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Field Work in the Mountains

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I must take my hat off to the geologists. As you’ve noticed by now, the terrain in the Rodophes wasn’t easy.

Gorgona Region

It’s rocky and steep, and the weather for most of the week was around 10C or colder on the hilltops. The only tracks to be had were ones made by goats, which on a precipice, made for a hair-raising walk.

Gorgona Region

Since my balance isn’t very good at the best of times, I didn’t really fancy being out all day in such conditions, so for most of the week I watched Hubby and P walk into the hills.

Gorgona Region

Meanwhile, I watched the scenery and the goats go by. Being in the mountains, the light changes constantly, providing many photo opportunities.

Gorgona Region

I also did some painting. Having bought a small set of watercolours and a pocket sketchbook in London, they came to good use.

Scenes from Thrace

Scenes from Thrace

At the end of the day, the satisfied geologists returned with several kilos of rock specimens. I was quite happy with a full page.

Scenes from Thrace

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Stepping Back Into Time – Part 3

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Let’s get a few more glimpses of how life is in the mountains for the Pomaks.

As I mentioned earlier, unlike the Christian Orthodox Greeks, the Pomaks are strictly Muslim. You can see a few mosques dotted in the mountains, and you can certainly hear the calls to prayer echoed via loudspeakers several times a day. So there’s no excuse not to pray, even if you’re away from the village tending your goats.

Gorgona Region

Thermes Region

Spring is a time to plough the fields and plant seeds for the coming year. There was plenty of evidence of agriculture in the mountains.

Thermes Region

Gorgona Region

Even though it’s less than 50km as the crow flies from the nearest city, the winding and precipitous roads make the region quite remote. Most Greeks have never visited this area, and up until 20 years ago, outsiders weren’t even allowed to enter, and that makes the Rodophes even more unworldly.

Gorgona Region

Gorgona Region

Thermes Region

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Stepping Back Into Time – Part 2

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Life on the mountain is hard. It can get to -15C in the winter, and the terrain is challenging to say the least.

Gorgona Region

But the goat herders certainly know the mountains and their goats. The goats graze on the move, and the goat herders just direct them now and then.

Gorgona Region

Gorgona Region

Gorgona Region

Each herder seems to have their own technique. Some let the goats do their thing, some whistle and shout to move the goats along.

Gorgona Region

What they all have in common are their dogs. Each herder has several dog helpers. They lead the goats and also herd the stragglers. Most seem to be hardy mountain breeds, but there seems to be the odd mongrel.

Gorgona Region

Gorgona Region

Gorgona Region

These dogs were certainly the herder’s best friend.

Gorgona Region

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Stepping Back Into Time – Part 1

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The mountains that we visited are called the Rhodopes. It’s the home of the Pomaks, an ethnic group originally from Bulgaria, that are Muslim. They live mainly in little villages such as this one, all over the mountains.

Gorgona Region

The villages are usually on hilltops, because it’s close to pastures and aren’t subjected to the spring floods.

Gorgona Region

The Pomaks still live a subsistance lifestyle, growing vegetables, and tending their goats.

Gorgona Region

The goats are all around the hillside.

Gorgona Region

I heard their bells everywhere I went, and I would see at least one herd come past everyday.

Gorgona Region

It’s certainly a world away from modern Athens. I wonder how long this way of life will last?

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Spring Time in the Mountains

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Hubby and colleague P are studying gems in Thrace, the northern-most state in Greece. It is south of the border with Bulgaria and east of the border with Turkey, so ethnically, it’s a very different place to Athens and the islands. We arrived in time to see Spring come to the mountains. The blossoms were in bloom, the new leaves unfurl, the grass turn green, and the weather beginning to warm up just a touch.

Gorgona Region

Gorgona Region

Paranesti Region

Paranesti Region

Gorgona Region

Gorgona Region

Living in a (seemingly) evergreen place, it was nice to see the seasons change.

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Eat For Greece! – Part 2

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We finished our in Evia with a feast by the sea. Firstly, an array of fresh vegetables and dip. The ‘weeds’ featured again, as did beetroot (with its tops) and a cheese dip.

Day in Evia

Day in Evia

Day in Evia

And then, an extensive seafood platter. Here was my personal portion! Can’t say that Greeks aren’t generous with their servings.

Day in Evia

That finished off a lovely visit to my first Greek island. Don’t worry, it wasn’t the only Greek island that I visited.

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A Day in Evia – Part 3

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What else can you find up in the hills in central Evia? Lots of bees, who feast on the early spring gorse and other wildflowers.

Evia

Evia

Evia

Goat herder’s huts, and more goat herder’s huts. I guess they would make up little farmsteads of sorts.

Evia

Evia

And last but not least, the darling goats, complete with bells. These ones were roaming free in the hills, without a goat herder in sight.

Evia

Evia

Funny, aren’t they? This was my introduction to rural life in Greece. And it won’t be my last encounter with goats either.

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A Day in Evia – Part 1

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We spent a day on the island of Evia. It’s only 10km off the mainland and about 50km from the centre of Athens. To get there we drove to the port of Nea Palatia, a typical small coastal town.

Evia

Then it was on to the ferry for the 10km ride across to the island.

Evia

It wasn’t the best of days to be on the coast, being overcast, but much of the landscape in ‘middle’ Evia was relatively undeveloped.

Evia

There were some things along the way that looked typically Greek to me, like this mini shrine.

Evia

I had a dip on the beach, my first (and only) in the Mediterranean. Being only April, the water was limb numbingly cold. But I suppose it would be refreshing in mid-summer when the temperatures hit 40C.

Evia