2013 Greece Turkey Macedonia
Tour Journal

September 23, 2013 Monday,
Makrigilos, Litohoro,
Mount Olympus, Enipea Canyon, Dion

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September 24, 2013 Tuesday Meteora, Delphi
September 25, 2013 Wednesday Delphi Museum, Athens

 
The bright red sun gracefully rising over the Aegean was a good news about the weather.
We left the hotel at 08:30.Once we got on the highway, Mount Olympos started breaking through the haze and it became more obvious. The " V" in the middle we were told is where Zeus lived with the 12 major deities of Ancient Greece. It was only a 20 minute drive to Lihotoro - a tiny mountain village. We stopped at the farmers market.

The market was alive with  a lot of variety. On one corner there was fish being sold, while on the other corner one could buy curtains or flowers or even tomatoes. Every one returned to the bus loaded with one kind of fresh fruit. Colin got a screw driver.

We have decided to take a hike to the waterfall on the path going up to the peak of Mount Olympos. The hike was a popular one. We had Russian and German groups ahead of us. At a very slow pace we climbed up the narrow path meandering on the side of the hill going in to the beautiful gorge.

The climb started as a steep walk from the center of the city. We passed by a neatly kept cemetery, farther up, we saw houses getting roofs fixed to get ready for winter. The shepherd dog and the goats behind a wire fence were just as interested in us as we were interested in them.
As we reached the narrow path, the nature started getting more lush and green. It certainly looked like this would be the place where deities would prefer to live.

When we finally reached the end of the path, we found out that the "water fall" had dried out . It looked like the mountain was crying and the " fall" was just tear drops

The lunch was at a tiny restaurant right by the fabulous ancient site" DION". There were no other groups. It was a pleasent surprise to be at this location all by our selves.

Rick had his Alpha beer, but Ken this time tried the house wine.

Dion covered quite an extended site partly covered with wet land andlots of vegetation. Other than one little quarter of the excavation, most every thing is of the 4-5th Century BC. the Greeks found an impressive way of displaying what is little left of the city; they have scattered copies of statues.

After walking through the shrines dedicated to various deities, we walked in to the roman era section of the city.

Half an hour drive brought us back to our hotel by the water. the colors of the sun set was again a good news for the weather the next day.
We went to dinner. When we returned to the hotel the folklore group of the villager was there waiting for us. The costumes were exactly like the costumes of the Turkish Black Sea region.
 When Athena announced the dances we understand why they looked like the Turkish costumes. They were the children of those who had
settled in Greece in 1922, but their home land was the slopes of the Turkish Black Sea mountains.The music and the dances were very familiar as well.

Click Here for
September 24, 2013 Tuesday Meteora, Delphi
September 25, 2013 Wednesday Delphi Museum, Athens