Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Sunday, December 12, 2021

I think the worst is over

Pouring rain again yesterday. In fact it was so much rain that the Greek authorities in this area put out a blanket cell phone alert warning telling people to stay home if it wasn't absolutely necessary. 

We had originally planned on doing some driving south, but decided that wasn't a good idea. We felt the need to find somewhere better than a parking lot to ride out the rain though. I found a listing on the park-4-night app that looked suitable, and it turned out to be a really great choice!

It was only a 22 km (13.5 mile) drive to the ancient ruins of Dodoni where there is a pub that had great reviews. And, they offer free overnight parking for motorhomes.

Too much rain.

Yesterday at the caves, our guide said they haven't seen the sun for ten days!

No, this is not a lake. Well, not normally.

Heading through a 3.5 km (2.2 mile) long tunnel.

So we arrived at the pub and we were the only motorhome there. I was kind of surprised, because based on all the five star reviews I was hoping it wasn't full! The owner came right out to greet us. Akis is a super friendly guy and really knowledgeable about all things Greek. 

He said we can stay as long as we like for free, and he even installed some motorhome electrical outlets that have a "small fee" to use. It's getting cold at night so we decided to plug in to conserve our propane.

Around 5pm, we wandered over to the pub to have a drink. I had read that prices are inexpensive, and the food is good so we planned on having supper.

My first Greek beer!

So it turns out that this little pub serves appetizers included with the price of your drink. We never saw a menu at all. But as long as you are sitting having a drink, they bring out these small plates of food. Well there was so much food we didn't need any supper!

Some kind of pork stew with leeks.

Deep fried tiny fish. You just eat them whole.

These lima beans were delicious!

It's just a small place, but it was quite busy because the local football (soccer) team was playing and it was being televised. So everyone was there to watch them win, which they did.

The waitress Tzoulia (pronounced like Julia) is from Ukraine. Both her and the owner Akis speak English really well. They taught us the proper pronunciation of "thank you" in Greek.

Akis sat with us for a while and made a list of things that we need to see both in his area, and further south. There is a lot to see in Greece!

Thick yogurt sauce with garlic and chives.

This roast pork was so tender and tasty.

We each had a shot of Tsipouro.

Most people have heard of Ouzo, the Greek alcoholic drink. But different localities have other traditional drinks. In this area, it's called Tsipouro and it's distilled from the solid remains of grapes after pressing the juice out. 

Looks like cole slaw, but had a totally different flavor.
I never knew cabbage could taste so good!

So, we had two large beers, two glasses of white wine, two shots of Tsipouro and all those plates of food and the bill was €14 ($20 CAD, $15.75 USD) including tip.

We've already decided to stay another night!

Besides which, we need to go see the ruins that are just down the road. And, the worst of the weather seems to be behind us. They are still calling for showers today, but we should be able to get out and do some exploring. And we haven't decided for sure yet, but since we are still in the area we may just do the 100 km (60 mile) detour over to Meteora tomorrow because it's actually supposed to be sunny, and we weren't originally planning to still be in this area.

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Nice price drop on the Blue option of the popular Kijaro Camp Chair.

And in Canada...

Record low deal on the Echo Dot Smart Speaker.

13 comments:

  1. Woo hoo hit the jackpot for eating, drinking and exploring

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    1. OMG I clicked on several sites in google maps and it's unbelievable beautiful with canyons, monastery (several), lux hotels, stores, university, etc.

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    2. Yes, there is definitely a lot to see around here and I can see us coming back again sometime when the weather is nicer so that we can explore more of the area.

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  2. This here is 100% why travel is so addictive. I live for moments like this, and though of course the different sights and scenes are wonderful, it's the unexpected human encounters that change me/us over time. And good local food is of course also the very best.I

    Crossing my fingers you made the trek to Meteora! We were there for just one quick day on a Med cruise and it was beyond amazing, and almost impossible to describe.

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    1. We totally agree with you. Being able to meet the local people is definitely on of our favourite things about traveling and they are the memories that normally stay with us the longest and the stories that we always share when we met other people. So even on a miserable rainy day we still had a fantastic time. The food was so good and the company even better.

      Yes, we have made the decision to make the drive to Meteora and if the weather stays decent we may even stay there the night. The scenery really looks spectacular. :-)

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  3. Having a free spot and a nice pub with good deals right next store... I would stay for at least a week! Have fun!

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    1. Lol, we easily could and chances are good that when we are finished visiting Meteora we will probably end up back here again. :-)

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  4. Wow, what a deal! Food looked delicious, and so cheap! I would love that place. Do you just leave the bread, since you're gluten-free?

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    1. Yep, definitely a great deal. It is hard to go wrong staying here and having a couple of drinks.

      Kevin ate the bread and didn't have any issues with it but I didn't touch the bread or anything that might have contained gluten.

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  5. You can eat, drink and park for little over $20 per day! You could just live there! LOL. Great find!

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    Replies
    1. Yep, it would certainly we cheap to do that but we would end up running out of things to explore in the area if we stayed put there to long. :-)

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