Pilgrimage from Gerakarou to Apollonia 12/05/08

Rising early we actually managed to get going by 07:30! Incredible!!! I think this is our earliest start to date :)

We have a nice stroll through the green rolling hills, waiting for a café to appear to provide us with our morning caffeine fix, but every shop we pass is still closed. Finally at 9am we come across a service station, the gates are shut but looking inside we can see the workers having their morning coffee. We decide it can’t be too long before they open. Nine thirty rolls by and they still haven’t budged :) Surely they will eventually feel sorry for us sitting at their gate...but there is no such luck. By 09:45 feeling sorry for ourselves we decide to keep moving…

This ends up being lucky because 4kms down the road a great little café/bar appears owned by a guy called Vegetis. He is awesome! One of the people that welcomes us openly even though we limp in off the street, smelling like we haven’t showered in weeks (probably because we haven’t ;) ) and still makes us feel at home. He lets me plug my electronics in without even blinking an eyelid, gives us a free shot of ouzo and even asks “what already?” when we go to leave after an hour of lounging in his shop. Even though the bar is only one month old we can see why it already has a steady stream of customers. Cheers mate :)

Listening to Moby as I meander the next 6kms around the lake I have the intense feeling that life is wonderful. It probably has something to do with knowing I am about to arrive at some hot springs very soon and have a bath :)

The Volvi springs look like they are getting a face-lift before summer as it is one big construction site, but at least they are still open!!! Sabine hasn’t eaten anything yet today so we decide to grab lunch before our bath. And it is awesome! The Hungarian/Greek/American couple with the Mexican/American chiwaua sitting next to us recommended the octopus and the beans. A great choice! After eating WAY too much it is time for our bath…

For €4 each it is a bargain! We get a private room with two bug bathtubs and get to soaking our aching bodies. Aaaaah…heaven!!! :)

The last thing we want to do right now is keep walking but it is still early so we figure we better. Also, it isn’t so good to have softened our feet up so much so we take it easy…

A kilometer down the road we run into a surprise. We had been told that the bath where Alexandria the Great stopped to wash, on his way to or from somewhere, was around here…but we thought it would just be a pile of rocks. It seems we were mistaken as right in front of us is a really old hamam. Stopping to enjoy the atmosphere and take pictures of the frogs swimming inside it isn’t long before an hour has disappeared.

Getting going again we reach our goal with an hours sunlight still up our sleeves…

“What about a beer?” Sabine innocently asks as we enter town…

“Hahahaha, of course…why not”

It is dark by the time we stagger out of the bar and stopping at a mini-mart for some munchies I notice something really dangerous. A €2 bottle of ouzo!!! We have to give it a try…

So we do ;) After finding a campsite just out of town I throw on a movie and we sample our ouzo…not bad either :)

Pilgrimage from Thessaloniki to Gerakarou 11/05/08

Of course I still have shit strewn everywhere when I wake this morning. The idea is to get an early start but it is never going to happen…and my bloody sleeping mat is still leaking, I don’t know why I never get around to fixing it! Hopeless!!! :) So much for getting things organized in my day off in Thessaloniki…

But the main thing is we had a great time! Thessaloniki is a super cool place!

Anthony accompanies us down to a café for a morning coffee before we say our goodbyes. He couldn’t have been a better host. Cheers mate, you are a champion!!!

To the right is a copy of the map we had to get out of town. I don’t think you could make it look any more like a maze if you tried! Incredibly we do manage to weave our way through to the road we want without too much drama…well, not quite the road we want but one that will do the job anyway :) Once again we get treated to some great views but the downfall is it’s all uphill! After a day off we are both struggling. The body always seems to hurt more after a day off than if you use it every day, it’s just one of those things.

Winding our way through the hills is quite enjoyable until it starts to rain :( Taking shelter in a restaurant we sit drinking wine and playing backgammon until it stops.

Clearing the last ridge we can see the town we want off in the distance and the road taking a very long way to it. Looks like a perfect place for a shortcut :) Making our way down the hill on a small dirt track we approach a farmhouse. A dog jumps up and starts to bark at as we near, then another and another and another!!! Thirty seconds later we have ten big angry dogs noisily blocking our way. Luckily they were all keeping their distance as there wouldn’t be too much we could do if they wanted us for lunch :) Backing away down the road we find another path but unfortunately it takes us back to the main road…oh well, better than getting eaten :)

Rounding a corner I see one of the funniest sights I’ve seen in a long time. This little fella standing on his hands, using his back legs to push a piece of shit four times his size up a hill!

