As soon as I entered Greece, the road began to look better and a large sign written in Greek alphabet welcomed me. I had to put into practice everything I had learned in my physics classes with Victor Villaronga in order to be able to read the names of the cities I was heading to.
The mountains would accompany me as a backdrop throughout the day before entering the Macedonian plain. The snow was still present at the end of March and the traffic was practically non-existent, what a blast!
Thessaloniki was still about 150 kilometers away.
There were still some uphill sections and I would find them at the most unexpected moment. Of course, the scenery was amazing.
As I was going up, I saw a couple of stations where they were mounting wind turbines, because in this part of Greece there are a lot of wind farms. I was not amused. My worst enemy was back in action and the chances of him being on my side were extremely low.
Obviously the wind blew against me most of the day. At least the views were beautiful and the small orthodox chapels by the roadside enlivened the trip. This type of chapel is very typical in Greece and I have not seen it in other Orthodox countries. People when they walk past cross themselves, even at the wheel.
My second nightmare was also present for most of the day. I had already been told: when you enter Greece you will see that the stray dogs have a more hostile attitude, and so it was. Big dogs in packs, the worst combination, and on top of that also on uphill stretches. It was time to be patient. The problem? First, I had forgotten the time change and when crossing to Greece I lost an hour to pedal. The second, I had planned a very long stage and between the dogs and heat stroke I had to pick up the pace to get to Edessa on time. A few kilometers to go and I could not stand the diarrhea and had to make a technical stop at the edge of a lake. On the way down, I pedaled harder than ever to reach Edessa and get a proper toilet. Luckily, I revived and was able to go for a walk around the city before the sun went down. Edessa is famous for its waterfalls, probably the most famous in all of Greece. I only had time to see them from above. The photo does not do justice, as neither the force of the water nor the height can be appreciated, but their 70 meters high and the powerful current make them impressive.
I wandered around the Varosi neighborhood for a while and among its narrow streets there were a lot of churches and orthodox religious complexes very easy to recognize. I also thought I saw Mount Olympus in the distance, but no photo does it justice, so I won’t post any.
During the walk I decided two things: that I would split in two the next day’s stage, and that I deserved a pizza and a beer, the first of many in Greece and there are several and very good. The Nimfi, which can be seen in the photo, the Mamos, the Fix and the Vergina, without going into the artisan ones. After dinner it was time to go to sleep and rest for the next day.
Having slept for nine hours, I left Edessa with my batteries fully charged. Besides, the start was a long downhill that leaves you finally in the Macedonian plane. I pedaled along the shoulder of a road with a lot of traffic, but quite safe. Halfway there I spotted the ruins of Pella, the first I would see in a long list between Greece and Turkey.
Everyone seemed to be heading for Thessaloniki, including the geese and chickens.
Further on I came across a scene that looked like something out of another part of the world. A row of tanks being transported to some military base. The truth is that it gave me a bit of a bad feeling.
Soon I arrived in Chalkidona where I would spend the night. I left the bike and took the opportunity to eat some local delicacies. This time I tried a good chunk of feta cheese battered with sesame and grilled with a touch of honey. It was delicious! They insisted on inviting me for dessert, a Greek yogurt, as it could not be otherwise.
After lunch I went to bed for a bit while I was managing where I would sleep for the next few days in Thessaloniki. Luckily, when it was already getting dark, Anastasia from Couchsurfing told me that she could host me from the next day on, what a great news! I was right to split the stage in two days, otherwise I would have arrived in Thessaloniki exhausted and with no place to sleep.
The next day, I left early for Thessaloniki with the intention of stopping by Anastasia’s house to drop off the panniers and continue on to the bike store to have it looked at before leaving for Turkey. I had also ordered a couple of tires that are not so easy to find outside the European Union and spare hooks for the panniers. Arriving at Anastasia’s house I was surprised by this chapel, a bit bigger than usual.
At the bike store, Action Bike Club, I met Jofi, who also wanted to travel with the bike in Europe and was solving some doubts. Giorgos, who runs the store, was very friendly and helpful. He has also traveled a lot by bike and gave me some interesting tips. I picked up the hooks and decided to leave the bike there. When I returned home the table was ready. Apart from Anastasia also Kostas was there, and he was a cool guy. We looked like lifelong friends, and Greeks, after Italians, are our closest cousins. On the menu was Tzatziki, as expected, and Pastitsio, both very good and prepared by Anastasia’s mother. Pastitsio is a type of pasta timbale that is baked in the oven and can be found all over the Mediterranean, especially in southern Italy.
