Europe 2023

  A long, long, day today after the floods upset our planned rail journey trip to Athens.   After an early morning train cancellation, and then a few hours of being unsure how we were going to leave due to road closures, we managed to get a bus out of town the ‘long’ way.   This diversion, and the long train replacement bus journey, also meant that we didn’t reach Athens until the evening.   This also meant no Acropolis visit, but, as we’d both like to do some Greek island hopping we can always come back and see it when we return.   Nice view from our hotel balcony  We’re off bright and early tomorrow and back to the UK.  Due to recent events we’re not sure what the near future holds but this will probably be the last post for a little while.  So, in the meantime, thanks for all comments and posts, and we’ll keep you posted. Cheers, Paul & JEM

Mount Olympus   Well the planned hike didn’t take place today as (apart from about an hour) the downpour hasn’t stopped since we arrived!  The overnight thunderstorms were spectacularly noisy, and there’s been some of the longest ‘rolls’ of thunder we’ve ever heard, it’s just been amazing.  Some idiots still thought it was ok to hike though! 😳 Rain from Mt Olympus cutting off parts of town We did manage to get out at one point though and paid a visit to the town’s main church, Agios St Nikolaos (The Church of St Nicholas, Santa Claus?).  All very nice, and with some great paintings, but we couldn’t find out anything about it as everything was in Greek. 

  Off to Litochoro today, an eastern coastal town that is the local access point for Mount Olympus.   However, before leaving Kastoria we visited Spilia tou Drakou (The Dragon’s Cave).  Discovered in the 1940’s, but only opened in 2009, we were expecting something similar to the caves we’d seen in Skopje.   However, what a surprise we’d got when entering.   With its thousands upon thousands of stalactites, in needle, column, organ pipe, and curtain form, this cave system was absolutely stunning!   Even though we could only access about 300 metres of the cave itself we were blown away by the size, amount, and beauty of what we could see. It was magnificent.   Eventually arriving in Litochoro, and overlooking Mount Olympus, it was pouring with rain, so not looking too good for hiking tomorrow! ☹️

  Heading further south again today to the town of Kastoria in Greece.   Situated on a hill on a peninsula on the shores of Lake Kastoria, this picturesque town is bit ‘down at heel’.  With many, what would have once been quite upmarket, empty waterside properties Kastoria has obviously seen better days.  It’s a shame as basically the town’s quite nice and is in a great location but there really is not a lot to do here.  Apparently most young people here are leaving for the bigger cities, leaving their family homes vacant, which is just adding to the town’s decline.  On our wander around it was interesting to note the large number of churches and religious memorials, far more than we’d seen in previous towns.  However, we not sure if this means Greece is more devout than the other countries on this trip as most of them were closed!

  Back down south again to the previous capital of North Macedonia, the city of Bitola.   Another nature trip this afternoon as we took off for a hike up to the local ski-fields, fortunately sans snow!  Although not the best weather there were some beautiful views through and across the woodlands and mountains, it was a great hike. 

  A bit of a nature  trip today, and just a few kms out of Skopje,  for a visit to Matka Canyon and  Pestera Vrelo (a cave formation).    Our destination was a cave system on and in Lake Matka, a lake formed by the damming of the River Treska.  The dam here, St Andrew’s, is pretty unique being the only one of its kind in the world due to its construction design.   It was built in the shape of an arch with several levels (rings), all of which are independent of each other and supposedly preventing a major disaster if any break or collapse.   It does raise the question though, if this was such a good idea why weren’t any others built using the same technique?! 🤔😳😊 It was a little bit of a dusty hike getting to the boat which was taking us through the canyon and to the caves.   However, once  on the water it was fantastic to take in the beautiful views of the gorge’s tree-clad walls high up and above the deep blue-green water.   It really is stunningly picturesque and in places reminis

  Off to Skopje today, the country’s capital.   After spending all morning to get here we took off for a bit of a wander about town.  We were out walking for a couple of hours and must admit that our first impressions were not that favourable.  It’s a modern….ish sort of city with a bit of a ‘Turkish’ old town, neither of which are terribly exciting.  One of our first observations were the number of huge statues, they’re just everywhere!  Apparently some bright spark decided that these statues would make the city look like Paris and that would bring in additional revenue from tourism! 👎😳🤔 Alexander the Great ! Another early observation was that the local bus service uses red double-deckers, straight from London.  It’s not unusual to see these used in cities as ‘Hop-on, Hop-off’ touristy type services but here in Skopje they use them for their original purpose.  Apparently the city started to use them in the communist era 1950’s, and have continued to use them ever since.  On our tra

  Out on a boat trip on Lake Ohrid this morning to visit some of the sights along the coastline.   Straddling the border between Albania and North Macedonia and with a surface area of 138 2 miles (358 2  kms), larger than the island of Malta, the lake itself is enormous.   It also happens to be one of Europe’s deepest with a maximum depth of around 300 metres.   First visit for the day was for a swim just off the shore at Villa Biljana, a complex of villas formerly owned by ex-president and dictator Josip Tito.  Due to the security (the buildings and beach are now owned by the government) landing was a no no which is a shame as a beach-side elevator apparently takes you right into the middle of the villa.  Our next stop was to the Church of St John at Kaneo, a Macedonian Orthodox Church dedicated to John of Patmos, author of ‘Revelations’ (and apparently the same person as John the Apostle!).  Built in the 14th century, this little picturesque church, with fantastic views over Lake

Once again a bit of a long drive today and this time we were off to Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia (I’d actually forgotten how frequently we move on when travelling with Intrepid! 🚌😳😊 ) Ohrid, the city, is a ‘seaside’ town sitting on the eastern side of Lake Ohrid and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Known locally as the ‘Jerusalem of the Balkans’, due to its 365 churches, the ‘old town’ is full of picturesque houses and monuments while tourism is the predominant industry.  After a bit of a wander around town to get our bearings we took off to visit the Robevci House Museum, a cultural museum housed in an impressive typical Macedonian former home of one of Ohrid’s richest residents.  Housing artefacts from local 6th century BC archaeological finds through to 19th century wood carvings it’s not one of the world’s best museums but it was all very interesting nevertheless. 

  Another long trip today (in time not distance!) but this time to Berat, another city renowned for its ancient castle.   As the UNESCO listed castle is the town’s main attraction our first task was to make our way up the hill to check it out.  Dating back to the 4th century BC it was first occupied by the Greeks who were then followed by the Romans. However, most of what remains today is from the Byzantine and Ottoman era’s.  As it’s the only castle still inhabited in Albania it's more like a village than a fortress and is still home to some beautiful old churches and mosques within its extensive walls.  A number of these churches are decorated with some magnificent wall paintings and icons and are fabulous examples of Byzantine art and architecture.  They’re just fantastic! Churches ‘adjusted’ to not look like churches  during the communist regime There’s also some great views of Berat and the local river and mountains from the castles ramparts.