Chillin’ in Greece

I am so ridiculously cold right now, I can barely type!  It’s ridiculous!  It’s been chilly every day since I got to Greece but yesterday and today have been the worst!  I think I’m becoming cold-blooded….

Yesterday, I left Athens to visit Delphi.  Shortly after catching the bus (with seconds to spare!), it began to rain.  It rained off and on (mostly on) the whole way to Delphi.

When the bus let me off, I put the hotel into the map and began trekking to the hotel.  It was just over a kilometer, according to Booking and Mr. Google.  I had left my large suitcase at Thomi’s house in Athens for the week, but I still had my two-in-one backpack that zips together into one giant backpack and my big bag from sari bari.  Not so bad…for a while.

I went up a hill, then down a hill, then up another.  I was getting rather wet.  I rechecked the map, as the roads were kind of curvy and confusing.  My cellphone battery was getting low.

Finally, it seemed as though I was leaving the town entirely.  I was pretty sure this was not what the hotel website had said.  In fact, I dimly remembered it bragging about how close it was to the bus station.  I only had 2% left on my phone battery by then, so I called the hotel reception and asked if she could give me directions or send a cab to the place where I was, based on my description.  During the call, (she took a while to confer with someone about something) my phone died.  Usually, I can recharge it a little from my computer, but it was raining too much to take it out.  So I headed back towards town to try again.

I asked someone  for directions when I first passed a shop.  By then, I was a bit shivery…. When I finally found my hotel, I looked like a drowned ship rat! The lady at the check-in desk was not exactly sympathetic or even friendly, really.

I went to my room and tried to warm up.  I asked the woman at the front desk for some hot water and made a cup of coffee.  After a while, I tried to get in the shower.  No hot water!  Shivering again, I went back downstairs and asked if there was some switch I should have turned on for hot water.  She said there would be hot water in 10 minutes (I’m pretty sure she had only turned on the hot water heater when she heard my water running).

Since I had to catch a bus the next morning to the next town, I knew if I didn’t go to see the ruins then I might not have the chance.  The rain had subsided, but the sun was getting ready to set.  I hurried and walked the kilometer or so to the archaeological site (there were signs and it was pretty obvious where I needed to go this time, so I didn’t get lost).  There was just over an hour left before they closed, but they let me in.

I loved it.  It was very beautiful at twilight.  Although it was nearly a full moon, the clouds were totally obscuring it.  However, the clouds alone made for some amazing pictures.  (I did not see the Oracle, or any spirits.  Nor did I have any visions or hallucinations; however, I wasn’t taking any of the hallucinogenics modern historians think that the Oracle may have been taking, or inhaling from the vapors of the mountain…)  Anyway, I stayed until the last possible minute, leaving as they were closing the place up.

On my way back to my hotel, I stopped at a restaurant and had some dinner.  After my great experience with Thomi’s moussaka, I decided to try some again.  Luckily, I was not disappointed!  This was delicious – light and flavourful.  I followed it up with some baklava – it’s not as though I hadn’t gone for a few hikes that day!

In the morning, I walked to the bus station (it wasn’t far at all, if you go the right way!) and caught a bus to Lamia – or so I thought!  After a while, the bus stopped, the driver said something, and most of the people got off.  After a minute, I asked the other girl left on the bus if we were still going to Lamia.  She said no, and that there was another bus.  Confused, I got off the bus and saw the driver returning. Hopeful, I asked him for some info, (he hadn’t spoken much English).  He said something that included the words transfer, other bus, Lamia, and 11 o’clock, here.  So I waited.  After about 20 minutes, another bus came and said it was going there, so I got on.  When I got to Lamia, I still had to get another bus to Ioanina, which was another 4 hours’ drive.  By the time I arrived there, it was late afternoon.

The drive down from Delphi was spectacular, by the way.  Delphi is located on a mountainside, and the bus first went down into the valley I’d been admiring from the ruins that day and the evening before.  On the way to Ioannina, we passed Meteora.  This is the place that Thomai and I are going to visit later this week.  It’s spectacularly beautiful – giant boulders on the top of hills, precariously balanced and pretending to be mountains with monasteries perched on the rocks.  I’d seen pictures before, but could barely believe the photos.  When we drove past, I caught a glimpse….I cant wait to visit!  It’s unreal!

The village I was going to spend the night in is called Monodentri.  It is in Epirus, Greece, in an area made up of 45(?) villages called Zagorihora, famous for its stonework, monasteries, and scenery. The Vikos Gorge holds the Guiness World Record for the deepest gorge.  There are stunning stone bridges and stone homes.  In Monodentri, all of the buildings are made of stone, even the modern ones.  Panos, one of the brothers who owns the hotel I stayed at, came to Ioannina to taxi me up the mountain the nearly 40 kilometers to Monodentri, and told me about the stone buildings, but I was still a bit surprised, taken aback, and mildly amused when I realized this meant ALL buildings – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stone gas station before!  Quaint!

The drive from Ioannina into Monodentri was just as beautiful as it had been coming from Delphi.  We climbed directly into the mountains, and as we did so, the sun was setting and hitting the hills across the valley and below us.  They glowed pink in the setting sunlight.  Just as we were coming up the mountain, the moon rose, full and stunning, right in front of us.

When I arrived at the hotel in Monodentri, I was greeted by the other brother and given the hotel’s specialty, a local dish – cheese pie.  It looked like garlic bread, but was made with cheese and egg and flour and I don’ t know what else.  It was quite tasty.

My room, however, was quite cold.  As we were even higher in the mountains now, it had gotten colder and autumn has definitely fallen here.  I thought I’d turned on the heat right after I got to my room, but it didn’t seem to be working.  Wondering if I had missed a step, of if something wasn’t working, I asked at the front desk, but I was just informed that they don’t turn the heating on for another hour or so.  I’m just about to go forage in the forest for some firewood to put in the fireplace here in my room….

Okay, maybe I’ll just go get dinner instead.  Maybe there’ll be heat when I return.  And maybe it’ll be warmer tomorrow when I go for a hike to one of the monasteries near here along the Vikos Gorge.  Maybe.