With our bellies full and very happy, we chatted all afternoon and shared music. They told me that the next day there would be a giant concert in favor of a solidarity cause against the privatization of water management in Thessaloniki. Four or five hours of free concerts. In addition, with famous artists in Greece and mixing traditional music, especially rebetiko, with more modern music. What more could you ask for?
We also made friends with Pizza, Anastasia’s cat. Who would have thought that a Greek cat could have so much hair!
Kostas had to go back home, but Anastasia wanted to show me a place where they often held concerts and jam sessions and where she helped as a volunteer called “Scholeio”. It was an old school that was not used for anything and now they do a lot of cultural and musical activities. They also brew their own craft beer. Thessaloniki is a city with a lot of student movement and in general quite mobilized and committed.
The next day was the day of the concert against the privatization of water management in Thessaloniki. Υπερασπίσου το Νερό. Which means something like “Let’s defend the water”. There, I wanted to collaborate with the cause and I bought a t-shirt that those of you who know me surely have seen sometime. The first to sing was Foteini Velesiotou, who has a very powerful voice; then followed Dimitris Mystakidis, who is a guitar prodigy and also sings; next played the Heimerinoi Kolymvites, who are a group of several musicians with Argyris Bakirtzis as the leader; then it was the turn of Foivos Delivorias, who mixes Greek music and Latin rhythms. Before the main concert I decided to go to eat a gyros, the Greek kebab, to get my strength back after 5 hours of standing.
The last concert was that of Thanasis Papakonstantinou. Again, for those of you who know me I will have already played it for you once. He also played with his trusted guitarist, Sokratis Malamas, who also tours on his own. It was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, even though I didn’t understand a single word. The atmosphere was spectacular and the music transmitted a lot to me. I will always be grateful to Anastasia for inviting me to go with her friends. This kind of experience with local people is one of the things that will stay with me the most from the trip.
The next day Anastasia had to leave for Jerusalem on a trip with some friends, but she asked me if I wanted to stay one more night at her place taking care of Pizza and I accepted.
I took the opportunity to write the Bosnia post. Two days later it was time to take the train to Athens to finally see Ari after 3 long months. The day before taking the train I left Anastasia’s house thanking her parents, who lived in the same building. From the bike store they confirmed that I could leave it there without any problem during the days I was going to be in Athens. Relieved, I went for a walk around the market, and what I didn’t know was that it would be the gateway to the Turkish and Central Asian markets that I would encounter in the coming months. I was a bit shocked by the organization and the atmosphere, although in Albania I had already seen something similar at the Pazari i Ri market in Tirana.
Here in Greece, the fish area is also very important, and after all, Thessaloniki is still bathed by the Mediterranean.
Then I left my backpack at the hostel where I would sleep the last night before leaving early the next morning for Athens. I went out to discover the city and its monuments, such as the Rotunda of Galerius, which was built in the 4th century A.D. It was an early Christian church until Thessaloniki fell into the hands of the Ottomans and they turned it into a mosque, hence the minaret that is still preserved today. It also retains some original mosaics and is quite an impressive structure.
The rotunda was connected to the arch of Galerius, which was an important crossroads with the via Egnatia, an ancient Roman road that ran from present-day Istanbul to Durrës on the Albanian coast.
Then I started to climb uphill towards the upper part of the city in the direction of the church of St. Paul’s church, located next to the Pasha gardens. It is a recent construction, but very similar to some Orthodox churches I had seen in the city of Ohrid in North Macedonia.
In the upper part of Thessaloniki the views are somewhat reminiscent of those of Barcelona, from the Guinardó or the Carmel, but with much more history.
Jofi, the guy I met at the bike store, joined me and we walked together around the wall area. Afterwards we went downtown to have a drink and play Backgammon. I discovered another hidden talent and I beat him in the three games we played, even though I had never played before. In Greece it is very common to see people playing Backgammon in the street, especially older people. The truth is that I really liked Thessaloniki and it is a city with a lot of life and history. A student city with a lot of movement and halfway between Istanbul and Athens.
The next day it was time to get up early and take the train to Athens. On this same route, in Tempi, near Larissa and Mount Olympus, there had been a very serious accident a few weeks earlier, which had been a national catastrophe and had shaken the government. Fifty-seven people died and eighty-five were injured. To this day no politician has been investigated by the judiciary and it is a very hot topic in Greece, especially in Thessaloniki, where many of the young people who died were studying. There was very little frequency of trains and many routes were cancelled, so I could not go to the Meteora Monasteries.
