Wedsnesday, Sep. 28 catchup - Kalambaka monasteries



only 140 steps to the entrance patio!

We took a tour of the area containing 5 active monasteries and one nunnery.  People lived in or on these sandstone pinnacles as early as the 11th century AD.  The monasteries were built beginning in the 14th century; they are a spinoff of the Athos monasteries that we saw by boat last Sunday.  In the early days, the only access was by a l o o o n g ladder and more recently by winches hoisting ropes and baskets.  We went inside the church at Varlaam monastery (inhabited by 7 monks today). In my opinion, the best reason to visit today is to see the religious art inside (very good condition for 14th-16th century works).  Today the govt is widening the road to accommodate more tourist $$$$.

postcard of ceiling "Glory of Christ" (above)

At the nice CG, we cooked outside at their gas stoves.  Dinner was spaghetti and meat sauce (first ground beef I've seen in the stores for 6 weeks!) It tasted good.

Stanley's climbing expedition

Your man Stan here again!  Yesterday we camped just below Mt. Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece - 2917 meters.  That's 9570 feet for you in the USA.  Naturally I thought the round people would be climbing it, but no such luck.  So I had to make my own adventure climbing giant trees in the CG and practicing my rope skills.  BTW, the Aegean Sea was too rough to boat or swim.  Here's me on a tree and on the beach.

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.

Sunday, Sep. 25 - Boat ride past where the road ends

Today's tour was along the Chalkidiki peninsula of Greece.  We are camped on one of the "three fingers" (peninsulas) of the big peninsula in Ouranopolis, the end of the road on the Athos peninsula.  The land farther along is reachable only by boat and is known as the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain.  Only monks and male pilgrims who apply 6 months in advance are allowed to enter.  It is self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Repblic (Greece).  There are about 20 monasteries today, most built or established in the 9th to 12th centuries.  The monk population is about 2200.  Each monastery is governed by an abbott.  Each monk works 8 hrs a day, sleeps 8, and prays 8.  We didn't much sign of life, but since it was Sunday, the monks might not have been working.  We did see a few monks at the boat dock where we started our ride.

Since I have mentioned the many good restaurant meals provided by our caravan company, I feel that I should show you last night's homemade attempt.  It has been very pleasant to have meals outdoors, and that somewhat makes up for the lack of style and gourmet-ness.  Last night's menu was pork chops (no longer in Moslem Turkey), peas, tomatoes, cukes, and pasta.

Stanley's geography lesson

Hi, folks!  Stanley here on the A E G E A N   S E A   coast.  The round people and I looked at our map of the big area and discovered we are still on the Aegean Sea, not the Mediterranean as I said in my last post.  Here is me pointing with my right hand to where we are camped tonight.  We are on a peninsula of a peninsula in Greece.  It is a pretty place.  If you want to know, my left hand is near Istanbul.

I was sightseeing at a high point near the coast.

This morning (Sunday) we all took a boat ride further down the peninsula, past where the road stops.  No doubt the round people will tell you why there is no road.  Clue - it's not because of the terrain.  While on the boat, I tried to train a sea gull to fly me around (faster than my own boat) but  that plan didn't work. So I just stayed on the boat and had a nice time. 

Stanley's blog - the right boat

Hey, it's your man, this time in Greece!  I've made a boat but had a few problems'  First, when I first tried to launch my sailboat,  the Aegean Sea was too rough.
Then on the Dardanelles, the freighters and our ferry were too big.

Then I found an old boat but it was leaky.

Finally here on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, my boat was just right!!!

Gule Gule!  That's Turkish for Bye Bye.       Your friend, Stanley

Friday, Sep. 23 - Alexandropolis, Greece

So here we are in Greece already.  Tme went fast in turkey.  We enjoyed Selcuk (near Ephesus)-nice beach and sunsets.  We had some rain the last night there.

  The next day we visited Pergamon (we had seen the Pergamon Altar in Berlin).  It is an acropolis way up on a hilltop.  We took a gondola part way up.  Wonder how the builders got the marble slabs up so high???

Last night we had a delicious dinner at our last Turkish CG; we sat outdoors by the sea; fortunately under a roof because it rained quite heavily. Today we visited Troy.  It was hard to visualize the city there because it had been rebuilt time after time on 9 different levels.  Someone donated a large wooden horse in the 1990s and it was on prominent display.

After that we crossed the Dardanelles by ferryboat; this carried us from Asian Turkey to European Turkey.  Another 50 kilometers or so and we crossed the border into Greece.  We are again at a CG on the seacoast.