Edessa to Profitis Ilias, to Arawissa - day nineteen 12/10/15

Edessa to Profitis Ilias then on to Aravissos and taxi to Giannitsa

12th October Monday

day nineteen Via Egnatia 

We walked two sections of the VE from the guidebook today.14.5km  to Profitis Ilias, then another 15 km to Aravissos - 29.5 km today! 

Forecast is for fine weather...  We'll brave it and start walking...

We have our last delicious breakfast at Hotel Hagiati , Edessa

We say goodbye to our helpful host Gregory,

Then, it's on with our packs and down the cobblestone path out of Edessa at 9 am

It's very sunny, and soon heats up, temperature definitively in mid to high twenties! 

A lovely walk down past the ancient Edessa site, 

So much history with every step!

through orchards. Kiwi fruit almost ready to pick, various types of olives, cherry, apples, grapes, stone fruits...

Looking back towards Edessa high up on the cliff top.

A few wet muddy places to negotiate, and streams to ford, but not too bad considering the recent rain.

Then up through some meadows with beautiful flowers! A lovely walk, with a stream burbling below, the sun shining, flowers blooming.... 

Alongside the railway tracks for a little while, 

then up along sheep meadows. We avoid a shepherd with a large flock of sheep and some dogs, 

head down past some solar panels, with more sheep eating the grass around them and keeping the ground tidy.

I wish I could grow olives like these!

Arrived Profitis Ilias at 1 pm

 We have a coffee - frappe and buy some bread, the lady says I have lovely colour eyes :) and gives us a huge pomegranate each!

I was admiring her olive trees while waiting for Patrick to put on his pack, the lovely lady came over to me and took my hand and led me into the cafe ... I wasn't sure what she wanted... Then she took a jar of olives, pointed to the tree ( her home made olives!) and put half a cupful into foil and a plastic bag and gave them to me! Yum, they tasted delicious! I'll look forward to snacking on them later!

We continue on after a 15 minute break 

There seem to be more cafes, tavernas and food options on Kali than Profitis Ilias

There's nowhere to camp that is dry, everything is very wet underfoot from the heavy rain on Friday and Saturday, we can see that there's also been some localised flooding, the stream looks as though it rose a couple of meters...

So, we head on for another 14.5 km to Arawissos...are we crazy, have I bitten off more than I can chew? Will 29.5 km be the end of me?

Through endless orchards, cherry, Apple, stone fruit ( all harvested) kiwi fruit on the vines... Persimmons... Lucky we have GPS. I feel as though we're going around in circles.... Might be fatigue delirium setting in...

Finally arrive in Arawissos at 5:40. Walking past a house, a lovely group of ladies are eating pomegranates, they give us one and cut it open for us, yum! So juicy, tangy and sweet!

We keep going hoping to find the bar / restaurant by the river as described in the guidebook and camp.

Both bar / restaurants are closed! They are perhaps summer only places, although they look as though they haven't been open for quite some time... they're quite big and have a lovely set up on the river... We might camp under a shelter for the night. 

Or maybe not...Mozzies are coming out, the sun is going down...man I'm so sweaty and stinky! 

Can't find anywhere to have a wash though... Unless I dunk myself in the river!

We decide to head into the Main Street and call a taxi to go to Gianitsa, hotel Pella.

We find a little 'men only' bar, Patrick goes in to organise a taxi.

The lady who runs the bar invites us in, peels us some apples and we have a coffee each while we wait for the taxi to hotel Pella in Giannitsa (pronounced Yiannitsa, the G has a Y sound) 

20 euro for the taxi to hotel Pella, yes they have plenty of rooms!

It's quite a big, modern hotel, a bit pricey at 70€ B&B... The owner is very friendly and helpful.

Lovely shower ! So nice to get rid of the sweat and put on clean clothes!

Dinner, 2 chicken souvlaki, beer and sour cherry juice (my favourite) 9€ 

The hotel owner suggests that tomorrow, we should stop at Pella for a while, look at the museum, and the archeological site then continue on to Chalkidona and stay at a small village hotel there... No hotels in Pella.  Sounds like a good plan! 

Good night, I'm exhausted... 30 km is about 8 km too many for this old duck!

Accommodation:

Taxi to Giannitsa from Aravissos 20€ 

Hotel Pella 70€ B&B 

Bitola to Edessa day seventeen 10/10/15 Saturday

Bitola to Edessa- a wet weather change of plan

10th October Saturday

day seventeen  Via Egnatia 
Walking around Edessa in an ethereal fog!

Our first day in Greece!

We've changed our plans due to forecast rain for the next couple of days, and no accommodation in the next few stages of the VE until Edessa. It's not an enjoyable experience to walk all day in the rain, and then not be able to get dry in the evening! 

