Nymphasia

 (Usual waiver applies to grammar, typos, spelling as I'm posting via a small phone screen on the hoof 🤭, click on the pics to zoom in)

Today was our first day of grey skies and Alpine temps. Until now we've been walking in brilliant sunshine, blue skies and about 18°-20°C - perfect walking weather.

We didn't have any rain but it was much cooler and when you stopped moving you really felt it. It looks cold for the next few days but we have all the gear to keep us warm and dry. 

Our route today was down the Mylaontas Gorge and back up to the small village of Nymphasia. We set out and had to look for green way markers. The start the path showed both green and yellow....a bit confusing 🧐. We wound our way down to the Mylaondis river and stopped on a gorgeous ancient bridge, Zaziou bridge. Not the bridge we needed to be at 😬.

We realised we should be crossing the Tzavarena bridge so it was back up to the trail start to recheck the markers. Luckily we made good time going back up, only took 15 mins!

The path was shale and rock so you had to watch every step. At this stage we saw a goatherd on a far off ridge and you could hear the shepherd playing a flute or a pipe, think pan pipes. I tried to spot the shepherd but no luck.

We made it to the correct  single span stunning Tzavarena Ottoman bridge, built circa 1860's. We could see why the villages around all had stone houses, there's plenty's of rock in mountains! The path alongside the river was soft underfoot and a relief from the rock. Our feet are holding up well, just a few small blisters but not causing any problems.

Back up into the mountains to get to the village

Every so often you'd spot a little shepherd hut or Hermitage miles from anything. The little building in the pic above is one of many we saw.

We did see one small grass snake and every so often we'd pass little votives with candles and pictures of saints inside.

As we walked into Nymphasia we saw a beautiful wild meadow, stunning.

 

The next stunning sight was an open taverna....serving food! The only one in the little village open, so we stopped of course 😁.

Great salad, mushroom soup and lamb chops..it was fantastic. 

Then the final walk to our accommodation for the night and hot showers to warm up. We were pleased to see we had the controls for the central heating in our room so we could ensure the stone building stayed warm with the overnight low forecast. The previous two places we stayed the thermostat controls were with the owners and went off during the night 😲😬.

Agropoli Apartments, Nymphasia