Day 206 Wed 9 May 2007 Alexandropolus to Litochoro (Mt Olympus), Greece

After a brief visit to the BMW service centre as we’ve got a squeak from the suspension (they decide its just mud and give it a squirt with a hose which fixes nothing) we head back to the motorway along the coast towards Thessaloniki . The Aegean is at its best, flat calm and turquoise. We glimpse Mt Athos in the distance and as its on the World Heritage list we feel justified in ticking it off (apparently only males can visit and then only 10 per day). Ditto the Byzantine churches of Thessaloniki which we pass at 160km/hr which are also on the list.
Then we go to Vergina where the list says cryptically ‘archaeological remains’. Not sure what to expect we follow the signs but end up in a massive archaeological dig where there’s nothing to see. Fortunately we stumble across the Royal Tombs which were found in 1978 and which are now in a magnificent underground museum which replicates the original burial tumulus. The tombs, of King Philip II of Macedonia, Alexander the Great’s Dad who died in 335BC, and of Alex’s son, plus various others were filled with treasures, jewellery, pottery, armour, weapons etc which are mostly intact and beautifully displayed. The site is one of the highlights of the trip, all the more so as neither of us knew anything about it before we entered the burial mound complaining about the admission price.

By late afternoon it’s south to the little village of Litochoro nestled beneath Mt Olympus, home of the Gods and the centre of the Ancient Greek world. Its about 2900m and has snow on the top although is less than 10km from the sea. We find the Aphrodite hotel in the village square and a taverna for dinner where the wine is only E3 a bottle (A$5). Think we might stay here for a few days.