25 January 2008

Greek beauty all in one place

Recently, I realized that people form faulty ideas of areas and places as a result of channeled information obtained merely by high street posters and banners. In particular, few days ago I had a talk with a good friend who thought that Greece is a country with a 12-month summer time. I couldn't blame her for stupidity as in truth Greece in the UK is promoted as the greatest destination only for summer holidays. However, in Greece there are also brilliant places to suggest for winter escapes...

Last Christmas I spent holidays in a resort called Dasiko Chorio located on the Paggaio mountain in north Greece. Before I got there I had been informed that the place was isolated and surrounded by trees of every kind but at the same time only 6 km distance from the nearest village. Its location is also convenient for travellers as it's only one hour driving from Thessaloniki city where there is also airport available.

I have to admit that the beautiful scenery coupled with the warm and hospitable people who work in the resort were incredible. The wood and stone which all the buildings-including the rooms- were made from, combined with the brilliant view overlooking a large part of lowland and north Aegean sea created a warm atmosphere for all of us. Wishing either to have a hot coffee by the fireplace or enjoy a meal in the traditional restaurant, you will definitely have a really enjoyable and relaxing time.

As a food lover I loved their traditional local cuisine that consisted of a great range of meat dishes like piglet from oven, deer with chestnuts and many other that would please even the most demanding customer. What impressed me more though was that the menu had also a big variety of sea food and fish. On asking how this could happen, as we were climbed about the hight of 700m, the answer came up more obvious than I thought of; The sea was not more than 30 minutes away driving, with the owner of the salet going fishing twice a week.

However, for those who think that they might have had a boring time as the activities up there may be limited to eating, sleeping and enjoying the view, Dasiko Chorio also offers a wide range of outdoor activities like backhorse riding, mountainbiking, trekking and other of your liking.

I also need to point out that in a talk I had with the owner I got surprised when he informed me that local public authorities do not support his big effort to promote the place so as to bring more tourists in the area that would enhance its local development and economy. It's true in all; we don't appreciate what we got...

Nevertheless, if you don't speak greek and you wish to take a look at the site of Dasiko Chorio you will experience some difficulties as the site is still under construction and the information provided is not available in english. You can always have a look at some pictures though;


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