I’m not really sure where we’ve been today, but I know we’ve been doing narrow roads and hairpin bends through the beautiful Zagóri region of the Pindhos Mountains.
After watching a shepherd herd his goats up the road with four local dogs in tow, we made our way downhill to the ‘Stone Forest’. Many weird rock formations; they almost look man-made because they are layered. It was a short visit as it was so cold!
Further down the road was the little stone village of Monodhéndhri with its confusing signs to the Ayia Paraskevi monastery. The path seemed to detour round the edge of the village before taking you downhill to the little old monastery on the edge of the gorge. Good view point at the back, if you make it through the doorways without taking your head off!😂
Walking back up, several coach loads of pensioners seemed to have arrived, most of them turning around halfway down the cobbled path, in the knowledge that downhill means uphill on the way back. I have to say, they were very loud for a Sunday morning. 😂
This is when it all got a bit complicated – no English option on the road signs here! Had to try and match up the shapes of the Greek alphabet with the words on the map. At one point, we did stop and ask if it was ok to drive through the cobbled street of a village. “Yes, no problem” said the man – probably muttering “for a Smart-car” under his breath. 😂
There are some amazing old bridges in the region, built to connect the villages together. We’ve seen about five and walked across a few of them. They are really steep.
The mountains have been an eye-opener. I knew that northern Greece was mountainous, but I didn’t expect to be parked for the night at a ski station!!
