Thinking of booking an idyllic last-minute holiday?
Posted:10 August 2011
Spending time in my house in Metochi is very restorative. Here in Pelion one gets no sense that Greece is suffering at the moment, except for the emptier beaches and tavernas. The Greeks are on holiday, and Pelion is the place they come to, following in the footsteps of the Gods who were said to come here for their vacations! Pelion, according to Greek mythology, is the Land of the Centaurs. Here the mountain air is admired for its healing powers and is most welcome after a day on a warm beach.
My beautiful stone house is built on a hillside facing the Pagasitikos Bay, and village life continues around us as we soak in the lovely views, sitting in the garden. I’ve tried to plant as many fragrant herbs and climbers as possible, creating a pretty heady fragrance as one enjoys a glass of wine at the end of the day.
On this holiday I’ve thinned and cut down the rather invasive Arundo Donax* which grows wild below us, exposing the great view but keeping enough to disguise the little hut where some neighbours run a still used to produce the lethal local tipple, Tsipouro!
Apart from the Tsipouro, Metochi water is famous in the area, collected chilled direct from the spring. When we wander out in the evening, we often head over to Dimitri’s local taverna, where he serves freshly prepared food and local wine cheaply.
The beaches are incredible and varied, ranging from many on the more gentle shores of the Pagasitikos Bay to the more rugged coastline facing the Aegean Sea. Yesterday it was like being on a Cornish beach but the temperature was about 38◦ (and lunch was a lot cheaper than Calamares and salad in a Cornish seafood restaurant!).
Unusually, the house is vacant for the next couple of weeks until 28th August so if anyone is in search of a relaxing last minute holiday, please contact me as soon as possible. Flights are not very expensive and still possible to find to either Athens or Thessalonika, where you can get express buses to Volos and pick up a hire car, or hire a car direct from the airport. For photos and more information, go to www.realholidays.co.uk click on Special Places, then Metochi
*Arundo Donax – a giant reed – thought to the be the origin for the pipes of Pan. Ovid tells the legend of Pan who suffered unrequited love for the nymph Syrinx. As soon as Pan came near to her, Syrinx called to her sisters for help, until the exasperated Pan transformed them all into a dense bunch of reeds. He then cut a number of the tubular stems into different lengths and united them with wax to form the wind instrument known as the Pipes of Pan.