10.11.22

Now that our 31-day Urban Centers of Northern Greece tour is done, I thought I’d review the many things I experienced along the way. Aside from spending 88 days on a motorcycle and traveling through four countries, plus sleeping in 35 different beds, there were some other noteworthy items, like…

1. My first real caves. While in Turkey, Kat and I visited a small cave outside Antalya called Karain, but it was nothing compared to the Aggitis Cave, one of the few river caves in the world, and Alistrati, which was a fairy wonderland of stalactites (top down), and stalagmites (bottom up), and they blew our minds. Aggitis even had a robotic tour guide for the first few hundred yards called Persephone, who speaks 33 languages and was a totally unexpected surprise. It was also nice that even though photos were “forbidden,” the tour guide allowed us to take some.
2. I had never been to a monastery, so visiting a small one outside the city of Serres, was a treat. It was like stepping into a medieval movie, walking down steep driveways that were nothing but inserted rocks and stones. The building itself was painted such vivid colors they were almost fluorescent, and the chandelier was as extravagant as any I have seen. But, when we went to the city of Meteora (coming up), that was a whole other story! Monasteries at the top of one quarter mile pinnacles was beyond belief.
3. Ok, this one is not quite so jaw dropping: I had never been “off road” before in a four-wheel drive vehicle, but I did that at Lake Kerkini. This was not what I expected and I was underwhelmed, but it was blistering hot and since we went looking for wildlife, they were all hiding during the heat of the day. If I never go off-roading again, I’m OK with that.
4. I have gotten quite fascinated with Alexander the Great and have read two books about him while we were traveling. He was one of the legends in history and even though he died at age 32, he left a legacy that will never be equaled. Much of what he learned about life, came from Aristotle, but what he learned about commanding an army and about warfare, he learned from his father, Philip II, one of the most significant Macedonia leaders in history. He put Alexander in the field before he was legally able to buy a beer (age 20), and Philip was murdered by one of his own bodyguards, so things haven’t changed much over the years. Keep your friends close, and possible assassins, even closer. I share this since I visited Philips tomb, which was UNDERGROUND (called a tumulus) and was breathtaking and not even discovered until 1977 in Vergina. A definite “must visit” if you come to Greece.
5. We traveled much of the Via Egnatia highway (A2), which was the first across the country interstate highway in the world, built by the Romans two centuries ago. It used to start in Albania and extend to Istanbul, but now it stays within the Greek borders. It also has 76 tunnels, and within a few hours we went through about 45 of them, including the longest cave I’ve ever driven, 6 km. Some of these tunnels were surprisingly elevated and curved inside, another first for me.
6. I am fascinated with really, really old ruins and such, and up near Vokos Gorge there were ruins that were built in 9000-7000 BC, so we’re talking about 10,000 years ago. No question, the benchmark of “old things” changes when we think of thousands of years of history. Growing up near Philadelphia, PA in the US, that town was noteworthy since it was where the Declaration of Independence was signed: 246 years ago. Puts things in perspective. In Greek, Roman, and Egyptian timetables, that is like last week!
7. I never knew what an Oracle was, but we visited Dodoni, which is an oracle even older than the famous Oracle of Delphi, which we will visit while we are back in Athens. This is where many types of people came for advice, and that includes major leaders who asked about how to run their cities and even military people who looked for guidance before going to war. There were archeologists working there when we visited and it was interesting watching that process.

8. Meteora was in a class by itself and was the most impressive pinnacle park I’ve ever seen. It was even more impressive since we were able to drive up to them and visit the monasteries at the top, which were build 600-800 years ago by monks risking their lives—and dying in the process. However, in the US we have Zion and Bryce National Parks in the state of Utah, and they were and are impressive as hell.

   

9. On a personal and less history based “first,” I did a bike ride from the city of Litohoro to the base of Mount Olympus. At the ending point was a town (though too small to even BE a town) called Pereia. It’s a launch point for hikers but the road up there, all 18 km, was the twistiest mountain road I have ever ridden on a bike. Eight 180 degree turns and lots of great vistas put it on my list.
10. And on another more personal note, I had my first mussels and octopus meals…Yea, not that significant, but the taste and texture of oysters never worked for me, so I was never attracted to mussels. They used to sell them on the street in Turkey and since eating “bad” seafood is not a good idea, I never wanted to risk it. But Kat and I joined a cooking class, which was really just a “watching” class, and Loulou made steamed mussels and octopus. I loved them both!
11. 

There are probably even more firsts or seconds or AHA events or moments over the past few months, so I’ll come back to them later.