{"id":2024,"date":"2010-08-21T13:52:17","date_gmt":"2010-08-21T13:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/?p=2024"},"modified":"2011-04-12T16:44:02","modified_gmt":"2011-04-12T16:44:02","slug":"arrival-and-first-night-in-damouhari","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/?p=2024","title":{"rendered":"Arrival and first night in Damouhari"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Location of "Victoria Guesthouse" (umbrellas in courtyard) Damouhari<\/p><\/div>\n

The cobble-stoned path I had just descended is known as “Kagiolia”, constructed in the 19th Century in order to connect Damouhari port with Tsagarada and other villages of east Pelion.\u00a0 These days it is known as a lovely walk leading\u00a0to isolated beaches.\u00a0 It is\u00a0not normally used as an\u00a0entrance way\u00a0to Damouhari and certainly not carrying a heavy pack\u00a0during the hottest hours of the day.<\/p>\n

Wanting\u00a0to be noticed by as few people as possible, I gingerly made my way along the path behind the beach.\u00a0\u00a0Although intent on finding a room somewhere, no matter what it cost, I found myself discounting the first couple of establishments.\u00a0 Then I saw the sign “Victoria Guesthouse” www.godamouhari.com<\/a> \u00a0and a man from the Mini Market next door spoke with me.\u00a0 He said, sorry, we have no room for tonight, however, from tomorrow we will have something available.\u00a0 I think he must have felt sorry for me as when I asked if I could leave my pack there while I went\u00a0on a\u00a0search elsewhere, he took me upstairs\u00a0where he showed me a room that could possibly be available.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Greeks from Thessaloniki had made a booking, however, until then had not put in an appearance.\u00a0 He would try to telephone them.\u00a0 Meanwhile, he said I should rest a little in the courtyard where soon,\u00a0cold water and a welcoming frappe were awaiting me.\u00a0 The first telephone call, no reply – second telephone call around 1830 hours, no reply.\u00a0 He said, if again at 1930 hours there is no reply, the room is yours.\u00a0 If the people arrive, we will erect a tent for you to sleep in tonight, you will not find a room anywhere.\u00a0 Meanwhile, please come to eat dinner with us – Victoria’s delicious Moussaka, salad and wine, followed by wonderful Crepes made by Christina, a lovely French lady\u00a0staying here with her family.<\/p>\n

Believing in what is meant to be, will be and\u00a0remembering how many times, especially on\u00a0this intrepid journey,\u00a0everything has fallen into place for me, I was\u00a0very happy although not surprised, when by 1930 hours, the Greeks had not shown and the room was mine, for as many days as I wish to stay.\u00a0\u00a0Although\u00a0at the top of my budget range, I love this place so much, I hope to stay for a week.\u00a0 The business is run by a family who also own “Ghermaniko”, a traditional hotel close by.\u00a0 Their dedication to making\u00a0all guests and customers\u00a0feel at home cannot be faulted.\u00a0 What is more, this place and this family seem to attract the nicest of people.\u00a0 Christina and her family from France, an Israeli family I met this morning who have today moved on to Makrinitsa, and many others.<\/p>\n

Last evening Christina introduced me to Rainer Winter, the Director of a documentary titled “Manolis Drosos”, adding that a screening of the film was to take place last night here in the courtyard.\u00a0 Filmed in 1983 in Damouhari, when it was still a fishing village and Mouresi, it is about Manolis, a local fisherman and typical figure of Damouhari in those days.\u00a0 The film\u00a0portrays Manolis’ philosophy of life, a\u00a0simple fisherman and maybe the last popular philosopher in the area.\u00a0 Of 90 minutes duration, it shows the beauty that is being lost and the way to maintain the authenticity that still remains.\u00a0 As fatigued as I was, I came downstairs for the screening – wonderful viewing, so glad to have had the opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tuesday evening back\u00a0in Makrinitsa,\u00a0I noticed a Turkish lady with her young daughter,\u00a0they were dining at the same Taverna as me.\u00a0 On Wednesday I spoke to Elchin as they waited for a bus back to Volos\u00a0and she mentioned that a friend of hers had recently been in Damouhari.\u00a0 Last night as we waited for the screening of the film\u00a0to commence, who should speak to me, none other than Elchin – it can be such a small world.\u00a0 Elchin and I have had several conversations now, another intrepid traveller although she does have her 5 year old daughter with\u00a0her.<\/p>\n

Here in Damouhari there is the beach and then the port. \u00a0“Victoria\u00a0Guesthouse” is located in the port, barely 10 metres from the sea, which in September 2007, was the setting for the harbour of the island where the “Mama Mia” movie story supposedly took place.\u00a0 It is where Merryl Streep received her two old friends who came for her daughter’s wedding.\u00a0 It was also the main setting for the song “Dancing\u00a0Queen”.\u00a0 They built a kind\u00a0of wooden marina and the big abandoned building next door to “Victoria Guesthouse” was part of the set.\u00a0 From all accounts, the visitors were co-operative and friendly and in particular,\u00a0Merryl Streep the locals say was lovely –\u00a0charming, very fit and active (do you think it could also be me who\u00a0they are describing)?<\/p>\n

Today I have not\u00a0ventured anywhere, however, I will be staying on for at least a few days.\u00a0 A spate of heavy showers this morning were welcomed by the locals and I, having\u00a0kept me grounded, however, holidaymakers with just a few days will be pleased to see blue skies and sunshine now returning.\u00a0 Yesterday was such a difficult day when I had need to focus my mind on arriving in a safe location and I did not bother to stop along the way for photographs.\u00a0 Over the next few days, I will endeavour to retrace at least part of yesterday’s road, as well as\u00a0explore the area so photographs will\u00a0follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cobble-stoned path I had just descended is known as “Kagiolia”, constructed in the 19th Century in order to connect Damouhari port with Tsagarada and other villages of east Pelion.\u00a0 These days it is known as a lovely walk leading\u00a0to isolated beaches.\u00a0 It is\u00a0not normally used as an\u00a0entrance way\u00a0to Damouhari and certainly not carrying a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2024"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2598,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2024\/revisions\/2598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}