Tuesday, 13 September 2016

Day 04 - Thessaloniki & Dion

Day 04 - 13 September 2016

Dion.


I was so tired after yesterday that I couldn't get up this morning. Eventually surfaced at 06:40. Panic stations to get out ASAP. Eventually left at about 07:20. As I got to the bus stop, my bus arrived. Got to the KTEL station, and my bus to Katerini (€7.10) was leaving in 5 minutes! Ran to Bus 4, jumped on and off we went. That was the 07:45 bus by the way. An hour later, I was in Katerini. The center of town was a 10 minute walk away. I found Plataia Elefthrios (Freedom Square). The bus stop to Dion was in a side street. Just asked around and found it easily. While I waited for the bus, I bought breakfast - a slice of leek pie (quarter the size of an A4 page) and a potato and olive sausage roll (twice the size of our sausage rolls) and a water. It all came to €2.50. That was at 9:30. At 13:00 I was still full. Anyway, the bus ticket cost €1.70 and the journey takes about 25 minutes. The driver was young and could speak English. I asked him to drop me off at the museum which he did. The ticket cost €8.00 which covered the museum as well as the archaeological park. The museum is very small with some interesting items, like the remains of a water organ that played music. Modern water organs work on exactly the same principle, as do church organs which of course use air instead of water.
On to the archaeological park. It really was a park. It's so big and full of springs. You can actually see the water bubble up from underground. The water must be very pure, because I saw at least 5 species of frog. The streams were also teeming with small fish and crabs. The springs were sacred and it is here that the nine muses were said to be born. They were children of Zeus and Mnemosyne (horny old bugger). Over the centuries the entire complex has been sinking and many of the monuments are actually in the water. The sanctuary of Isis being one of them. The statues are not original, they are copies of the statues in the museum.
I spent a good couple of hours there, wandering around. There are so many fig trees there, that you can actually smell them. The fig tree has a very specific odor and if you know it, you'll recognize it. It was so quiet and peaceful with maybe 20 other people there. Walked back to the bus stop and took the bus back in. Walked back to the KTEL station and took the 14:30 bus back into Thessaloniki.
It's so hot here. The maximum was 29°. Basically took the afternoon off. Visited 2 very beautiful Byzantine churches. Went back to my hotel and the concierge apologized and asked if I minded changing rooms tomorrow. It's on the second floor and is a triple room! Didn't hesitate to agree. I must just pack everything tomorrow morning so that they can move my stuff. Did a bit of washing. My bathroom is full of wet shirts, socks and underwear. It should be dry by tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed.
Went out for dinner. Same place. My waitress come from East London! Her father is Greek and they moved here about 12 years ago. Heard her entire family history in 10 minutes. I sound facetious, but it was very nice to chat with somebody. The restaurant is owned by two friends and she helps out occasionally. Works as a carer in London. £2000 a month. Anyway, I ordered the boiled potato with apaki, spinach and feta (again!). It was that good. Main is linguine with beef, cherry tomatoes and Greek cheese (€7.00). Italian, with a Greek twist. Got dessert for free. Almost like a fridge cheesecake with sour cherry preserve on top. It's a digestive for when you have eaten too much. They must have read my mind.
I have to get up really early tomorrow because I'm going to Vergina (vir-hee-nah) and Edessa as a birthday treat.
Night everybody and sleep well.

Thessaloniki
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