We finally found the bus station in Kalambaka/Kalampaka who knows how to really say it. Then we just hung about in the square me writing post cards which was a bit of a waste because as I was writing the post office was closing and will be shut all weekend so I won't be able to send theme from Greece anyway. So to all those lucky recipients wait for a Greek P/C from Italy. Before we got on the bus we walked up another hill to a church and had a lovely panorama view of the town and Paul got some water from a lovely rustic fountain.
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| Up they go laughing. |
So again a bit of waiting, waiting and the finally the bus came and we were away up up up into the hills with beautiful hillside villages and big pine / fir trees I am not sure which, but they looked like proper christmas trees and were very pretty particularly when covered with snow. (I made sure I was prepared for this trip and stocked up on travel sickness pills) Finally we could see lots of snow. It was pretty funny to see little old ladies getting off in the middle of nowhere with their leeks and nettles and wild greens ( these look like the killer weeds we have been trying to get out of our lawns?(Paul's wishful thinking) so we are very exited to think we might be able to eat them- this might require a little research beforehand.
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| Snow! |
Anyway the bus finally stopped near a sign pointing to Metsovo. we knew this because we are now getting much better at reading Greek. A few people including ourselves got off. And all the others got into waiting cars or taxis. There was not a house in sight, where were we? No idea. But we decided to follow the road and after a kilometre we saw a village. just as well it wasn't was night time and we took the wrong way or we might have been travel statistics. So on we walked into town Paul consulting the ipad map which had no idea where we were -thanks apple it was helpful. Just as I looked up and saw the sign of the hotel in front of us Manuel from faulty towers came out of the door to say we were in the right place and swept us inside with all the professionalism of a thirty year in the job doorman. Inside the hotel was massive and decorated with local textiles wood in all different states carved, notched, panelled . Mrs Faulty came out short and round and dark not blonde and tall and said they had up graded us. Woohoo! Out room was fantastic in a rustic way- flokati rugs all over the place and lots of doors for different little rooms and a huge bed. If I was a cat I would stay here forever.
So now it is about 7 pm and we decide to go out for a quick walk before dinner which we did. We came back a had a before dinner beer and as we were enjoying it Paul mentioned he didn't feel that good. I didn't take much notice as travelling often bring little niggles as we know. We actually got dressed for dinner - yes prettied ourselves up a bit and down we went. the menu was interesting wild boar, pig in plums and specialities of the area but none today. Paul again stated he didn't feel well. By this stage he actually didn't look that great so I took notice.
We ordered local soup , sausages , meatballs in leek and retsina and a lettuce salad- take one minon lettuce slice it across the leaves so the threads are long , add chopped spring onions , season with a good amount of salt lemon and olive oil and you have a pretty nice salad unlike the soup which was not all that successful i actually think it was made out of whey and it possibly was as cheese making is big business in Metsovo. We have just eaten the salad and pushed the soup around the bowl and Paul just about fell face first into the sausages he ordered and turned a good shade of green. at this stage I really took notice and said maybe he should go back up stairs. I will stay in all my finery and wade through my pile of enormous meatballs and slimy leeks alone, which I did. I had his dinner packed up for him it cost (8 euros) just in case he felt a bit better soon and I took the bottle of retsina and headed back to the room to find Paul curled up and shivering on the bed, needless to say no dinner for him tonight.
He spent the rest of the night driving the porcelain tractor( I say this because the bathroom must not have been remodelled since about 1920 sometime and the flush was one of the old pull chains that make the water come out as if you are opening the gates on the Hume weir and the toilet bowls was one that has fantastic acoustics when anything enters it. Over all it was a bit of a sleepless night for us both. As you may wonder why I am doing all the writing today . Well we have had hours to kill either walking or sitting in cafes to stay warm- that's where I wrote most of this as Paul looked ahead vaguely, trying not to fall asleep or now as we are finally on the bus to Ioannina- he is asleep now and has taken my travel pills and I didn't so this might be interesting.
We have finally arrived in Ioannaina without too much problem and then walked about 4 klms to the hotel which was meant to be 1 klm away from the bus station. But the room is warm and we can wash all our dirty clothes and dry them on the heaters. Harry Potter is on tonight in English hooray!
And ...
We already have dinner so we don't need to go out. yum sausages and cold chips, boiled eggs from breakfast and bread and carrots from yesterday all washed down with ouzo and last nights retsina.
Oh! and for anyone who has read this far remember how Paul filled up the water bottle? Yes that was it, I only had one sip he drank the lot....
Sorry for typos and spelling but the cursor is driving me mad and predictive text steals words. Xxx
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