A Macedonian Adventure
Trip Start
Jun 01, 2008
1
18
23
Trip End
Jun 30, 2008
Edessa,
Macedonia Region,
Greece
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Front of Varosi Hotel
. I figured we wouldn't possibly find a parking place anywhere near the "moni," maybe not even on the same mountain, but just below the parking lot we found something beside the road! Someone must have just left. Karen got out to talk me in because there was a bit of a drop on the shoulder that I wanted to miss. Then we grabbed our sarongs, tucked in the outer mirror of the car and headed over.I first saw the Megalou Meteorou in 2006, so I know it's the most interesting of the four monasteries open at Meteora. It has a museum, gardens, amazing views (being the highest) and a great gift shop with an incredible selection of incense flavors. If you have to visit just one, this ought to be the one. However, as we crested the hill of the parking lot and the moni came into view, we saw a long line of tourists waiting to pay and get in. My heart sank: our itinerary didn't include an hour or two waiting to get in. We wouldn't be able to buy our incense, which was the main purpose of our intended visit here. Then Karen and I had the same idea at the same time: "I wonder whether the souvenir booths would have incense?" Karen mused aloud.
Normally, I don't waste two seconds in a souvenir stall but then, we weren't going to even try to get into the moni, given the line up
Karen checks out Macedonian Tomb, Vergina
. Sure enough, one of the vendors had several flavors! Okay, her selection wasn't quite as extensive as I remember the moni's gift shop's selection as being, but hers were available now, no waiting. I came away with seven different kinds of incense and Karen got several, too. So in less than ten minutes, we were done. We snapped a few photos and headed down, back on schedule in spite off our slow start to the day. It was, um, almost miraculous.Karen snapped a few photos on our descent, because the venue is pretty amazing even if you didn't get into the monastery.
We then bought some overpriced gas because the "idiot light" had come on and I panic at the idiot light: visions of being stranded by the road in an infrequently traveled Greek road filled my head. Then we hit the road to Gravena, a portion of road that looks short on the map but takes a long time to travel because it's a twisting, winding, two-lane Greek mountain road. But it's very scenic. We noticed that, suddenly, the vegetation wasn't so low and coniferous as in southern or mainland Greece and the hilltops weren't so dry and bare. Oaks and other deciduous trees had replaced pines and cypress.
Eventually we reached the "Egnatia Odos," that is the Egnatia Highway or, in Latin, the Via Egnatia, which is a new eight-lane highway with "speed limits" of 130kph! It very quickly whisked us up to Veroia, at the edge of the Macedonian plain, and we motored over to Vergina, where the Macedonian royal tombs and palace are.
By this time, the temperature was around 40°C, so we parked in the town and slowly walked over to the tumulus
Long line of tourists at Megalou Meteorou
. Very slowly. You don't want to move fast at 40 plus degrees. But we found very few tourists here. The site isn't so well known as others in Greece and it doesn't fit conveniently into a day's drive from Athens for tours, so fewer people come. Probably even fewer came today because of the heat.On the other hand, the royal tombs are actually part of an underground museum, so the location is blessedly cool but very dark. Photography is not allowed, unlike at most venues we've been to. There's not much ambient light and you'd have to use flash, but the kind of light that comes from flashes is damaging to the delicate remains, including remnant paint! Because the two tombs were buried under a tumulus soon after they were created, the colors on the facades and insides have survived. Thus they contain some of the only wall paintings to have survived from the Classical era of Greece.
We let our eyes adjust to the darkness and slowly entered and began to circulate around the huge interior exhibition. The finds here are spectacular but enigmatic. The official account is that the two tombs contain the remains of Philip II, King of Macedonia in the mid-fourth century BCE and the father of Alexander the Great, and Philip's grandson, Alexander's son, Alexander IV
Me at Tzinos Restaurant
. Certainly the finds are royal-gold, silver, bronze, weaponry and ivory-inlaid couches. The confusing aspect is that the tombs themselves-the date of their construction-seems to date from about 310 BCE, when Alexander IV was killed, but Philip died in 336 BCE. The two deaths occurred on different sides of the division between the Classical Era and the Hellenistic Era, a live created by the death of Alexander the Great and an influx of money and new artistic talent. Bear with me here: Hellenistic construction is large, public and conspicuously opulent; Classical construction is simpler in every way. The two tomb buildings should look very different, but they don't. Elsewhere in the tumulus is a classical Era tomb next to a destroyed Heroon of the same time period. The walls of the Classical Era tomb also contain remarkable paintings but they're very simple-and the tomb itself almost humble-compared to the Hellenistic tombs. Moreover, the remains of the cremation pyre were found directly above the tomb, so it's not a reburial for Philip at a later date. So, who is buried there?
Sadly, while noblemen and relatively "common" folks of the time erected stelai at their burials with their names and the names of their fathers, the royals didn't deign to do so
Site of ancient palace in Aigai
. Surely no one would forget them! Alas, not so.After the tombs, we slowly made our way through a few very hot souvenir shops and I went to fetch the car. The on-board thermometer was reading 44°C-no wonder no one else was around except for us! We drove up to the site of the Aigai palace and discovered it was closed! Judging by the large piles of gravel before the gate and the usual large blue sign proclaiming the project, they're doing some work on or around the palace. Unfortunately, this meant we couldn't get in to see the amphitheatre, either, which is also undergoing restoration work. Also closed was the entrance gate to the excavation of the town's agora and temples. Only one thing was open on the site of ancient Aigai, and that's one Hellenistic tomb. This probably isn't a "royal" tomb but is of the same size and detail of construction except that, being even further into the Hellenistic Era, it had even more decoration, including a triangular pediment above the entrance.
After that, we headed for Edessa and our hotel for the night, noting the location of sites we wanted to visit on Thursday morning, including the Lefkadia and Naousa sites. Near Naousa is the site of Aristotle's school when he taught Alexander the Great when Alexander and his companions were in their early teens
Small waterfall within Edessa
. Edessa is a good-size town at the edge of the western Macedonian mountains and is known for its waterfalls. It ought to be known for its incomprehensible roads. Worse, our little hotel, described as "traditional", is several hundred years old and is located on a cobbled street not much wider than the car. This tiny remnant of the medieval town is somewhat tucked away from the modern town. But find it we eventually did, after many wrong turns, and we were immediately charmed.
The Varosi Hotel is old but has air conditioning and ensuite bathrooms as modern as any we've seen yet. Tomorrow we'll sample a breakfast that the guidebook says is great. But tonight we took the hostess's suggestion to walk over to "Tzinos" (that is, "Geno's") and, when we eventually found it, our table was tucked between a tiny but busy street (the wait staff deserve danger pay) and a small channeled river, shaded by trees and illuminated by candle lanterns. Karen and I both agree that the food here was the best we've tasted in Greece! For me, that includes anything I had two years ago, too. Sure, it's unprepossessing but if you find yourself in Edessa and if you can find Tzinos, you must go! And we also highly recommend the Varosi, a different kind of Greek hotel experience. I should also note that around the corner from Tzinos and the hotel is a 24-hour Internet café (Cybernet). What more can a traveler ask?
