Great Days in Greece - Vacation 2008

In 2008 we decided to go to Greece for our holidays. More accurately to Northern Greece, mainly to the province of Macedonia. John-Arne has been to Greece once before, on an excursion during his New Testament postgraduate studies, but Jan had never been there before. We booked our tickets some months ago, and made an initial draft of the itinerary of the journey. And a car was rented a couple of weeks before the trip, which was to last a fitting period of 12 days in total (including travel).


The Old Citadel of Kavala and Jan dipping his feet at Lydia's baptismal place.

Day 1: Wednesday
We flew to Thessaloniki (Salonica) and headed by car for the bustling city of Kavala in the eastern part of the province of Macedonia. Kavala (ancient Neápolis) was where St. Paul landed for the first time in what we today reckon as Europe (Acts 16.11). The first evening we settled in at a camping site, just west of the city, and took a drive through the centre. Our camping site had a great beach, and one of us did not avoid the warm waters of the Aeagean Sea the following days. And we sipped our first glasses of Retsina at the beach restaurant.

Day 2: Thursday
This day we used mainly to explore the ancient city of Philippi (situated just north of Kavala on the Roman road Via Egnatia) Here St. Paul founded the first church in the ancient Roman province of Macedonia (Acts 16.12-40). In the evening we went for a walk in Kavala.

Day 3: Friday
Friday was spent in Kavala (exploring the ancient castle and the old citadel) and then we went by ferry to the island of Thassos. Thassos is an island with great natural beauty and the northernmost of all Greek islands. We drove around the island, stopping for lunch in a small mountain village and a swim in a natural pool on the coast. In the evening we went for a walk in a little town called Panagia, a town with waterfountains and a great view of the bay below.


A natural pool on the east coast of Thassos and the memorial of St. Paul in Vieri.

Day 4: Saturday
The day started with a walk in Limenas (where ancient Thassos city was, it's today found scattered in between the buildings in Limenas). We then took a ferry back to the mainland, and drove for quite a distance. We drove all the way to the western part of Macedonia, stopping in Amphipolis to look at the famous lion (Acts 17.1). We also stopped to see the royal tombs in Vergina, the city of Vieri (biblical Beroia, Acts 17.10-15), before ending up in the city Edessa.

Day 5: Sunday
Edessa is a pretty city with a lot of waterfalls. After a short walk to look at the highlights we drove northwest, to the border between Greece, Albania and F.Y.R.O.M - to the Prespa Lakes. There we had the fattest lunch ever! In the afternoon we drove to Kastoria, the city on the lake. In the evening we went for a walk along the waterfront with all the chique coffee-houses.

Day 6: Monday
Before driving south to Meteora, we went for a walk to look at all the ancient churches of Kastoria (of an astounding original 72, there is still 54 that still stands) and old Turkish houses. Meteora was our destination for the day and already the first evening we saw the largest monastery (the Great Meteoron) on top of one of the strange looking mountains. Imagining seeking the austere and ascetic lifestyle on top of one of those mountains. At least there would be a great view of the valley below.


Lakeview of Kastoria and a monastery in Meteora.

Day 7: Tuesday
We saw a small monastery in the morning (St. Nicholas Anapausas) and still being impressed drove after lunch to the peninsula of Mt. Pelion. Mt. Pelion is situated on the eastern coast of mainland Greece, not far from the city of Volos. There Jan had wished for some time for relaxation by the sea ...

Day 8: Wednesday
We spent some time at the beach, and John-Arne got to read a bit. In the early afternoon we drove to a small mountain village called Makrinitsa (allegedly the most beautiful village in all of Greece), with a magnificent view. Later we drove to Volos, to go to an internet café and make sure that Jan got some proper coffee at Starbucks (guess who was happy after that ...).

Day 9: Thursday
The morning was the coldest morning so far, so we skipped the beach and packed our tent once again. This time moving to Chalkidiki, to stay for one night at a camping site outside of the city of Nea Moudania. On the way we stopped first at the foot of Mt. Olympos and at the ancient holy city of the Macedonians, Dion. In the evening we went for a walk and a meal in Nea Moudania, a quite bland city.

Day 10: Friday
We drove early to Thessaloniki and handed in the car at the rental shop. After installing ourselves at a cheap hotel in town we went for a walk to get a feel of the city. We saw a couple of things like the famous White tower of Thessaloniki, the Arch and the Rotunda of Galerius (with astounding mosaics).


Jan on the waterside in Thessalonika (with the white tower in the background) and the roof in Hagia Sophia.

Day 11: Saturday
The program on our last day in Greece was not too busy and we started off by walking through the upper city (Kastra), then seeing the church Agios Demetrios (dedicated to the city's patron, St. Dimitrius), the Roman forum (once again cathing up with St. Paul, Acts 17.1-9) and the church called Agia Sophia. We also walked through the city's basar, seeing that Northern Greece has a lot in common with the Arabic world.

Day 12: Sunday
We got up way too early, and had an almost four hour layover in Munich (and lunch being the regular German curry würst with pommes frites) before landing in Copenhagen.

The last week of the holidays is to be spent at home. Enjoying that the heat has followed us back home. Next year we hope to go to the States again.