Thessalonika

23rd August Near Thessalonika, Greece.
Had a devil of a time getting the last few articles posted on the blog. On Samothrace it seems we had an hour limit on the computer and by the time we had replied to all the emails the time was up. Now near Thessalonika and will make a concerted effort to post them tomorrow.
Samothrace was just what we needed. Four days of resting, going to the beaches, visiting some ancient sites, reading, and trying to get some articles written for the Caravan & Motorhome Magazine. It was idyllic. The place is old. The trees are gnarled with age, the scrub that covers the barren areas looks like it's been there for aeons and are almost fossilised. The rugged mountains are some of the oldest in the Aegean and the highlight of the ruins, the Sanctuary of the Greater Gods dates back to the 7th Century BC at least. It is a very reflective site. Our first visit was n the early morning when we had most of the place to ourselves. All we could hear was the distant sea and the clanging of the numerous goats on the hills around the site. The pathway between the 2 sections of the site was through old olive trees, the path littered with broken shards of pottery. Many still had the pattern made by the potters centuries ago. So different to Ephesus with its 4,000 visitors.
Its a heavily wooded island with plenty of shade on the lower slopes of the mountains. The last morning we walked up a gorge to see this waterfall we had been told about. The maple trees along the stream were starting to shed leaves. Many of the older ones at some time had had their hearts ripped out by floods but were existing from a thin layer of sap wood that held them together.
We came back over on the boat yesterday, the 21st, then made our way further west to Kavala, a large city perched between the mountains and the sea, then on to Thessalonika today where we were once more caught in the maelstrom of traffic jams and searching for non existent parking places.