Ioannina and Metsovo area - Orthodox, Vlach and Turkish roots, and hilltop village area

Ionnanina, monastery, Greece



This area is north and west, from the Athens area, toward Albania. To the left here is an Orthodox monastery: one of many.







There are numerous hilltop towns.


Metsovo, village, Greece


Metsovo is a large town, with a substantial Vlach and Turkish influence.

Vlachs originated as a shepherding, nomadic culture. See www.vlachophiles.net/liddell. We found Vlachs in Romania, see Romania Road Ways;.

The picture here is a small mountain town heading from Metsovo to Ioannina. Roadsign: See a fine photo album at www.galenfrysinger.com/metsovo_greece. The area is highly traditional, old Turkish influence also there.

Then, at Ioannina, is the administrative capital of the region, there are palace-castle ruins, and Turkish homes now open as museums. There is a lovely mosque. See www.arafura.net.au/greeksnt/ioannina; and www.metsovo.gr/.

Driving tips, foreign alphabet

The Greek alphabet is difficult for most of us. So is Cyrillic (parts of Bosnia, in particular. See Bosnia Road Ways). Not all signs will have English on them, or an anglicized alphabet, especially in rural areas. This is their country. Expect and respect their language.

1. Write down the basic signs as you see them. Or get them out of your guidebook in advance. Start immediately. Keep a pad close by the driver's seat. Don't rely on guides - the print is little and you will not have time. Do know the international driving signs, but in addition:

EXIT
DETOUR
BY-PASS
CENTER CITY

All that. If you write them on the backs of your hands, wash carefully.

2. Use a tourist attraction as your anchor. If you want to get somewhere in Athens with a street address, go to the map and find the nearest big tourist attraction to it. Say, the Acropolis. Then, when you get lost, as you will, do not try to ask directions to the street address too soon. Really. There are too many little streets and turns and one-ways. You may even be told that you can't get there from here this time of day.

Find or ask for a motorway heading to the attraction near your destination - like the Acropolis. If you are in a smaller town, just ask for the destination attraction. Cruise around pleasantly while you look for someone to ask about the Acropolis, or find the motorway with the tourist attraction signs - the large green overheads like we have here. Once on a motorway, see if the Acropolis is going your way. If not, get off and on again until you are headed for the Acropolis. Get off there, and you will be closer to where you really want to go.

We did not do this at first, and were very late for dinner.

Athens, Unknown Soldier, Evezone Guard, and Acropolis

Acropolis, Greece

There is Athens at sunset, with the Acropolis, from our friends' roof garden.



Evezone Guard, Syntagma Square, Athens, Greece


















And the Evezone Guard at Syntagma (Constitution) Square, at the tomb of the unknown soldier. There is a stylized march step and the uniforms are based on an 1821 war of independence.

Full details of the Guard, and the 400 pleats representing the 400 years of Ottoman rule, says the site, is at www.wright-photo.com/evzone3. Click back a few pages for more on the Guards there.

The Acropolis is a World Heritage Site. See the Ministry of Culture site at www.culture.gr/2/21/211/21101a/e211aa01. There are photos, and a historical account.

Parthenon, Acropolis, Greece

The Parthenon at the Acropolis is being restored in an ongoing process. That same site is good also for a brief look at some of the Acropolis - www.wright-photo.com/acropolis1. This continues for two more pages at the site. The full websites photo gallery for Athens, including the old Plaka market/residence and historic structures at the base of the Acropolis, is at www.wright-photo.com/athens0.



See also www.in2greece.com/english/places/historical/mainland/acropolis.

Links, posts, archives

No underlined links to third-party sites here, just written addresses. Please take the time to follow up on the details, even though we have to slow up. Why slow us up like this? See www.bitlaw.com for overviews on internet law and copyright. These things are more complex than we ever dreamed, and nothing seems clear. In transition.

Post dates show the itinerary chronology - from arrival, to departure. So, do read the Archives - they show the continuing trip, not necessarily earlier posts. A new or revised post may appear at the beginning, to draw attention to it, but the plan is to incorporate it later elsewhere, if it fits better there.

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Thessaloniki area: American Farm School

Everyone involved with the campus and programs at this secondary school (boarding school) should be very proud. Many American teachers and their families. The school teaches a broad curriculum to boys and girls in the context of also teaching modern agricultural techniques and issues. We went to a graduation and the top student is given a calf that is proudly led right on the stage.

