The people there had told us about a taverna in a small village at the base of the mountains. Apparently it's well known to the locals, and the best place for miles around to have great traditional local food in a homelike setting at cheap prices. They said the roads were good enough for Max to get up there, the only thing we weren't sure about was finding an overnight spot. But we always figure something out!
We didn't leave until after lunch, but it was only 15 kms (9 miles) away.
We went through two other villages on the way.
That's where we are headed.
To the village of Perdikoneri at the base of the mountain.
Well we got through the village okay, but it's located on the base of the mountain so it's quite sloped. And the roads are only wide enough for one vehicle, and before we knew it we were exiting the other side of the village.
Fortunately, there was a little spot where Max could pull off into a small field. If we had to, we could make that work. We parked up and walked back into the village to check things out.
Max, parked just outside the village.
We actually had a beautiful view from there!
Olive harvest is happening right now.
That huge bag is full of olives.
That's a lot of olives!
We believe that these ones are headed to the press for olive oil.
We found the restaurant in the village, but there was nobody around. However, there was a small parking area that was almost level... that would certainly do for the night if we could park there.
We went back to Max and enjoyed the view for a couple of hours. Then I walked back to the restaurant and luckily there was an older man there and the door was unlocked. I just assumed he spoke no English, and so I went into charades mode. I showed him a photo of Max, and pointed at the lot and made a motion looking like sleeping. It was kind of funny because it turns out he spoke some basic English... not very well, but certainly better than our almost non existent Greek! And yes, we were welcome to park for the night. He said we could come to the restaurant after 7:00pm for dinner.
Max, parked at GPS 37.181007, 21.676688
Yep, this will do for the night.
So just after 7:00pm, we walked across to the restaurant. There was just the older guy, his wife, an older couple at another table, and two other guys maybe our age at another table. You felt like you were in someone's house.
One of the guys our age spoke some English, so we had a little conversation, and he explained to the others about us being from Canada.
Like being in someone's house.
Nice cozy fireplace.
No menu, and not much English, so we just asked for something traditional, and we got lucky with the gluten free.
Lima beans.
Cabbage rolls.
And salted pork with eggs.
Along with a half liter of his really good home made wine, and a couple of shots of his homemade Tsipouro. There was too much food, and we ended up taking leftovers back to Max! Total bill was €17 ($24.50 CAD, $19.25 USD). Delicious!
Friday morning, we drove in to town do some groceries because the shops would be closed January 1st, and possibly on Sunday as well... we weren't sure.
It was a little busy getting through the town of Filiatra.
Mini Eiffel Tower!
Apparently this mini Eiffel Tower was built by the same guy that built that fairytale castle we showed you the other day.
Yes, this is a two way street!
Then it was south to Voidokilia Beach where we stopped in for a couple of hours because it was only a few kms off our route anyhow. It's a beautiful beach with a lot of sand dunes and a protected natural area. We could have easily spent a couple of days there but unfortunately the area has a bad reputation as a spot where vans and motorhomes get broken into a lot, and there is nowhere to park where you could go out and do things and still keep an eye on your vehicle.
Headed south.
View from our side door.
Greek flamingoes.
We were nervous about leaving Max alone, so Ruth went out for a walk while I stayed with Max, and then vice versa.
Mycenaenan Tholos Tomb from around 1,500 BC.
Voidokilia Beach.
Max.
Apparently this beach gets quite busy in summer.
One thing we can't figure out is where all the cars would park.
So nice to be in the middle of a stretch of beautiful weather!
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Nice price drop on the DeskCycle 2 under desk exercise machine.
And in Canada...
Happy New Year to you both. Wishing you beautiful adventures while exploring new territory. I'll be following your interesting posts! Http://marleneandbenno.blogspot.ca
ReplyDeleteThank you and Happy New Year to you as well!
DeleteFrom looking at your blog, it sounds like you two have done a ton of traveling yourselves. Perhaps you will even see some familiar pictures of beaches and bays that you yourself will have seen when you were sailing in this area so many years ago.
We are looking forward to what 2022 has in store for us. :-)
Happy New Year! I enjoy reading your posts and seeing your pictures! Our motorhome has been in the shop for three months now awaiting a new engine.
ReplyDeleteThank you and Happy New Year to you too!
DeleteSo sorry that you have been without your motorhome, that must be so frustrating to have to wait on the repair, hopefully it will be ready soon.
Thank you for following along on our journey, we can't wait to show you what 2022 has in store for us! :-)
Happy New Year to both of you. Awaiting your new year adventures.
ReplyDeleteThank you and Happy New Year to you and Sue and all the best for 2022.
DeleteWe can't wait to see what adventures are in store for us for 2022 either. :-)
Isn’t it fun finding these little local “restaurants” so funny how we all rely on the international skills of charades. How terrible not to be able to leave Max alone so you could walk together.
ReplyDeleteWe love finding these kinds of places they are so much better than any kind of tourist restaurant and way more authentic.
DeleteTraveling in countries where the language it different is always fun and somehow or other we always manage to make ourselves understood, with lots of laughs and smiles. :-)
It is very disappointing to feel this way about the area and it truly turns us off about making any return visits until things like that improve. Even when we were traveling in Mexico we never felt that unsafe that we couldn't leave Sherman alone. :-(
Yuck! Having said that when we lived in Ottawa in the winter we always preferred snow to freezing rain at least with snow you could still go outside and enjoy it. I think that same weather system is going to be making it's way to Ottawa as well because we saw that they had a snow advisory headed their way too.
ReplyDeleteWe have to say that last picture was a beauty of a place to stay. :-)
I always find it so frustrating that you can't leave your camper behind at some places cause someone might break into it. There have been some places where we left it behind and I just couldn't relaxed all day because I was afraid of that. Somehow the thiefs are always able to steal something from you...
ReplyDeleteWe find that very frustrating too, especially when it is such a beautiful area and you want to go out for a hike together. This was really the only place that we didn't leave Max alone, there were just too many reports of break ins and we just didn't want to risk it. You are right if they don't actually steal something physical then they seem to steal your trust away. :-(
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