“I know how you feel mate!” ;)


Reaching the next little village we stop for dinner and some more wine. By the time we get moving again it’s 8pm and raining slightly. We have noticed that on our map there are some hot springs 30kms ahead and we are both pretty keen to get some more kilometers done today so we can reach them early tomorrow. It probably had something to do with all the wine drunk today but we both set off without our raingear on, telling ourselves “it is going to clear up”. But of course it doesn’t ;) Just after dark it starts pissing down. I manage to get all my raingear on except for the little plastic covers that go over the tops of my shoes. This isn’t good…soon enough my shoes are full of water.

So now we are in the worst possible situation, cold, wet and looking for somewhere to sleep in the dark. If I can set my tent up before it starts raining there isn’t a problem to camp in the wet, but to set up after is a nightmare. And to top it off we have forgotten to dry our tents from last time :( Better just to keep walking…

So we did. Keeping our eyes peeled for anything that would offer us cover we plod on. Finally around 10pm the rain stops and we have a huge field next to us with a bus shelter out the front. Perfect… :)

Thessaloniki 10/05/08

Errrrrkgh!!! I don’t know why I do it to myself…I am definitely getting a bit old for this sort of carry-on ;)

Sabine has already left the house by the time I finally dragged myself out of bed. Checking my watch it is 13:30 and Anthony is still asleep. I take a shower and try to make myself feel human again…

By the time Sabine makes an appearance at 15:00, I have only barely managed to succeed. I would be quite happy to spend the day sleeping on the couch but our host has other ideas :) He remembers that the old castle walls are a must see for any visitor to Thessaloniki (not that he had been there himself yet ;) ), but I’m glad we make the effort. We still don’t know when the walls were built, by who, or what for, but we saw them and they were pretty cool :) The highlight though is sitting for lunch at a café perched on the hill overlooking the city. The view is stunning!

I had a big list of things I wanted to do while having a day off, but so far I haven’t completed any of them. The electronic stores are one of the only things open so I do manage to get myself a new iPod. Thank God for that, it gets super boring without one sometimes…

Evening comes and we head back to the flat for a quiet night. Sabine has a few Vodkas and is keen to go out but I am still knackered. If I am going to walk anywhere tomorrow it is going to have to be an early night…

Pilgrimage from Gallicos River to Thessaloniki 09/05/08

The tents are soaking wet with dew this morning but we want to be in Thessaloniki before lunch so we pack them up anyway and get going.

It is a straight forward walk into town and right on 12 noon we are knocking on Anthony’s door, our first host from couchsurfing :) He is super friendly and has an amazing apartment right in the middle of town.

Thessaloniki is a cool city and extremely alive. It is funny though to walk into a place where everyone is suddenly wearing brand names again. It is a completely different reality to the pilgrimage. There are people out and about everywhere and Anthony is happy to take time from his study to come and show some of the sights.

Lunch is a huge feast of local specialties which we only managed to get half way through. One thing the Greeks know how to do well is eat!!! As we are munching away a street performer starts setting up in front of the restaurant. His performance is pretty good but what makes it worth commenting on is the guy is at least 50 years old with a pot-belly! Didn’t look like the type to be able to do a handstand…let alone on two chairs balanced on top one another. Pretty impressive!

The afternoon is spent pleasantly, sitting by the harbour drinking coffee. A perfect day…

And just to top it off, around 1am we decide to go clubbing. Sabine gives it a miss but I’m glad I made the effort. The club’s name is “Hotel” and even though Thessaloniki is a small city, this club would do well anywhere in the world. It fills up around 3am, we have a great night, and after a few too many vodkas we stagger home around 6:30am. Doesn’t look like I will be doing too much tomorrow ;)

Pilgrimage from Pella to Gallicos River 08/05/08

Setting off early we are in good spirits. Thessaloniki is only 39kms away! Our goal is to make 29kms today then walk the last 10kms Friday morning.

