Explore With Me: The Military Ski Resort On Mt Olympus
On Thursday I made a photography post with my purple-haired troll in the snow. As I mentioned in the comments, some photos were taken at a military ski resort. In case you were wondering, this is how the story goes...
A few weeks ago a friend, @trumpman and I visited a military camp on Mt Olympus with free access to the public. The base is a special forces camp, manned with a few soldiers and offers the ability to stay in one of the log cabin within its premices. There you can also find a small ski resort (no rental ski equipment though, you need to bring your own).
As you can see from the photos, the "resort" is really basic, almost military frugal 😋
But the views are simply breathtaking, don't you agree?
Visitors need to bring ID documents to be admitted and non-greek citizens need to contact the Hellenic Army General Staff at least one day in advance in order to ask for permission to enter.
At the entrance we were greeted by two soldiers, handed out our IDs, one of them put our names down in the visitors' log and then we were all free to get inside and head to the military cafe and restaurant place ran by the soldiers of the camp.
Photos were not allowed in all areas, but after our lunch with souvlakia and beers (yes our soldiers know how to barbecue!), we got outside and headed upwards to see the ski resort, which was closed because spring time had already hit!
On the way you will find a monument in good memory of Major Ioannis Paparrodou who served in WWII.
Moving farther up, not much you can see, just a simple ski lift that gets you to the top of the hill where you can ski down the snow-covered slopes.
Are you jealous?
No? How about now?
Is it me, or this cloud looks like a white, puffy heart?
After a nice breathe-in-breathe-out, get-stoned-at-the view session, it was time to go home ☹️
Oh! Look, my friend even got a souvenir mug from up there...
On the way down, the scenery changed colors, white tops gave way to green plains and distant hills.
We were also confronted with a bull and his harem...
See the look he is giving at us? Ready to defend his girls against anyone who tries to harm them, a real gentleman!
Baaaah! And some goats!
I hope you enjoyed today's trip! To the ones close to the area I strongly suggest paying this place a visit in winter (if you are good at driving turning, snowy mountain roads). To the ones far away all I can say is... have you turned green with envy yet or do you need some more shots? 😈 😈 😈
Enjoy!
This cloud almost bent to kiss the snowy top, I think it mistook it for another cloud 😋
*All images by @ruth-girl
Thank you so much for your time!
Until my next post,
Steem on and keep smiling, people!
Wow, that view is just breathtaking!
It is. It makes up for the dull military life :)
Awesome!!! When does it close for the season? Is it open for non skiing after?
The soldiers told us they are open all year long for visitors. But I don't know if you can rent the cabins within a specific period.
Great views, amazing photos!
I will post here tomorrow a photo from my cloud heart :P Mine was smaller though :)
Oooh! Great! Let's fill steemit with some cloud love! <3 <3 <3
This is it.. I was thinking of making a post, but my cloud is very small and maybe even looks as a heart only for me : (
I think I have another cloud heart but I have to look for it in my older files!
I hope you enjoy it, kalimera @ruth-girl! 💙
It is beautiful!! And I can clearly see it is a hear indeed!!!
Καλή Κυριακή, Κατερίνα!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Wow! Really interesting place to visit. So, as a foreign tourist, I can't enter?
You can only if you have permission by the Military General Staff. So, a few days before visiting you have to call them first.
The place is perfect if you want to go hiking on Olympus, there are paths that lead to the top of the mountain.
Nice! Are there any entry or other taxes?
Nope, it's all free!You only pay for whatever you drink or eat at the restaurant-cafe, but don't expect anything gourmet there. very simple meat dishes, cooked by the soldiers at very cheap prices :)
Even better. Thanks for the info :)
Your spring is more green than mine. In my land, the snow melted only, and the rivers were free of ice. The sun began to warm up the earth, but the plants are still asleep. I hope to see the green in a couple of weeks. Today I had to drive 200 kilometers, the views were very sad and in my car Apocalyptic played, "the requiem for the dream" was also. I do not even know what brought me these sad moments ;)
![IMG_3336.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmVSywqJCh7YJozRn43NZnWBcH2v8W5g8AkQjmdnKXUQB4/IMG_3336.JPG)
You are right. Your spring looks a bit depressing. Fields are all green here now. Trees are blooming...
Did you have anyone to keep you company along the way??
This way I go one. It is possible to listen to a good audiobook or good music once a week.
Escaping by yourself every once in a while sounds a good deal too! :)
It seems that today my spring decided to accelerate 🙂
![IMG_3359.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSrT9LanEHQ6CNiUBFkYiHsFDQfmSD3wVN9JdgX2mdYPg/IMG_3359.JPG)
![IMG_3362.JPG](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://steemitimages.com/DQmVx29NmvEiBikFuc7WnH7sH3bgmUMpbreBZXZc3ksj2aZ/IMG_3362.JPG)
Aaaah! That's more like it! :D
Beautiful photography! Have never ventured out side of the country I was born in. Plan to remain residing here in the house I live in with my husband. We live in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA.
Thank you!
I've never been to the States. It's in my wishlist ;)
Envy!!!
Ooh my God! That was totally amazing trip @ruth-girl. Reading your whole story with those incredible pics made me want to step my feet to Mt Olympus someday. I love traveling. A traveling addicted honestly. I just found this account after searching the "travel" tag. I'm also a travel blogger. Unfortunately, I'm a new comer in this cutting edge social media. If you want to know about Indonesia, you can check my account sometime.
Thanks for sharing. I'm waiting for your next posts. Love it❤️
Ooh! Thank you so much! Stay tuned for more! :)
I am very envious of your adventure!
Does the Greek army run lots of these small businesses for visitors and tourists?
I don't know if there are more camps like this. We discovered it accidentally on another trip around the area. We saw a sign "Olympus Ski Resort", went home, googled it and voila! Our next Sunday trip was there...
Nice post! I liked your sense of humour. The photos are really nice! Keep it up friend!
Thank you! :)