Tuesday, Sep. 27 - Kalambaka and Pella visit

Today was a short drive day.  We had a devil of a time leaving the CG and getting back onto the highway.  The Greek govt. is building a new 4-lane road, and they've already got a light rail running.  Between the train tracks and the construction, our GPS was totally useless and the road atlas doesn't have enough detail.  Did I forget to mention the toll booths, one-way ramps and roads closed with barriers??  We finally found a way after lots of local "sightseeing."  Then we toured the industrial area of Larisa, a mid-sized town that we were supposed to bypass.  Oh dear, both the navigator and the GPS were having an off day.  : ( 

Yesterday we stopped en route to tour Pella, the ancient capital of the Macedonian empire.  We need to study up on Alexander the Great.  We heard a lot about him in Ankara because Gordion is near there.  That's where he was supposed to untie the Gordion knot and become the ruler of the entire world.  Instead, he sliced through it with his sword, and that's why he died young.  Or so the story goes.  In Pella, we visited both the archaeological site and the new museum.  Both are famous mostly for their mosaic floors made of different colored pebbles.

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The museum contains a sample of things they found, such as coins, statues, burials and offerings, murals, original mosaics from 325-300 B.C., and maps of the Macedonian empire.

Last night's CG was on the Aegean coast, but it was too chilly for a swim and too rough for Stanley's boat.  We were listening to the waves pound up on the beach all night.  Dinner was one of our best--chicken breast with noodles and peas in a 4-cheese sauce and plums for dessert.  I have a spice mix for making tzaziki (sp?) with yogurt and cucumber.  Will try it out tonight.  Rest of the meal will be spaghetti with ground beef; at least I hope it is beef and not pork.  The package has a picture of a cow on it.

Tomorrow we have a bus to take us on a tour of monasteries.  They are related to the ones that we saw by boat.  It seems that when you build something in a very remote spot, tourists flock to it with their prying eyes.  If you built it beside an interstate, probably nobody would bother to come.