A couple of odd things we saw

Heading east once again, this time to get around Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. Apparently it's worth a visit to the central part of the city, but as with Athens we have no ambition to do that at this time. In fact, the only reason we are this far north is to get around to Turkiye so that we can get to the southern coast of Turkiye as soon as reasonably possible.

But that's doesn't mean there aren't some things to see along the way.

The northern bypass around Thessaloniki isn't very attractive. Lots of industrial areas. 

Not the most scenic.

But there was one odd attraction we stopped to have a look at. 

The train cemetery. 

This is an old railway yard where hundreds of old rail cars are sitting abandoned and rusting away with trees growing in between the cars and nature slowly taking over the whole scene.

It took a bit of effort to find somewhere to park, but once we did we only had a five minute walk to get in. It's supposed to be all fenced off, but the fence is in about as good condition as the rail cars... which is poor, so it's easy to find a spot to get in.

Old rail cars.

There are about twenty railroad tracks side by side and maybe about one km long and all tracks are full of these old cars.

They are in pretty rough condition.

Some are just shells.

Some are not in bad shape.

Trees are now growing in between the cars.

Hundreds of them.

They're in rough shape.

And of course scavengers have ripped through them taking whatever is of value, like copper wire for example.

Kind of interesting, but only worth a half hour visit for us. We had read reports of people spending three hours wandering around. If you really like abandoned stuff, it's a different stop for sure.

But we had other places to go.

Well, at least they made an effort to pretty it up!

We ended up stopping at a neat geological park in a rural area. We had taken the free road the whole way, which was in overall good condition, except it wasn't that fun going around Thessaloniki. For future reference, I think we would pay the money and take the toll road next time through the northern part of the city. Once past that, the free road is fine.

We had read about the odd rock formations of Nymfopetres Park, and apparently it was also a suitable place to overnight, so that's where we stopped.

Random rocks sticking up out of the ground.

It's odd, because the rest of the landscape is relatively flat. There's just this one section where these limestone travertine rocks stick up out of the ground and they have made it into a park that is popular with wedding photography and school groups.

The rest of the surrounding area has no rocks.

It is definitely odd.

Max, parked at GPS 40.6924, 23.3084

As planned, we are passing through this area quickly. It's getting too cold! It was -5C (23F) when we woke up this morning! Our furnace works well, so we were not freezing inside. But that's not the point. This is too cold for our liking. We are meeting up with friends Steve and Glen who have finished their three months in Turkiye and are now headed to a house sit in France. Our paths are crossing, so will spend a couple of days together. Then, we will head into Turkiye.

Yesterday's drive 124 kms (77 miles).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Great deal on this Propane Patio Heater.

And in Canada...

Heated Vests with Battery Pack