The Pelion Peninsula
Beaches and fruit orchards along the northern Aegean Sea.
From Athens, Volos is the main city in the region that serves as the port for the Pagasetic Gulf and lies
at the base of the peninsula. From there, the road twists upward to Portaria, a city built on the slope about
halfway up the ridge. The first shot [Wednesday, July 23] is in Portaria looking toward Makrinitsa, a small village off the main road
where we'll be spending the night. We found a nice shaded cafe here where we took an evening break for some ice
cream.
Up and over the ridge from here, on the east side of the Pelion Peninsula, is dense forest--
growing in a wetter climate than any other part of Greece that I saw.
Amongst the native maples, and some conifers, grow fruit orchards where crops of all different
kinds are preserved in glass jars and sold in outdoor stores such as this one in Portaria.
Continuing on into Makrinitsa at dusk. Still on the west face,
from here you get a good view of Volos below, as well as the characteristic shale
roofs of the little houses in this region.
We spent a couple nights at this hotel in Makrinitsa, where there was a pleasant, relaxed sitting room with excellent views
all around. Here you could sit in rare quiet, and think.
Too much Ouzo!! Ouzo is a nasty hard liquor that tastes like licorice-flavored vodka and seems to be
the national drink of Greece. It is sometimes given as an aperitif at restaurants.
Actually this is completely sober, our first night in Makrinitsa, exploring the main square where there is a hollowed-out
"Plain Tree" (that's what they're called-- looks like maple to me) in the center square.
You can see the entrance there and, obviously, one this large is very old.
Entering Makrinitsa is a short tourist drag with little souvenir, herb and preserved fruit shops along the way.
Only one road leads to the city and dead-ends there. If you want to carry anything heavy into the city it has to
be done by yourself, or mule. These guys were carrying bags of dry concrete throughout the days we were here.
In the main square is a little Orthodox church. Little churches are everywhere in Greece, many per city, as
compared to the occasional large one in most of the western world.
There's the "plain tree" from two shots up.
Also in the square is a nice cafe on the patio with views of Portaria and Volos below.
Heading back out of Makrinitsa [Thursday, July 24], we follow the road to Portaria,
where we turn east along the main highway crossing over
the ridge and down to the more remote Aegean side of the peninsula.
Just before Portaria, a couple minutes outside of Makrinitsa, we passed by a shady aqueduct. This water is clear
and good, and water "from the mountain" forms the entire drinking supply in these communities.
It's close to bottled water, better than any tap water you'll find in America.
Here we've crossed over the ridge and are descending down the lush eastern face.
Just beyond the hillside community of Zagora. Amid fruit orchards,
we descended down into the little resort community of (I think) Horefto, where people lounged on the spacious beach.
Back in the lower elevations, it was too hot here to do anything but leave the shade.
This is the typical fountain you see all along the Pelion Peninsula. This one is in Horefto, but most are built right
into the face of the mountain, and are often isolated and scattered along the roadway. Wealthy areas have interesting
designs such a lion's heads where the water flows from.
Back up along the highway, backtracking through Zagora, we passed a little preserved fruit stand.
I guess they like to keep their fruits out of the sun-- good for the fruit, bad for photography.
I should have tried a flash because those racks of jars are actually very colorful.
We are heading south to the beach at Milopotamos.
The beaches here are smaller to the south, but remote and scenic, and the water is warm and clear.
In the late afternoon, just as the sun begain to set behind the high ridge above, we went for a pleasant swim.
It was almost all Greeks here, not the mix of German, French and English speakers that were common in the more
popular destinations.
Some algae and a couple small fish was all the life I found underwater.
Then again I wasn't wearing a mask or anything.
After the swim we headed south for a bit, where the peninsula becomes more and more remote.
On the way back, near Isagarada, we passed by a nice fixer-upper.
If you're interested in buying,
real estate is priced pretty affordably.
The next day [Friday, July 25] we stopped at Hotel Kentavros in Ag. Lavrentios,
with grapes growing abundantly on trellises above the patio.
Since the owners of the hotel were friends with the other members of my party, we were treated to quite the lunchtime
banquet while enjoying the view from the patio down to the coastal cities below.
After all that food we had to go for a nap, since even this elevation was too hot to be doing much early in the
day. But after our little siesta, which everybody does here, we headed out for a walk around town
where away from heavy tourist influence it remains a fairly typical Pelion community.
These cobbled pathways that serve as the equivalent of streets become uncomfortable to walk on after awhile.
Reaching the northern outskirts of the town, a dirt road continues northward to Drakia.
During WWII, all the men over 14 in Drakia were killed by Nazis as a result of ongoing resistance in the
area. For some time since, Drakia has remained a matriarchal society with most of the traditionally male occupations
being performed by women. Today it has been built up for the tourists.
Inside the little church, within the town square at Makrinitsa.
The pristine beach at Milopotomos.
Exploring the cobbled streets of Ag. Lavrentios.
Hiking along the dirt road from Agios Lavrentios, looking toward the city of Drakia lit by the last light of the
fading sun.