Close to the campsite
is the archaeological site of Avdira and the Blue Guide suggested
that it could be interesting so we headed of to it. The route took us
all along the coast with lovely beaches and many small holiday homes.
Arriving at the site it was obvious that it was extensive and,
according to information boards, the EU had invested large amounts of
money in it. Also according to the boards the site was open from
08:30 to 17:00 every day but it was a victim of the austerity cuts
and it was locked up.
We looked over the
fence and read about the history of the site on the information board
before heading up to the acropolis, an open part of the site. This
was occupied in the earliest phase of the site but the extant remains
are of an early Christian basilica. The views were lovely all along
the coast and over to the island of Thassos.
We read that there was
a museum in the modern village of Avdira so we drove on to check it
out, expecting it to be closed like the site. There was a large
poster on the door of the very modern museum stating 'OKI' ('NO') and
we guessed that this had to do with the cuts. However it was open!
There were two staff and one spoke good English (he insisted that his
English was poor!) and he gave us a good introduction and the two
shadowed as we walked around. The museum was excellent, very well
presented, some excellent finds especially from the graves and the
information boards were extremely informative telling things about
ancient Greek life that we didn't know. No photography was allowed
(the main reason we were so closely watched, I suspect), so I can't
show you any of the excellent finds. We asked about the site and it
was confirmed that the cuts were the reason that it was closed. It
“might be open Monday or Tuesday”. I find it amazing that the
museum for the site didn't know when the site was going to be open.
If they didn't know, how were visitors supposed to find out?
I asked about
the posters on the door. Yes, they were about the cuts. Was his job
at risk? He will be made redundant from 6th
November with no prospect of getting another job. He handed us two
leaflets on the museum and the site and a photocopied sheet that
explained in Greek and English why they were protesting the cuts. We
wished him luck.
Just beyond Lagos is
an amazing monastery. Set on an island in a lagoon south of Lake
Vistonis it is linked to the mainland by a wooden bridge. A further
wooden bridge leads from the monastery to a second island and another
church. It is popular with Greek and Bulgarian tourists and was quite
busy when we visited. After our visit we sat in the car park in
Henrietta and had lunch. A monk approached, wished us welcome and
asked where we were from. It turned out that he had relatives in
Folkstone and Birmingham. He told us that the monastery is part of
Vatopedi, a monastery on Mount Athos (Holy Mountain), an autonomous
area of Greece run by the Greek Orthodox church. There they use the
Gregorian calendar (13 days behind ours) and the hours of the day are
of variable length! Fortunately, the open hours displayed at this
monastery were on our calendar and time. The monk gave us a DVD that
celebrated 25 years this year of restoration of Vatopedi and he told
us that Charles Prince (as in the Prince of Wales) had visited the
monastery many times. Sure enough, when we watched the DVD (all in
Greek but still fascinating) Prince Charles gave a short speech
saying that it was his fifth visit.
Taking a coastal route
passed the rather impressive-looking EOT campsite at Fanari (lots of
flamingoes here), all was going well until we came across a sign
telling us that we were crossing a river. What we didn't realise was
that we were actually crossing the river, without the assistance of a
bridge! The asphalt suddenly stopped and we were on an earth track
and then a concrete ford. Fortunately at this time of the year the
river wasn't flowing over the ford so we were able to cross whilst
admiring the bird life (egrets and others) on both sides. After
another short stretch of dirt track we rejoined the asphalt and a
more civilised road.
We stopped at two
small archaeological sites close to Maroneia, a Greek / Roman theatre
half a mile down a dirt track (we seem to be making a habit of this)
and an early Christian settlement with a huge basilica.
On then to the biggest
city in eastern Greece, Alexandropolis, and to the appropriately
named Camping Alexandropolis. The campsite was quite busy with a
large number of Dutch and Bulgarian motorhomes and caravans. There
were also a few Germans but we were the only British people there.
The evening was quite
noisy with lots of load Bulgarian music and the Bulgarians were
obviously celebrating but it didn't keep us awake.
Photos: The monastery on Lake Vistonis taken from
the church on the second island; Henrietta fording the river.
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