Thursday, May 24: We awoke this morning to another cloudy day and before long the rain started again. We loved the Hotel Pelops. Had Olympia not been such a touristy place, we might have considered staying another night. We had breakfast in the hotel dining room and were on the road again before 10am. We'll be spending the next week wandering on the mainland, in central Greece. Our drive today takes us through Patra, a large port city on the northern coast of the Peloponnese. We cross over to the mainland of Greece via a new bridge. We think it's tcalled the "Rio" bridge (because Rio is the small town on the Peloponnese side of the bridge; the people on the other side--Antirion--might have something to say about that). Suffice it to say it was quite impressive, with multiple inverted triangle shaped suspension structures. The toll was pretty impressive, too: 10.90E (almost $15)! You used to have to take a ferry across, but sometime in the last 5 years or so, this bridge was opened. We determined that the ferry would cost more, considering we'd be paying for two fares plus the car. It's also quicker by the bridge but not quite as much fun. (Rick had taken the ferry when he was here in 1978.) We thought we might have lunch in Nafpaktos, a bit east of the end of the bridge. Unfortunately it's raining pretty hard, and the waterfront of Nafpaktos doesn't look so good in the bad weather. We're not that hungry anyway, so, after a quick stop for cokes and an ice cream for Rick, we're heading north.

We're really not sure where we'll stop first, considering the island of Lefkada in the Ionnian Sea or Preveza, a seaside town somewhat farther north. Both were suggested by the owner of the Hotel Pelops. We choose the latter. The drive is pleasant, mostly good roads. We pass through a few towns, the most picturesque being Amfolochia. We had to drive through some pretty heavy rain showers, and it's cloudy when we reach Preveza. We're looking for the Hotel Avra, which it turns out, is almost unreachable from anywhere. That's because it's separated from the main part of town by a maze of pedestrian-only streets. Ultimately we ask directions, but still can't get close enough to park. After several frustrating attempts, Rory takes over the driving and finds our way to the car park across the street from the hotel. We've got a great view of the harbor from our room--but it's raining hard. We go next door for a drink and to try to plan the rest of the week. We want to visit the monasteries of Meteora. Rick calls the Hotel Meteora to secure a reservation for tomorrow night, just in case we get there late. The desk clerk at the Avra 9Grigoris) finds us an umbrella and we try a short walk to find potential dinner spots, but the rain is too much and we return to the hotel. Our shoes are soaked--they may dry out by the time we get home..... After a short nap, we awake to realize it's stopped raining. We wander along the harbor front and through some of the back streets, finally settling on a taverna that offers fish--we haven't had any for a while. For some reason, in a country surrounded by water, there are remarkably few fish restaurants. We hope to do better when we get to the islands.

Friday, May 25: We couldn't wait to get out of the hotel and on the road this morning. Not that there was anything wrong with our hotel room. It's just that it overlooked the harbor, and with the door to the balcony opened to let in some fresh air, we were subjected to what seemed like the entire country of Greece partying on the street below. . t continued until almost 4amAdd to that the sound of motorbykes reving up to the highest decibel level before screeching off to who knows where--well, you get the point. Rory got little or no sleep; Rick got used to the constant noise, waking up at around 3:30am, just as it was getting quiet. We had almost as much trouble finding our way out of Preveza as we did coming in, but we were finally on the road to Dodoni before 8am--a record for Rory!

It was a gorgeous day for a drive through the mountains of central Greece--sunny and cool. The road was a combination of good highway (for Greece) and the winding, twisting mountain roads that are so much fun to drive, but are starting to become a bit tedious. Dodoni (admission fee is 2E each) is the site of the remains of an ancient Greek theater, stadium, and several other buildings and temples. Of these, the theater has survived in the best shape. The other sites require quite a bit of imagination to get a feel for what they must have been like. Unfortunately the Greeks haven't yet figured out that they should take care of these sites, having just realized maybe they are national treasures. The theater was overgrown with weeds. Unlike Epidaurus, the theater at Dodoni is much smaller and is not currently being used; in addition, we were not permitted to climb to the top to get a good perspective of the entire site. We were lucky to have gotten there early enough to beat the tour buses. The fact that there was that much interest in these ruins surprised us--after all, we're not talking the Acropolis here.

