Monday June 1
Yesterday we left Ioannina and drove to Vitsa, a small beautiful town in the mountains of Epirus. Almost everything is made of stones, the houses and the roofs and the streets and the walls! We drove down a narrow stone road to our quaint little lodge Troas Guesthouse and met our lovely host Vasilli. He spoke a little Italian, so Aba could talk with him, and I filled in the gaps with Greek. We settled in and then went on a hike adventure from Monodendri to the basin of Vikos Gorge, which holds a Guiness Record for deepest point in the world. Aba me and Caleb went all the way down, Mom started with us but turned back pretty soon when the path got rough. It was very rocky and steep, but so beautiful and grand to be in the deep gorge between these towering mountains around us. We hung out at the bottom for a while looking for nice rocks as souveniers. Caleb found a jaw bone from some deer type animal and he wiggled out a tooth! We took our time coming back up and then we met mom at a cafe for some refreshing drinks. We went back to our house to shower and then we went out for dinner to a place that Vassili recommended, Oi Pites tis Frouses. I got Kontosouvli (souvlaki chicken), Sophie got chicken fillet, Caleb got braised veal, and Aba and Mom got spanikopita. Everything was very tasty and the spanikopita was the best flavored one we have had so far (but still not quite as good as our homemade one)! It is a really special feeling to be up here in the mountains surrounded by the beautiful nature, it feels so meditative and calm. I had the best sleep in the comfiest bed with the mattress on a wooden platform in the floor and I woke up to the birds chirping. We had a very nice breakfast at our hotel, with fresh orange juice, cheese pie, tomatoes, cheese, olives, bread, and nectarine. Caleb and Aba shared some slices of prosciutto, salami, and capricola. We packed up our stuff and hit the road for the Panayiri in Antartika!