Greece 8: Birding on a boat, a testing in Thessaloniki, flight to Athens, and then home

     I didn't accomplish much in my first day in town.  I visited a bird watching area that has no English translation.  It was extremely hot, and so the heat haze made picture taking difficult.  I also used a setting that was incorrect and ruined much of my pictures.  There were many of these very colorful birds flying about, many with dragonflies in their mouths.

    For lunch, I went to a highly recommended restaurant named Methoriakos Station, located in an old train station.  They did not have an English menu, so someone had to sit with me and give me translations.  Near sunset, I went to another location recommended by the hotel owner.  I was able to spot an egret fishing in the fast moving waters.

    As I was entering my car, I noticed a local farmer shepherding fifty or so buffalo.  I drove on ahead, got out of my car, and took pictures.

    The next morning I joined the hotel owner, along with four tourists from Bulgaria, for a small boat ride through Lake Kerkini.  We left the hotel at 9:00, and were out in the water by about 9:40.  We were out for about two to two and a half hours.  Here is what I saw:

100s of cormorants in the distance.

Dalmation Pelicans, that Lake Kerkini is known for.

    I stayed in for the rest of the day, as my health problems has been bothering me for days.  I left early the next morning, as I had a Covid PCR test appointment in Thessaloniki, about an hour south.  Thessaloniki is Greece's second largest city.  It is sprawling and the traffic flow is insane.  Additionally, people parked their cars randomly on sidewalks all around.  I had prepared by bookmarking two free parking lots close to the facility.  Luckily, the first one had an opening.  

    After parking, I had a ten minute walk to reach the lab.  I went up to the woman guarding the front door, who kept repeating that she didn't understand English, and pointed me to a tiny makeshift two person building with a small line in front of it.  I waited for about forty minutes until I was seen.  I had booked this PCR test through Aegean Airlines' website, and paid in advance.  I made sure to emphasize that I needed it in English and that I could not return there.  They took down my info and made no less than ten calls to what I assume was a tech supervisor.  Apparently, having a QR code with payment and appointment confirmation did not make this easy enough.

    Eventually I took the test and was told to wait nearby.  Fifteen minutes later, they gave me my receipt.  I was hungry, but google maps was not being very helpful.  I passed a bakery with spinach pies on display.  They were only one euro.  I asked if they also had ravani, which I had had the one time as my free random dessert in Meteora.  She said yes, so I asked for two.  She gave me a third for free.  She asked where I was from.  I tried, "USA" and then "United States."  She understood neither.  "America" worked and she was very excited.  I have a feeling that not too many people came to this part of Greece, let alone this particular part of town on the outskirts of the large city.

    I filled up on gas and went straight to my hotel.  There was a parking spot directly in front of the entrance.  It was about 11:00 AM at the time, and so they did not have my room ready.  I sat as the only person in the lobby, at one of the tables near a bar and ordered some coffee.  This was a high end hotel, but was only about $100 a night due to covid and the time that I booked.  After about an hour, they gave me the key to my room.  The room was fantastic, except for a step that led into the bathroom that I tripped on every single time.  I greatly feared for myself during the night, so I left the light on in the bathroom and leaned the door closed, in an attempt to remind myself not to trip in the night.  Luckily I remembered then.

    The bathroom had a contoured tub, with places for your arms and back.  I was soaking my muscles when I received the covid test results.  They were negative of course, but they had my birth year incorrect by a matter of seven years.  Not wanting to be turned away at the flight desk, I got out of the bath and went downstairs to reception.  The woman called the laboratory on my behalf, and after twenty minutes on hold, she explained the situation to someone and was told they would get back to her.  To make a long story short, 4 more hours and a few more calls by a second receptionist, that had replaced the first, and they emailed me the replacement.

    For dinner, I ate at the hotel restaurant, located in the open air of the hotel roof.  Only one other couple was at the restaurant.  The food was excellent.

    The next day I dropped off the car and took the flight to Athens.  The flight was delayed an hour but then it was smooth sailing.  I had paid for business class, as it was the only way to get two carry on bags onto the plane.  It also meant that the middle seat would be empty, as a perk.  The person on the other side of the empty seat was a slightly younger man.  He was from Singapore, but had lived in Germany for the past six years.  We spent the forty five minute plane ride conversing about the world.

    I paid the largest amount of money to the final hotel, due to its location directly across the street from the airport.  It was the only one in the area.  It was a luxury hotel, and so the cheapest cup of coffee that they sold, in any of their four bars and restaurants, was six and a half euros, or about seven and a half dollars.  Instead, I crossed the street, back to the airport, and went to a deli restaurant, picked up some food and some coffee for half the price, and then brought it back to my hotel room.  It was a very comfortable room.

    I flew back the next day, and luckily, it was uneventful.

Greece 7: Visiting the Angastromeni Springs and a nearly abandoned town with a kitten

     After the exhausting previous day's five hour hike, I decided to do a shortened version of my followup hike.  I drove the forty minutes to a town called Vikos.  I parked right in the square an a short walk brought me to the beginning of the trail downward to the Gorge.  This route, if followed, brings you through the entire gorge, to Monodendri, or even beyond.  Everyone online highly recommended visiting the river near Vikos, so that is what I did.

