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Week 14
Mount Olympus
This week we head north out of Athens to the base of Mount Olympus. At 9,573 feet, Mount Olympus's Mytikas is the highest point in Greece.
Olympus was notable in Greek mythology as a home of the 12 Greek gods. The nine Muses, daughters of the god Zeus, were traditionally placed in the region of Pieria, at the mount's northern foot. We looked but could not find them. That said, Olympus was thought of by the Greeks as a metaphorical place as well as the physical mountain.
Mt Olympus’ greatest asset outside of metaphors may be its biodiversity. It hosts over 1700 different flower species with over 60 types of wild orchid.
Wildlife is equally impressive with alpine accentors, short-toed eagle snakes, European honey buzzards and over 170 species of butterflies.
We also learn that it is main thorough for bears moving from the north to the south. We take one last picture and decide to pick up the pace.
Thessaloniki, Greece
Successfully avoiding any Grecian bears, we carry on to Thessaloniki.
At the time of the Roman Empire, about 50 A.D., Thessaloniki was also one of the early centers of Christianity. While on his second missionary journey, Paul the Apostle visited this city's chief synagogue on three Sabbaths and sowed the seeds for Thessaloniki's first Christian church. Later, Paul wrote two letters to the new church at Thessaloniki, preserved in the Biblical canon as First and Second Thessalonians. Some scholars hold that the First Epistle to the Thessalonians is the first written book of the New Testament.
Thessaloniki was the birthplace of the brothers Cyril and Methodius, the inventors of the oldest known Slavic alphabet (the Glagolitic script). After their death, at the end of the 9th century, their disciples created the Cyrillic script based on the work of Cyril and Methodius and the Greek alphabet. The Cyrillic script is used today in the alphabets of most of the Slavic languages.
Bulgaria
From Greece, we cross the border into Bulgaria, the oldest country in Europe. Established in 681 AD, Bulgaria is also the only European country that has not changed its name after the initial establishment.
Once home of the Thracians tribe, Bulgaria is the birth country of Spartacus, the Thracian gladiator who led a slave uprising against the Roman Republic) as well as home of the talented and mystical Orpheus. Not only brave and musical, Bulgarians are pretty smart. The national literacy rate is estimated at over 98 percent, and according to Mensa, Bulgarians are 2nd internationally in IQ scores as well as SAT scores.
The Bulgarian roses are the symbol of the country, as well as an item of major export. The petals of the roses are not only beautiful, but they also provide approximately 85 % of the rose oil quantities in the world.
Sofia, Bulgaria
The first city we visit is Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria.
Sofia has been described as the "triangle of religious tolerance". This is due to the fact that three temples of the three world major religions—Christianity, Islam and Judaism—are situated within one square: Sveta Nedelya Church, Banya Bashi Mosque and Sofia Synagogue. This triangle was recently expanded to a "square" and includes the Catholic Cathedral of St Joseph, Sofia.
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
While Sofia is the government capital, Plovdiv is the culture capital of Bulgaria.
Plovdiv is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe and is in the top ten of the oldest cities still existing in the world. As such, Plovdiv has a rich history and numerous stories and tales about different aspects of city life and the establishment of the city. One of Plovdiv’s nicknames is “The city on seven hills” because of the hills (called tepe in Plovdiv) that rise inside the city. Plovdiv’s hills are not broad like in other cities, but look like enormous stones that have been placed there.
Plovdiv has always had a focus on the theater and we take advantage of this by taking in a socially-distanced performance at the Plovdiv amphitheatre which is one of the world's best-preserved ancient Roman theatres. Constructed in the 90s of the 1st century AD, probably during the reign of Emperor Domitian, the theatre can host between 5000 and 7000 spectators and is still is use today.
Historically, one of Plovdiv’s key commercial activities was food processing, particularly pigs. Plovdiv men were “famous for their bravery and skills in battle”, whereas Plovdiv women were “well-known for their mesmerizing beauty”. The similarities to Cincinnati seem endless.
We covered 588 miles this past week and continue to make great progress. This coming week we'll walk through Romania and likely get to Turkey among other places. We're still very much on track to get to Bethlehem by Christmas. Keep up the great work!