Visit Metsovo village, explore Ioannina, and spend the night in a Zagoria mountain village.

--OAT: "Metsovo is a small village nestled in the Pindus Mountains renowned for its stone masons, cobbled streets, and long-standing cultural and craft traditions. Ioninina was founded by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian in the sixth century AD and was referred to as the 'Metropolis of Knowledge'. "

October 21, my birthday, and everybody sang Happy Birthday before departing on the bus for the cobble-stoned streets of Metsovo. We sampled some local cheese and chatted with some local older gentlemen sitting together on a bench. After visiting an art gallery, we had lunch at a family-owned restaurant… where we donned plastic aprons and hats to make meat pies, which would become the last course of our usual multi-course Greek meal. It was the short, bawdy matriarch of the establishment that had us in stitches.

Continuing to wind up and down on curvy mountain roads, our next brief stop was in Ioannina, a regional capital situated on the western shores of Lake Pamvotis. We took about 20 minutes to stretch our legs and stroll along the waterfront. After a stop at a silversmith's workshop, it was an hour ride to one of Zagoria's mountain villages where we would be staying for a couple of nights at the Aristi Mountain Resort. It's near the Aoos National Park in the Pindus Mountains of northern Greece… picked as one of National Geographic's collection of handpicked lodges.

Quick Photo Links: Metsovo People, Art Gallery, and Lunch | Silversmith of Cyttaro | Aristi Mountain Resort