Flying "Solo" Day 3&4

We took it easy Wednesday morning by leaving the beautiful town around 11 am. Thanks to the breakfast owner we are going to go visit a monastery that's at the edge of the gorge. Small drive there and we arrive rather quickly, Connor is getting more and more iritated with the switchbacks in these mountains, he might just not take the turn one time... The monastery itself was small but the view was nice. We saw a path that lead further into the gorge cliffside. Naturally we followed that path. And we were greeted with a gorgeous view of the gorge. A sign at the beginning mentioned it was 490 meters tall, supposedly taller than the Grand Canyon. I haven't fact checked it yet but I'd believe it. Further along the path there's a wooden door blocking the way. Just a really old wooden door, with support beams placed above it and surrounded in stone, on the pathway. We went through it and it seemed as though the gorge opened up. Several pics were taken as well as a video or two. We walked back around, made sure to close the door, and headed to Vergina. Where the tombs of the Royal Macedonian family are. At least Phillip II and a few others. This museum was particularly interesting as I just took an entire class on the life of Alexander the Great. And Phillip II being Alexander's father was prevalent in class. The tombs were discovered unlooted so all that we were seeing were originals and very close to where they were discovered. The museum leads you into the ground and it is very very dark, the tombs are left intact and you can walk up to the tombs. It was all jaw dropping amazing. Photos were strictly forbidden, thus only a few photos were taken. After we were all done there we headed to Tessalaniki. Where I was reminded why I detested Athens. There are only the most basic of traffic rules, stop at the street lights, roads are for cars, and use the horn to express frustration. EVERYTHING ELSE was the wild west of cars. There were three lanes of cars waiting at a stoplight when there were only supposed to be two. People parked where ever they wanted. At a corner? Parked. Next to a parked car? Parked. Halfway on the curb? Parked. We passed by a corner and I think I counted 15 parked at the triangle corner. I'm flabbergasted by the ludicrous situation we passed by. Fortunately we found a parking spot at an actual spot and the hostel we were staying at was across the coner. We checked in, then headed right back out for a beer, and a view of the water. Then we had a really fancy dinner per a recommendation Connor had. We stuffed our faces, and as we were leaving our waiter sat us back down, brought over dessert, and told us it was on the house. Ugh, we've been jokingly saying how much we hate how aggressive polite the Greeks are.
We woke up and headed straight out, we wanted to visit the Pilgrims Bereau as they opened. There they could grant us permission to enter the autonomous entity of Greece located in Mt. Athos. As they are ruled by the Patriarch of Constantinople. The religion there is Eastern Orthodox. As soon as they opened we were through their doors. They only grant 10 non Orthodox passes a day. After discussing our interest with the man he told us the nearest available date was Sunday. That through a wrench in our super lackadaisical plans. He also asked us what form of religion we practiced and I quickly said Catholic, it was a mistake. He just mouthed something under his breath as he was typing. Oops. Now that we finished what we wanted in Tessalaniki, we quickly left and headed to the base of Mt Olympus. That was our new plan. 2 day hike on Mt. Olmpus and then walk all over Mt. Athos. We found an information center, where they told us a marathon was being done on Saturday and more information about the mountains paths, sites, and refuges. Thanks to the aggressively polite peoplr there, we found room in one of the refuges Friday night. so 2 day hike it is. Afterwards we had pizza and ice cream for dinner, nice break from the constant gyros and meats on a stick we've been having. At the hostel I ran into a Colombian who was participating in the Marathon. What are the chances. Apparently he runs in Colombia, was running in Europe and found this one and joined on a whim. I'm not too worried about him, if Colombian bikers nail the Olympics with ease, this guy has it.