Greece 2019
We came to Prevéza a late evening in July and had preordered a hotel in the citycenter - the Hotel Sofita - a very nice hotel so we ended up booking some more nights at the end of the tour.
We took the bus to Ioannina where we were met by Stavros who drove us to Kipi in Zagori National Park (Zagori is on the UNESCO-list). Stavros is the manager of the very charming hotel Kipi Suite. Kipi is a very good starting-point to explore the area. The region remained cut off from the rest of the country for decades and it boasts an extensive network of old footpaths in good condition with the many stone-bridges, Vikos Gorge, Vradeto Steps and many more things to see in this beautiful area. Stavros drove us to some of the nice view-points in the surroundings and we followed the paths back to Kipi.
After 5 nice days in Zagori we went back to Ioannina and spent two days in the town. We visited the inhabited island of Lake Pamvotis, the Castle and the Town. We didn´t meet many foreigners, but the town is well worth a visit - and some of the streetart is really good.
We wanted to go to Meteora to see the famous Monasteries and stayed for two nights in Kalabaka. The local bus took us up to Meteora. How the munks (from Atos) managed to build on top of those steep cliffs some time in the 1600 is a mysteri - but very impressing. To day 6 of the 24 monasteries are still inhabited - 5 for munks and 1 for nons - and visitors can go there by the steps that are made not so many years ago.
Back in Prevéza we had some lazy days. Sofia was a very nice host, we found some fine beaches where we could swim in the Ionian Sea, stay in the shadow of the trees, eat good food - in short relax and having a nice time before we went back home to Norway.
Most of all we remember all the nice people we met - a little out of the mainstream touristiqe hotspots - Sofia, Stavros, Evangeliqa, the young man from Turkey, the Petanque-team. and many more - you all made our tour just great!
