The trip broke down like this:
5 nights Kastraki; 1 night Nauossa; 1 night Phillipi; 1 night near the airport; 4 nights Lemnos; 5 nights Thessaloniki
This trip was a combination of return and new locations for me.
Kastraki: I flew into Thessaloniki from Budapest (so no jet lag at this point), met the Saloniki Car Rental rep in front of the airport, got my car and headed for Kastraki. This flight left Budapest at 6am. Because I arrived early, I had intended to make a repeat stop to visit the tombs at Vergina. But I hadn’t slept much the night before so I opted to just drive straight on (with a stop for gas and coffee midway and a stop to look at Mt. Olympus in the distance).
This was my third visit to Meteora - I love the little village, its views, and the people where I stay (The Stone Forest and attached restaurant Taberna Gardenia). Having been to all the monasteries except one previously, I didn’t feel like I needed to repeat - I just sat and enjoyed the view from below. There’s a little town square beside the church and it’s surreal to just sit there and be surrounded by the giant sandstone columns.
New things for this trip:
1) a 90 minute horse ride through fields up to monastery views with Equestrian Escape Meteora, https://www.equestrian-escape-meteora.com/services. It seems all their rides are private, so it was just me and the guide. With a longer ride, you can take a tour of Varlaam Monastery mid-ride, but 90 minutes was perfect for me at this point. My online communication was with someone in perfect English but my guide didn’t speak a lot of English - enough, though, and I didn’t mind not having to make conversation the whole ride. If you love horses, it was a great activity.
2) I have not spent time in Kalambaka previously. This time I took most of a day and went to the small Natural History Museum of Meteora and Mushroom Museum (€5). This sounds weird but I liked the bottom floor Natural History Museum, full of mostly birds and some animals: all stuffed but acquired through natural death causes from reputable sources and very well done. Signage to show home range and more. The mushroom part on the upper floor was cute but I don’t really care about mushrooms……
I also went to the Digital Projection of Meteora History and Culture Center (also €5), which is an auditorium with 3-D short movies, the last of which showed the history of Meteora. Not earth-shattering but enjoyable.
And finally I made the climb up the streets to the Holy Church of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, with parts dating from the 4th century (although most dates from the 11th century). Beautiful Orthodox paintings, mosaic floor, and gorgeous views over the town. No charge.
3) Another day I took an over-the-mountain drive to Metsovo, mainly for the scenery, although it is a charming town itself.
Due to planning this part of my trip a bit piece-meal, I had 2 additional nights and had a hard time deciding what to do with them. Plan C, which I used, had me searching out more archeological sites along the way back to Thessaloniki to return the car.
So leaving Kastraki, I headed to Veria (or Berea, in case that rings a bell) before ending my day in Naoussa. In Veria, I made 3 stops: the Podium of Apostle Paul; the Byzantine Museum of Veria; and the Archeological Museum of Veria (each €5). The Podium was just an outdoor space commemorating Paul’s reference to the Bereans and his visit there. The Byzentine Museum was small but extremely well-done, with lots of old mosaic floors and icon-type paintings. The Archeological Museum was also not large but a really nice space with items found in Veria and nearby areas. The town itself stretched my calmness with narrow(er) streets, difficult parking, and more cars than I encountered elsewhere I went. There was more I could have seen, but I left it at these 3.
Cont.