Trips throughout Greece

Athens - Pireaus - Cape Sounion - Poros - Santorini - Zakynthos - Rhodes - Mikonos - Delos - Corinth - Theater of Epidauro - Nafplio - Mycenae - Delphi - Arahova - Ioannina - Vikos Gorges - Meteora - Messenia and Peloponnesus

It was October and the weather didn't invite to go to beaches or islands, and in addition we felt like exploring the continental Greece. We decided to visit Ioannina and Meteora, and thus to make use of the three holidays that we had available. We flied directly from Athens to Ioannina with Olympic Airways. The prices of these airlines are quite acceptable and allow moving from Athens to many Greek islands and towns.
Ioannina is a modern city of less than 60.000 inhabitants.

It keeps an old town in an oriental style with mosques and bazaars.
It is located in an unequalled environment . It is a basin surrounded by high mountains and with a lake in the middle. Ioannina is situated on the edge of the lake, isolated from big cities in this region. Maybe this is the reason of its calm. Indeed when you move away from Athens you understand that the rest of Greece lives with a very different rhythm, without any noise or crowds.

We thought about renting a car but in the airport we checked that the fee was a little high, so we waited for the bus to drive us to the city centre, as the airport is 10 km. far. In Ioannina we found a pension with a list that we had brought. We found a very cheap and shabby one, but we didn't mind because we needed it only for one night. Soon we localized a car rental and before lunch time we were driving towards the surrounding regions, which I will tell on next page (Vikos, Perama caves and Zagoria).

We returned when it was getting dark and we had dinner with appetite in Ioannina. The streets were very cheerful around the wall of the old town. We walked, we tasted an ice cream and we went to sleep.
On next day we went back through the same streets to reach the lake. We had breakfast in a charming elegant cafe (as many cafes across Greece ). We love sweets and in Greece there is a great variety, therefore you can accompany the cafe with a typical bun.

We were in the middle of a mountainous region, so we felt the cold in the mornings and it was the first time in Greece that we had to wear a winter coat. We felt fascinated with the unreal landscape, with the fog giving a mysterious face to the lake, the wooded walk and the Turkish citadel.

Ioannina, after belonging to the Normans and then the Serbs, was dominated by the Turkish from 1431 to 1913. The period of biggest splendour was due to Ali-Baja or Ali-Tebelen, who was born in Albania and people called the "Lion of Ioannina". In 1788 he was designed as Baja (governor) of Ioannina.

Ali spread his power through Albania and North Greece . Ioannina was the capital and received the consuls from the European nations. It is an anecdote, but Ali-Tebelen received lord Byron with all the honours in 1809. Ioannina became an important focus of Greek culture. Ali fought even against the Turkish sultan with the help of the Greek partisans coming from the mountains. However the sultan was very powerful, and he was very jealous of the Ali success and conquers, so he sent an army that besieged the citadel of Ioannina for 15 months in 1820.

Ali took refuge in the lake island but he was assassinated in 1822 by the Turkish. Ali had an harem of 500 women!! and a guard of assassins. After this history it could seem that he was a good governor, but he was known to be very cruel.

We moved towards the citadel , a stronghold watching the lake where many Turkish and Jewish lived since the 17th century. It still conserves the winding narrow streets leading you to the top of the citadel, where the palace of Ali-Tebelen stays. It has been restored some years ago and it keeps inside the Byzantine museum. Other interesting spot is the mosque of Aslan-Baja , from 1619. You can have a look to the interior, the lobby and the prayers room.

It is at the same time a museum with regional costumes and weapons from this region, called Epirus. We also walked into the Turkish library or the synagogue where the Jewish preached. The views from the citadel are magnificent and the fog gave a special touch to the superb landscape.
We walked along the docks and took a boat towards Nissi Ioaninon , an island in the middle of the lake that is full with restaurants and citizens coming from the town spending the Sunday here. It is a lovely authentic place, with small canals where the fishermen leave their boats.

Our boat carried us to the village, that is crammed with fish and seafood restaurants, with Greek people inviting you to taste samples of their typical products and offer you souvenirs. There are some monasteries with interesting frescoes. Of course that the panorama from the island is again fantastic and it covers the mountains, the lake and Ioannina

Ioannina can be seen in one day if you are in a hurry or you can spend a weekend if you prefer to relax, for example you can go shopping, you can have a meal, or you can make a trip to the surroundings: the Perama caves, the Vikos gorges, the Zagoria country, or the well preserved ancient theatre of Dodona (Dodona is also known because of its excellent cheese).
At the bus station we bought the tickets to go to Kalambaka (nearby Meteora) and we met an American globetrotter, one of this authentic free travellers that visit alone these kind of places that people in general never would like to. Indeed he wanted to take a bus to spend his holidays in Albania (it is very close from Ioannina).