Magnificent Pilion Peninsula

April 20, 2011
Yesterday we travelled from Larissa to Volos which is about 4-5 hours northeast of Athens. Volos is a town right on the edge of the sea that is at the start of the Pilion Peninsula. This peninsula curves like a conch shell with its inner edge a delightful drive along the edge of the sea through olive groves and small tourist villages with seaside coffee spots. The road twists and turns at sea level for most of the drive until it finally rises towards the centre of the final point where we stopped at Trikeri. We had a coffee in the beautiful little square in the centre with lots of old men smoking and drinking either outside or in the tavernas watching TV. The spine of this peninsula reaches up to 1500 metres where snowcapped mountains tower over the sea and even have a ski resort about an hour from Volos. We travelled back up the peninsula and went up the highway that branches up the outside of the curl along the Aegean Sea. Here the highway no longer grips the edge as the cliffs rise up to 1000 metres above the sea and we travelled along the edges of the high canyons...probably about 10 kilometres for every 1 kilometre as the crow flies. We spent the night in Tsangarada in a converted house from which we could see the Aegean Sea off in the distance way down below. It was magical. The quiet and the birdsong was soothing. So beautiful! This area is mostly a holiday place for Greeks, so the signs had very little English on them. The road through this mountainous area had a number of places where the winter rains and snow had washed down mud and boulders onto the road. Construction crews were getting ready for the coming tourist season.
We continued the drive this morning through the mountainous area and then descended very quickly from 1200 metres to sea level at Volos...hundreds (it seemed!) of switchbacks down the side of the mountains to come down. Chauffer Jurg did a great job in getting us safely to the bottom.
We are now on an island...one of the largest in Greece where the city of Chalkida is connected by a bridge to the mainland. Tomorrow more exploring!