Athens

Athens is a city with a big reputation that it did not really live up to.  The Acropolis is impressive and parts of the city are very nice, but the ruins in Athens are not the best or oldest I have seen and the city is not particularly impressive.  Our time in the city was good.  We stayed with a young woman and her boyfriend in a part of the city far from the center.  They were very sweet and allowed us to leave some stuff in their house when we went to the Cyclades.  We had a nice time in Athens, but the city wasn't particularly stirring.

The Peleponnese

We circumnavigated most of the coast of the Peloponnese peninsula.  We walked through seaside towns, played on the beaches, and explored some ancient ruins.  We stayed with several different couch hosts along the way, and we had a wonderful time with all of them.  Here's a look at some of the places we visited.

Methoni

The archaeological site of Mystras.

The ancient city of Mycenae.

The Peleponnese was connected to mainland Greece until the Corinth Canal was dug in the late 1800s.  It is 6.4 kilometres (4.0 mi) long and 21.4 meters (70 ft) wide.  It is not used much these days, because it is not wide enough for most ships to use.  Despite this we watched a cruise ship go through this passage while we stood on the bridge.

Meteora

Our arrival to Meteora was really quite surprising.  As with so many places we visit, I often write down the name and location of an interesting site months before we actually visit.  By the time we go to visit I have completely forgotten what its significance is.  We put Meteora into our GPS when leaving Makedonia, and just followed the chosen route.  In hindsight, the route was probably less direct than others, but also probably the best.  The GPS took us over the mountains along quiet country roads.  The route was really remote, and we had no idea what to expect.  When we crossed the final hill between us and the monasteries we were ecstatic.
The Greek Orthodox Monasteries of Meteora are some of the most impressive sites I have seen.  Floating high above the valley are six monasteries precariously perched on top of enormous limestone pillars.  The monasteries where constructed in the 1400's and 1500's.  Most are simple.  It is really their location that makes them so remarkable.  Some you must climb carved stairs to reach.  The view is remarkable from any of the pillars.  The tiny village below seems even smaller from these high precipices. 

Macedonia

We stayed with a lovely family in Bitola for several days.  During our time there we visited the ruins on the outskirts of the town.  The ruins were small and not well preserved, except the magnificent mosaic floors. 

We took a day to drive over to Ohrid, which is a wonderful little town on Lake Ohrid. The town has Ottoman style architecture, ruins, and winding streets.

Javier was so happy to see these little cars everywhere.  They were either the same model or looked just like the cars that were so common in Spain during his childhood.

During our last days in Macedonia, we stayed with an American serving in the Peace Corps in Prilep.

Albania

There may be stranger places than Albania, but I haven't been to any.  During the decades as a communist dictatorship the country was very closed to the outside world.  It is an Islamic country, but religion was persecuted during the dictatorship, so most people do not practice. 

The country is very poor, but the people are friendly.  Couchsurfing did not work out too well for us in Albania, but we were actually brought into a random household one of our first nights.  They gave us dry clothes while our own clothes dried, fed us more food than we needed, and did their best to communicate with us using the small amount of Italian one of the women knew.

It was the first and the last time I will eat cow lung - hopefully.

We stayed with an American while in the capital.  The capital and a nearby town have some very unique points of interest.  In 2007 George W. Bush visited the town of Fushe Kruja for a period of less than an hour.  Because there had never before been an American president in Albania, the Albanians were ecstatic. 

Years later they erected an enormous statue of Bush in the town square, and also named a street in the capital after him.  I do not know if there are any other statues of him in the world, but if there are they are few.

Remember that I said Albania is strange?  Well since it is a poor country, there are many odd things you can see.  Probably my favorite was the day we drove past a man and his bear.

Because Albania was part of the Ottoman Empire almost to the end, there is some wonderful examples of Ottoman architecture in Albania.

Some kids we met in a mountain town overlooking the coast.  They were very excited to meet us and insisted we take a photo.

The coast of Albania is very nice.  In Italy and former Yugoslavia they are always complaining about how their beaches are dirty because of the Albanians.  If this is true there is no sign of the garbage coming from Albania.  All the beaches in Albania are pristine.

I would suggest Albania to anybody interested in an adventure and laying on a clean and quiet beach.