Edessa

Thursday Aug 2^nd

A quiet but very pleasant day in spent in Edessa. Martin left for Bulgaria at about 7.30am and with Taz opting to relax in their room, Joel and I decided to have a look around this rather nice little town. We wandered through part of the old town to find the famed waterfalls and were once again astounded to find a large tourist project which must have cost quite a few million euros, all but abandoned.

That Lift !

The main way down to this folly was via a two stage lift which was covered in graffiti and so badly vandalised that neither of us were very keen to risk life and limb in it, even though it silently and eerily appeared at the push of a button. Whilst the falls were certainly still attracting a few visitors, the huge Hemp Museum was completely derelict with it’s adjoining café bar complex looking as though it hadn’t been used for a very long time. There was a futuristic, water powered children’s play area and vast terraces all just left to return to nature. The aquarium was open but empty and even we didn’t part with our two euro to see it.The falls however were well worth the climb down countless steps ( and of course, up again!) with three separate chutes dropping spectacularly from the town above into the chasm.

The Hemp Museum

It was of course then coffee time and we were definitely spoilt for choice of where to sit and pass some time people watching. Eventually we chose a shady little corner outside a bakery shop in which to enjoy our Frappe which was served up with a fresh cheese straw to nibble on and passed the time in amiable conversation. It’s really nice the way I seem to have connected with both Taz and Joel and conversation is always easy and pleasant with all of us being equally comfortable with the spaces between! A bit of a wander then back to the hotel to check on Taz and it was time for lunch. Getting a little jaded with the ubiquitous Souvlaki, Joel and I found a Greek fast food joint with Joel trying the Chicken whilst I had an oven baked cheese and pepper dish with French fries all washed down with an ice cold beer…
Then the thunder started ! I’ll say one thing about the weather out here when it rains, it really rains. We sat in the café for well over an hour whilst another storm of tropical proportions rained torrent of water from the heavens sending everyone scattering for cover except a few hardly soles that appeared not to notice the deluge.

Late in the afternoon having collected Taz, now much recovered it was once more coffee time this time as ther sun had moved we sat at a bar on the other side of the square and Taz got into conversation with one of the waiters about a place to eat He recommended a little restaurant some way down into town that served mezes, a Greek version of the Spanish Tapas but slightly larger and so we had what we all agreed was our best meal so far in Greece. Three meat and three fish dishes were set before us with amazingly, a green salad rather than the more usual Greek salad washed down with a little tsipouro ! what a way to end a day…

So now we head off in the morning to Thessonaliki to meet up with Lefteris for the weekend and to see the countryside and coast around his home area and I for one can’t wait !