July 19th - Day 39

Sanctuary of Isis @ Dion

This morning we traveled to another one of my favorite sites, Dion. Dion was an important religious and cultural center of Macedonia and is known for its many sanctuaries. It took us almost 2 hours to get there and it took about 1.5 hours to tour the site, as it is very big. We saw a few sanctuaries, my favorite being the Sanctuary of Isis. This sanctuary was cool because it is being reclaimed by nature. It is now surrounded by a marsh, which gave it a really cool, sunken appearance. Plus we got to see frogs, turtles, and fish swimming around the temple, which was cool. Other highlights on the site included a Roman theatre, a few bath houses, and the Temple to Zeus Olympios, who the site is dedicated to. The site has a nice view of Mount Olympus and they also held athletic games and music competitions in honor of Zeus. After spending time at the site, we jumped on the bus for a quick ride over to the museum where we got to see some of the finds from the site.

Dimini

After a short lunch break, it was on to Dimini, which contains remains of both a Mycenaean and Neolithic settlement. The city was built up on a small hill and you can still see the foundation remains there. We also got to see a well preserved tholos tomb. We didn't spend too much time there as we got there shortly before the site closed for the day.

Then it was back on the bus and onto Makrynitsa where we will spend the night before we start making our way back to Athens tomorrow. The hotel we are staying in is much nicer than the hotel in Thessaloniki. It is located in the mountains and we had to walk a ways to get to it because our bus could not get there. They were nice enough to come pick up our luggage, so at least we didn't have to lug that along with us. Although, if they have a luggage shuttle, shouldn't they have one for people too? I'm just asking...Anyway, the hotel has a nice rustic feel to it and feels like the Four Seasons compared to our last hotel.

Tonight is our big official group dinner. We are eating at a restaurant which apparently has excellent views of the surrounding mountains and valleys below. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow! Less than a week left in Greece - can't believe it!