Mt. Olympus

Today we drove about an hour away to Dion which has an archaeological site with some temples as well as an old Roman town. These temples are not massive and impressive like some of the other ones we have seen because they were associated with the ordinary town of Dion. There was a small theatre and several temples. A temple to Demeter was found as well as a small one to Zeus. This one was situated so that Mt. Olympus was in the background.


Next, we saw the ruins of an old Roman town. The Roman streets are still there as well as public toilets (I do have a picture of that but will not post it here) and public baths. We saw ancient storefronts and some private residences as well. Some of them were very impressive with intricate mosaics still visible. The town was apparently abandoned due to damage from floods and earthquakes.
It was there long enough to contain the remains of an early Christian church as well.

After we finished at the site, we went up to a little village for lunch and had a wonderful meal that included ice cream with cherries on it for dessert. That was really good. I had something I cannot pronounce or spell for main course but it was basically spice minced lamb and veal with potatoes and rice. We are not lacking starches at our meals here.

Next, we went part way up Olympus to one of the peaks. We had some time to hike around. The whole place is a nature preserve so there is lots of hiking and camping available. There were lots of people taking advantage of their holiday today on the mountain.


Tomorrow we visit the Royal tomb of Philip of Macedon who, among other things, was the father of Alexander the Great. I hear it is really spectacular so I am looking forward to that.