Friday 24 March 2017

Kastoria

Kastoria is a beautiful city by a lake in Northwestern Greece.
We went there last weekend with the Teachers' Association Drama Club invited by the local Teachers' Association to present our adult play, Griothesia.
The weather was fantastic all Spring and beauty!
That's what I was reading on the way.The story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. An excellent read so far with great insight on dogs!
We decided we should do some sightseeing  since we were visiting the area.
Our first stop was at Dispilio a 5.500 BC settlement.


We found the settlement very interesting with all the constructed huts and the birds in the lake.


This amazing wooden inscription of 5260 BC is one of the amazing finds in the area.
The group of actors and actresses accompanied by partners and children!We make a great team!
This little clay bird whistle (lalitsa) I bought there to remind me of our visit!
We then settled to our hotel Tsamis
We had a great view of the lake from our room!


And there were swans and ducks and geese in the lake!
This is the poster of the play and the whole event.The money collected was given to charity.
The theatre at Argos Orestiko where we played was of amazing quality!
And the play was a success once again!

After a great dinner we had a very good night's sleep.
The next morning we continued sightseeing.We went round the lake.
We visited Panagia Mavriotissa Monastery.


The lake was filled with birds.We saw pelicans and swans.

We then visited the Cave of the Dragon which was spectacular!



We then walked around the old part of the town of Kastoria with its amazing Byzantine churches.
This one was open too.








The view from the top of the hill was stunning.
And so was the flora all around the area.

We found a small ceramics shop while walking and I had to see what they made.It's the
Archeo Art Gallery 
And this was one of the pieces I bought.
We then had an hour free for coffee by the lake and what a coincidence to meet my niece Olia and her husband Polys!So we had coffee together and it was so great meeting them again!

Final stop was at a restaurant by the lake called The island of the cormorants.
The food was ok but what really impressed me were the birds all around.




I even managed to catch a glimpse of the taking off of the pelicans!




I hadn't been to Kastoria for 25 years and I really loved visiting it again!I really want to go back!
On the way back all the trees were blooming and the pinks and purples of the flowers were superb but I wasn't able to catch the real colours with my camera.

What I brought back apart from beautiful pictures!
And this was a gift from my friend Irene who makes beautiful handcrocheted gifts!
You can find them here and at Doroiko shop!
Hopefully we will manage another trip like that with the drama team!

13 comments:

Purple Pixie Dust said...

love the pictures in this blog. I really like older buildings. I sent you a parcel this week. I don't know how long it will take to get to you. big hugs Lynda Ruth

Mii Stitch said...

What a lovely trip away! The picture with the hut and the lake in the background is stunning.
Love the souvenirs you brought back home with you.

Justine said...

That looks like a wonderful weekend.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

What a wonderful trip, it looks like a lovely place to visit. I love the dragon's cave!

Barb said...

What a wonderful way to spend the week-end. The old churches were so beautiful and interesting. To think that I live in a country that thinks being just over 200 years old is quite old!! Loved the birds, pelicans are fun to watch!

Poppy said...

Hi Ariadne,

Happy Spring! What a lovely trip to Kastoria, such a beautiful and vibrant place! The lake pics, with the ducks and the geese, and the boat are gorgeous. You all look so happy being up on that stage; oh, how I miss my theatre days!!

Poppy

Lillie said...

What a beautiful place and interesting. Thank you for sharing the beautiful photos. Look like you had a wonderful trip especially to meet up with your niece and a successful fun trip with your theatre group.

Sara said...

Beautiful pictures! It seems that I should add Kastoria to my long list of places to visit.

mpiskotoupoli said...

Είχαμε πάει στην Καστοριά πριν 2 χρόνια και τη λατρέψαμε και γενικά όλο το ταξίδι μας (Βέροια,Νάουσα,Καστοριά,Έδεσσα)!!Ο πρωιστορικός αυτός χώρος στην Καστοριά ήταν τέλειος,το σπήλαιο,η λίμνη!!!Και στα επόμενα ταξίδια με το καλό,καλημέρα!!!

zina said...

δεν εχω παει ποτε Καστορια και οι φωτογραφίες σου με ταξίδεψαν :)

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

You really had a wonderful trip! Love seeing you up on the stage too my friend. And all of the nature you viewed....awesome! You took so many wonderful photos and brought home some treasures too. Thanks so much for the prayers and for your friendship. I am feeling better today! Hugs, Diane

Astrids dragon said...

It looks like you had a wonderful time, and you have the beautiful pictures to prove it!

Brigitte said...

Such a wonderful trip, Ariadne. And good for you that you had the chance to visit this great region and see all the historical places.