This brief escape trip was a really spontaneous idea. Arriving at the end of the summer I decided to take advantage of these last days of August and visit a beautiful, quiet place near my base, Thessaloniki. The truth is that a few years ago I had visited a village full of green places called Ano Porogia, and I had really found the tranquility I was looking for “filling” myself with images of nature. My visit had lasted only a few hours, since it was essentially a day trip, just to escape my daily routine. This place remained in my mind and when the opportunity arised, I decided to return!
Kerkini Lake
The Accomodation
The villages around the lake are traditional, beautiful and the people are very hospitable! For our stay we chose a stone guesthouse in the village of Kerkini. The place we stayed was exactly what we were looking for: quiet, picturesque and friendly! Our room was fully equipped with everything necessary and it even had a fireplace, although obviously we didn’t light it up because of the summer season, but I hope to be able to visit this place again during the winter. The people who have been working at the hotel were very helpful and even made sure to create a vegan menu for the days I spent at their place.
The Activities
As for the activities that you can do, there are a lot of them and very interesting ones, like hiking and even boating on the lake. This was also my favorite moment of the day. You can sail around the lake on a boat either individually or in small groups. The duration is about 1 hour and during this time the tour guide and the driver of our boat informed us about the history of the lake, the names of the mountains and the borders with the neighboring countries. At the same time, he showed us the flamingos and various other species of birds that were there to give birth and find food. So, he stopped our boat at a specific point far enough away from the birds, so that they wouldn’t be frightened or disturbed, and provided us with with binoculars. It was the first time I saw these species. I couldn’t imagine such a beauty!
The next day we visited Ano Porogia, the village which was the reason why I wanted so much to return to this place. The truth is that I was very anxious thinking if people had intervened in this green landscape and if something had changed in what I remembered. When I arrived, I realized that fortunately nothing had changed! Green mountains, crystal clear streams and wonderfully cool temperature because of the plane trees, which completed the landscape. We spent our day walking in the woods and discovering new colors of the nature. After that, we enjoyed a cool homemade lemonade in a cafe, which was among the trees and this beautiful landscape.
Vegan Food
Of course, you can find a lot of traditional food in this place! Legumes and vegetables are the ones you can find and enjoy in the villages around the lake. At the same time, the place where we stayed, prepared a lot of delicious vegan meals for us such as beans, greek “sarmadakia” and traditional pies. Specifically, both the vegetable pie and the potato pie I tried, were excellent. The traditional taverns offered us red peppers, salads, zucchinis and many more vegan delicacies. Everything was very tasty! What do you think?
Thank you all once again for “traveling” with me! I wish you all a wonderful time!