They also have an exchange program for summer high school students from the US, who then live with Greek families (farm? I believe so)and a friend's daughter loved it. Other friends (really like family) are committed to its growth as well. With all the bad press Americans get from other activities abroad, this one deserves huge kudos. There is physical sense of relief to come across things like this, as an American. And to see the deep commitment of the Greek adminstration and trustees. See www.afs.edu.gr/en/index. Also see www.americanfarmschool.org/.

I am not involved with any of this other than cheering on the people we know who have been instrumental in its success - just very, very, impressed.

At that graduation, we noticed that so many of the parents were short-statured, while the children were much taller. We were told that the improvement in diet has made a big difference in the height of the young people, and were reminded that many of the parents and their parents lived through the food and health deprivations of wars. That makes sense.

Old Jewish Quarter - Near Thessaloniki

Old Jewish Quarter, near Thessaloniki, Greece

In so many towns there is an old Jewish quarter that is either still abandoned, or -- as here -- becoming rejuvenated, re-lived in. Walking around, there may be just an alley heading into a square, and you go through and suddenly find a world there, and easy to imagine the sights and sounds of a busy community before the horrors.

The reconstruction here is beyond the main square of the town, hardly noticeable as you walk on the more traveled street, and is in a walled-in area. Some things are best seen on your own, while just out walking off a good meal. The town is between the area where the father of Alexander the Great was buried, and Thessaloniki. It is not far from the American Farm School,

Thessaloniki - Northern Greece - Ossios David

This is a late 5th century church, Ossios David, with a famous mosaic inside showing a clean-shaven Christ in a vision to prophets.

The city is cosmopolitan, with a well-known university, a busy port, and large pedestrianized mall area with students and more students. This is said to be one of the "hippest" cities in Europe. For shoes, I understand you can see more in Thessaloniki shops than most anywhere else. Also, beaches, and an old city area at the top of the hill that is full of all the things in this site and more: see www.uranus.ee.auth.gr/new/eng/thessaloniki. Carry a daypack, leave your larger stuff in the car and trust, and you will find that the guidebooks and maps are quite enough to tote, thank you. Some guidebooks, even though compact, are enormously heavy - meant for the coffee table when you get back, not the tote when you are there.

Language, signs, ouzo, mezze,

We had the usual guide book language guide. Signs were more difficult because of the different characters and diphthongs, but just coast along. Body language works fine in most cases. Food: the rough equivalent of the Spanish tapas is the Greek mezze - bites, sequential little plates of things. They mey be called appetizers, but for us made an entire meal most of the time. For more on mezze, the Greek appetizers, see www.gourmed.gr/greek-food/show. The rest of the address would be asp?gid=9&nodeid=7889&arid=3806. Click around the site to the Mediterranean section, and find how to cook squid. A fine dish.

Ouzo (a splendid pine-pitchy liquor) may be served with a little colorful tin cup, short (maybe 3 1/2"?) and narrow, for refills. Try the lamb with lemon, oregano. Lamb fricasee. Octopus (see post here for Ehina). It is easy to order foreign ingredients and see what food there looks like - toggle around, or as a start for pictures and how to order, see www.greecefoods.com/ordering. No connection, it just looks like a good starting point for getting authentic ingredients.

Kavala - Northeast - Aqueduct, fortress

Aqueduct, Kavala (Philippi), Greece

Kavala is northeast from Thessaloniki, on a more scenic route than the truck-congested motorway.

Kavala is the newer name for Philippi, the city where the apostle Paul is supposed to have first landed. Its aqueduct here is not Roman, but dates from the time of Suleiman the Magnificent, constructed 1520-1530 or so. That little sign on the left that you can barely see, says that Constantinople is 480 Km away (take 2/3 of that for miles, approximately. So, 250 +/- miles?).   Kavala was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1371-1912. See http://www.citizendia.org/Kavala
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Kavala,  Castle, Greece.

The castle at Kavala was begun in in the 5th century BC, with Byzantine additions. See http://www.superbgreece.com/Makedonia/Kavala/index.

Mt. Olympus - in the distance

Distant Mount Olympus, Greece

Mount Olympus. The home of the gods, believed to be so because it is so high. The mythology of the Greeks is extensive - get a start at www.loggia.com/myth/olympus; and at www.pantheon.org/areas/mythology/europe/greek/articles.

There is an entire history site - for multiple countries and topics, including Greece and its mythology, at historylink101.com/index.