Metsovo Greece: Hiking, Shopping and of Course, Eating

 Doris told us that we would have an easy day yesterday, beginning with a morning hike from the top of the mountain hotel we were staying into the beautiful town of Metsovo.  After the hike, she said that we could do a little shopping, have lunch and then proceed to a wood carving class and then onto wine tasting, as this area is known for its wonderful red wines. I’m not quite sure how Doris defines a easy day, but by the time we got to the wine tasting, we could all barely keep our heads off the bar! 

The hike down the mountain included breathtaking vistas, beautiful wild flowers and a whole lot of pine cones and tree roots. One or both of those impediments caused Bob to fall and hit his head on a tree limb.  The good news is that he is fine, with a small bump on his head, a splinter and a few scratches.  Even with these minor injuries, the “medical team” went into action.  In our previous trip, I had recommended that everyone should travel with a nurse and Judy was again there to supervise the “medical rescue.” However, hats off again to Doris.  It was quite cold when we started our descent down the mountain, and I wondered why Doris was only wearing short sleeves while the rest of us had on long sleeves and fleece. Unlike our knapsacks, she was carrying a Sherpa-like amount of medical equipment…just in case.  Ever prepared, it is not an exaggeration to say that her backpack weighed a ton.  No wonder those short sleeves were enough!

As Judy assessed Bob’s injury, Doris was digging into her Mary Poppins like bag to pull out all that was needed to clean and dress the wounds.  Fortunately, it appeared that she hadn’t needed the medical kit in a while because after the wounds were dressed, she could barely get everything back in her bag!

Through all this, apparently I was hovering. I too was assessing the wounds which meant that the three women were all within a few inches of each others’ faces and Bob’s. He suggested that I should let the medical team take over and not hover but that did not to deter me.  Finally, he jokingly said that I was already in “the will” and I didn’t have to help, and that Doris and Judy had things covered.  As we began to hike again, he asked Doris whether or not she had to write an incident report and if so, could she add something to the effect that he was the bravest traveler she had ever encountered. When we got into Metsovo, Bob said to me that we had to go to a pharmacy to buy Neosporin.  Fortunately, his hovering wife had some back at the hotel.  

We finally arrived in Metsovo, where we continued our education in how to be true Greeks.  Even compared to Athens and Thessaloniki, life is much slower here and people, regardless of the day of the week, sit and have coffee for hours, either during the day or even after dinner.  This would be impossible for Bob and I, as our goal on most nights is to be in our pajamas before “Jeopardy” begins at 7 pm. 

So we had our coffee, shopped for a few minutes and then went to lunch, where we sat some more, pretending we were Greek. We were served grilled chicken, lamb and some kind of intestines dish, which I will not go into, all on big pieces of brown paper.  Even our ubiquitous Greek Salad was either eaten by all of us directly out of the bowl or on our individual paper. Judy and I had to do some shopping on our own because immediately after eating a hearty lunch, Doris, Bob and Mark were already sitting at another cafe ordering coffee and baklava.  In the interest of full disclosure, there were two substantial pieces waiting for Judy and me after shopping…and needless to say, we ate them.  

Judy and I discovered that unlike Greek cities, far fewer residents speak English in these mountain villages, which made our shopping a bit more difficult. Before lunch, Doris was our translator and we successfully made some purchases. But since she was part of “the Baklava trio,” Judy and I struggled to make our additional purchases. I saw beautiful, big crockery bowls that I would have loved to have bought.  Earlier in the day, Bob and I had already had the “physics” talk about the number of gifts bought versus the size of our suitcases, and I knew these babies would never fit in our luggage.So, I thought I would ask if the storekeeper could ship them to the United States.  Apparently, there is no international sign for shipping out of the country because I kept saying “Ship, ship,” while making an airplane with my hands, and she kept saying, “I wrap, I wrap,” while making a circular movement with her arms.  In sum and in short, I didn’t buy them. 

Our woodcarving experience was fascinating, but unfortunately, I had a cup of local mountain tea along with my baklava, and I could barely keep my eyes open.  Papa Gepetto has no fear of me (or frankly, any of us) taking over his woodcarving business any time soon. We left our woodcarving experience and headed to sample local wines.  After a tour of the facility, our guide pulled out a big charcuterie board along with eight different bottles of wine. After a few samplings, I thought our guide said that the names of one of the wines, was “Enema,” when it was actually a much lovelier name “Inima.” Unfortunately, I couldn’t stop laughing from my misunderstanding due to the fact that I had drank most of the samples. In the meantime, I looked at my husband and our friends and while they were not giggling, they were looking a bit green.  The white flag was up for us all. 

Today, we went truffle hunting with two women who ran their own truffle business.  I had no idea how truffles were found (by trained dogs), what they looked like (like a rock, not like a mushroom as I thought) and how expensive they are.  Because it rained last night, the dogs found quite a few and the owner made us a delicious lunch, with mushroom soup, vegetable orzo, hamburgers, scalloped potatoes and honeyed yogurt, all with grated truffles on top. We are going to have to find a way to walk back to the United States to burn off all of these calories. 

Fortunately, after the meal, we decided to go on a hike and visit a number of bridges that connect 46 mountain towns to each other, in the part of the country known as Zagorochoria. We were doing fine until we came to a stream with no path to our right or left. It was then that Doris said, “Well, this wasn’t here 20 days ago!” We were almost at the end of the hike and turning back was not an option due to the lateness of the day and the fact, that our collective stamina just isn’t what it used to be.  And so we crossed, none of us getting there without the cold stream water going right through to our socks.  As we all safely arrived at the other side of the stream, Bob’s first question was, “Doris, does this adventure merit an incident report?” 

We just arrived in a lovely village of Aristi, and our rooms all overlook the mountains.  I need to stop here because dinner begins shortly…..