Hotel Dion Kateríni

Day 16  Nothing else to do here; as sun is refusing to make an appearance, we decide to move on. Despite Bob & Dom's earlier expressed desire to visit Istanbul (which we had loosely thought we might do together), they decide to head south, to Athens. We feel there is much to explore in Greece, and opt to remain too. Not sure we want to go all the way to Athens at this point, so declare for Meteor and part company. En route, it starts to lash it down.. after ...

A late start to the day seems the norm now... After "breakfast" at 11:00 - we headed into town to see the rest of the city. Along the way met new locals - pelicans!! Quite funny as they wobbled through the narrow streets like they were shopping too!.

A moment of madness made us decide to rent 4x4 bikes ...

Can it get any better? Perfect weather with a warm breeze... We sleep until we rise - 10 am! Bella has never let us sleep in this late! Breakfast on the terrace (check out the picture!) - and then we spent the morning by the pool (far more civilized than the beach - they bring frozen fruit out for one's....)... Now we are off to lunch - at 4 pm... so dinner will be right on time at 10!

... with one and only one exception... if we believe in divinities at all. In ancient Greece, the dividing line between human and God was not quite so distinct. Greek mythology abounds with tales of mortal offspring of immortal parents; semi-divine heroes such as Herakles (son of Zeus) and Achilles (son of the Goddess Thetis) were worshipped, and stood as an intermediate step between the run of mortals and the Gods. When the ...

... Karen's passport, enjoyed some juice on the front patio and talked to the owner and her daughter, mostly in Greek! I learned that the three daughters are the people rebuilding a sister hotel down the road! Their hotel will be called the Varosi Four Seasons and their mom will continue to run the charming Varosi. Also, the excavation at the end of the road is a real excavation and it uncovered the ancient city wall, dating back to ...

... about these acts. This process of human dialectical deduction came to us from Aristotle, here in the Macedonian part of Greece, prompting us to ask why and seek the primary causes, "explaining why perishing and coming to be never fail in nature." Have we found the primary causes? Science can say that the lightning is electricity caused by differential charges between the clouds and the earth. The clouds are caused as hot and moist air rises and ...

... but rather it left on what the locals called "Greek time". This means it was several hours lagging, no worries. Slow and steady, very casual, no worries. In Kastanies, a dusty one stop town, we hung out with some train station strays for 6 hours and awaited the Istanbul line. A train yard worker brought us beer. be prepared to pay a $15 cash visa fee upon entry into Turkey, even if you do not plan to stay there. We were not expecting this fee ...

... there wasn't a lot to see. Yet, it felt a lot more welcoming that Athens. The hostel was definitely the first of its kind for me. Having arrived on an overnight train, I figured I'd just wander into the place and book a room. Wander in I did, right through the front door, up three flights of stairs, into the common room, and then into the dorm room. My only welcome was a sign indicating that ...

... any english, and it was coming as a bit of a shock. My pointing and muttering earned me a cheesy pastry thing, pleased with my efforts, I went for a wander in the area around my charming hotel, apparently a hot spot for cheap clothes made out of lycra. I had been looking forward to dinner with Gregorios, a night with a real greek family and their real greek food, (not only culture but access to vegetables too) but he failed to present himself at ...

... Back up in the modern church, we stood in front the little silver casket thing that holds part of Demetrius' remains while Costas told us about them. People filed past, kissing it, rubbing things against it, having their kids kiss it. I don't really like this practice of venerating the saints that the Greek Orthodox people do, but I haven't thought about it enough to figure out exactly why yet. That's something I will need to do before ...