Greece

Date arrived: 15th September 2023

Date Departed: 21st September 2023

Distance Travelled: 911KM

Average Cost: £67.68 PPPD

15th September 2023

We never meant to go to Greece.

Whilst this sounds like an Arthur Ransome novel or a dubious rom-com, it's entirely accurate that Greece was never part of our agenda, and so the slight re-route that has brought us here is something I am actually very grateful for.  It's not that we didn't love Istanbul, or look forward to spending a few days there exploring some of the sites we missed in our flying visit in May. It's just that our few days in a small city that we'd previously never heard of have been, frankly, spectacular.

We chose Kavala as it seemed to have a few beaches and restaurants, is a stopping point for the Blue Star ferry that can take us on to Samos and on to Turkey and, quite frankly, we'd never heard of it before! We found a reasonably priced (for Greece) apartment that is a little way from the centre, but has good facilities and looked nice. This was important as we knew we'd be here for 5 days due to the ferry schedules. 

After a 5 hour bus journey from Sofia, the walk up from the bus station was a little tedious with our packs, as it also involved a moderately steep hill. When we got there, however, the apartment was absolutely beautiful. Our first afternoon and evening involved a trip to the Supermarket, putting on a wash (oh the exotic life we lead) and the traditional exploration of the neighborhood. This latter revealed a couple of lovely beaches in close proximity, and  a well-reviewed seafood restaurant, on it's own pier, about half a kilometre from the apartment. That made dinner plans easy! It was also great to be back in a part of the world with cheap local wine! €5 for a half litre of perfectly pleasant dry-white is definitely a happy place!

16th September 2023

Today we explored Kavala old-town. After a breakfast of cornflakes for me, and Granola with fresh Greek yoghurt for Julie, we took the 30 minute walk into Kavala town, and set about exploring the old town - and of course the Acropolis (Castle) at it's heart! We visited a local restaurant, which gave me one of the nicest dishes I've ever eaten (sesame encrusted deep-fried goats cheese drizzled with fresh Honey) and more of the excellent and cheap local vino.

Spectacular views from the hill-top acropolis justified the steep climb, including a cramped set of stairs leading to the roof of the main tower.

We did a little research into local bus routes for the next couple of days plans, then made our way back to the apartment, where we sought to minimise costs by enjoying a dinner of cheese-on-toast and delicious local honey!

17th September 2023

Today was about exporing further afield, so we took a local bus inland to the ancient Macedonian City of Philippi, once the capital of Philip 2nd (currently stood on a big pillar in Skopje) and also the sight of the defeat of the armies of Brutus by a certain Mark Antony. I tell you, these Roman generals and senators got about a bit!

Philippi was very cool, with an excellent Archeology museum as well. The site was clearly well used, as the little cafe and ticket area seemed to be hosting a child's birthday party as well.

The bus back turned up this time, so we were back in time for a late lunch, where we returned to the same restaurant for more sesame crusted goats cheese!

We also took the time to have a little swim in the sea, by the beach closest to our apartment. This was blissful - and interestingly my first time swimming in the sea (beyond splashing about a bit,)

18th September 2023

Island hopping!

Well, it didn't feel like that much of a 'hop' as we walked 30 minutes to the bus station, spent 90 minutes on two busses, then an hour and a half on a ferry before we arrive on the island of Thasos. That's the one you can see looming moodily in the background on a few of the piccies on this page.

The main port of Thasos is onveniently called Thasos, and seemed to have a reasonable number of restaurants and cafes etc. We immediately set off to explore ruins, and to climb a hill! We'd spotted that there was an old theatre, as well as an Acropolis, so headed in that direction. The theatre was closed for repairs - helpfully indicated by a sign at the bottom of the hill. We set off up the path anyway, to see where it went, and as it looked like there should be a castle of sorts up there. 

