and legs from climbing up mountains and down gorges. The final stop before Athens was at Kymi which is on the island of Evia. It seemed fitting to end the holiday as it began - on a Greek Island swimming in the Aegean Sea. Evia is close to Athens, it is the second biggest island after Crete and it is mostly frequented by Greek tourists. This made it very appealing to us and we were not disappointed that we decided to spend three nights on the island. Not only that, the weather held and we were able to enjoy a couple of quick dips in the sea, only a couple of quick dips as it wasn't really 'that' warm! We were also able to do some more hiking through the hills. I must mention however that soon after we left Delphi we stopped at the small village of Distomo to pay our respects. On 10 June 1944, Nazi troops slaughtered the entire village in reprisal for a guerrilla ambush in a nearby village. It was very moving to visit the memorial on top of the hill and to view the tablets with the names and ages of those who died on that day inscribed, including babies only a few months old. Well my friends, old and new, that's it from me. Our final stop before we head for home is Athens and as Gallagher keeps on singing 'Hello Athens here we come, right back where we started from.' We look forward to catching up with our families and friends in Brisbane and our friends in Townsville and we hope one day soon we will get the opportunity to meet up with our new friends once again. Take care everyone. Xx Denein and Craig.