We happened upon our next stopping place Velventos in park4nite because it was convenient between Mount Olympus and Metsovo and we’re very glad we did. The town is situated by the second largest reservoir in Greece with mountains on all sides.
The camper stop itself is in the beautiful wooded grounds of Alsos, an outdoor bar run by Antonía and Christos who made us very welcome.
On our first night we went to the bar for a drink and met Antonía’s friends Lena and Athina. The next day we explored the town and spoke to many people in shops who all wanted to know how we’d found our way to this village and where we were staying. Valerie’s Greek is coming on by leaps and bounds. Later that day we cycled to see the Skepasmeno waterfalls which is obviously a favourite picnic area for local people. On the way we passed many groves of bright red fruit which we realised were peaches and discovered that Velventos is famous for its peaches, exporting them across Europe and even has a peach festival in the summer. In the evening we ate at En Velvento a local taverna in the town. The main street is closed to traffic in the evenings and the whole town seemed to be out on their evening volta. There was a great atmosphere.
The following day Lena took us into town to show us the sights. Firstly and very importantly we stopped for a coffee in the plateia where we met a group of her friends who gather there most days. We were again made very welcome.
Next Lena took us to meet her mother Stella who lives nearby and we had a tour of her house, built in 1910. The house was very interesting with wooden floors and ceilings and was filled with photographs of all her family.
Lena then gave us a guided tour of the Folk Museum which was fascinating and we learned so much about life in the town in the past.
On our way out of town we stopped at the peach cooperative and bought a box of 22 fabulous peaches for 9 euros!!!
