Sometimes it's okay and sometimes it's against
When we left Serbia we planned to spend the night in Skopje. We wanted to see this city. Arriving in Skopje, the campsite (when we were there) turns out to be a parking space next to a hotel and this costs €30,- without electricity and water. So we keep driving. Unfortunately no Skopje this time.
In Northern Macedonia we stop at a gas station, so that we can watch a new campsite with the wifi of the gas station. There we decide to drive directly to Greece. The border crossing is just as strict again. Remains special to experience. As soon it is possible in Greece I will call the campsite. This one turns out to be closed. Two others will not open until 8-4 and open 16-4. Oh yes, the clock is also moving forward an hour there. So instead of. 14.30 it is 15.30 in one go. Tip: if you use the acsi guide from a year earlier (so I the one from 2022), always check the website if the data is still correct. Unfortunately, the 2023 acsi guide is much less extensive and there are far fewer campsites in it, so I don't use these. The app is not always completely up-to-date.
By the way, we are lucky at the border crossing from Serbia to North Macedonia. In front of us, a German drives a ‘shabby’ caravan. (a little neater, but then you have a picture). There is passport control again, car papers are checked and finally customs. The German is taken out, just like the car that drives behind it. We are lucky and allowed to continue :-).
Fortunately, we find a campsite in Kavala - Eastern Greece. Means still a bit of driving. All good comes in threes or all bad. After Skopje, campsites closed, we also end up in storm. Thunderstorm, rain, poor visibility, bad roads, strong winds. Driving for Rudolf is really not nice. We are also treated to cars that have been knocked over, up to three times we see them in front of us. We are happy when we arrive at the campsite in one piece. Quickly put things down and enter.
Kavala en Xanthi
After a good night we wake up with rain. It doesn't stop. The pitch we are on, was still dry last night, but now? We have a very private pool on the doorstep. When I mean them at the doorstep, I literally mean at the door. Rudolf goes out with Misty for a while and steps on our tent-carpet and he immediately sinks 10 centimetres into the water. We thought this was still dry, but that was appearances. It's on film, so it's probably seen in our upcoming vlog.
We visit Xanthi a city that is a little further east. It has a university and many internationalities. That's what makes the city fun. We visit our first Greek Orthodox cathedral and it is very different from the Catholic one. Just as beautiful. The city centre is fairly modern, but also has an old part. There are still beautiful houses there! And atmospheric shops and cafes are also not missing. In addition, there is a bazar full of Turkish shops. All in all a nice town to visit.
In the meantime, our dog food has been taken from the Netherlands. And on the advice of the veterinarian in Reggio Calabria (near camping Rudi) we switch to Royal Canin. That is for sale across whole Europe. That's right, but we do need Giant. We managed to buy that once in Italy and then we had to buy the Maxi variant as an alternative. To be on the safe side, we will look for another bag of food. The first pet store in Kavala doesn't have this, but he's kind enough to call another store. And he does have it. Out of politeness, we only buy quite a few dog biscuits, because they also go quickly. Fortunately, the other shop is only a 2-minute walk away. This man is very interested in us and our trip. Nice to meet two friendly Greeks like that.
Not to Turkey
At this campsite we also decide not to go to Turkey. It had only been a small step east and border now and yet we don't. Turkey was not on our bucket-list in advance, but we saw nice vlogs from other travellers that made us interested. In the end, we both had only two real things we wanted to see, one of which was Cappadocia and the hot air balloons. This meant driving 1000 km from the border and back again. We thought that was just too much, even though we have the time.
Ouranoupoli
So further into Greece. We go to campsite Ouranoupoli in Ouranoupoli on the Athos peninsula. For the image-thinkers at the bottom right Thessaloniki. This village is also the largest town on the peninsula and you don't get much further on the island. The peninsula is also prohibited territory, an autonomous republic. After Ouranoupoli there is also a border, which you will not cross when you are a woman. As a man, you can apply for a permit from the pilgrimage office six months in advance, and indicate your well-founded reasons for visiting the island. Upon approval, you may stay on Athos for up to 4 days.
Athos herself seems to be very beautiful with all her monasteries, if the various videos are to be believed. The highest mountain is about 2000 metres. In the tourist season it is possible to view some of the monasteries by boat from a distance (at least 500 metres - so binoculars needed ), but not now. We are going to eat in the, quite touristy, village. Rudolf giros and I souflaki, a first good introduction to the Greek food culture.
After two nights we continue into Greece to Pelion. However, this is not going smoothly. We run into problems with the caravan for the first time, but more on this in the next blog. A teaser in advance haha. We arrived well, I type this blog with sea and sunset views.
Antio,
Rudolf and Lianne from Kato Gatzea - camping Sikia
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