Litohoro, Greece - Vergina, Greece - Sofia, Bulgaria
An Olympic Morning
Litohoro's Market
Walking to Olympus
The first thing I did that morning was take more photos of Mount Olympus... then we had breakfast, visited the market and were on our way...
Philip II's Tomb
On the way south from Thessaloniki we had missed Vergina, but we had been recommended to go see it and it was on our route once again. It did not take long to get there but were we ever glad that we made it. Vergina happens to be the home of the tomb of Phillip II (Alexander the Great's Father), and Alexander IV (Alexander the Great's Son). The tomb was originally buried under an enormous mound of dirt, and to preserve as much as possible the museum was constructed in the same way. Tourists walk down into the tumulus and into the tombs. This was one of the richest archaeological finds of all time. There were three tombs here, and they were filled with riches like had never been seen before. Alexander the Great was diligent in making his father's burial that of a king... and it was. Phillip was buried with weapons, armour, treasure, his horses, what may have been his mistress, and countless other valuables. One grave had been robbed, but Phillip and Alexander's were in tact. Phillip was found with his bones inside a box of solid gold. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is not hard to see why. What an incredible piece of history.
Entrance to the Tumulus
We looked at everything, went down to the tombs, watched a movie about the excavation and then made our way out of the earth and back to the light. There were no photos allowed in the museum, but I will cherish the memories made that day.
Atop the Tomb
From there it was quite a drive. North through Greece (careful not to end up at a border crossing going into the Former Yugoslavic Republic of Macedonia, since our car couldn't go there), and then up into Bulgaria. Driving, driving, driving... and more driving... up through Bulgaria and into their capital... Sofia. Sofia is like most of the big cities in the area, it is filled with the communist style building blocks of identical towers that made up identical apartments. It is not really that attractive... the amazing part was that in the entire city there could not have been a tower more than twenty stories. This might not sound too impressive, but bear in mind... Sofia is Bulgaria's largest city!
In Sofia, Bulgaria!
We arrived at 9 pmish and managed to find our hostel, though not without some difficulty... It was late... the city seemed to be quite sketch... and we were just hungry... We managed to find a McDonald's and feasted on some comfort food before heading back to the hostel and going to sleep in the large loft...
The Loft
Stairs
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