ASPROVALTA: A FEW DAYS ON THE BEACH

 After my couple of days in Thessalonki I decided to spend some beach time in the north. It had been a toss-up between various locations but in the end I chose Asroprovala, a small beach town about two hours from Thessaloniki. I used to go camping there on my past trips when I was working on research for SHADOW.  This time I made the choice to go there rather than Thassos Island, which I love, or the Halkidiki penisula was because just as I was making plans for Greece, the tomb find at Amphipolis was made pubic. Asprovalta is close to Amphipolis and I decided that I'd take the chance on going to see this remarkable archaeological site. It all fit in with my wish to tour some of the novel's sites as well.


I booked myself into a nice hotel. I'd thought it was going to be right on the beach and it wasn't, but the beach wasn't far away, just a short walk. And the people at the hotel were very welcoming and helpful.


The beach was about a 10 minute walk along a country road. It was a long stretch of sand and not very many people on it at that time of year. So I managed to have a couple of leisurely days just hanging out in the sun, swimming and enjoying a little rest.

In the evening I sat out in the big back yard of the hotel and wrote in my journal. There was a good restaurant at the hotel too though not many patrons enjoying the delicious food.


On my second day I asked the hotel clerk to hire a taxi for me so I could make the trip to Amphipolis. The first time I'd been I had walked up the road to from the main highway, and second time took the local bus up to where the old hill fort used to be. This time, as my time was limited and I didn't fancy the long hike, I decided on a taxi ride. And as it turned out, I was glad that I did because the cab driver was familiar with the territory and knew exactly what to show me.

NEXT:  AMPHIPOLIS:  A VIEW OF THE TOMB