The Sunday Getaway - 25 02 2024 - Favourite Places

This weekly column is usually the offspring of random stimuli through the prior week catering to all things life. And as it just so happens I'm back in Mount Pelion after a couple of months?in the city. There's still not much changed, apart from a winter that never came (apparently this is the warmest of the last 25 years or so). And although this would not deter anyone wishing to take the road to this magical place, it strikes me how empty the cute little villages are amidst?the rugged wilderness.

Saturday evening after a hell of a day that started at 5am, we somehow brave it through and make it to Portaria just after 9pm for a delicious feast, at just about the only guaranteed food spot that's open around. The narrow cobblestone street up the hill leads to the secluded dining room with a grandiose fireplace boasting this candle-lit tradition-filled space run by a French duo. It's years since they first opened and almost ceremoniously they stay open throughout the whole winter, catering to a sophisticated crowd. Luckily, after all these years, their homebaked bread still caries the same taste and is served piping hot next to a tasty amuse bouche.

Fast forward to yesterday?(yes, you spotted it right - we missed you too last week!) and after an action-filled workweek with video calls and the sorts, it's so reinvigorating to be taking a break out in the sun. Even if it feels like a deserted land. It's still a good 17 degrees in Pelion and the view to the sea is mesmerising, a bit like flirting with summer. We've still got some way to go... maybe come summer, the roadworks will have cleared up, the devastated land recovered and its beauty restored. You see, ever since I was little, Pelion held close to my heart as the place that combines a lush mountainous side next to the refreshing Aegean waves.

Luckily, there's still restaurants like Gefsokrator that hold their flag high, staying open all year round and making this a destination you always wish to come back to.?

Send us your comments with your favourite places in Greece at [email protected].

Travel On.

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