    The hike was much less gradual than Vitsas, was exposed directly to the sun with little shade, and often was steeper on the sides.  At first, I took a few pictures, but then I realized that my fear would get ahold of me if I did not put my camera away.

    It was quite a hike to the bottom.  Eventually, I was given the choice of a small dirt path off to the side or to continue onward into the gorge.  The dirt path was my turnoff and I was surprised that there were no signs to be found.  I passed a decrepit monastery before finally dropping to the Angastromeni springs, which may or may not eventually turn into the voidamatis river.  In any case, there was a small family here splashing about and sunbathing, along with 2 other couples.  This river is known for being extremely clean and extremely cold.  I'm not much for water, but I touched it, and there was no chance I would have enjoyed even putting my feet in.  I cooled off in the shade before I began my ascent.

    I felt safer going up, and so kept my camera handy to take pictures of what I saw on the way down as well as what I would see on the way up.

    It was about a forty five minute walk up and I was really, really struggling for the last ten minutes.  When I had nearly reached the bottom, I had passed three elder people that were on their way up.  Despite taking a break at the bottom, when I was about 10 minutes from the top, I encountered them, with one of the men really struggling to continue going.  I was at my breaking point here, but after passing them, I certainly couldn't be seen huffing and puffing and taking a break, so I used this as extra motivation to hit the top.

    My next stop was another place recommended by my hotel, the Zagori town named Dilofo.  I was warned that I would have to park my care just outside of town, as no cars were able to be driven beyond the outskirts.  The town was mostly barren, which lent a mysterious feel when exploring.  Many of the houses were overrun with plants and the tavern was closed.  So was the church grounds, but luckily the door connecting to the other side of town was open.  I encountered a black cat, which ran off before I could snap a picture.

    As I was returning to my car, while taking a different route through town, I encountered the black cat again.  It had a kitten curled around it.  I didn't have the proper lens, but here is an idea of the playful kitten clawing at its parent's legs.

    After this second stop, I returned to my town to relax and have dinner.  After dinner, I had a baklava which was described as having syrup inside it.  It was extremely rich and was clearly my highest calorie meal of the trip.  I also chose to have coffee, which I believe was my mistake.  I was unable to fall asleep that night.  I literally, at no point was able to fall asleep.  I ate breakfast early and then left for Kastoria.

    Kastoria was about a two hour drive away.  It is a lake city, but is strangely shaped.  There is actually a small mountain, nearly surrounded by water except for a small part.  Around it is a driving path and some houses perched on top, and then, a small part connects to what is the city, and then the city connects to the surrounding land.  I stayed at a "mansion" hotel, in a very odd square blue room, with excellent air conditioning.  I failed at napping and then really just did a lot of nothing that day.  I walked briefly to the water to sit on a bench.  

    That night I went into town and went to a cafe which had an owner that was born in Manhattan, but was a dual citizen of Greece.  I had a yogurt cake, which was more of a cake with a yogurty taste and at points had similar texture as it.  Then, luckily, I slept.

    The next day was a driving day, with a planned stop to a bear sanctuary, followed by a wolf sanctuary.  I set my gps to take me to the bear sanctuary.  It was about an hour and fifteen minutes away.  Forty five minutes into the drive, it turned me onto an unnamed dirt one laned road full of bumps, which it planned to have me on for thirty minutes.  I had had enough of these roads, and there were no alternative routes nearby.  I had to retrace thirty minutes of the drive in order to go another route.

    This brought me to the wolf sanctuary first.  When I arrived, there was another group tour just starting, but all in Greek.  A young man decided to show me around himself.  He was a physicist volunteering at the wolf sanctuary.  He explained that he lived in a small dorm there with other volunteers.  The sanctuary was a joint effort with the bear sanctuary, and eighty percent of their funding was from visitors and their donations and purchase tickets.  The wolves were all sterilized once they were brought in, and there were two separate packs, separated from each other by a long fence.  Both had two large areas, but I was warned that they were not likely to be seen due to the heat and the fact that they don't want to be around humans.  He was right.

Next, I drove up the mountain behind them to a small town and drove right through the cobblestone streets to the back, where I parked my car and walked down a long path through a beech tree forest.  I had to wait for the next tour, which was 30 minutes later.  Again, I had a private English guide.  The areas weren't particularly large in my opinion, especially for such huge animals.  Some of the bears were pacing, which I know is a stress response.  She said that they are given twenty to thirty minutes between tours to destress.  I appreciated that they were being rescued from circuses, etc, but the bears didn't look very happy and that didn't make me happy.  The guide informed me that zoos are not allowed in Greece anymore by the government, and so the only zoo that is left is a private zoo in Athens.

    After a three hour drive, I arrived at a small village named Chrisochorafa, to stay at a hotel that had a knowledgeable birder.  I ate at the only restaurant in town that had information on google, a pizza place whose pizza reminded me of a place that I loved to eat at when I was a child.  I went to bed early.