While the boys are away...

So I am a total weenie!  After a delicious breakfast of unknown items (see pic below, cannot figure how to insert into text on my phone!), we headed up a very scary road from Litorocho to Prionia. There are no photos of our ascent partway up Mt. Olympus via car because I was too busy trying to not have a panic attack. I am scared of a lot of things and twisty hairpin turns on poorly maintained roads up high mountains with no guardrails protecting your precious family from falling down sheer cliffs is near the top of that list. But the Lord provided in the form of a big red tour bus for most of the way up. The bus knocked all cars coming our way down the mountain and blazed a trail for us. 😉. But eventually the bus pulled over and also the paving stopped. Thankfully we arrived at the refuge at Priona just before the full blown panic attack started! (See pic of parking lot). 

Then we started on our ascent of Mt Olympus. We were immediately greeted by a band of donkeys getting a drink (see pic).   Then we started up the trail. As far as mountain trails go, this was a really good one; clearly marked and well maintained. However, my family is much more fit and excited about mountain climbing than I am. I wanted to "stop and smell the roses" but they wanted to push on as fast as possible in order to reach the summit and return before bad weather or darkness. After what I would describe as a noble effort, I was slowing them down and totally out of breath so I accepted their suggestion of returning on my own back to the refuge. I finally bid them farewell and enjoyed my walk back down. 

I took my time and marveled at the beauty of nature. It is easy to see why this was considered the home of the gods. But I could see the handiwork of the One True God. I was almost completely alone and sang the whole way down, enjoying the landscape every step of the way. 

The best part was sitting alone at a waterfall. I read in Acts about Paul's adventures in Thessalonica and Berea with new eyes. The words are now powerful and meaningful having been along that same path. And then reading the letters to the Thessalonians now makes sense and the words came alive as I read about Paul encouraging his Christian family that he missed so much. I can think of no better place than Mt Olympus to contemplate those scriptures. 

So after taking a short trek down another trail ( I didn't go too far since no one knows where I am and I cannot read Greek... I can imaging this sign saying all sorts of scary things!), I am sitting at the refuge restaurant enjoying bread and bean soup and praying my children and husband are alive and well and that they will safely return having achieved their goal of conquering Mt Olympus!

P.s. They made it back safely!  Stay tuned for details.  

Crossing Macedonia

Sunday May 24, 2015

We got in late last night, finally made it to our hotel, found a place to park, got in the room etc.   It was a great place--The Hotel Excelsior--check it out if you're ever in Thessaloniki ("Thess-a-low-knee-key" per the native speakers).   

Thessaloniki is a little gritty--it reminded us something of Baltimore--but we're glad we've seen it and it was a good point to jump off from.  It definitely isn't a conventional tourist town, and we always like that.

On the waterfront in Thessaloniki

Thessaloniki Garbage Scow

 HAGIOS DEMETRIOS

We stopped by the Greek Orthodox church dedicated to St. Demetrius.  It's a great example of the layers of history that you encounter in Thessaloniki and Greece in general.  The bottom of the building was originally a Roman Bath, later on it became a prison where Demetrius was martyred, during Byzantine times it became a church dedicated to his memory, it served a while as a mosque during the reign of the Ottoman Turks, later on reclaimed by the Greek Orthodox church....you get the idea.

Portion of the Roman Remnants from the Crypt 

More of the Original Roman Bath

Upstairs in the Basilica 

Sunday was some sort of "little girl dedication day."  The pink tents were up at a couple of churches around town.

White Mulberries growing behind the church.  Like regular mulberries without the stain (would you call them Albino Mulberries?).  Quite tasty.

THE REST OF THESSALONIKI

On our walk through town we encountered this vending machine that sold fresh milk.  You put in the bottle and tell it how much you want.  We sampled the whole and skim...!

"The White Tower."  Down by the waterfront.  A Byzantine leftover remodeled by the Ottoman Turks.

