Villa Sevasti Kateríni

... hours of which I am feeling disinclined to push too far. Opt to find camping near Mt Olympus - in hope that it might stop, the morrow at least, and give us a decent sight of it. Either way, we can decide on next direction, according to look of weather.
Miraculously, that evening the sky starts to clear. Dash out on scooter to Litochoro for meal - and catch hoped-for glimpse of famed mount just as sun goes down! Aaahhh!
That night, storm rolls in: so....

... are hilarious!! We headed into the interior of the island (actually an error - we were trying to get to Elia beach) - to see rural Greece and finally - after about 45 minutes - we arrived at Elia Beach. Fun beach we swam and the girls saw their first nude beach... Finally home, to a great Greek dinner, again....

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!

... for the Persian campaign. We saw also what is left of twenty-five bronze statues that were raised in honour of twenty-five men who were killed in the first major battle of the campaign, at the Granikos River in what is now Turkey. Only the bases remain; the statues were no doubt melted down for other uses by subsequent conquerors, and we don't know the names of the fallen men. Physically at least, there is no immortality for mere mortals.

... We went by way of Veroia to the Egnatia Odos and zipped over to the National Road and to our hotel by 7 p.m. Enough time to enjoy a swim! And even a nap on the beach! Finally, a bit of holiday in this holiday, including a bit of ouzo. Tomorrow is our last full day in Greece! Where has the time gone?! We'll get an early(ish) start and head over to Dion, then drive down to Athens to turn in the car and repack for the flight home.

... translator, spoke 5 languages, 20 year old, works construction and gets paid well, working to make money for his family in Georgia- former soviet, not the state- "i am not work my family no money, i know stroyka, if i work i sit if i not work my family no money". Victor- a ´´capitan´´ on a fishing ship, he works 20 hour shifts, albanian, making lots of money, he wore a straw and python skin 'baseball hat'. lots of gold. Steljos-the hotel owner ...

... buried them, creating a natural looking hill. When the archaeologist excavated the site, she decided it would be best to build a museum around the tombs and preserve what the site originally looked like. This is the site of Phillip of Macedonia's tomb. He was the father of Alexander the Great. In his tomb, they found golden crowns that were absolutely incredible!! My ...

... as the entrance fee put me off. Besides, i had allready seen the best of the treasures from there in the Museum back in town. There are lots of ruins in the town, which makes for a good wander, and there is always a cafe or two near them. Its all rather more relaxing then Athens, but having said that its still fairly hectic. The Greeks take a fair bit of getting used too. They tend to be, ah, rather self occupied (if i can ...

... walls covered in the most amazing byzantine paintings of Jesus going through various important stages of his existance. Genuine worshippers were wandering around, a man was receiving an elaborate blessing from the black cassocked and bearded priests, one of hundreds I had seen wandering around the city already. I was enjoying the peace and quiet of the place, so different from the outside, until the unimaginable happened, a workman came into the ...

... population of about one million. Founded in 316 B.C. by Cassander, the brother-in-law of Alexander the Great, it is now the capital of the region and an important city. At one point in time - until the Holocaust - Thess had a Jewish population comprising 45% of the city. The city really has a rich history, and I wish we could stay here much longer. Only downside: earthquakes. Although there hasn't been a major one since 1978, they still have trouble from time to ...