Apparently some evangelical Christian pastor in the US did some heavy calculating and determined that the end was nigh, in fact, Saturday the 21st of May. Well-behaved Believers would be "raptured" bodily to heaven, while the rest of us would wait for our miserable end. We counted down the hours until showtime, but didn't see anyone ascending to heaven (we had even spent quite a while discussing who among us was most/least likely to be raptured...Hanna didn't have much confidence in my chances!). Although the rapture was apparently a bust, we spent a long weekend in what already seemed like paradise, so it was pretty hard to tell. The paradise that would have to do for us un-raptured was Thassos Island, Greece.
Thassos Island is known as the "Emerald Island" of the Aegean. It is one of the largest and most forested of the Greek islands. It is far from the cruise ship circuit, and a bit off the beaten path of heavy tourism that fall upon other more famous isles like Santorini. It is about 6 hour drive south of Sofia, then a short 45 minute ferry ride. Several of our friends have gone before, and all loved it. Shannon was skeptical that I would enjoy going to an island for 5 days -- would I get bored? No, I wouldn't. It was wonderful. Or, as Shannon says "The most perfect amazing excellent vacation ever!"
The lovely bay that forms the 3km long beach of Skala Potamia and Golden Beach on Thassos. The high point of the island, Mt. Ipsario (1206m) is in the background.
This is the off season in Thassos. Many of the shops/restaurants are still shuttered up for the winter. It's a shame, because the weather was absolutely fabulous. It was about 80 F and sunny every day, with a breeze to keep it from getting too hot. The sea was pretty chilly still (I'm sure the swimming is better in July), but we still got in the water every day, and one day played at the beach all day, alternating from the beach chairs to frisbee in knee-deep water to playing catch/keep-away a little deeper. The beaches were very clean, and the water just sparkled.
20+ teachers (plus some family members, former teachers, and a boyfriend) caravanned down to Thassos, staying in a variety of nearby villas and hotel rooms. It was great. 9 of us shared my villa, about a 10 minute walk from the middle of a 3 km long beach (Skala Potamia and Golden Beach). Thassos is famous for its marble. Several colors are quarried there (including the "second whitest in the world"), and have been for millenia. Somewhat ridiculously, this leads to marble being so commonplace that the street curbs in the main town are main of marble, and crushed marble is even used as gravel on the dirt roads. Yup, gravel roads paved with sparkling white marble. The rocks of the island also made for enchanting sparkling sand (it looked like flecks of gold in the water) and excellent rock-hunting. Carolyn in particular found herself quite a rock collection.
Beachside cafe, with white crushed marble below the chairs.
I took runs along the beach, among the olive groves, up to a little village, and scrambled to a secret cove. One day we circumnavigated the island in our trusty red VW "хаиде". The 60 mile loop showed us different sides of the island, and we stopped at several beaches to sample their different flavors. One memorable spot was fairly unmarked but obviously no secret...we were never there alone. It involved turning down an unmarked dirt lane, driving 10 minutes down a gnarly dirt road, then hiking 10 minutes steeply down to the marble cliffs at the sea. A prehistoric marble quarry had left a hole next to the ocean that filled up with incoming waves. It was hypersaline because of evaporation (check out how well Pei Pei, Jess, and Carolyn are floating in there). The hole was so clear it was deceptive how deep it was...it looked only 3-4 feet deep, but I never touched bottom, even when jumping off a smallish cliff (I never felt brave/foolish enough to jump off the top cliff, but Jamie and Rich did last year after he proposed, apparently!)..
Jess jumping into the quarry hole.
Jess, Pei Pei, and Carolyn in the quarry hole.
The refraction does funny things to their body size. That and the high salinity that makes them float really well make for silly pictures.
Another day Shannon, Martyn and I did a 6 hour round trip hike to the very top of the island, 1206m high Ipsario Peak. It was quite a stunning hike, with huge cliffs, ancient trees, views to the beach, the mainland beyond, and even the not-so-close island of Samothraki. There was so much contrast on the island, with a great beach, a stellar hike, history (we kept driving by and sadly never stopping at any of the many Ancient Greek archaeological ruins...I've heard they're pretty good though).
Martyn and Shannon climbing up to the summit of Ipsario peak. The ferns above treeline made is super green.
The beach viewed from the summit. We of course went swimming after the 6 hour hike.
Jeff and big big very old and gnarly tree.
We all got plenty of sun, sea, relaxation, and good food. Our two-day work-week after Thassos was HARD -- everyone just had such a great vacation, and it fully felt like summer. At the time, we still had a full 5 weeks of the school year left! Still, I have to thank the monks Kiril and Methodious, who brought Christianity and literacy to Bulgaria 1200+ years ago, as our long weekend was in honor of their efforts. Thanks K! Thanks M!
In summary, Thassos is freakin' awesome. Beautiful beaches. Great hiking, ancient ruins, etc etc. We had no crowds, though I'm sure that's a different story come July and August. Either way, highly recommended.
Click below for a Flick slideshow with some additional pictures.
P.S. Bulgaria finished a new piece of freeway a few months ago, that allows the main Serbia-Greece highway to bypass Sofia with a proper 4-lane limited access divided highway (called the "Lyulin" highway). This 17 km section is lovely, but I never expected to take it, as it doesn't go anywhere I want to go...just for bypassing the city if you're on a through route. NOTE: If you're heading north from Greece, and trying to get to Sofia, near the town of Pernik you'll come to an exit. It will tell you to exit for Pernik, and stay straight for Sofia. If you follow the signs for Sofia, you'll zip right over the "old road" between Pernik and Sofia, that cuts between Lyulin and Vitosha mountain. The old road is congested, windy, and in bad condition, but is also goes to Sofia. The new road is shiny, empty, well-paved...a generally excellent road. Well, excellent unless you're trying to go to Sofia. The new road will eventually connect to the city center from the west, which is quite a bit out of the way for us in Mladost, over on the southeast. I said eventually, as you currently can't get to Sofia at all from this road. That's right. If you follow the signs for Pernik, you can get to Sofia via the old road. If you follow the signs for Sofia, you can't get to Sofia. Nice highway, Bulgaria, but you need to maybe work on your signage, maybe just temporarily cover up some stuff until you finish the rest of the road. On the other hand, I suppose it's not so much worse than the 710 freeway in California, that heads from Long Beach to Pasadena. At least it's supposed to. It stops several miles short of Pasadena, leaving you in a surface street traffic nightmare, and it's been this way for decades, so if you're trying to go to Pasadena, it's best to NOT take the road labeled to Pasadena. Tricky.
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