Cat at the 13th century HammamRuth: We are spending our last four nights in Thessaloniki before flying home for a bit. I don't return to work until the 30th of January, so we will squeeze another adventure in after we have some time at home to pet our cat and reintroduce ourselves to family and friends. It will be fun to feed our own cat ...
Ruth: After learning to read, the hardest thing I have ever tried to learn is meditation. I am not good at it, and even this judgemental statement proves my point. I am impatient, squirrelly and squirmy when I am practicing my sitting meditation. It is 32 minutes long and after twenty I have to peek at my watch thinking it must be almost over. Frequently ...
Gordon: A couple of days ago we cycled the 25 kms from Loutraki to the other, bigger town on the island, Skopelos Town. This is the more touristy end of the island, but at this time of year you only know this from the size of the unoccupied waterfront restaurants. Many tourist related businesses are already shuttered, and it seems that more close every day. ...
Ruth: Most of our days here involve a late afternoon walk up to the hill town of Glossa. Gord and I happily spend an hour or two wandering around the narrow stone streets and steps that wind up the steep cliff face. We are now the only tourists in the Chora and the locals all greet us with a genuine warmth and are very pleased ...
Gordon: The musical film Mamma Mia was filmed largely on Skopelos. There are numerous references to the movie in the tourist literature. One beach is now referred to as the "Mamma Mia beach", and a small church dramatically located on a spire of rock at the edge of the sea is the "Mamma Mia church". Whatever the artistic merits of the movie, the church of ...
Ruth: We are staying in an apartment on the quiet, less touristy end of Skopelos island overlooking the Port of Loutraki. It is just below the old and largely unspoiled town of Glossa. We have already extended our stay from three to five days, and I would happily remain here even longer. Our break on the island has been full of day trips to beaches, ...
Ruth: Squeezed into the 1960's urban sprawl of Thessaloniki is a wealth of Byzantine churches and monasteries. No less that 6 of them are Unesco listed, dating from the 4th to the 14th centuries. That some of the mosaics and frescos survived fires, earthquakes and the Ottoman conquest makes them even more precious. Many of the churches were converted into mosques, but the glittering mosaics ...
Ruth: Although our original plan was to head to the Black Sea, our love of Greece and the turquoise waters of the Agean made our line across the continent turn a hard right in Romania. Thessaloniki seemed like a good goal, with all of its Byzantine sights, and with the option to slow down, roll onto a ferry and relax on a Greek island. No ...
Gordon: The 86 km ride from Blagoevgrad to Melnik was fast, pretty and varied. We passed through another canyon (popular for whitewater rafting) and a number of traditional villages before climbing into the hills that surround Melnik. Our tripometer turned over 4,500 km during the ride.Melnik is a node on the tourist circuit. This is not a bad thing, as it means that there is ...
ISeptember 26, 2016Ruth: After leaving Sofia we followed the Iskar River into the stunning Rila Mountains. I should mention that before making it to the city limits my beloved Pocket Earth navigation app took us on a road into a very impoverished neighbourhood. We waited patiently for the pack of dogs chasing the pony cart to pass before retracing our steps to Kansas. The forests and ...