Luckily for us, Pece and his girlfriend are going to Greece for a couple of days and offer to drive us from Bitola to Edessa! So generous and kind! We meet Pece outside hotel Tokin at 6:30am it's rainy and foggy, definitely not good walking weather. We can't see a great deal of the countryside due to rain and fog...

We arrive at Edessa at about 9:30 am it's still raining and foggy... We find a nice little bakery for a coffee and snack. 

Prices here are quite a bit more expensive than Macedonia, our coffees and pastries - called Mpougatsa (pastry with cheese and ham, delicious) total 8:80€  the cafe has wi fi, so we're able to organise our accommodation at Hagiati Hotel, in the old Ottoman section of town, Varosi. It's a beautiful boutique hotel in an restored Ottoman house . It's a short walk from the cafe through the fog. 

Our room is small, but lovely. There are delicious home made sweets in our room, a little like Turkish delight.

After settling in to our room, we put on our gortex jackets again, borrow an umbrella and venture out Edessa - a walk in the clouds... The hotel is in a perfect location, a short stroll to most of the sights - the old water wheel and machinery

The amazing thundering waterfall! The Varosi area of Edessa is perched at the edge of a cliff with streams flowing through the town then plunging down spectacularly !

There is a walk behind the falls

The noise of falls is deafening!

There are several waterfalls close together plummeting down.

A giant plane tree

We continue wandering into the town centre for another coffee and to buy a Greek SIM card.

Patrick decides to rest at the hotel and keep dry, I keep exploring...

A lovely small church perched at the edge of the cliff

Inside the 14th Century Byzantine Church Koimisis- of the Virgin Mary, it was very dark in the church and I wasn't able to use a flash... Sorry about photo quality, it's a lovely church, fabulous timber carving, frescos and carvings on the stone columns.

The Ottoman Varosi area of Edessa

Inside our lovely hotel Hagaiti! A cosy refuge from the wet rain and fog outside .

Dinner - it's Saturday on the recommendation of Hagiati we book a table at Ousies.... About 5 minutes walk from the hotel.

It's a lovely taverna, friendly service,  great atmosphere, food and prices!

It's still raining lightly, and forecast for more rain and storms tomorrow!! I'm so glad we made the decision to come to Edessa and not attempt to walk and camp in the rain!

Back to the blissfully warm, cosy hotel! Good night . 

Accommodation:

Highly recommend Hagiati! Lovely hotel, great location, helpful family, fabulous breakfast!

Hagiati traditional Hotel, Edessa http://www.hagiati.gr

Near old quarter and waterfalls per night approx $86 AUD (60€ B&B) 

hagiati@hagiati.gr 

+30 2381051501

Makedonomahon 40, Edessa

Or Varosi

Edessa Varosi four seasons, restored stone buildings or Varosi - both in old part of Edessa. Edessa waterfalls. http://www.varosi-hotel.com half way between Bitola and Thessalonika 

Edessa Sunday day eighteen 11th October

Edessa

Sunday 11th October day eighteen Via Egnatia

It rained heavily last night, it's forecast for some more rain today, but it looks as though it's clearing. We'll make the most of the sunshine to explore Edessa today... 

I'm so glad we stayed another night in Edessa tonight to keep dry and warm!

The staff at Hagiati have organised for our washing to be done last night and this morning we receive our bundle of clean clothes! What luxury!

What a view this morning! Edessa is situated at the top of cliffs, yesterday all we could see was white fog!

The waterfalls are a bit dirty from the heavy rain last night, they're thundering down!

The sun is out! We head down the cobblestone path (near our hotel) down to the ancient Edessa city site

The path ends at the back gate of the archeology site, and it's open, so we walk in. We're the only people here this morning! 

So enjoyable to wander around on our own, enjoying the peace and quiet and soaking in the  atmosphere.. Ancient Edessa became a complex walled city, important for trade on the Via Egnatia between 4th and 6th cent BC

We can see the brown coloured waterfalls of Edessa behind the columns

Strolling back up to Edessa, we meet some friendly goats walking along the path.

Back up the cobbled path, not always the easiest surface to walk along, but at least it's not muddy!

Love this cat! Found the highes possible point on the roof!

We walked up to the other end of Edessa to find the old Ottoman bridge. The rivers are all over full, and muddy! There were concerns about flooding if the rain didn't stop.

This dog has found the perfect spot to keep warm and dry, and she was guarding it well!

We join the locals and have a lovely long Sunday lunch!

Good night , Hotel Hagiati!

It's forecast to be sunny for the next two days, so we'll be off walking the VE again tomorrow morning!

Good night

Accommodation:

Our second night in Hagiati! Lovely hotel, great location, helpful host Gregory and family, fabulous breakfast!

Hagiati traditional Hotel, Edessa http://www.hagiati.gr

Near old quarter and waterfalls per night approx $86 AUD (60€ B&B) 

hagiati@hagiati.gr 

+30 2381051501

Makedonomahon 40, Edessa