The main road is starting to get busier and busier as we get closer and it’s not so pleasant. But unless we want another days walk on top there isn’t an alternative :(

Stopping at a great little café for the worst cup of coffee we have had so far, out comes the backgammon board…

Sabine set the challenge before we had even met when in one of her emails she mentioned that she “never looses in backgammon”. She plays a different game than I am used to but we have been pretty even. The score was 7-3 in my favor before Sabine decided that we might as well play to 10 and the looser pays for a dinner. Having a big lead it would have been silly to refuse, but I know that my luck disappears when I start to play for money. And so it did…

The score is now 9-8 (or possibly 9-9 as I think Sabine won one more than she counted) and the tension is high! I have one piece left on the board and Sabine has two. It couldn’t be any closer and my pulse is racing as I go to take my next throw. I need a five to secure victory and Sabine’s scream is enough to confirm my delight :)

Stopping regularly we make good time and start getting into the industrial area of Thessaloniki. Watching the kilometers tick down it is starting to look like it will be difficult to find a camping spot, but then right on near the 11km to go sign we cross a river with a big paddock next to it. Perfect… :)

Pilgrimage from Karolissia to Pella 07/05/08

Staying in our little house was great. Having walls and a roof gave us our warmest night in the tents so far. And the rain is gone…yippee!!!

And I know I say this every morning but my foot is looking better, I don’t even have a limp this morning as we head off :)

Two kilometers down the road we get a big treat. Sabine asks a woman working at a service station if she can fill her water bottle, and before we know it she has us sitting in a warm room, sipping coffee. Her mother in law makes a quick appearance bringing breakfast of bread and marmalade…

“This is home-made so you MUST eat it!!!” Pashlina says while smiling sweetly.

But we don’t need much encouragement, it’s delicious! And Pashlina is great. We could quite easily sit there chatting to her all day but after half an hour we figure we better make a move.

The Gods must be smiling on us today. Another couple of kilometers later a refrigeration truck stops and a guy waits for us to pass by. Rushing over he gives us a packet of biscuits and after checking that we are OK and have enough money, leaves with the only English we heard him speak “God bless you”.

As Sabine put it…

“That’s the sweetest thing that has happened to us so far”.

It was :) So far the Greeks have been incredibly generous.

Arriving in Giannitsa for lunch we consider trying to find an internet café, but as our road doesn’t pass through the centre of town we decide to give it a miss. Pella (the old capital of Macedonia) is only 10kms away, if they get a lot of tourists we should be able to find one there…

My foot starts to swell up again shortly after leaving so I’m happy to take a breather and an Ouzo at the first restaurant we find.

One funny thing in Greece is that most people speak German rather than English (that’s not the funny part ;) ), but if they do speak English they have an Australian accent! I am amazed at how many people I have met so far that were born in Australia. It’s great :)

And it turns out there is another one here. Steve lived in Australia until he was 26 and is happy to sit and reminisce, and as we go to leave insists on paying for our drinks…cheers mate :)

Limping into Pella around 3pm we are set for our first cultural Greek experience. Thank God we didn’t have to walk any extra distance to get here as there is almost nothing to see! Just a couple of columns and some old rocks…we are not impressed :)

It takes us two minutes to have a look and take some photos, before heading into the new town. We find our internet and after a big meal it’s suddenly 8pm. Walking a kilometer down the road we find another empty building and call it a night.

Pilgrimage from Edessa to Karolissia 06/05/08

Sleeping in again we wake around 10am to the sound of rain…the honeymoon period is definitely over :( We have been pretty spoilt over the last couple of weeks but now it looks like we are in for some hard work. All my socks and undies are wet because they were hanging outside, my foot is still swollen and if it get’s any worse, apart from not being able to fit in my shoe, will mean I will have to go see a doctor…something I really don’t enjoy ;)

It’s midday by the time we get moving and for the first ten minutes I just limp along, waiting for the body to pump out enough endorphins to make walking bearable, reducing the pain in my foot to a dull ache.

A big concern when having problems with parts of your body that you have to use every day, is that it often causes a chain reaction. The pain in my right foot has caused me to walk funny and now my tendon on the back of my ankle is starting to hurt. I’m really looking forward to getting to Thessaloniki and taking a day or two off. Only 80kms to go!!!

One good thing about walking in the rain though is that it is easier to make longer distances. If it is cold it is better to be wet and moving rather than wet and sitting ;) So even though we didn’t leave till lunchtime we still make 26kms before 8pm. Spotting a construction site we decide to call it a night. At least we will sleep dry tonight!!!