Luckily, the train trip went well and I arrived in Athens by lunchtime. I ate around the Exarcheia neighborhood, which is the anarchist area of Athens and the most politically mobilized. I took a walk and then continued on to Mount Lycabettus, which is a hill almost 300 meters high with a chapel at the top. There is also a very famous amphitheater that had been closed for many years and was being renovated in order to reopen it for concerts.
From up there you have the best views of the city and the Acropolis.
Some people are lucky enough to enjoy these views whenever they want, but you have to have money for that.
I didn’t have the money, but I couldn’t complain. The first night I would sleep at a friend of Valeria’s, a friend I had met in Zurich when I was working there. She had been in Athens a year earlier and had become good friends with a group of Greeks, among them Gaetano and Giannos, the latter being the one who would host me the first night. The house overlooked Mount Lycabettus and had a giant balcony from which to enjoy the sunset. The group of friends met at Giannos’ house for a drink and that’s how I also met Spyros, Alexandros and the rest. They were explaining to me about Exarcheia, the daily conflict between the police and the students and the increase of police forces with the last right wing governments. The one I got along best with was Gaetano, who is half Greek and half Neapolitan, and with whom I am still in contact today.
The next day I got up early and said goodbye to Giannos to pick up Ari. Finally the day had come to see each other again since the last time in Bologna after 3 months cycling alone, more than 2000 kilometers and 8 countries crossed. I was excited and when I saw her I couldn’t be happier. We spent the whole morning walking around Exarcheia and its streets full of cafes and athenaeums.
She also took the opportunity to steal some pictures of me, a rare event in the previous three months.
We ended up eating at a very good place with quite elaborate local food called “Ama Lachei”. We tried the Kavourma, which even being better known as a Turkish dish is also eaten in Greece. It consists of a meat base, in this case beef and lamb, first boiled, then fried at high temperature to reduce the fat and finally preserved in large containers once cold.
As we were both very tired we decided to call it a day, catch up, rest and gather strength for the next day. It would be a crowded day, since the idea was to visit the Acropolis and other tourist monuments all in the same day.
And so it was, and early in the morning we could not get rid of the crowds.
Despite the crowds of tourists (ourselves included) it is a monument well worth visiting to appreciate the splendor of the Hellenistic era. Some of the best preserved temples are here, such as the famous Parthenon. A 5th century BCE Doric temple dedicated to the goddess Athena.
We also had time to take some pictures and immortalize the moment.
Also noteworthy is the Erechtheon with its columns formed by female figures.
It is necessary to appreciate them carefully and from different angles in order not to miss any detail.
For lunch we ate in the Koukaki neighborhood, which is an area with less tourists and a more local atmosphere. The restaurant was called “Opos Palia” and did rather small tapas style dishes, “meze” in Greek, and very recommendable value for money. In the afternoon we took a walk around Koukaki and returned to the accommodation. The next day it was time for more historical sightseeing in the city.
We woke up full of energy and started the day visiting Hadrian’s library. Built in Roman times and located very close to the Roman Agora. We continue visiting the latter and something curious is that there are several tortoises living there.
It is located in the neighborhood of Plaka which is another very picturesque neighborhood of the city, although very touristy, which does not seem to bother much to stray cats that walk around the neighborhood as if it were their own, even napping on top of parked cars.
We took a walk through the Metaxourgeio neighborhood and then went to eat at a traditional Cretan restaurant in the Keramikos neighborhood. The restaurant in question was called “to Laini”, and it was a very small place with no tourists. The menu was written on a blackboard and only in Greek, so we had to ask dish by dish to be able to understand something. The dish that surprised us the most was the Dakos, a kind of salad with a base of stale bread (paximathia), crushed tomato, mizithra goat cheese, decorated as you like and dressed with virgin olive oil. Simple, but delicious and very refreshing. It originates from the island of Crete, but it is easy to find in Athens as well.
With our bellies full we headed to the Greek Agora, which is much larger and more interesting than the Roman one, even though it is older. The Temple of Hephaestus is undoubtedly the most impressive and best preserved temple.
From up close it is even more impressive, not so much for its dimensions as for its Doric style and its state of preservation.
I also recommend visiting the museum, as you can see pieces of pottery, statues and jewelry from the early Hellenistic periods that look like they were made yesterday. Many are from the time of the city states, before the Greek empire under Alexander the Great. Like this piece with geometric motifs and warriors dating from the ninth century BCE.
Or this other piece with geometric motifs and swans dating from the 8th century BCE.
In the evening we went out for a drink with Gaetano and then met up with the rest of his friends in Psyri. The plan was to party until late and as we wanted to continue visiting the city the next day we left early.
