SUMMER VACATION 2012 PART 1

                                                 PHOTOS 

     (Part 1: Destination 2012 = Ipiros)

      A very long way from Athens in the northwestern part of the country lies Ipiros (look at the map). It is 520 km (323 miles) away from Athens. It is my mother's hometown and that's where we went to this year for our vacation. Last time we had been there was 6 years ago and the kids were too young to remember much.
     Well, we had a blast! I took so many photos I had to categorise them for the blog and show them to you in parts. 

      To start off let me tell you that this part of Greece is covered by tall, steep mountains where the highest peak reaches 2600 meters. The area has a wild beauty with rich vegetation and big rivers with crystal waters, gorges, lakes and forests. It offers from horseback riding to water rafting to simple hiking. It also has magical beaches to suit everybody's taste, sandy, rocky, pebbled, deep waters (great for diving), shallow waters (great for families with children), e.t.c.
      Ipiros is also known for its picturesque, traditional villages and towns, byzantine churches and monasteries and its famous stone bridges. 
      Coming across herds of animals such as sheep, goats and cows are rare these days but we encountered many such animals that got my kids excited -them being city kids and all!

     

      We stayed in a lovely hotel ("Philoxenia") in a small village called Ammoudia, which is located on the banks of the river Acherontas AND by ocean! (wait till I show you photos of river and ocean together!)

  

      The beach was only 100m away from the hotel and we were walking to it every day in our bathing suits only returning to take another dive in the swimming pool!

    

 Diving was the only thing the children wanted to do at the pool, hardly any swimming!

 

      We enjoyed the breakfast included deal, the swimming pool, coffees and
cocktails by the pool and mother and daughter beauty treatments we gave each other. Daddy was not happy about the manicure and pedicure I gave our daughter. She was thrilled and showing it off at every chance. I know she's only 9 years old but come on Daddy, it's vacation time! Fathers don't want to see their little girls grow up, do they?

The houses in the village all had lots of plants and flower beds and were nicely decorated...

...as well the balconies were filled with all varieties of flowers. It produced an array of colours.

The "Poseidon" tavern

     





      This idyllic environment is
only completed with the
graphic traditional tavernas.
(where the food was cooked
from fresh local
produce and
  oh! so delicious!!! I must   have    gained 2 or 3 kilos!!! Sniff!)









"The Father" tavern

   This one was right by the river. Very scenic, extremely delicious food (and cheap) but the special was ... "Attack of the mosquitoes" !!!!

"The Waves" tavern

      This one was one of our favorites. "The Waves" !!! Did you notice the names of the taverns? I mean, please!!! why do they have to choose such corny names? Anyway, good and cheap food, nice atmosphere and very nice people.

 The owner was a painter (as a hobby) and had painted the entire wall depicting the beach and river and parts of the village. Nice!

     Also, hanging from the ceiling, they had some handcrafted decorations, wind chimes and lamps made out of sea shells and fish nets. Did you notice the starfish?



      This photo was taken at a local convenience store where another owner/artist had drawn this on the storeroom door, the Greek flag and the name of the village Ammoudia ...

... a proud Greek expressing his feelings on the drawn parchment - I have to totally agree with him!

       So that was Part 1!  What did you think of the photos? I'm not a photographer nor do I have a professional photocamera but I do love taking lots of pictures. I hope you enjoyed them. Let me know what you think and don't forget to check out  Part 2 - Ocean and river photos and Part 3 - Plants and animals! and Part 4 - my mom's hometown and other places.