For long time we had in our minds to come together in order to see a presentation of our last trip to Turkey , which was held last summer. Sakis proposed as presentation place his village “Athanasios Diakos”. It is a beautiful mountain village, situated on Vardoussia Mountains. It is the birthplace of the Greek Revolution against ottomans hero, Athanasios Diakos. The old name of the village was Ano Mousounitsa.
As date we choose the weekend of 23-24 of March which combined with Monday holiday on 25, it was a good opportunity to be able to enjoy the area more. The appointment was for Saturday, March 23, 2013. In Saturday the morning the members and the friends of the travel team MotoRiders Club started arriving at Athanasios Diakos Village.
First came Sakis and Stratos to prepare the house. Stelios ( Moto Adventures) from Chania was the next, and shortly after arrived Manolis, Giorgos Z., Achilleas and John D. (John Dom). Manolis and Giorgos Z. coming from their tour in Tzoumerka had met outside Grevena with Achilleas (from Thessaloniki) and John Dom ( Moto Adventures) from Serres and together they traveled the previous day in the mountainous of Trikala region.
Sometime after we had gathered to Sakis house we went to the main square of the village in order to eat something in the local taverns and meantime waiting friends Mimis and Giorgos K. from Kozani. From the very first time-and despite the fact that the time we had known each other were different we felt very comfort! The jokes and the fun was the main feature every time. In the village square there are restaurants with good traditional food. One of them was our choice! After an hour, they made their appearance our friends from Kozani. Mimis' custom motorcycle stole the impressions once again! - And unsurprisingly, was the main topic of discussion and jokes in our company!!!
Talking about different think the time was passing. The darkness had given a different picture in the village, while the temperature reminded us the elevation of area we were. We went back at home and prepared the room for audio-visual presentation of our trip in Turkey. Fortunately, the presence of John Dom, with its technical expertise, helped to achieve the best viewing quality. We thank you John Dom.!
The presentation started and for the next 2 hours we were stranded... For those who had participate in the trip the video bring in minds the beautiful moments and experiences there. For those who had also visited Turkey in past they also remembered their travels. For those who had not traveled to the neighbored country, maybe this Turkey will be their next destination...
After the presentation of trip in Turkey, we began to see one more presentation, this was about a tour we had made about 5 months ago in Western Makedonia. The specific presentation made by Sakis A. (motodiadromes) from Kozani, who together with Mimi had shown us the sight signs of their area! We thank them once again and hope to meet them again soon!After the presentations we stay close to fireplace and we continued to talk about trips and motorcycling, drinking pure raki...
Next day...
The next day morning was sunning and perfect for motorcycling! Sakis prepared our breakfast, trying to make us feel comfortable and cozy.
At 11am. we started to do a little trip (80-90km.) we visited beautiful villages, moving at fantastic helical paths offering spectacular view of the mountains: Vardousia, Giona, Iti. The snowy mountains and dense fir forests, made the landscape look like a painting! Before returning to Athanasios Diakos, we stopped for coffee in a small chalet. In the afternoon we returned to the village and chose a tavern. The coffee was followed by the food, until at 9pm. We then returned home. Despite the fact that we were all day together and the conversation did not stop almost never, ever had discussion threads, quips and jokes... This continued again until very late in night...
Last day...
Now is the day of return... We had not understand how we had spent 2 days in the village... The weather had changed and we started to be prepared for the departure taken different directions. We greet each other and gave an appointment for your next meeting/trip...
At this point we would like to thank all those who attended this meeting and especially friends, Stelios from Chania, John Dom from Serres, Mimis and Giorgos K. from Kozani. All we had travel to Turkey and made the presentation of this tour, we want to thank you from our hearts all those who have made us the honor to share with us the wonderful moments we experienced on our trip!
A big thanks to Sakis for his hospitality in his beautiful village Athanasios Diakos. On the way back several thoughts and images of the previous day came to mind... The main of this was "that traveling and motorcycle connecting people, creating close friendships..."
Good roads to all!
Participants : Sakis, Manolis, Giorgos Z., Achilleas, Stratos, Mimis, Giorgos K. (Suzuki Bandit 600), Stelios (MotoAdventures), John D./John Dom (MotoAdventures)
Photos : Achilleas, Manolis, Stratos, Stelios, John Dom
Written by Manolis / Translation: Stratos