And so it was, the next day we went back through the Koukaki neighborhood and ate in another delicious and not very touristic restaurant, it was called “to Potami (el riu)”. Finally we decided to try the famous Greek stuffed potato and it was very good. It is usually stuffed with tzatziki and feta cheese on top.
In the afternoon we met Eleni for a wine tasting at her store “Wine with Eleni”. She is a friend of some friends of Ari’s who have a wine shop in Bologna. We tasted a lot of wines, some from grape varieties endemic to Greece such as Avgoustiatis, from the island of Zakynthos and the Peloponnese, or Malagousia, originally from western Greece but famous today throughout the country, especially on the island of Rhodes. Eleni’s husband, Aris, had prepared homemade taralli as well as other dishes to accompany the wines.
They also explained to us that Eleni had written a book on the history and winemaking on Mount Athos, in fact the only one in existence. It is a region where there are more than twenty Orthodox monasteries that are de facto self-governing in a kind of Autonomous Monastic State. The monks have been producing wine uninterruptedly for over a thousand years. Athos is on the easternmost peninsula of Chalkidiki, located in the Aegean Sea south of Thessaloniki. To enter, a special permit is required and only men can enter. And you may ask, how did she do it? Well, thanks to her husband, who is a film director and who went there several times, passing her the photographic material and explaining his first-hand experience with the monks. In addition, she did an exhaustive research with the help of different manuscripts and texts from which she got the necessary information. The book is very interesting and the pictures also provide valuable information.
Her son is also filming a documentary on winemaking at Mount Athos, but it is a long term project, due to the difficulty in receiving the above mentioned permissions to access and film.
The fact is that as the wine was going down our throats, the atmosphere was cheering and as it could not be otherwise we all ended up dancing. It is customary, although not native to Athens, to dance dances from the island of Icaria, near present-day Turkey. Lately, the traditional dances of Icaria have gained importance and have become popular, especially the Ikariotikos, which is danced in all kinds of celebrations on the island.
We had a great time with Eleni and the rest. Then Gaetano joined us to watch the sunset from Filopapos hill, which is nearby and also has excellent views of the Acropolis. The hills of Athens enliven the city and provide a unique perspective. Then we went to get dinner at a self-managed local in Koukaki called “to Pagkaki (the bank)”, where sometimes they also do concerts. After a couple of beers we said goodbye to Gaetano and returned to the accommodation to rest and prepare the backpack, as the next day would be the last in Athens. It was too short as every time I catch up with Ari.
The next day we got up and took a stroll through the Athens market to snoop around the colorful fish stalls. Most fish, as in Thessaloniki, is like ours because it is also from the Mediterranean.
Also the olives are very important there, which reminded me of the markets in Sicily.
Other stores had everything and more. They gave a little anxiety, but surely if you look for something in particular there you can find it.
And my favorite were the handmade musical instrument shops. The latter specifically specialized in bouzoukis, a modern evolution of baglama played in Egyptian times and pandura played in ancient Greece, although the shape of the latter was somewhat different. It is a very important instrument even today in the entire Balkan region, Anatolia, the Caucasus and Persia. Bouzouki, however, regained importance in traditional Greek music known as rebetiko during the 19th century and especially the 20th. The Greeks who had to flee Anatolia due to the Ottoman offensive at the beginning of the 20th century carried with them the instruments and melodies of the Middle East that greatly influenced the development of the current rebetiko. Today, some of Greece’s leading artists play a more modern version of the rebetiko without forgetting its roots.
After the stroll came the difficult time to say goodbye. It was hard as always, but less than the previous time in Bologna, perhaps because it feels like my second home. Maybe also because we knew we’d meet again in Georgia in a few months. The days we shared gave me a lot of energy that I needed so bad, because we are always stronger mentally than physically. I went to the station and took the train back to Thessaloniki. I stopped by the store to pick up the bike and picked up two Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour replacement tires I had ordered online. I’d have to carry them for the rest of the trip, it seems a lot more uncomfortable than it really is. It is difficult to find them in Turkey, and further east even more. I rode back to Anastasia’s house to prepare everything and leave the very next day. She had not yet returned from her trip, but her parents let me sleep at home, and for that I will always be grateful.
