We have completed our two thousand one hundred kilometre circuit of Greece, having returned to Athens today after a seven hour journey south from Thessaloniki. Greek highways are modern and smooth, making for comfortable travel and providing easy access to all areas of the country. We passed a monument in the Valley of Tempi comemorating an accident ten years ago, when thirty children returning from a school excursion were killed in a collision between their bus ...

Our drive through eastern Macedonia along a recently constructed section of the Egnatia Highway took us to Philippi and then to the port of Kavala (ancient Neapolis). Tracy's prayer at the beginning of our journey, asking that we be attuned to God, the long traffic queue we saw on the opposite side of the highway as a result of an accident, and the sight of water bombers gracefully descending onto a lake to scoop up water in readiness to fight fires, helpfully il...

Our late afternoon journey from Berea to Thessaloniki found us travelling under sunny skies through vast agricultural land arrayed with apricots, peaches and kiwi fruit. The following day, the summer solstice, we began our exploration of the city. Storm clouds hung menacingly over the bay of Salonika. In a matter of minutes morning turned to night as rain drenched the largely empty Sunday morning streets. The world acclaimed Byzatine Museum was both a refuge from...

We headed north from the town of Kalambaka, which nestles below the Meteora monasteries, into the lush landscape of western Macedonia (said to be one of the poorest regions in Europe). That reputation is surprising since at first sight the region is well watered and covered with Platania trees, corn, vineyards and lavender. Herds of goats stroll in the shade of the forests. Bears and jackals roam the hills. One can imagine the young Alexander the Great hunting he...

Our four hour drive from Delphi to the magnificent monasteries of Meteora, set high above Greece's granary Plain of Thessaly, took us through fields of corn, sunflower, cotton, watermelon, lentil and wheat, and then into mountains speckled with fig trees and wild foliage. A family of storks, which migrate from Egypt to Europe, was seen nesting in a church bell tower. Meteora (Μετέωρα), the 'middle of the sky', is one of Greece's largest complexes of orth...