Magical Greece
“Greece is the home of Gods. They may have died, but their presence still makes itself felt” —Henry Miller.
I traded the green hills of Ireland for the cerulean blue of the Aegean as I flew from Dublin to Rhodes. My mind and heart were already making the transition from pubs and dancing in the streets to the order of St. John and their history with Rhodes.
As it turned out, it hurt to swallow that day and soon, I was coughing up a storm and not feeling good at all. Let me tell you it is not fun to be sick on your travels, it plays hell with plans and itineraries. Needless to say, Rhodes was a good respite to recover and rejuvenate and very little wandering.
I was lucky that it was not COVID considering that COVID seems to be making a strong comeback and most people are no longer wearing masks.
While I did not wander in old town Rhodes as was my original plan, I did manage to take a mini-bus tour of some highlights on the island. This beautiful, secluded bay was a photo stop on the drive.
Since I ended up resting a lot in my room, I did enjoy the spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the water as viewed from my bed.
The city walls of Rhodes. Unfortunately, I did not make it to all the buildings and palaces associated with the knights.
After a few days spent resting in Rhodes, I made my way to Thessaloniki where I met up with the group of people who would be my traveling companions for the next 12 days wandering across Greece getting a good flavor of all that the country has to offer.
Promptly next morning we were on the go exploring the city of Pellas, once the capital of Macedonia and birthplace of Phillip II and Alexander the Great.
I have been fascinated with Alexander, the Great and recently had a chance to visit North Macedonia. It was quite interesting to get an opposing view of how the Greeks view the North Macedonians as upstarts only looking for a way to get access to the beaches and sea routes to the Mediterranean.
I grew up on the Greek legends of the Gods, the Iliad and Odyssey. Here in Greece these legends come alive. According to legend Helen was visiting her cousins here when she was abducted or ran away with Paris triggering the Trojan War.
As I wandered through the architectural site, listening to our tour manager, I was imagining these sites populated with real live people living their life, eating, drinking, loving, fighting.
We stopped for lunch in Edessa the city of waterfalls at a wonderful restaurant overlooking this waterfall. Thanks to the recent rains the water was gushing pretty strongly, and we got lovely views as we strolled along the paths after lunch.
Thessaloniki is a large vibrant city, originally founded by Cassander, husband to Thessalonike, daughter of Phillip the II and sister to Alexander the Great.
This region has always been a hub with its access to trade routes and has been ruled by the Ottomans, the Romans and who knows who else who came through before reverting back to Greek control.
The white tower is a symbol of Thessaloniki. It was once bloody from all the executions that were held here until in an attempt to create a better connection with the locals it was whitewashed and referred to as the White Tower ever after.
Paul the Apostle visited the city on his missionary journeys and sowed the seeds of Christianity and potentially the New Testament. Then Thessaloniki acquired its own patron saint St. Demetrious who was put to death by Galerius the then Roman emperor in the region. This church, Hagia Demetrious of the Basilica of St. Demetrious is dedicated to him.
Originally our scheduled called for a morning visit but since it was Sunday, we snuck in and visited on Saturday evening.
The ancient city walls are still pretty intact despite the wars fought here in this region.
As we walked around, the bathrooms were closed but a few cafes were open. I walked into the cafe where several people from the group were enjoying coffee. The lady who was manning the counter made every person purchase their own coffee if they wanted to use the facilities. None of this part of the group nonsense. It was a good thing since the coffee was delicious.
Homes are built right within the city walls which runs right through the center of the town. The rotunda here was built during the Roman rule and sits right in the middle of the bustling busy city.
If only the walls could talk what stories they would tell of all the people who came before.
Alexander the Great mounted on his black horse Bucephalus whom he tamed and trained from childhood with all his weaponry ready to conquer Asia Minor.