I left around 10 o’clock and I didn’t pick up the spare disc rotor, because it hadn’t been delivered to the store yet. We agreed they’d send it to Kavala’s post office, and I’d pick it up there. I would avoid about 300 meters of climb in a stage of almost 90 kilometers. Even so, I got to Asprovalta exhausted after not pedaling for 10 days straight. The two lakes halfway made the route a little more enjoyable, but on the other hand, that meant not having any shade for most of the day. Luckily, it rained a few minutes towards the end of the stage, which allowed me to reach Asprovalta quicker. I slept there and the next day I had to continue to Kavala. On the way, you could see the last of the three legs of the Chalkidiki peninsula, at the end of which is Mount Athos, of which I have already spoken before. One day I would like to make a route through those areas. I went through a few ruins, being the lion of Amphipolis the most famous of all. In Hellenistic times lions could be found in this region, although they became extinct soon after. In fact, the lion is still one of the symbols of the region of Macedonia.
It wouldn’t be the only animal I’d find along the way. I also found a tortoise, a snake, a fox, a badger and even a jackal. I just photographed the only one of them that was still alive at the time I crossed it.
I had to increase the pace or else they would close the post office on my face. The next day it was a national holiday and it was going to be closed. Admittedly, the Greek coast is beautiful, but after so many months cycling along the Mediterranean I was not too surprised. Luckily, I managed to get to the post office just a few minutes before they closed to pick up the disc rotor, thus adding a few more grams to all the kilos I already had. Kavala is a pretty town in a privileged enclave. The next day I left quite early and when I left the city behind the views of the aqueduct were spectacular.
Leaving Kavala there were quite a few steep climbs and the icing on the cake were a lot of stray dogs wanting to give me a hard time. The sky did not look very promising, and the rain and the headwind would be the keynote of the day. The problem was that in a few days I had to meet my parents in Istanbul and I could’nt wait for the rainy days to pass.
Arriving in Xanthi after 50 kilometers, tired of the rain and the wind, I decided to finish the stage and took a bus to Komotini, where I would sleep that night. Luckily, the bus was empty and it was very easy to get on the bike for free. Shortly before leaving, it began to rain down in buckets and I felt the luckiest person in the world.
On the way to Komotini we crossed several villages of Turkish population. They are some of the Turkish communities that remained in Greek territory and did not enter the massive population exchange that occurred after the Greco-Turkish war. It was rather a mutual expulsion agreement that was signed in Lausanne in 1923. Some 2 million people were displaced from their homelands. However, the Turks and other Muslims of Western Thrace, the region where I was, were excluded from that treaty, hence they still live in those areas. Some Greeks also stayed in Istanbul, but after being persecuted and even killed, most ended up returning to Greece in 1955.
When I arrived in Komotini, I left the bike and went out for a walk. Strolling around town I found a mural dedicated to Pavlos Fyssas. Only 10 years ago, militants of the former neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn murdered the rapper while he was watching a football game in a bar in Athens with his partner and friends. As a result of this attack, a judicial investigation began that led to the party’s outlawing and conviction as a criminal organization seven years later.
I was exhausted, even if I had slept in confortable beds the prior nights. In Greece the Couchsurfing application did not work very well for me, except for Thessaloniki, and I had to look for accommodation that was quite out of my budget. I had a cold that would take its toll on me. That’s why the next day I decided not to ride and take the bus to Alexandroupolis. It was a day of rest and reflection. The biggest change of the trip was about to come and I was in reserve, as far as gas levels were concerned. It was necessary to accumulate energy for the next day and thus leave with great desire and wide eyes to capture all possible information.
I slept 10 hours and had breakfast like a champ. I took the opportunity to withdraw a wad of bills in Euros that would end up being useful at one time or another, because from now on I could only get dollars if anything. Around 11 am I got going and the day was pretty boring. Just some scare with some dog that was chasing me woke me up a little. What I did not imagine was that in Turkey I would miss the rather smaller Greek dogs. On the way to the border, the highway was completely empty. It didn’t look anywhere near the gateway to the European Union.
Only hundreds of trucks could be seen in both directions of the secondary road, most of which were parked. And despite the high road trade between the two countries, bureaucracy makes all the formalities eternal. The Turkish truckers were all having tea. In fact, I was invited to drink a cup before crossing the border and I accepted, the first of an endless string of invitations during my time in Turkey.
Just leaving Greece it started to rain down buckets and luckily caught me under roof. It was necessary to wait a few minutes before crossing the bridge that separates the two countries.
My stay in Greece marked a turning point on the trip without a doubt. I was eager to discover more of its nature, especially its mountains, and in particular the monasteries of Meteora. I will always have a very good memory of Greece and its people, its food and its music, which is the one that I appreciated the most during the whole trip. I would add that the Greek people are after the Italian people, especially from the south, the most similar to us, despite the geographical distance. In the end, we are all children of the Mediterranean. This would be a persistent topic for much of the trip and I want to address it in the following articles in more detail.
I hope to come back soon to these wonderful part of the world.
