From Meteora, we drove northeast to the coast. It poured rain for most of the drive and we took backroads through vineyards an crazy mountain passes with tons of flowers and tortoises...and snakes. I've never seen more snakes than we saw in like, 3 days driving around Greece...it was unbelievable. Luckily, every single one we saw, we saw from the car. It became a running joke that we'd stop to use the restroom or take a picture, and then the second we closed the car door, out would come a snake...they were big ones too!
Anyway, the scenery was lovely...you know how much I love rolling fields under a moody sky <3
We ended up driving through this gorgeous Oak forest along the way.
As we approached the coast, we found a castle and had to check it out.
After dipping our toes into the sea, we found a cozy spot for lunch nearby. I asked if they had peach iced tea, and the gentleman waiting on us nodded. A minute later, we spotted him jogging off to the nearest market to buy me a bottle of peach iced tea! It was the sweetest thing ever. After our meal, I went to inside to pay and they insisted that we have ice cream on the house. I love the little family owned spots all over Greece...so friendly and accommodating, and I felt like they were actually so happy to see us!
We continuted up the coast to the town of Vergina, which houses the tomb of Alexander the Great's father. It's also near the first Capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia, which was pretty cool. The museum is underground and totally dark except for for illuminating the artifacts. As was a rcurring theme throughout our trip to Greece, nobody was around.
From this point forward, we decided to just play it by ear as far as our itinerary was concerned. I had found a few things that I wanted to see for sure, but I didn't book hotels or anything. We'd talked about going all the way up to Thessaloniki, but it was pouring rain and I didn't have anything that I was dying to see up there, so we opted to head back down to the sunshine. I found a motel in the Old Jewish Quarter of Veria and went through all sorts of trouble trying to find it and communicate with staff that spoke ZERO English...which was surprisingly unusual. They upgraded our room so we'd have a balcony over the river but the screen door was broken and Brian got totally locked out! It was pretty hilarious actually...we spend a solid 30 minutes trying to figure out how to get him back inside and he had to break the door further to finally get there! We walked around the oldtown for a couple of hours and then grabbed snacks and beer at a little market close by, and cuddled up for a movie.
The next morning, we awoke to sunny skies and, after a fantastic breakfast, hit the road southwest towards the coast.
As we drove, I kept an eye on Google Maps to see if there were points of interest we may have wanted to check out, and sure enough, in the most random, tiny little mountain town, there was a Museum of Natural History and we decided we should stop. The GPS led us to this unassuming little cinderblock building without any signage or indication of what it was. There were a few old ladies sitting in the shade, so I asked them if there was a museum nearby. One of them got up and walked across the street to a little market and out comes a man with a key. He didn't speak any English, but he waved for us to follow him, and then unlocked the front door, switched on the lights, and allowed us to walk around. After a bit, we thanked him and he locked up and we went our separate ways...super bizarre, but really cool.
When planning out our trip, I'd really wanted to go to the islands of Paxi. Unfortunately, with the way we timed it, there were no ferries on that particular day, so we decided to explore nearby Corfu instead. There was a car ferry leaving from Igoumenitsa every couple of hours, so we bought tickets for the next ferry online and then grabbed lunch at the terminal. These burgers were absolutely incredible and cost 8 euros each!
After lunch, we drove our little rental car onto the ferry and sat out on deck as we pulled out from shore for our 1 hour ride. The weather was perfect and there were probably 15 other people on board and we got drinks and enjoyed the view.
We drove off of the ferry and found ourselves right on the outside of old town Corfu. We managed to find a tiny parking spot for our tiny car and walked through the streets and shops and had some gelato. Last time we were in Greece, I'd had my eyes on a Phaistos Disk ring, but ultimately passed on buying it for myself and have regretted that ever since. This time around, I was determined to find myself a beautiful keepsake ring and found a 14k gold antique at a shop in Corfu. While I was mulling it over, Brian bought it for me and I'm in love...it's absolutely beautiful.
The Venetian old town was actually really nice and reminded me a little bit of Palma, Mallorca... interesting and not terribly crowded and easy to get lost in :)
We also checked out the Museum of Asian Art while we were there.
Our next stop was the old Venetian Fort that we first saw as we approached from the ferry. We got in just before closing and we were literally the only people there. It had some interesting and very dark history, even serving as the place that Jews were rounded up from the Islands during WW2 and shipped off to Concentration Camps in Poland.
As the sun was going down, we made our way to the hotel that I'd chosen just a couple of hours earlier. It was an all-inclusive, adults-only resort overlooking a beautiful bay and I got it for dirt cheap, being so last minute. The forecast called for a sunny, warm day, so we decided to stay 2 nights so we could sleep in, enjoy the facilities and the beach, and take it easy after a few busy days of travel and exploration.
We checked in, cleaned up, and made our way down to the resort's restaurant for dinner.
The following morning, we grabbed breakfast and then made our way down to the private beach to set up in the closest lounge chairs to the water.
On our last morning in Corfu, we hit up the New Venetian Fortress and then took the ferry back to mainland Greece.
Once we made it back to Igoumenitsa, we continued south down the coast to the most beautiful little bay called Parga.
We spotted a Venetian Castle on a cliff overlooking the bay, and of course, had to go check it out. On the way, we stopped at a little café for cappuccinos and a banana split :)
Then we made our way down to the little beach right in town. They had sun loungers and umbrellas that you can use for free if you buy drinks, so we were able to hang out for a few hours and soak in the sun and the sea.
See the little church over on the little island out there? Well, Brian decided to swim out to it and check it out, so he put his "waterproof" phone in a "waterproof" case inside of a "waterproof" bag, and made his way over. Within seconds, his phone took on water and completely shut down. I'm glad that I hadn't joined him or we would have been screwed. No more phone for Brian for the rest of our trip...darn ;)
Eventually, storm clouds began to build and we packed up and made our way back to the car. We passed through a parking lot and Brian brought a couple of kittens meowing in the middle of the lot to my attention because they were just just teeny tiny...maybe a week old at the most. Well, I wish he hadn't because they were literally about 20 minutes from death. I went over to them and instantly began bawling and crying because they were obviously not well and were stumbling around, drooling, starving, and their little eyes were crusted over and they were crying out for their mom and it broke. my. heart. I desperately tried to find anybody to help them but nobody spoke English. I didn't want to touch them in case their mom came back for them. Then, it began to pour rain and a lady from a nearby shop brought over a box, scooped them up into it, and set it under a nearby tree. It was just a couple of minutes later that both of the kittens stopped breathing and I lost it. The locals were watching me, confused, as I sobbed into Brian's chest. It was just the saddest thing I've ever seen. I've never felt so helpless. It was one of the best and worst days of my life.
We got to the car and drove down the coast, out of the rain, to Lefkada...an island connected by a roadway and home to, what I'd heard, are some of the most beautiful beaches in Greece.