Three friendly Greeks and the Mountain of the Gods

"Yassas," said the handsome man striding up the road towards us with a coffee in his hand. "Er, would you like to see a tomb? It's only 400m walk from here. I'm going now, if you would like to come with me?" 
"Yes please, we would love to." Five minutes later we were gazing down at the excavated front of a magnificent tomb as our new friend George, an archaeologist working on a nearby dig, told us the story of its discovery several decades ago. It was thought to be the tomb of Thessalonike, a daughter of Philip II of Macedon, whose beautiful tomb we had seen the day before.  He then took us over to the dig where several people were delicately removing layers from the foundations of buildings near the site of the royal palace at ancient Aigai - modern day Vergina. Right in front of us was a fully intact water pipe made from clay tubes, carefully made so that the end of one fitted inside the lip of the next. Plumbing, nearly two and a half millennia old. Before long he and Nick were discussing the Napoleonic wars, his pastime was painting miniature soldiers, and he was impressed by Nick's knowledge of the uniforms. 

The tomb of Princess Thessalonike

We had been walking back from the ruins of the palace, which is currently a building site as restoration work takes place, but where the public is still allowed to mount a small platform to survey the area. This is where Philip II was assassinated at the theatre, and where Alexander the Great learned he was now king. It was a huge area, and was where the whole concept of kings with courts, and courtiers, first took hold. From here Alexander would spread Greek culture far and wide in the largest empire yet seen. Unfortunately the presence of the workforce meant that no photographs were allowed.

It had been quite a morning, and we were still pinching ourselves about the serendipity that allowed our paths to cross with George as we headed out of Vergina, and back towards the sea. We parked up alongside a harbour wall in Methoni, a fishing village on the Thermaic Gulf, looking back across to Thessalonika and Halkidiki. A series of colourful murals decorated the wall, and many of the rocks behind it. We later discovered that they continued through the village and all along the sea front. That evening we were struggling even to watch the pelicans in the harbour as we came under attack from vicious mosquitos. Nick bravely volunteered to take Max out, and was hailed by an elderly man who'd arrived on a moped. He was Theo Nik, the artist responsible for the murals. Nick learned about the murals, the vegan message they conveyed, and the history of the morosely patrolling port dog, whose two companions had died leaving him in sole charge of the fishermen.

Some of Theo Nik's work

Alexander's Dad, for a change

The next morning we walked along the sea front, past a statue of Philip II and along a path into the saltmarsh nature reserve. We had seen an otter the evening before, and many more pelicans that morning as they bustled around the returning boats, waiting to catch anything edible thrown their way. Sign boards, cracked and faded by the sun, told us that the salt marshes played host to a wide variety of birds, reptiles and even some water buffalo. We could see little over the high reeds, and eventually turned back, noting the position of the water taps so that we could return and fill up before moving on. Before we left we stopped to do a litter pick on the small beach, somewhat disheartened by the sheer quantity of fishing debris - mostly nets and nylon ropes. We left it better than we found it, but at the cost of a rather sore back for me for the next few days.

Pelicans in the harbour

We were heading towards Katerini, where we planned to be on Sunday, but pulled up short to spend the night on the sea front where acres of beach promised a good game of ball for the spaniels, and a long promenade offered a good run for me. It was a sad example of somewhere that had clearly boomed a little too much in the good times, and been unable to sustain itself during the economic crash. Beach bars and hotels were in ruins, an amusement park showed evidence of a devastating fire, and all the toilet blocks had had their sanitary ware ripped out, leaving ugly concrete shells. Some businesses were open in the centre, but it was impossible to see how the thousands of hotel rooms and apartments could ever be filled. 

Abandoned buildings - but a great view of Mount Olympus 

The next morning we drove into the thriving inland town, to discover that the car park was full, and the place was bustling. Luckily we found a place by the kerb only a short walk from the laundrette, and were able to do the laundry and lie low until the car park emptied out, and we could find a space for the night. We wanted to stay in town so that we could enjoy a meal out to celebrate Nick's birthday. A short walk took us to the restaurant, where we were the sole diners, and were personally served by the chef patron. In between visits to the kitchen he regaled us with stories of his time in the UK with his then girlfriend, gave us tips on cooking and wine, told us that extra virgin olive oil was half price that week in a certain supermarket, and brought us extra dishes to try. We left stuffed to the gills.

A birthday meal for Nick

The next morning we watched nervously as the car park filled up around us, and decided to leave while we could still get out. Half of the car park had been given over to preparations for the Christmas market, and the parking attendant was tucking people into any space he could find. Florence is pretty good at squeezing into ordinary parking spaces, but she does need room to swing out, and we didn't want to find we were trapped. Nick guided us safely out, and after a stop at a Lidl on the outskirts for our weekly food shop, we headed up the foothills of Mount Olympus to the town of Litohoro. 

Wonderful displays on Mount Olympus 

Full marks to Park4Night, we'd have struggled to get through Litohoro's narrow streets, but went instead straight to the large car park next to the sports complex just ten minutes walk from the town. After exploring with the spaniels, we left them in the van to have a nap and walked back for a light lunch, and then a visit to the National Park Centre. We were impressed by the exhibition on Mount Olympus, its geology, flora and fauna, the history of mountaineering there, the myths of the Olympian gods and its place in the history of Greece. All beautifully presented, clearly explained and with some glorious photography. We look forward to exploring the area a little more in the morning.