Saturday May 30
Yesterday we drove back to the airport in Chania and flew back to Athens, then got a new rental car which is nicer and bigger (BH because I am in the middle seat!) and then Aba drove us for 4 or 5 hours to Ioannina. We stopped in Patras for gas and the lady working at the pump was really friendly and suggested a good restaraunt, Skantzoxoiro (Hedgehog), so we went there for dinner. It was lovely, the waiters were very nice and the food was great, and it was right on the water and we saw a beautiful sunset. We shared nice variety cheese plate and a mediterranean salad with tomatoes and avocado, Sophie got chicken, I got seabass, Caleb got pork, Aba got beef orzo, and Mom got risotto. At the end of the meal they brought us shots of Mastika from Chios on the house! We finally got to Ioannina after midnight so we went straight to bed!
Today we slept in until 10, then got up, did some grocery shopping, made quick breakfast, and went to the Folklore Museum. It was super cool with lots of beautiful costumes, jewelry, tools, containers, and furniture. Then me Caleb and mom went to the Archeological museum while Sophie and Aba went home. We saw artifacts from Ioannina since prehistoric times up to the Roman period! We saw tablets of the oracle of Dodoni, where people would write questions to the gods, asking and praying for guidance for their personal dilemmas and hardships. Some were silly, like “who stole the wool from the mattress?” and “will so-and-so pay me back the money he owes me?” Some were sad and serious, like a widow asking, “will I ever be reunited with my children?” The oracle tablets were my favorite part because it felt like it connected people today with people back then, seeing how we have similar concerns and problems and questions. It started totally pouring rain when we were in the museum, but it stopped perfectly when we were ready to leave BH!
After the museums we went back home for a little lunch snack, and then me Caleb and Aba went out walking. Caleb wanted to look for hiking sneakers, Aba wanted to see Lake Pamvotida, and I wanted to see Ioannina Castle! We didn’t find the hiking sneakers but we did find the lake and the castle. 🙂 We saw the inner citadel, Its Kale, but we couldnt get into the other citadel to see the Aslan Pasha mosque because it is a museum now and they were closed. So we started heading back to the apartment, but on the way we heard Ipirotika music, so we followed it to this amazing little place Yiali Kafene where they had awesome Ipirotika music and dancing! Everyone was singing along and it was so beautiful and warm and friendly, people were inviting us to join the front of the dance line and get in the middle, and the drummer even invited Caleb up on stage to play drum with the band! The waitresses and bartender were really friendly too, Aba told the bartender Dimitri that we will be going to Lake Prespa and he said he has a cousin there and we should meet up with him. We also made a dancing friend, a really cool guy Yianni who knew all the songs and dances, and he told us about a panayiri on Monday! We left the Yiali Kafene and went back home to wash up and then we went to our dinner reservation at Allou Gi Allou, which I thought would have laika and rebetika music but it was mostly entehno, the more modern style, and it was super loud. There were a lot of young people and a bachelorette party. There was some dancing and a few more traditional shlagger songs like Opopo Maria, but it was pretty simplified steps. Overall it just wasn’t really the vibe we were looking for so I was a little bummed, but we still danced anyway.Â