In all honesty it was a blissful climb through light pine forest, which gave the perfect amount of shade and a lovely smell as we ascended. We also had the place pretty much to ourselves - thanks sign! The Acropolis must clearly have been impressive at one time, as we first stumbled across a guard tower, before moving on to the remains of the castle itself. These were mainly foundations really, but clearly impressive, and they made for a great viewpoint!

We made our way back down and sat in a local restaurant for a well-earned seafood lunch. This was also perfect, as we were sat right on the edge of the old harbour, looking out over a tranquil sea and a nice cold carafe of white wine. The fish was also excellent (no idea what it was - foot long, white flesh, a little bit oily, super tasty.)

The return journey was a bit more challenging, with longer waits between services, and we ultimately didnt get back to Kavala until 8PM. Time for a gentle walk back to the apartment, and to settle down for well-earned cheese on toast.

19th September 2023

After two busy trips out, today was a chill day. We started off with a swim in the sea again (bliss), then settled down to do a bit of work, some washing, update this page, etc etc. In the evening we went back down to the harbour for dinner, where I had a truly excellent Chicken a la creme!

Tomorrow we set off for Turkey on a journey that will take two days, and involve a lot of sitting around!

20th September 2023

This was always going to be a long day, with an overnight ferry sailing departing at 9.30 PM, and a whole day to fill with nowhere to stay after we left our apartment at ten. I made it longer by waking up at 6am, so took the opportunity to head for the rof and try for some sunrise piccies. 

we left the apartment and traipsed the 30 minutes to the bus station, where we'd previously spotted lockers for our big bags, and made the most of the morning visiting a couple of small but excellent museums. The Tobacco Museum explained much of the structure and architecture of Kavala, and the large number of seemingly abandoned warehouse type buildings, which were hstorically tobacco stores. The Archeology museum looked a bit further back, but had some good and informative exhibits, and re-inforced some of our learning from Philippi, earllier in the week.

We sat in a shady park to eat our lunch - cheese sandwiches made with the last of the supplies from our grocery shop - and took our time enjoying the seats and the shade. In the afternoon we went back u to the beach for a bit of a paddle, and to make the most of the lovely coarse sand on our feet, which left them feeling fantastic.

Dragging this out as long as we could, we had an early, and long, dinner at 6, and then eventually made our way back to pick up our bags and stroll slowly to the ferry port. We were able to get on a good hour before departure, so we found our seats in the business class loungs (not as fancy as it sounds,) had a quick explore of the ship, and then settled in to get comfy.

A bit of telly watching took us to time for sleep (Only Murders in the Building and the excellent Wilderness.)

21st September 2023

Helpfully, the ferry made three stops before ours, at 00:30, 02:00 and 04:30 respectively, and annouced these stops very clearly and loudly over the PA. By the third one, though, I barely even registered the sound of the anchor chain clanking down! When I awoke at 6am, I'd managed about 4 hours sleep and Julie was still snoozing soundly.

When she woke an hour later, we grabbed some stupidly expensive but moderately tasty pasties from the onboard snack bar, and then busined ouselves until the 08:30 arrival at Samos.

The main port at Samos - Vathy - is very beautiful, but frustratingly laid out! Specifically the Blue Star ferry port where we landed is across the harbour from the international ferry port, which is about 800M as the crow flies, but a 3KM walk if you have to go around.

This made for a moderately sweaty hike in the mid-day sun with all of our gear - however - there was blessed relief in the form of the local wine museum! This was an excellent tribute to the production of the famous Samos Muskat wines, and the opportunity to taste 4 of them was helpfully included in the 5 Euro entry fee. I had never enjoyed dessert wines before, but these were actually quite good!

We managed to find a travel agent who would look after our big bags for the princely sum of 1 Euro, and also confirmed that our ferry was running despite the General Strike that had been called in Greece today. With four hours to kill, we enjoyed an excellent lunch on the harbour, explored the streets of the town for a bit, and took the opportunity to have an Ice Cream.  There followed a slow queue to be stamped out of Greece and take our place on the Catamaran! Next stop: Turkey.