Friendly officials at the border and they will even let you take a photo. Greece

Our new friend Mary

The border crossing from Turkey into Greece was notable because of the ease, efficiency and friendliness of the police and customs officers. Only slight hiccup was the validation of our third party insurance policy which was sorted out quickly. No five plus hour crossing but the officials were still armed because it is the major entry point for illegal aliens into the EU; but they were smiling and charming. No sweat here.

The drive through northern Greece was pleasant with lots of picture post card shots one associates with Greece and good freeways. The cars were running well and after lunch we decided the highways were too boring, so we headed off down some secondary roads and through some smaller towns with Reg and Mary in the lead car role.

Our first night was spent at Kavala at Hotel Philomena overlooking a sweeping valley with views down to the port and inlet. We appeared to be the only guests at the hotel until we met Mary, a fifty eight year old lady from Athens. She came into the lounge area and started chatting in broken English. She told me her husband George was in their room watching the football on television and she wanted to socialise. I asked her if she would like to sit with us for dinner and she readily accepted but she explained that she had had dinner earlier.

Mary loved to talk, in that Greek way, lots of gestures, eye rolls and facial movements especially when she was expressing her apparent frustration with George.  She engaged Ken, Peter, Dave and I in conversation or should I say a lot of listening. For someone with broken English she was very competent at expressing herself. By the end of the evening she was telling me how much she loved me and the group. “I love you, I love you, my little one, my little one” as she blew air kisses around and tears welled up in her eyes. She was enthused that we were driving as a group and that we would go home “full up with things we had seen” furthermore in her view it was important to travel as “soon you are no more” She loved “Australies” because George  had six cousins living in Sydney.    She insisted that in the morning we should visit a nearby archaeological site, Fillippos which was constructed in the third century BC and was also linked to Saint Paul’s ministry.

Next morning at seven o’clock breakfast there was Mary all dressed and ready to go. George was in tow. We explained that we would be making a brief visit there as we had a long drive ahead. When we arrived at the site and Mary and George were in the car park. Again we explained we would be doing a quick walk through. Mary was an ambler. She said “don’t worry George don’t want to come here but I told him he have to come here because my people are coming”

We did a rapid run through, and we “her people” farewelled Mary and George with kisses and handshakes, leaving them with Aussie flags and koala bear key rings with Mary,  her hand on her hand on her heart, continuing to declare her love for all of us.  Presumably George could now spend the day as he wished.

On ward to meet the guys: Elias, Thomas and Max from the MG Car Club of Greece at Edessa north of Thessalonica. They had driven in their MGBs some  500 kms from Athens to meet us. The original plan was to have lunch with them and then drive on to Macedonia  but a fantastic traditional Greek lunch at the beautiful waterfall restaurant turned into a mellow event and everyone agreed we should join Elias, Max and Thomas and spend the night at Edessa. Great to have a flexible itinerary. Elias made some quick phone calls and we were all booked in to traditional hotel in gorgeous old stone buildings overlooking the stunning valley. Sitting on the terraced deck watching the sunset and then the full moon rise we knew we were on holiday and doing the social bit of the journey.

The guys were” bon vivants”, proudly Greek and had lots of hearty historical tales and political observations spiced  with much robust laughter; and they didn’t always default back to car talk. They are working to build up their club and have made good international contacts. We are all invited to return to Greece anytime and just contact them. They tell us that roads in Albania and Macedonia are not good and very dangerous……..so we will see.

Our stay at Edessa 89 kms west of Thessalonica was delightful and a place we would all love to return to. Situated on a plateau between the Vermio and Vora  Mountains in the province of Pella once the home to the Macedonian kings: Phillip and Alexander with a population of 25,000 people  and the remains of ancient buildings from the fourth century BC  and with a human presence which dates back to the Copper Age. 

Our small boutique hotel was enchanting and our hostess Anastasia made us so welcome with bowls of the biggest and plumpest cherries I have even eaten, the size of plums and a traditional breakfast with Greek pastries filled with cheese and fish spread. The pleasant rooms had brass beds, beautiful antique linen and of course the picture of Our Lord above the bed.

The people we talked with   tell us that although the Greek government is bankrupt  some people are still doing OK just like in the state of California, where the state is in trouble but some private citizens have their own ways to manage . People are concerned with high levels of unemployment and the effect this has on their country. Some of the economic issues have been exacerbated by the EU framework whereby countries are virtually told what to produce and this has impacted severely in the agriculture sector.

The drive from Edessa  was according to Kerith, Targa standard (for those like me who didn’t know what a Targa is…it is an annual race around Tasmania where cars go at unimaginable speeds). We traversed up to 1500 metres and around sweeping bends, through the what would be the winter  snowfields and down again.

 The idyllic trance was broken when we pulled up for petrol and Ian M went to the WC behind the petrol station and was viciously bitten on the leg by an Alsatian cross  on a long chain.   He has nasty gashes and is on a course of penicillin but being a real trooper he was soon making jokes about the welfare of the dog. Not good and you don’t expect something like this at a petrol fill.

PS: Yellow Car yet again another new fan belt…….how many will it take to get to the UK? Peter is still prone to leave the convoy with a CB call “will catch up” We know he is just checking out the auto stores for another, you guessed it………..

Elias, Max, Thomas with the ladies from the Aussie Team

Moonshine, Greece

Edessa,Greece