Last January (2010) I had to follow Dick Mol to several localities in Western Macedonia, Greece, where projects are run by Dick Mol and his colleague Professor Dr Evangelia Tsoukala of the Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. First was a visit to the Mammoth Museum in Thessaloniki (see the icon on “all galleries”).

After a short stay in Thessaloniki we travelled to Siatista, a lovely town in the mountains, not far from Grevena. Evangelia Tsoukala and Dick are developing a museum which will show the remains of Pliocene and Early Pleistocene fossils which have been collected in the area around Siatista in the last century. As far as I understood, some very special items and new discoveries. For this exhibition, in a wonderful restored old school building, the project started last summer. One of the first steps is to deliver some scale models of proboscideans (trunk bearing animals) like the Mastodon of Auvergne, the southern mammoth, the steppe mammoth and the woolly mammoth. All to scale 1:10, made by Remie Bakker of Rotterdam, based on the fossil record and supervised by Dick. These models will give the visitors an idea of how these prehistoric animals looked like. The mayor of Siatista was very pleased to see these pieces of art from the Netherlands which have been presented to him by Evangelia and Dick, together with the other members of the team.

I was supposed to take some pictures in and around Siatista, but, unfortunately, the weather conditions were not very good. It was Winter! A lot of snow. And the travel from Thessaloniki towards Siatista was not easy, farmers were blocking the roads. So it took us quite a long time to reach Siatista. But it gave me the opportunity to take some pictures of these events.

We also had to visit the mayor of Milia. The museum in Milia with all the excellent mastodon remains will be extended. A nearby old school building is under renovation. It is planned for the coming summer to fill it up with the paleontological heritage from Milia. Dick and Evangelia are developing interesting and attractive plans. I am convinced that it will be very promising and educational. And, as a kind of tradition, we had to meet with the Prefect of Grevena. A very kind person who is supporting the Museum in Milia and who loves paleontology. He is the right man at the right place: he understands how important the fossil record is to get a better understanding of our past and the future of our living planet. Together with Evangelia Tsouakala he was very proud to show me the Guinness World Record certificate which they received last September for the longest tusks in the world which are on display in the Milia Museum.

Since we are members of the society of Friends of the Milia Museum we had to attend a meeting including elections for the board of the society. Real elections, showing democracy at its best. Some very good people have been elected for the board.

Back in Thessaloniki Dick Mol was working on a sketch for a mural in the Milia Museum which will be made by the artist Dimitra Labretsa from Athens/Grevena. In the Nouvelle Hotel they have been busy and I had to present some of my pictures which I have taking since last summer following Dick and his projects. It was a real successful visit with many surprises. Of which I took hundreds of pictures. A few of them are presented below. Enjoy them!