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Monday, December 13, 2021

The ancient city of Dodoni

The skies finally cleared enough to go and do some exploring. We made sure to bring our umbrellas and raincoats with us though! 

Only a 15 minute walk from where we were parked is the ancient city of Dodoni. We didn't come here specifically for that, it was just a coincidence really. Which is a good thing because I read some reviews that said it wasn't really the best ruins site. 

As we always say, keep your expectations low, and you won't be disappointed.

There was one tour bus there, and a couple of cars. I had read online that the entrance fee was €8 ($11.50 CAD, $9 USD) and we were prepared to pay that so we were pleasantly surprised when we were only charge half that. I had forgotten that someone told us that they charge lower rates in the off season.

The main attraction is the huge 18,000 seat amphitheater.

One of the things I had read is that they are doing some renovation work on the amphitheater, but it isn't proceeding very quickly, so the whole thing looks like a bit of a construction site, and it has been that way for four years now. 

And you're not allowed to climb on the amphitheater or go up to the top.

Construction site.

This is what they believe it looked like 2,500 years ago.
We have seen it spelled both Dodona and Dodoni, so we're not sure which is more correct.

They would have been better off not trying to rebuild it.


The side supporting walls were built to last!

Other than the amphitheater, there really isn't much left.







Not sure why they went to so much effort to try and preserve this little section of wall.

It took us an hour to see everything there was to see. At the regular rate of €8, it's way overpriced and we would have been disappointed if we had paid that price. At the off season rate of €4, it was okay. But I wouldn't suggest that anybody go out of their way to visit this ruins site. There are far better ones out there. But, it gave us something to do on a not so nice day.

We still needed some exercise though!

So we walked up to the modern day villages of Dodoni and Dramesii.

What's that pretty color up in the sky??
Haven't seen that for a few days!




Walking back down we came upon this small landslide.
It had obviously only happened within the last few hours.

Cleanup in aisle six!

We had drinks and "snacks" back at the bar again last night. Not quite as busy on a Sunday evening with no local football team playing. But the food and drink was just as good!

Today we are up early because we have decided to make the 100 km (62 mile) detour each way to Meteora. The weather forecast is for mostly clear skies, but chilly with only a high of 8C (47F). Good for climbing 150 to 300 stairs to get up to the monasteries there! Besides, we hope that on a Monday during slow season there won't be many other tourists around. We had seen photos of what it had been like there prior to Covid, and we would not have wanted to take part in what has become another example of over tourism. 

Full report tomorrow!

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Record low deal on the Brita Water Filter Jug.

And in Canada...


2 comments:

  1. Near Ioannina is a monastery similiar to the ones in Meteora. Also beautiful waterfalls and hiking trails near the canyon. Maybe you'll run across it on the way back. With the rain gone hopefully you'll be able to explore more of the area. There's more caves too.

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    Replies
    1. We know about the canyons in the area and we were told that this isn't the time of year to do them, the trails apparently get quite slick and slippery. Hopefully we will return to that area on another visit when the weather is nicer. We really want to head further south and to warmer, sunnier weather. There are going to be plenty of sights to see along the way and lots of other beautiful hiking trails and it is impossible to see everything.

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