5.31.2005

Greece, Day Four: Amphipolis and Asprovalta

I guess I should finish up the whole Greece Trip thing, shouldn't I?

Day Four consisted of leaving our beloved hotel. We packed up and had to be out in the busses by 0900. We were heading back to Kosovo, but we were going to get the opportunity to stop at two places on the way. The first was Amphipolis, where we got to stop by and see another Museum. This was just a quick stop, it wasn't a very big museum, we walked through it in about 15 minutes easily.



Golden leaf thingees the olympians wear! Gold is a big thing in Macedonia, at least way back when it was.

My camera was still acting up, so I didn't get a lot of choice pictures within the museum, that and we had to take pictures without the flash, and this particular camera has to be held perfectly still or it will blur.

Anyway, the next stop after the museum was was what is called a Hellenic House. This was escavated recently and the paint on the wall is still visible. This house dates back to 300 BC, which is amazing!



Yes, we got a lot of ruins, this one had us crawling around on the walls to prevent ourselves from stepping on the tile.


Unlike the previous days, this day was kind of dreary and wet, but the scenic view was still splendiferous. I decided to sit on these steps and had somebody take my picture wiht the background of Greece only to have a bug fly into my eye while they were taking my picture.


And even more ruins. Some people were kind of feeling like the old rocks were getting old, but I enjoyed touring them. I never thought I would get this opportunity so I was all over it!


There are a lot of poppies here. I thought they were perty.



The great wall of Amphipolis was built way back during the time of Alexander the Great. This wall surrounded the city and was, well, it was big.



So I couldn't resist the kodak moment and got my mug taken sitting on it.



And to give you a perspective of the sheer size of this thing.



It is big. We weren't here for long touring the Wall of Amphipolis, but we did take the opportunity to climb all over it.



I leave you with something you may or may not have seen or heard of before. The Lion of Amphipolis. This is a huge statue that dates back to the time of, you guessed it! Alexander the Great! This thing is big! We got a group photo at its feet.

Spending all morning at Amphipolis touring ruins, we got to stop by in Asprovalta for lunch, where I had a Gyro. Actually, I had two. Asprovalta has beaches. And it also has a really pretty church that I went inside of to get a look around. The murals in these buildings are amazing, they are very ornate and extravagent.

I got some pictures of Asprovalta, but not many due to my finicky camera. However, they are not currently on the web.

Which brings me to another homework assignment. Put up some pictures of Asprovalta.

Actually, Asprovalta was a last minute shopping place for us (on top of eating there). We were only there for about an hour and due to the rain, the beaches were empty. I still got a picture of me on the beaches.

When I get around to it, there will be a picture of me on the beach here


But honestly, in all senses, Asprovalta wasn't much different on face value from many places. It was a touristy town, and becuase of its beach, and the content of some of its postcards, I was quickly alerted that in prime season, you will see a lot of people topless.

I'm glad I went when I did. Say what you want about nudes, but there are some people in this world that you never want to see without something covering the blubber of their skin.

After Asprovalta, we got back in the bus, and headed back for the border.

I got my passport stamped heading out of the country (very odd) and I have to admit I was a bit let down by Greece's Passport stamp. The last time I got a Passport Stamp was in Suriname South America. That thing was really pretty.

Maybe this fall I will get some prettier stamps. Or when I go to Bulgaria at the very least. We also got a chance to shop at the duty free shop coming across the border. *cough* RIPOFF! *cough*. I picked up a bag of Bounty Chocolate bars with creamy coconut filling. My latest weakeness.

No, that is not an excuse to send me a crapload in the next care package. You folks have been far to kind to me, I have been spoiled, and boy do we get a lot of junk food in those care packages! And I'm a sucker for Chocolate!

Well, considering I have been back from Greece for Three weeks now, you know the story from there!

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