Monday, October 1, 2012

On the road to ruins

Our travel day went very well today and we had a wonderful drive from Meteora to Vergina. We took some winding back roads but mainly stayed on the beautiful highway to Veria. The road is new and very nice to drive. Top down, wind in your hair, and warm fall sunshine...it does not get much better than this!

We arrived at our hotel a little early today and they graciously had our room ready and we were promptly ensconced! Our Hotel Ktima Kalaitzi is fabulous with hosts Thomas and Pan taking wonderful care of us. The grounds are lovely and feel like a sanctuary on top of a vine lined hill. The Hotel itself is filled with old leather and antiques which give the feeling of an old estate. We were welcomed like friends and made to feel completely at home.
We went to do our tour of the archaeological site of the Royal Tombs of Vergina where Phillip ll of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great) is buried as well as another Prince who became Alexander lV (son of Alexander the Great). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergina

It was one of the best museums we have yet seen any where. The tombs form part of the museum and the museum is built around the tombs in situ. You can walk right up to the rock where the tomb was carved (but they won't let you touch it). I pointed out to Don a couple of places where you can actually see parts of pieces of pottery from that ear sticking out of the clay and earth around the base. The Royal Tomb is a wonderful part of the museum but you also have to go and see the Palace of Phillip ll. The Palace  is massive and well worth the extra time.

Returning to our hotel we freshened up and then went down to the grape vine covered patio to sip some of their house wine and read up on a few places we will be going. The Chardonnay was a 2011 (newly bottled) chipper and a little sweet (great for an afternoon sip) and went well with the slightly salty cheese. We may buy a bottle to take with us on our next leg of the journey!
Dinner is at 8:00 and we are looking forward to the promised dining experience. Pictures to follow.
 

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