Brucatos in France and Greece: Moving out from Thessaloniki!

Sunday, January 10, 2016

Medical update: I have been taking the antibiotics for a day and a half now, and am feeling MUCH, much better! R was of course correct in insisting I see someone yesterday before things got worse. I’m very happy it wasn’t a cold (although not happy about a sinus infection) but at least I know that sinus infections aren’t contagious!

Hello from Veria!

In front of the Great Tumulus of Philip II

Interesting spelling ...

We were up this morning about 7 and repacked and down for breakfast about 8 am. (And if I’m a bit distracted it’s because there is an episode of Big Bang Theory on the TV right now, with subtitles in Greek…obviously, we haven’t been watching much TV at all lately!) We were out about 9 and heading to Veria, where I wanted to leave the luggage before heading to Vergina and the Tomb of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. I have to say that leaving Thessaloniki on a Sunday morning was great – there were no people anywhere! Now … to find our hotel, Kokkino Spiti (love the name!) … that was a different matter all together!

Theatre where Philip II met his end

Another theater a few miles away (and yes, it's cold!)

Veria Museum side yard ...

Our little Nissan Note car is not able to carry all of the luggage “out of sight” in the trunk, which is what we really prefer. So, to not have any temptations readily available, we thought we would stop by the hotel, drop the luggage, and then head back out. Problem 1: I read last night on TripAdvisor that the hotel isn’t easy to find … and truly, that’s putting it mildly! The map that R had printed showed the hotel on one side of the river. Emmy (our GPS) showed it on the other side … obviously a problem. We were able to follow street signs for the hotel a bit of the way but finally ended up on a dead-end street with the signage pointing off into the air! Fortunately, a very nice older gentleman (who we think was a Protestant minister of some kind) actually got in the car with us and directed us the entire way – back along the river, across it again, and then (literally) over a bridge clearly marked “do not enter!” (My problem then was that he kept saying “left” when he really meant right…) Finally we pulled up in front of the place – it’s a smallish B&B in the heart of the Jewish quarter, right next to the river.

We were able to find someone about, and get our bags inside. The place looks lovely, and we are looking forward to our stay. Then, back across the “do not cross” bridge, and to Vergina.

The tomb of Philip II of Macedon was discovered in 1987, and it had never been looted. In fact, the museum was actually built inside the tumulus, and it is absolutely stunning!

Entry to Veria Museum

Local finds in Veria

The bad thing, though, is that NO PHOTOGRAPHY is allowed at all! R was able to get a photo of the outside, but once inside … very sad!

Philip was assassinated at a nearby theatre, during games put on to honor the marriage of Philip’s daughter, Cleopatra. His tomb was literally filled with weapons he had used (and might need in the future).

Ladle with Duck handle

Neolithic pot

Wonderful glass beads

His body was cremated, in the traditional manner, and then his bones gathered up, washed in wine, bundled together in purple cloth and placed in a golden box. They then were laid on a Chryselephantine couch decorated with ivory, gold and silver, with his crown – indescribable: a circle of gold oak leaves. Wow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crown_of_philip.jpg

In addition to Philip, a young woman’s remains were also inside his tomb, thought to be the remains of his Barbarian wife, Mede.

We very much enjoyed the museum, and were lucky to be there early, so there weren’t many people. As we were leaving – about noon, it seemed that lots of people were heading to the museum. From there, we journeyed up the road to see the theatre where Philip was killed. Just an amazing place, although not too much left to see.

Across street from our place

Next door to our B&B

Lovely room!

From Vergina, we headed to Lefkadia to see the remains of a theatre that had been discovered in 1992 and reconstructed in the following years. Lovely view!

By this time, we were getting tired, so decided to end our sightseeing day (and still be able to find our B&B in daylight!) at the Veroia Museum. And talk about having the place to ourselves! And there was only one employee! So, no one following us about or turning lights on for us here!

R relaxing!

Next door "place"

Our balcony

The museum is compact, and the collection is superb. Our only negative comment was that the lighting was so tastefully done that we had some difficult reading some of the bilingual signage. But, we were able to take photos, which was great!

Finally, back to the hotel about 3:30 pm. R was hoping that we would be able to find a parking space in front, and we did, with no problem. However, R did have me turn the car around, facing out, so that would not be an issue tomorrow when we leave.

Our room is really lovely! It’s up a flight of stairs – in the attic, is what they call it. It has a lovely balcony with table and chairs, although it’s not exactly sit-outside weather. Now we just have to find a good (and hopefully smoke free!) restaurant for dinner. Heading out soon!

R at 12 Garda

Lovely local red wine!

R's mushrooms

More later!

xxx

Back from dinner at 12 Garda! And it was great! We walked from the hotel, and it was about 10 minutes following their instructions … turn left, turn left, turn left – and we were there. As it was only about 6:30 pm we weren’t sure if they would be open and serving yet but, fortunately, they were, and directed us upstairs to be seated. There was one other couple there, non-smoking (yeah!!) who left after we got there.

We had a nice table in the corner, and were given English menus. (Obviously, they saw us coming!) For starters, R ordered the crispy grilled mushroom plate, and I ordered the grilled vegetable plate. We split each appetizer up, and they were both really delicious. For mains, R had their pork “sticks” in a spicy Asian-style sauce, with French fries. I ordered their chicken breast, which was perfectly cooked and came with beet root … They also gave us two wonderful pudding-type desserts, served over some kind of cake saturated with a liqueur – fabulous, and we would have ordered seconds if it hadn’t been for other folks finally coming upstairs to eat. So, not wanting to take any chances on smoke, we decided we were through for the night, paid the bill and headed back up the hill to our B&B. Good walk back, no problems. Now getting ready for bed, so will close!