GREECE: Ioannina, Meteora, Veria, Thessaloniki

Ioannina--a city on a lake in northern Greece, near Albania. The old city is inside of a fortress built by the semi-autonomous Ottoman governor Mehmet Ali Pasha while outside lies the very pleasant and prosperous newer districts.

The drive through the mountains from Ioannina to Meteora

Meteora. A bunch of Greek monestaries perched on crazy rock formations. Well worth the sweaty hike up there.

Veria. An hour west of Thessaloniki, the town runs at a much slower pace than the bigger cities. Nearby is the village of Vergina, where archeologists recently uncovered Phillip of Macedon's tomb. Alexander probably grew up looking at these hills.

Mt. Olympos. Saw it from the distance on the bus to Thessaloniki. Its almost always stormy at the top.

Thessaloniki (Salonica, Selanik). Once the second city of the Ottoman empire and melting pot for its people, particularly Sephardic Jews. Now its nearly all Greek, but its storied history is evident amidst the modernity.

Thessaloniki had excellent grafitti, even beating Albania where I saw "Fack you Greece" written on an underpass. Here's a Thessalonikian masterpiece...