 BEREA

We wanted to head to Berea, just to say we did, but also because it was on the way to the Royal Tombs at Vergina.   The people there didn't seem any more noble than they did in Thessaloniki (ref Acts 17) but we weren't there long.   All the road signs have "Latin" spellings that are phonetic approximations.  Unfortunately the English approximations vary widely in spelling and we have learned that many alternative place name spellings also exist in Greek.  This can make GPS navigation something of a challenge but we managed to work though the kinks.

Berean Selfie

This Berean Gas Station was a standard size operation but had nine, count them nine, outside full-time attendants to pump your gas and wash your windshield.   None of us have a degree in economics but we think we may understand some of the reasons Greece's economy has some occasional difficulty...

Efficient Distribution of Labor in Action

Perhaps the Bereans were more noble because they lived so close to the Royal Tombs in nearby Vergina.  This burial place of the Macedonian Kings was where Alexander the Great buried his father, Phillip II, after his assassination.   Because of our aforementioned GPS difficulty, we weren't sure if we were going to find it, until we fortuitously spotted the mini-bus full of tourists!

Follow Those Tourists!

As unthinkable as it may seem, The Royal Tombs at Vergina were not unearthed until the late 1970s and were found completely intact.   Photos prohibited inside, but it was worth the short drive.  Especially the solid gold boxes and diadems--amazing detail work.

In the village of Vergina

The Museum is actually built in the burial mound around the tombs themselves.

The edifice for the tomb of Phillip II (who took that picture!)

Buying Local Cherries from Dealer out front

 ACROSS THE COUNTRYSIDE

We worked our way across the providence of Macedonia on the way to Litochoro at the base of Mt. Olympus.  Along the way we encountered some of the prettiest and most verdant countryside we've ever seen.  We were definitely off the beaten track, slowing down for sheep herds and the many loose dogs.

Every little village has a group of well-looked after strays that sleep wherever they want, sometimes in the middle of the street.  Someone's looking out for them; they are obviously fed.   We nicknamed them "community use dogs"--now that's our style of pet ownership!

We found these curious little roadside shrines all over.   We are uncertain as to their significance.  

Northern Greece Countryside

We had dinner in Litochoro.  The prices in Greece so far have been amazing.  For $9 Logan got a platter of Veal as big as his head.   Not realizing how far a Euro goes here, we got way to much food and were stuffed.  Scott tried the Octopus and decided later it does not agree with his GI tract.

Obligatory Food Pic #1:  The Veal

Obligatory Food Pic #2:  The Octopus

 Something was blooming in that beautiful countryside and we had a carful of sneezing, scratchy nose, snotty people.   But we seem to be recovering.

Davis after 50 mg of Benadryl.  "Trust me, I'm a doctor."

Boys playing an after dinner soccer game in the village of Litochoro.  Mount Olympus is in the background.  (You will note that Davis recovered just fine).

Tomorrow we are off to see how far up Mt. Olympus we can get.   It is one of those mountains designated a "ultra-peak" because of the striking change in elevation between the mountain and the surrounding topography, but you can drive half way up and the trail is supposed to be very doable.   There's still a little snow at the top and the weather's always a bit unpredictable and with this crew you can never tell who is going to be a weanie (but take it easy on him, he's almost 40 after all).  If we make the tree-line we can probably call it a success.
αντίο! (Good Night)

We made it!

History lesson before hitting the streets of Thessaloniki...

Road Warriors

Almost 24 hours straight.   We'll be ready for bed when we get one. 

Looking good...

On the Road...!

Here We Go Again...

Well, we are preparing for another big adventure!  I am trying to not thing of all of the things that could go wrong and trying to focus on the all the wonders that await us!  We are spending 3 weeks in Greece... 2 by land and 1 by sea.

As usual, we have done a lot of preparation (but never enough!).  Pictured above is one of the many stacks of books from our marvelous public library that we have been reading.  Of course, the Bible is on top.  We have read through Acts as a family and plan to read Thessalonians and Cornithians while we are in Thesaloniki and Corinth.

We will try to update this blog as much as possible but that will depend on wifi availability.

Thanks for loving us and for being interested in our adventure!