Preveza & inland

S/V Goldcrest
David & Lindsay Inwood
Thu 24 Mar 2011 15:30

We have now been in Preveza for a few days, having motored most of the way here from Fiskardo last Thursday.  En route, past the lagoons by Levkas, we saw many pelicans and beautiful white herons amongst other wading birds.  We tied up alongside here in one of Greece’s unmonitored marinas and have water but no power.  No-one wants any money off us so we are quite happy, although have to run the engine for hot water for a shower which is a bit tiresome.

We did enjoy crowd watching on Greek Independence Day, March 25th, and also a march past of the town’s older school students to the music of the local brass band.  We were amused to see the senior girls marching in tight jeans and high-heeled shoes.  At the end of the morning the whole town made for the tavernas and we had to move fast to find a table ourselves in all the bustle.  Had a very tasty meal with wine for 26 euros which was terrific value.

 

 

Yesterday we headed off in a hired car to see the famous pinnacle rock formations of Meteora north of here and made famous in one of the James Bond films.  Alas, we had not counted on the route to them being over a mountain pass at over 5500ft and its still being snowbound at the end of March.  There have to be some drawbacks to travelling this early in the season and this was one of them!  We drove up into the mist on a road that had collapsed in places and eventually it was completely blocked by snowdrifts.  So we turned around and drove to the Zagorohoria region instead which is known for its villages built entirely of the local slate.  We visited one of these, Monodendri, and from a monastery built into the rock there, had a great view of the entrance to the Vikos Gorge.  This is Greece’s second most trekked gorge after the Samaria Gorge on Crete (unfortunately closed for the winter whilst we were on Crete) and according to the Guinness Book of Records the deepest in the world.  Guess that means the Grand Canyon doesn’t figure as a gorge!    We finished our day trip with a walk around the old walled part of the city of Ioannina.  The city is built on a large lake and we enjoyed watching a pair of courting great crested grebes as well as the views of the mountains reflected in the water.

 

Monodendri from afar…

 

The exit from the Vikos gorge, plus another Greek goat, looking rather splendid we thought.

 

 

 

The lake at Ioannina, looking very alpine.