Our ultimate destination today is Meteora (actually Kalambaka), but we'll stop in Ioannina first and then the Perama Caves. Iaonnina is a fairly big city (population a bit over 61,000). At the center of the city are the ancient walls, in surprisingly good shape. We are really lucky and find a great place to park. There is nothing to tour here that we could tell. In fact, there are residences inside the walls--it's an extension of the modern city, something like Chiang Mai in Thailand. The area is known as a center for silver jewelry, but trying as hard as she could, Rory still found nothing she was interested in. We had lunch outside in a little taverna facing the old walls and watched the people passing by. There were a lot of school kids who look to be mostly junior high and high school age. Apparently an excursion to Ioannina was their last school trip of the year. It's only about 12:30 when we finish lunch, a couple more silver stores, and one false start later, we're on our way to the Perama Caves.

We are in for a treat. The entrance to the caves is about 5km from the center of Ioannina, and directions are pretty well marked. Let's say, that once we recover from our false start, we have no trouble finding it. The entrance to the caves is well above ground in the town of Perama. The caves were discovered only recently (1940) and open to the public only since 1956. The entrance fee is high at 7E each. For this we get a 45 minute guided tour through the caves; unfortunately it's in Greek! However, it is well worth the time and cost. These are some of the most extensive caves and caverns we've ever seen. (Do we say that each time we visit a new one?) It is impossible to describe the number of formations or the depth and breadth of some of the "rooms". Many of the stalactites and stalagmites are still forming. To give you some idea of how large these caves are, they cover over 14,000 square miles. Our little "hike" will cover just over 1000 meters; and end with a climb of 163 steps. At the end, there's still a long walk back to the entrance, but it's high enough to provide some great vistas of the city and surrounding countryside. In one of the shops near the entrance, Rory buys two small silver serving utencils. The shopowner spent 20 years in Australia before coming back to Greece where she and her husband have been living for the past 29 years. They were most interested in where we'd been in Australia. This common experience probably had as much to do with Rory's purchase as the items themselves. The woman also gave us perfect directions to the road to Meteora.

We are looking forward to taking the Ketara bypass, which should eliminate a lot of the narrow, winding roads up and down the mountains between Perama and Kalambaka; not to mention the increased speed limits. We're skeptical that it even exists, although we see a sign that says it is open. It turns out that the bypass is open for no more than about 10km. The rest of the time we're left to deal with creeping behind slow moving trucks, and passing tactics, that although they are commonplace in Greece, would scare the you know what out of you if you tried them in the states. Rick has become adept at this and plays the game like a pro. Oh yes, did we mention that it's raining? This, of course, adds a new dimension of potential peril to the game. But, we arrive in Kalambaka around 5:15 none the worse for wear (although our car looks pretty bad--covered with dirt and mud). The town of Kalambaka is charming, we find the Hotel Meteora without any difficulty at all. Good thing we booked ahead, because the small hotel is full up. When we get out of the car and look up--we are blown away by the sheer cliffs of Meteora. We'll be exploring the monasteries on their peaks tomorrow. in the meantime we marvel at their sheer mass, and note one formation where a boulder seems precariously balanced on one of the more narrow cliffs. We decide to take a walk in town, find a restaurant for dinner, do a bit of souvenir shopping (without buying anything) and walk back up (and we mean up) to our hotel. Our room is the smallest we've had yet--the bathroom is the shower. But it's sufficient for our needs. We'll spend some quiet time downstairs in the breakfast area, writing postcards and reading. There's a bar which is part of the breakfast room, so Rory asked Dimitrius (the owner) if she could have a glass of white wine. He said he didn't have any, and before Rory could say "that's OK", he was off on his scooter, returning with a small bottle. We're really hungry tonight, having skipped breakfast to make our early escape, and having had a very light lunch. We decide to have the most typical "Greek meal" we've had on the trip--stuffed tomatoes and peppers, meatballs in tomato sauce, Greek salad, bread and wine. Afterwards, we walk back through the town center, stopping for two small pastries at a bakery overflowing with choices, eating them on the way back to the hotel (our room isn't big enough to eat in....). We're looking forward to a good night's sleep--in fact Rory's already out as Rick completes our journal for today.

