Apr 9, 2010 - Off to Philippi

What a day we have had! We arrived at Philippi around 10:00 and thought we would have plenty of time to see all there was to see by 3:00. WRONG. Ancient Philippi is amazing. The workmanship so long ago is hard to imagine. Today was quite a touching day as we walked on the Via Egnatia where Paul once walked, saw where he was imprisoned, and touched the water where Lydia was baptized. While we were there a Catholic tour group arrived and several priests donned their robes , set up communion and began a service for the rest of the people on...

Apr 8, 2010 - Discovering Kavala

We arose this morning at 8:00 but didn’t really get out of the hotel until after 9:30. We had a decent breakfast in the lobby, and Karen wanted to shower. We loaded up the day pack and asked our concierge to get a cab for us and soon we were into downtown Kavala. Unlike the night before in which we found only rude tourists and bars open, today we experienced a very different Kavala. We purposely left the ‘beaten path’ and found ourselves on incredibly steep and narrow streets leading to homes and apartments overlooking the harbor. The sight...

Apr 7, 2010 - We are now in Kavala

The last two days we have experienced the Greek mass transportation, subway, tram, bus, train and cab; all of which were very clean and a great experience. After the 'over-the-top' effort by Stavros and Spiros to get us directly to the subway and on the way to the train station we had a delightful time riding the train to Thessaloniki. It was clean, quiet and very comfortable. We actually climbed to the top of one mountain. At times the curves were so tight we could see the cars in front of us! The train left on time and arrived 1/2 hour...

Apr 5, 2010 - Seeing the sights along the coast

Today was a lazy day. I think Easter caught up with all of us. It was definitely a Starbucks day, and many of us decided to stroll over and have some caffeine. It was another beautiful day, and short sleeves are in order. After a lunch of left-overs (it was like another feast!) Stavros drove us along the coast north of Athens. The Mediteranian Sea is truly spectacular. Some of the homes as we drove along were spectacular, too! After about an hour's drive we saw in the distance an imposing sight at the summit overlooking the Sea. "There it...

Aug 22, 2009 - Day trip

Spent the day on the bus, a full 12 hours. We made a stop at Thermopyles, battle site between the Greeks and Persians. So it was Sparta -v- Persians. Can't really tell much about it, not the history I'm into..so didn't take much in. Still digesting Egypt. Then we continued our journey to the hotel, arrived about 7.30pm. We found dinner and had a quite night in repacking our luggage. I have heaps, and heaps...still another 20 days to go. Looking forward to the end of the trip, bit over the bus now. Not much to tell. Dick of the day has been...

Aug 21, 2009 - Last day in Greece

A nice 13 hour bus ride to the other side of Greece, which heads us to the eastern block. Tomorrow we head to Turkey where again its another full day driving. We spend three days in different parts of Turkey then head through Serbia, Bulgaria. I'm not really looking forward to any of these places. More looking forward to Switzerland and Austria. I hope everyone is well and safe to say I'm enjoying myself but I do miss home, my food and family and friends. Looking forward to seeing you all soon. Julie

Apr 23, 2009 - Kavala

Today we had an early 6 AM wake-up and were off to Kavala. As we drove along the coast of Greece, we stopped in front of the famed hills of Thermopylae. The site, was home to the famous battle between the Persians and the Spartans, in which the movie 300 is based off. We stopped by the statue to take some pictures, then continued on our way. At 6:30, we arrived in Kavala, a small town on the coast of Greece. We had a brief meeting about the upcoming Anzac Day, and then had some time to ourselves. I, however, was pretty preoccupied, a bottle...

Apr 14, 2006 - Thasos - Drama (via Kavala)

So.... We got the boat from Thasos Island back to Kavala, walked round to the bus station and jumped on a bus which took us to Drama, less than an hour away. Backpacked our way to the train station getting directions from locals who didn't speak english. It took roughly 20 minutes, and left our backpacks at the ticket office after convincing the ticket officer we were NOT aboriginees. Then walked back into town for lunch which actually is harder than you think. Lots of coffee shops but no food. Eventually found a small family run...

Apr 11, 2006 - Kavala - Thasos Island

Got up early, caught a taxi to bus station, bus two hours to Kavala and then a ferry 40mins across to Thasos island. Thasos is the most northery inhabited island in Greece. The main town where we're staying is Limenas which lies on a large bay on the north coast. It's a plesant mix of modern town and ancient city ruins. We arrived just before the summer season so it's not so busy and a bit cloudy. We didn't have accommodation booked so we wandered around with our backpacks until we came across a nice little hotel.