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Published: April 4th 2009
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Drakolimni Hotel
This is the hotel in Tsepelovo, built in traditional architecture style using local materials Week 20 in Greece
29th March- start of a 4 day bus trip to Epirus Region in North Western Greece We stay at Hotel Drakolimni ( Meaning: Dragons of the lake- lake a 5 hour walk away). It is at the tiny village of Tsepelovo, with an elevation of about 1100 metres above sea level.
The Hotel Drakolimni is the only hotel opened every day of the year. There were about another 3 other hotels and some private rooms to rent in Tsepelovo, but all only open during the summer. We stayed at the hotel for the 3 nights we are away, and use it as a base for the bus day trips we take. 150 people live in this little stone village. However we saw about 10 people the whole time we were there at Tsepelovo. There was no bakery- they have to go to the larger village of Skipi ,13 km away to get bread, so I assume that a lot of the villagers make it themselves. Mainly older people who live there and eak out a living tending the sheep and cattle. So tourism would be the main income stream.
Day 2 30th March
In the morning we
View going towards Zagoria Region
Heading towards the Pindos Mountain Range in North Western Greece went to the large city of Ioannina which is 36 km away and at an altitude of 500 metres above sea level.. It has 130,000 people and an airport, but with tourists and university students the population swells to 150,000 people in the summertime. On route to Ioannina we stopped at a lovely stone bridge and took some photos. Once in Ionannina we took a ferry boat ride over to the little island which is in the middle of the fresh water lake. The ferry boat basically leaves for the island when it is full. So having 30 odd people from our bus made for a quick trip. The water level was going down from the lake- the melting snow makes it come over the wharf area on the island. There were some ducks and ducklings near the wharf and a guy with some stale bread came to throw it into the water for the ducks to eat. There were also tavernas with fresh fish and eels swimming in fish tanks outside the restaurant. I assume you chose your fish to eat- talk about fresh. When you walk towards the little church, people at the souvenir shops offer you little
An elderly lady from Tsepelovo
This lady was planting the onions and also milked her 6 sheep pieces of different locally made products- wine and halva so you know what they are like and hopefully you will buy them. After we returned to Ioannina, we walked to the castle ruins and the burial site of a Turkish Ruler, Ali Pasha who ruled Ioannina for 33 years. The following URL is a site about Ioannina.
http://www.diamoni.gr/ExePath/Location2Search.dll?ST_ID=-1&PREF_ID=21&SearchMethod=PREFECTURE
At the restaurant we stopped at for lunch, there was a bunch of garlic hanging near the door- to guard against “The Bad Eye”. The Greeks are very superstitious about some things.
Snow was still around on the distant mountains and also on the side of the road on the higher altitudes. The mountains cut for the road looked like they had their rocks laid by man, as so neatly positioned. All the older houses in the area called Zagori , where the villages cling to the mountain sides like eagle nests, use local rock for the walls and also for the roofs. Even some of the newer homes and the Government buildings use this traditional building materials. Looking up from the road there are trees which have exposed roots hanging off the side of the hills - the soil
The six sheep
These belonged to the old lady and had just been milked has been washed away with the snow, and so exposing the roots. Sometimes they actually topple over and will eventually fall down the hillside too.
There was dancing at the hotel after tea- they took up the large carpet rug and danced to music from a CD. Michael danced a bit then left for our room as the smoke was too much with his cold. People smoke at every opportunity- at the breakfast table, before they get on the bus, etc. Luckily they are not allowed to smoke on public transport, so the bus was smoke free. Don’t know how the Greeks will react to the July 1st law that says no smoking in food areas. Think it is an EU requirement., but I don’t think it will be heartily welcomed.
Day 3 31st March
We visit some other small villages and have lunch there at ____
Before tea, we go back to the shed where the day before we heard had the sheep inside and Michael had taken a photo of the 6 sheep who had come out for a look at us. There were 2 old women tilling the soil near the shed and were planting out little
Rock Roof
The roofs are constructed of local rock, overlapping each other and then others covering the ridges onions. I asked how they got water there in the garden, and they said onions don’t need much water and they get enough from the rain falling. The soil was enriched with manure and had a board at the base to stop the soil falling down the hillside. The board was then attached to some wire which went around the electricity pole which was conveniently located nearby. Michael asked for a photo and they said they were not well dressed, but Michael said it is what is in your heart that matters. So they acquiesced.
I saw 2 new terracotta pots on a balcony opposite the hotel- broken and I thought that someone had reversed into them, but Michael said that if there was a bubble in the clay/terracotta, the freezing temperatures would have made it expand when frozen and so it exploded.
On the last day before breakfast, at around 7.30am, we went for a walk- only 3 dogs to contend with going to this panoramic viewing area, but coming back, there were 11 and we had to walk backward with our sticks- should have taken a photo of it. They caused so much fracas that the farmer came
A little village
One of the many villages with the stone houses in the Zagori region of Greece out of the milking shed ( I assume) and asked in Greek did we want to pass? We said no, but I must admit I was a bit scared , as these dogs came down suddenly from up on the hills above the road we were walking on. Probably local fun with the tourists. There was half a dead goat- head and bit of shoulders on the road and one of the female dogs hauled it off. Don’t know how it died.
We left Tsepelovo at around 9.15am and went to Metsovo, a little rock hewn town down in a valley near the Egnatia Road. The road has many tunnels and one was 4.6 km tunnel in length-2 lanes each direction. Many bridges spanning the ravines of this mountainous region. . Fantastic engineering feats for sure. No fare toll on this road (only near Salonika) as the EU has paid for a lot of the costs of the bridges and tunnels. The Egnatia Road is a major highway in Greece that extends from the western port of Igoumenitsa, the Greek port town where people catch a ferry boat to Italy, to the eastern Greek-Turkish border at Kipoi. It runs a
Majestic Mountains
A real geological treat to view total of 670km (416mi) but a small part of it (50km) is still under construction. The project began in the 1990s and is expected to complete in the summer of 2009. In the past it was not easy to get to Metsovo, but with the new road, it is easy to divert off the highway to Metsovo and I am amazed at the skill of the bus drivers who manage to manipulate the various parked cars without scraping the sides. We stopped there for a coffee- about 1 hour. Before we had our coffee, we went for a walk and came upon a barrel making factory. Michael asked if he could take some photos. About 4 people working there. Mama said later that they used to go to Metsova themselves to get the barrels for their taverna retsina, as they were very good barrels. After our coffee we headed for Grevena where we had some lunch. We asked some locals about a good place to eat and they said just opposite us- they cook the souvlaki there and then, so there is a 15 minute wait. But the old man who was the father and waiter tells you this when
The winding road
From higher up, you can see the winding road needed to ascend the mountains. you sit down, that it is not already cooked and will take some time. So we had tomato salad, bread, white wine, potato chips and the 2 huge souvlaki which we could not finish eating.
Driving towards Salonika the stone fruit trees were all out in blossom in the Veria area and looked just lovely. A wonderful end to a magical four days.
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