Saturday, May 26: Despite the miniscule bathroom, we both manage to get good showers. Rick is down for breakfast first, since all the tables are taken, he sits with a man eating by himself. His name is John and he is a Canadian expat living in Costa Rica. They chat about their travels, Rick being particularly interested in the life of an expat in Costa Rica. We trade some travel tips and we give John one of our cards; so he can visit our website. Rory comes down for breakfast and joins the conversation. A little before 10am, we're ready to visit the monasteries.

There are about 15 different monasteries, each seemingly perched on its own private cliff. From the town, it looks like they grew on the mountain tops or were placed there by cable from a huge helicopter. Actually, there are roads winding up the cliffs and through passes to get to each one. There are also foot paths from the town of Kastraki all the way up--and there are plenty of hikers. The road is clearly marked. Our plan is to visit three of them, recommended by Dimitrius: Megalou Meteorou, Varlaam, and Agiou Stefanou. The views looking down and across to the monasteries are unbelievable. We stop at several small viewing areas to take photos and marvel at what we are seeing. The monasteries are isolated on the tops of cliffs. There are small cable cars that run between the parking area and the monasteries themselves. These are used to deliver food and other supplies to the monks. There are also rope baskets, connected by pulley, hanging from the top of the monastery. We have seen pictures that show older monks (who could not climb the steep steps) being hauled up to the monastery in these baskets. The admission fee for each monastery is 2E each. Megalou Meterou is the first one we visit and it turns out to be the best. Visitors must be appropriately dressed, no bare arms, no shorts, no slacks for women. Each monastery provides long, wrap around skirts for the women who need them to meet the "dress code". There are several interesting exhibits including the carpenter's shop, winery, and ostuary. The latter is a room filled with the skulls of deceased monks in neat rows on a series of shelves. There is also a fine little museum with exhibits of military history from the around 15th century to the present. When we're finished here, we buy a small book which contains excellent photos of the cliffs and monasteries and provides a thorough history of them. Back in the car, a sharp turn to the right leads to Varlaam, and then we drive to the opposite side of Meteora to Agiou Stefanou.

Three monasteries is more than enough. We've worked up a healthy appetite, so we return to Kalambaka for lunch and to pick up snacks for the road. We've decided to visit Litohoro, at the foot of Mt. Olympus (the mythical home of the Greek gods). We call ahead to book a room at the Villa Pantheon, described as the poshest hotel in Litohoro. For 60E we reserve a small suite--after the last two nights, we're looking forward to a little luxury! The drive from Kalambaka to Litohoro is pretty easy. There are several long stretches of flat, high speed roads and the road is well-marked. Exiting the divided highway, it's about 5km to Litohoro. Unlike for Kalambaka, our Lonely Planet Guide provides no map of Litohoro, so we have no idea where our hotel might be. We always head for the town square ("kentro") and work from there. The center of Litohoro is a maze of cobblestoned streets, becoming more narrow as we climb the hills. We luck out and find a sign for the hotel. We can park right in front. Our room is great--bigger than the last two put together. We've got a big balcony overlooking the town and we can see the Themaikas Gulf. Mt. Olympus is directly behind the hotel, but it's covered by clouds. We are going to enjoy this accommodation to the fullest. The obligatory walk into town is next. We're looking for an internet cafe to check our email and a mini-market for fruit and some items for breakfast (which is not included in the price of the room). Sitting out on the balcony, Rory reads while Rick reviews the photos of the past couple of days and updates our journal. Tonight we'll have dinner in a small taverna we noticed while we were walking and try to find an english language movie on TV. (We'll settle for the Greek version of "Deal or No Deal". The poor guy winds up with only 200E.)

