We traveled a few days ago from Bulgaria to Greece and brought ourselves at Pozar Baths.After a good night sleep in our Airbnb, we started the day with a morning stroll to a nearby river. The Aspropotomos River had crystal-clear freezing water. This did not stop @thebombkids from getting in and splashing around.
Table of contents
- A Morning by the River
- Picking Fresh Fruits
- The Scenic Drive to Pozar Baths
- Soaking in Hot Springs
- Our First Greek Meal
A Morning by the River
I’d love to say that the walk getting to the river was amazing, but the truth was that as we walked down the dirt road we saw that this was where many come to dump their garbage. Oof, rough seeing such a beautiful area just used as a dumping ground. I guess people just dont want to pay to dispose of it correctly, whatever that means.After we made it to the rivers edge there was no more garbage so i guess thats good. The path died out at this point so we had to do some back and forth river crossings. The kids didnt mind getting their feet wet. Mom and Dad were more hesitant, but eventually had to take our shoes off too.
Having already gotten his feet wet, Percy decided to fully submerge.
Then Amari needed to partake as the afternoon warmth started.
Picking Fresh Fruits
After our morning at the river, we retuned home via a nearby fruit plantation. We walked through rows of trees. Much had been picked but some were laden with ripe fruits ready for picking. @thebombkids loved this part! They quickly picked pomegranates, kiwis, apples, and even some unknown but tasty fruit. Anyone recognize these? Almost like mini-apricots.
Hard to beat fresh fruit straight from the tree. The kiwis were especially juicy!
The Scenic Drive to Pozar Baths
With full bellies from fresh fruits, we hopped into our car for a short drive to Pozar Baths. The road wound through a scenic landscape along the same river we had just been too.
Arriving at Pozar Baths we could tell this was a well visited place as some vending stands were dotting the roadside. We parked near the entrance and first did the walk up the canyon path lined with rocks and and boulders with the river splashing over and making little pools and water slides.
As we climbed higher up the trail the rocks jutted high and sharp and of course Percy needed to scamper up to worry mom.
The path led up the canyon and we took an off shoot that took us up past a cave, but the cave had been locked so as we saw the sun was starting to head down we snapped some family photos before heading back down the canyon to the hot springs.
Soaking in Hot Springs
Once we arrived at Pozar Baths we changed into our swimsuits and headed first to the free pools located directly in the river. These natural pools had been created by people bring rocks and trapping the hot water, it was a mix of the hot and cold river and not very deep, so more a shallow warm tub.
After trying out the free pools, we went to the paid pools. It was 3 euro per person for 30 mins. Pretty sweet to go in a deep swimming pool filled with hot water. This pool was being filled by a waterfall that we had to wait and take turns to enjoy getting pounded. I did some gentle laps and mostly floated in the biggest bath I’ve ever been in. We are here in the off season, so it wasn’t very crowded…which was nice for us to not feel bad letting the kids goof around and not bother the other peeps.
Our First Greek Meal
After soaking for our 30 mins, hunger struck hard! We dried off and headed back into a nearby town to find a restaurant. We found our first authentic Greek meal. Fried Feta and Honey, Melted Spicy Feta, Classic Greek salad with tomatoes, olives and of course more Feta. Stewed mix meats with peppers and mushrooms, Grilled eggplant, peppers and zuchini. We shared it all with a gusto!
A combination of rich flavors that reminded us we had certainly arrived to Greece. Tomorrow we head up into the mountains, headed for the highest peak around, that when on the top you can have 1 foot in Bulgaria, another in North Macedonia and your butt in Greece! Until the next one!