A while ago we found a day trip to Mt. Olympos Viator.com. We (well, I) really wanted to go so once we found out our clinic schedule we bought the tickets! We woke up at 6am to get ready to catch the bus at 7am into Thessaloniki. The bus did not come, apparently their schedule is a little different on the weekends, so we called a taxi that sped us all the way to the meeting point in Thessaloniki.
The drive was lovely, it was nice to get out of the city. It was your average tour bus with air conditioning, huge windows, and comfy seating. It only took about an hour and we were at the foothills of the great Mt. Olympos. Our first stop was the museum at the base of the mountain, on our way in we went past a shop that had a small dog on the roof barking at the bus. A homemade alarm system, if you will. I was not able to snap a picture but Kai and I laughed a long time at that one.
The museum itself contained everything you would want to know about Mt. Olympos – from geography to plant and animal life to the myths of gods and goddesses that are supposed to live in its peaks. It has a mesmerizing history. Holding bones that date back over 4,000 years ago to being a refuge for those fighting Nazi occupation – it’s storied history is fascinating.
Our next stop was to a gorge that splits Mt. Olympos in half – the Enipeas gorge.
Enipeas Gorge
We started off by going on a hike and then had some time to wander the shops of a little town situated just outside the mouth of the gorge. We saw some animals (no snakes, yay) and had a chance to see some of the natural beauty of the mountain:
After the hike we made our way into a small town with some beautiful views of the gorge.
After this, we were back on the bus and heading to the ancient city of Dion.
Ancient Dion
Once a bustling city filled with public forums, temples, and mansions these ruins are still being discovered to this day. This ancient city was one of the main cities located in the foothills of Mt. Olympos – Kings would come here to sacrifice to the gods before great battles. Some of the items they have found date back to 1,400 BC, although many of the ruins are 200 BC. This picture into history was amazing. Along the roads you could still see the wagon tracks embedded into the stone.
Dion Museum
For the statues and items they did not leave where they found them on site, they brought them to a museum. This was our next stop.
Greek Women’s Health Care
For the purposes of this blog, this was probably one of the most interesting things we saw – an ancient greek vaginal speculum. The reason we recognized it on site? Not much has changed….. since the 1st century AD.