Sunday, May 27: We've decided to spend another night at the Villa Pantheon--it's quite nice, lots of room and we could use a day without driving. The clerk at the desk recommended we take a hike to the Enipea Canyon (at the foot of Mount Olympus), the entrance is only about a 15 minute walk from the hotel. It's a beautiful, cool, sunny day--perfect for a nature walk. There's a good stone footpath through the canyon--with guard rails (imagine that) for several stretches. We can hear a water fall, but don't see any water for several hundred meters. The sound gets louder, then fades away--echoing off the canyon walls and the trees below. The city gets its water supply from the spring thaw off the mountains. There's an elaborate collection and filtration system. As we reach the end of the walk we finally arrive at the dam from which the water falls both into the canyon and into the collection system. Rick spots a niche in the rocks above the path and climbs up so Rory can get a photo. A couple from Italy passes and offers to take both of us--so Rory climbs up as well. The circuit takes us about an hour. There's a small taverna at the entrance, so when we finish it seems like a good place to have lunch (wish we had, as you'll find out). We sit for a while--no menu. Finally a boy comes by to take our order; we ask for a menu. He struggles with this concept and finally understands and brings them. We sit a while longer--no one pays any attention to us, so we decide to walk into town instead. We pick a taverna on the square; Rick orders gyros--pork with potatos, onions and tomatoes. Sometimes it comes wrapped in pita bread, sometimes on a plate. Rick got the latter. The meat doesn't look all that great and he doesn't eat much of it. Too bad he ate any....

After lunch we take a drive up the winding mountain road that leads to Mt. Olympus. We get about 1/3 of the way and realize that we really don't need to claim we went to the top. It'd probably be a couple of hours of driving the tight, winding road and then the same back, so we turn around. Rick is sleepy (he blames it on the little bit of wine he had with lunch), so we stop for a short power nap. After about 20 minutes, we return to the hotel. Rory falls asleep; Rick reads on the balcony overlooking the town and the water and then falls asleep. When he awakes, he doesn't feel too well and has no desire to eat anything. The bed looks inviting but sleep never comes. By morning he's feeling pretty bad--you get the picture, (it won't be until Tuesday that he feels like eating again).

Monday, May 28: We're heading for Delphi today--about 250km from Litohoro. We're not in too much of a hurry this morning: Rory repacks her bags; Rick moves as little as possible; but by the time we leave he feels well enough to drive. That lasts for about 2 hours, at which point Rory takes over for the drive into Delphi. The town is built into the side of a mountain overlooking the Gulf of Corinth to the west and the mountains to the east. It is the sight of the Delphic Oracle, the most famous of the oracles from Greek mythology. There are really only two main streets in Delphi, lined with hotels, restaurants, jewelry shops and souvenir stores. Someone said that if this hadn't been the site of the Oracle, the Greeks still would have figured out a way to turn it into a tourist attraction. We have no reservation, but there are so many hotels to choose from. Using our Lonely Planet guide, we stop at a couple, but pass both times. Then we find the Hotel Kouros. It is situated between the two main streets. We enter at the top and walk down one flight to our room (big bathtup, balcony view) which is actually on the top floor of the hotel. At the suggestion of the owner, Rory parks the car on the lower street, right in front of the hotel, making sure she is far enough off the street, entirely on the sidewalk with the side mirrors folded in, so that no tour bus will hit us. It's two flights up from the front to our room. It's a cloudy day--we're thinking that the same strategy we used in Olympia might work here--wait until 5pm or so, when most of the tour buses have left and then go visit the site. Our plan is spoiled by two things: Rick still isn't feeling well and it starts to rain pretty hard. Before the rain, Rory does some window shopping, observing that prices here seem to be higher than anywhere else. She returns to read in the hotel living room while Rick sleeps. Around 8pm, he joins her, and when the rain stops, we take a walk. Rick hasn't eaten anything in over 30 hours and isn't about to start now. When the rain comes again, we're almost back to the hotel. It's the end of the least eventful day of our trip so far.

