It was still dark when I awoke on Friday and I spent a good five minutes in bed deliberating the relative importance of getting up at 6:30 to take advantage of the early morning bus to Kissos. Eventually, I found myself up and at it, and the rising sun on the horizon was enough compensation for this decision.
Still somewhat sleep deprived as a result of personal habits more than anything, I seriously struggled to stay awake on the ride which was unfortunate as I was looking forward to another
exploration of this impressive, rich peninsula. We wound back and forth along the sharply curing mountain roads which had soon enough lulled me into a deep sleep. Natasha from Australia had also chosen to move on from Kalikalos on this same bus.
After what seemed like a far too short 2.5 hour ride, and after passing once again, the monstrous industrial development that I still do not know its function, we arrived in Volos to
sunny skies and another beautiful day. (Regarding the industry, massive distribution and processing facilities loomed immediately over the highway, with covered conveyors transporting this product over the highway to a small port on the water. The hillside behind
the factory bore the scars of decades or more of service to this development - with dozens of crisp terraces carved sharply into the bedrock. It
was obviously some type of mineral extraction/processing - cement was my best
guess, but that's little more than an uneducated guess.
In Volos, my lack of a plan/destination became even more clear - I knew that the re-working of
my plans drew me back towards Athens, where I would need to be late the following day but I did not feel drawn or aware of any places to go in between to spend the day and definitely did not want to spend another full day in a city I've already explored.
I sat with Natasha and we chatted for a bit before she took off for the next leg of her journey and once she was off, I headed into the city of Volos to explore. One possibility was that I find a cheap hotel/hostel and spend the night in and around the surrounding hills. The port there is substantial and I walked along the main promenade along the water, soon passing by the zone inhabited by local fishermen who had set out displaying their recent catch. It was quite a scene - incredibly small in scale.
I wandered through the city streets but had little to do except look for a small streetside cafe to enjoy breakfast but found this to be a tedious task after some time so I headed back
towards the bus station. On the way I did pass a few small plant and tree nurseries selling cabbage and lettuce starts (apparently the start of autumn is a good time to plant cold season crops here) as well as a number of young fruit trees including citrus, clementine, lemon, and olive. I failed to notice if the trees were grafted but they were all about 3/8" in diameter and 5' high, some of them already bearing fruit and planted in approximately one gallon black plastic bags.
I found a cafe with overpriced coffee (at least in my mind) and a miscommunication with the waitress left me with a cup of tea and coffee. The streetside atmosphere was nice nevertheless, soaking up the sun and letting the time pass. I had called Nikos in Athens some time before to ask him if he had any suggestions as to how I pass the day and it was while I was at the cafe that he called me back with an idea.
I was to go to the long island of Evia, north and east of Athens, to visit with several of his back-
to-the-land friends - urban refugees who had escaped to a quieter life in the forested hills. This sounded like a great idea to me - it brought me closer to Athens and also allowed me to explore a new part of this compact but vast country.
I stopped off at the train station bought my ticket and then went back to the seaside promenade to bide my time reading Perennial Vegetables on a bench in the sun.
It seemed as if our bus progressed at a far slower speed than I'd become accostomed to here. About an hour or so into the journey, I received a call from Stella - one of my hosts for my short visit to Evia. She explained that I should revise my destination and head for the next town along the highway - Arkitsa - where it would be much more convenient to catch the ferry for Evia. The bus dropped me off at the highway exit and it was about a 3/4 mile walk to the ferry terminal which gave me a chance to check out some Sea Buckthorn up close along with some clearly coppiced black locust trees. I arrived at the ferry about ten minutes before the ship was to leave, took a seat on the upper deck and was able to relax and enjoy the 45 minute trip across the sea.
When we docked in Evia, Stella and her teenage son Spyros arrived to pick me up and I soon learned that they only peripherally knew Nicos. I was amazed that these people were so ready and willing to go out of their way to host me, despite the fact that they had little if any connection. We spoke about my trip and their lives in Evia, permaculture and the work that I'm doing while traveling and she brought me to their furniture store where I met her husband Vasilis.
Stella explained that they needed to keep the store open for another couple of hours and that they had arranged for two of their friends - Kostas and Katarina - to stop by and pick me up, take me to their place and entertain me until they were through with work. So within a half an hour my newER hosts arrived and we set off for their humble and beautiful home in the surrounding hills.
They were both very kind, Kostas happy to communicate but untrained in English and Katarina doing a great job dusting off her English speaking skills unused for some time. They told me how they had come to find the village where they now live about fifteen years ago. Having decided to give up the grind of city life, they were exploring the country in Evia and learned of a house for sale with water, trees, etc. They stopped to visit, fell in love and soon had transformed their lives.
Dusk had just begun to arrive when we reached their home and we unpacked before taking a lovely walk through the village and surrounding countryside. Their neighbor had an expansive fig harvest out in trays on a slab across the driveway drying in the sun. We discussed trees,
forest composition and the ecology of the place. I saw what I believe to be the 'tree of heaven' which they explained was rampant in its colonization of cleared landscapes. We didn't get into the opportunistic species discussion, but it was on the tip of my tongue. It was also here that I learned about one of the primary reasons for the pollarding of the mulberry trees - the leaves are fed to silkworms for silk production (as well as stored as winter fodder for livestock).
Apparently their village is shrinking in size as goes the classic story of youth flight from the countryside to the city. It is now down to only about 20 individuals, with farming traditions continuing, albeit a largely destructive, chemically based 'tradition'.
When we returned to their home, we started to prepare for dinner. They had a lovely seating area outside under their fig tree. We lit candles and enjoyed wine and spanakopetia in the cool evening air. They were also very interested in permaculture and so we discussed the concepts and application. We ended up engaging in an in-depth discussion on the potential economic applications of permaculture and Kostas seemed a bit unsure of how this would integrate and function but I could tell the conversation sparked some deep and critical thought about financial organization.
An hour or so later, Stella, Vasilis and Spyros arrived and we made room inside the house for a veritable feast. It was a truly joyous meal - I wish I had captured it in photograph, but the memories will remain clear for a long time. With a table full of food and wine glasses that never ran dry (of very local wine - so local it was served from a refilled old plaster water bottle!), we shared in vigorous conversation and I felt truly welcome and accepted by these fine people. Again, their interest in permaculture and appropriate, conscious ways of living rang true throughout and we made connections on many levels including economic organization, water collection and treatment and overall theory and design. Soon enough it was nearly midnight and I collected my things, exchanged addresses and said goodbyes to Kostas and Katarina, and headed back to Stella and Vasilis' home for the night. Kostas and Katarina gave me a lovely gift of dried figs to take with me on my travels. I'm sure it will come in handy somewhere along the way and I'll save it until then.
We arrived at Stella and Vasilis' home around midnight. They live very close to the sea and actually own a 'hotel' of sorts. There must be at least a dozen rooms in the structure and so they gave me my own personal room for the evening - it was an amazing surprise!! And along with that, a bottle of water, grapes and a spanakopeita snack. Whew, what a day
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