Rain was forecast early this morning so we had packed everything away last night. Still dry when we got up though!
Quick stop at Lidl, by which time a brolly was needed to go from carpark to door.
We then drove around the back of Thessaloniki on the ring road. My word, I haven’t seen so much water on the road in a long time. Coupled with frequent thunder and lightening it was a couple of hours of absolute madness!
Stopped for lunch in a lay-by and it started to brighten up a little.
We had our sights set on Mount Olympus – home of the Gods, with some nice flat parking near the top!
The route seemed quite good at first, although we missed out on some spectacular views as there was so much low cloud around. Towards the top we started to see a lot of loose stones on the road and one big boulder looked like it had cracked the road surface, with half of it carrying on down into the valley below. 😬
As we got close to the carpark the road became a single lane gravel track – that was the final straw.
We turned around somehow and started to make our way back down. It was now a bit foggy and raining again.
Not wanting the afternoon to have been a waste of time, we detoured down a little road to an old abbey. Panic set in when my phone showed the road petering out into track again, but luckily there was a large flat carpark at the bottom.
The Old Monastery of St Dionysius-on-Olympus was a lovely place. Completely destroyed in the war, it was left as a ruin for years, but is now, finally, being restored whilst still being used! The builders are doing an amazing job ..it’ll be brilliant when it’s finished.
Couldn’t find a suitable parking spot so we made our way back down with the highlight of the day putting in an appearance towards the bottom – a baby wild boar…very cute, but wouldn’t stay still and pose for the photo!
Now parked in the little town of Litochoro. Hoping for a good view of the mountain if the cloud clears in the morning.