Tuesday, May 29: It's cloudy this morning, and just as we begin to regret not being able to visit the Delphic ruins yesterday, the sun begins to peek through the clouds. It looks like a good day afterall. Rick manages a little breakfast, but still isn't feeling 100%. We load up the car and drive the 1km to the entrance to the extensive site. There's also quite a good museum which we will visit at the end. Admission for both is 9E each. The place is already overrun with tour buses--outside of the Acrpolis in Athens, Delphi is probably the most visited site in all of Greece. But the site is so extensive, that we are able to get most photos to look as if we're the only one's here. The site is built into the side of the mountain. There are dirt and stone paths to follow. Initially we pass the area where the treasuries were. Each city state in ancient Greece built a treasury which held offerings to the gods. At Delphi, the Treasurey of Athens is the only one that has been restored. These buildings were not large, but they were ornate, with carvings, statuary, mosaics, and paintings. As we continue up the path we reach the Temple of Apollo, the most well-known of the sites at Delphi (see left). This is the site of the Delphic oracle; in mythology, where it was predicted that Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. The path continues up past the ancient theater, which is also in very good shape. It's quite a bit smaller than the others we've seen (at Epidaurus and Dodoni) and we are unable to locate the center stone on the "stage" area. This theater must have had completely different accoustics from the others, since it's wider and not as high. At the top of the site, we find the ancient stadium. Several buildings remain here along with the remains of the spectator areas. The marble starting line is also still in place. The view from up here is pretty spectacular, too. The valley below separates us from another range of mountains in front of us. To the right (west) we can see the Gulf of Corinth.

We retrace our steps to the bottom of the ancient site. It's after 11am and if it's possible, there are even more tour buses than before. The population of Delphi is a bit less than 3000, but during the day, it's probably 10 times that size! Imagine what it must be like during season (July & August). While the site is now overrun, the museum isn't too bad. There are several impressive pieces that have been found at the site and moved to the museum, among them the sphinx and the twins of Argos (left). There is also an impressive collection of friezes and statuary, not to mention exhibit after exhibit of small pieces, including pottery and jewelry. Archeologists have somehow been able to take small pieces and fragments of a particular item, and somehow create a restoration. Unlike Rory, Rick is not a museum fan, but he has to admit this is a good one and well worth the time to visit.

Our destination for tonight is Cape Sounion, the southern-most point on the Greek mainland, to see the Temple of Poseidon and watch the sunset. We've got about 240km to drive, but first, we'll make a detour to see the monastery of Osiou Louka. Rick has visited this one twice before and is anxious to see if it's deteriorated as much since his second visit as it did between his first two. We are distressed to see that this monastery has become a tour bus stop; when Rick first visited here, almost no one knew it was here, and few visited. Now there's a 3E admission fee if you want to visit the museum and special exhibit of frescos, in additon to the monastery itself. There are 4 tour buses waiting, having deposted a horde of what appear to be middle school-aged kids. Thankfully, they do not seem to be too interested in the site--why they're even here, we can only imagine! Since it's "discovery" by the tour industry, the buildings of the monastery have been nicely repaired and restored. Maybe some of those euros have been put to good use....The monastery is built into the side of a hill overlooking a valley of olive tree groves. The churches and chapels are well decorated with colorful frescos predominantly blue, red and gold. They are in excellent condition. There are several buildings still in ruins, one of which would make a great study--overlooking the valley. We guess the monks just haven't gotten around to it yet.

OK, detour out of the way, we're off to Cape Sounion. The road is excellent, divided highway most of the way; Rory's at the wheel. We've got to bypass Athens, but even so, the highway around the city is like driving at Le Mans--these guys are nuts! And not just the cars; the motorcyclists weave in and out at high speeds (greater than the posted 120km/hr). It's a wonder no one gets killed--or maybe we just didn't see it. In fact, despite the seeming recklessness of Greek drivers, the only accident we've seen is the one involving the tour bus trying to squeeze through the narrow streets of Lagadia.

