The rest of Greece

We never really got around to visiting teh Acropolis... but we did see it all lit up while sipping a beer... the main reason for not going up to the actual site, was the grey skies and the rain, but we got a definite feel for the city! mainly through walking... lots and lots of walking! We did visit the archeological museum, which was really really good! Its about the same size as the Cairo museum, awesome stuff! When the sun did eventually come out, Mattie and I made our way to parreas, and once we saw the Med, al we wanted to do is get a yachting job! Wow! We wondered around all the yacht clubs, had no luck in finding any skippers, but the sights were incredible! We both decided that we will be back in Greece some time, no doubt about it!

The two canadians we met headed over to Santorini, we were seriously considering that, but eventually decided that we rather keep to our original plan and spend 2-3 weeks exploring the balkans, and start working... Once again... We def have to go back to Greece some time! We were there far to short! So... watch this space

Anyway, as you can see from the pics, we had an excellent time while we were there,. and since Lena's place was continually packed with people... we always had good company to get around.

The start of a good night out on the town, Wii, Adam, Manu and Mattie

The legendary Wii

We left Athens on Sunday, by train to head up to macedonia... This is where the real adventure started haha. The train ride up to theselaniki was really great, the only downside was that we didnt quite prepare for it being 8 hours, so didnt have any food besides a packet of chips! So there was some stomach growling going on... When we arrived at the end point, we had 7 minutes to catch the connecting train to Florina (so no time for food)... we ran... and we made it!

We arrived in Florina starving, so the first thing we did was mission over to the nearest food joint and had an amazing Greek meal! The sky was grey, and the search for either a ride to Bitola or a place to sleep started...

So let me tell you a funny story! As you know... we are travelling on a really tight budget... really tight so we try and spend as little money as we can on unnecesary things like... acomodation. The place is quaint, and has an awesome vibe! After asking some people we found out that the busses dont run to the border... Its a pride thing... Greeks and Macedonians (Former Yugoslavian republic of macedonia rather) dont really get along due to the claim to Alexander the great... so we were stuck there... this is roughly the time it started pooring down! So we decided to stay, and thought it would be a good idea to find a cheap hotel or something... but since it was a public hol for all Greeks on monday everything was fully booked - We soon found out tha Florina is a holiday town!!! We were homeless!! Dwelling the streets! haha So we made a call... we could either spend about EUR40 and get a taxi and a hotel in macedonia, or just man it...

We manned it!! We left our bags in a hotel, and started looking for a cool place to chill out. Basically the plan was to hold an all night party! There was a cool vibe, and we had some left over Finlandia vodaka haha, well after a few drinks, it was still getting
cold, and all the party looking people seemed to dissapear and be replaced by old folk. To this day we are baffled by it! We were starting to doubt our decision and slowly run out of steam... So we started to look for shelter... just like a true hobo would! We eventually settled for a cozy construction site!

The place where we slept for most of the night... cold and damn uncomfortable... Matties quote..."the couchsurfing is going pretty well so far, we have only had to sleep in a construction site once"

As you can see... it looks... like a construction site! Where we slept in amongs the rubbish, on a concrete floor!! haha, definetly turing into hardy travellers!! At about 5:30 we couldnt bear the cold anymore, so we retreated to the hotel, where we snuck onto the couches and spent the next 2 hours or so! Way way better! At about 7 we were up and away!! We got some breakfast, made a sign for Bitola and started walking. As I said there are no busses, so its either a taxi to the border... or hitching. We hitched! It was
awesome, it was only about 20km, and we got a ride for about 15 of that! And the sun was shining and our sign was efficient! We were initially picked up by a great old man on his way to church, and after that by a guy cruising along in a Ford. The walk was great... Hitch hiking def has a certain charm! Real freedom! But due to the walking along the freeway, and carrying my heavy camera around, I could claim to getting walking fit!! The ride we got went all the way to Bitola-Macedonia, and from there we couch a bus over to Ohrid... But that will be the next post

Oh let me end this off with matties keeper quote to describe the situation... "The couchsurfing thing is working out really really well, we have only had to sleep in a construction site once..."

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written by  BalkanAdventure on May 26, 2007 from Florina, Greece
from the travel blog: The Fantastic Far Flung Eastern European Adventure
tagged Eurotrip
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