We reach Sounio (the town?) around 3:30. Our Lonely Planet guide is at a loss for places to stay. There is one hotel, with outrageous prices of over 300E per night we find out later, mentioned in the book. Lucky for us we're coming down the east coast, and see a sign for the Aegeon Hotel. It's located on a small cove, with a real sand (as opposed to stone) beach, below the hilltop on which sits the Temple of Poseidon. It's obviously new; we check it out. Rooms are 160E (ouch!). When we ask if there's another hotel nearby (alluding to the Grechotel) the reception clerk says it's more expensive there, and offers us a discount of 20E. The room is great, terrific views, nice big shower, comfy bed. Since we don't have to leave until late morning, we can luxuriate a little. Rory wants to check the beach for shells (there aren't any), have a drink and sit on a lounge chair in the sun. Rick notices a man sitting nearby with his wife and wearing a ballcap with an Aboriginal logo and asks if he's from Australia. He's from Montreal, but he and his wife lived in Brisbane for three years. We chat for about half an hour with Jean and Denise, trading travel stories. Rick and Jean get into talking about careers and retirement; they are planning to retire within the next two years. They are a delightful couple and we enjoy the opportunity to get to know them.

Since we haven't eaten anything since breakfast, and we want to get up on the hill for sunset before 8:30, we decide to check out a few nearby tavernas, eventually opting for one of the two close by the hotel. Prices are high, reflecting the resort nature of the area, but since Rick still hasn't gotten his appetite back, we'll settle for something light. Rory orders "shrimps" (fried) and they really are shrimpy--so small you're supposed to eat them shells and all. She does her best, cutting off the heads, but it's a futile effort to pick out the "meat" of the shrimp. Rick gets through half a salad, some bread and potatoes. It's almost 8pm when we finish and time to drive up to the temple. Rick was here once before, but can't remember whether he saw the sunset (probably not, if he can't remember). It's a fairly clear night as we wait on top of the hill with about 60 other people. Everyone's snapping away with all models of digital and video cameras. The sunset is nothing spectacular--not many clouds to diffuse the light, but when we consider where we are and how many people will never experience this, we are more than satisfied. So ends another day in Greece.

Wednesday, May 30: We get to sleep in a litlle this morning, but we both want to take advantage of the well-equipped bathroom to shower and wash our hair. At breakfast we chat briefly with Jean and Denise, and then get to reorganizing our suitcases and loading the car. We've got to drop it off at Swift Car Rental. We give ourselves an hour to drive the 65km to their office, but underestimate how long it will take: we make one wrong turn and encounter the awful Athens traffic (and we're not even in the center of the city). Just before noon, our mobile phone rings--it's Elias at Swift wanting to know if we're OK. We give him an update and he tells us not to worry. They will drive us to the port of Pireaus to meet our ferry. We find the office, on the busiest of streets. Rick jumps out to run across the street to the rental office while Rory circles with the car. Peter, who brought us the car two weeks ago when we left Athens, will take us to Pireaus. At Rick's request, Peter stops at a pharmacy so Rick and get some seasickness pills (we seem to have misplaced the ones we bought in Mykonos) and then comes inside, fearing that the pharmacy clerk will not speak English (she does). When Rory sees the box of pills, the mystery of another box she has found in her case, but hasn't been able to identify, is solved--they're Rick's missing seasickness pills. (The writing is in greek; and we didn't recognize them.). Peter is taking no chances, ensuring that he drops us at the proper pier, by asking a couple of ferry workers. We have to say that the service at Swift was absolutely wonderful. If you go to Greece we highly recommend you rent your vehicle from these people. We can't say enough good things about them, not to mention that we put almost 3000km on their car!

Our ferry to Tinos isn't until 5pm. We're on the Highspeed 3, sister vessel to the one we took from Mykonos to Santorini. We've got almost 4 hours, which we pass sitting at a small taverna across from pier 8. Rick goes off to the Helenic Seaways ticket office to get seats for our trip from Tinos to Naxos next Monday. Pireaus is a huge port. From where we're sitting, we can see several ferries coming and going, a couple of cruise ships waiting to begin their itineraries, and several commercial ships. The shipping business is big in Greece, and a lot of very rich Greeks made their money in it--Onassis and Niarchos are two of the better known names, but there are others far richer! Our ferry arrives at 3:30 and begins boarding a little before 4pm. We have assigned seats, as we did on the boat from Mykonos. We stow our suitcases, find our seats, and settle in for the almost 4 hour sail to Tinos.