It had passed some time from the previous trip. The prolonged bad weather made us waiting impatiently for some improvement in the weather to travel... The weather forecast for that weekend were encouraging ... without a second thought, we grabbed the opportunity for an excursion in the central Peloponnese. The appointment was given to "Oneirologio, the nice cafe of our friends, George and Vicky in the village of Ano Doliana (25 km from Tripoli). We had some time to visit them and just wanted an excuse to do it. Moreover, it was a good opportunity to learn about the area and the friends who participated in the excursion.
At 10:30 a.m., we met together in the Ano Doliana. The snowy landscape was a special beauty. The welcoming friends enjoyed our visit - surprise, and immediately we were served coffee and homemade chestnut pie, which is one of their specialties. The time passed pleasantly discussing their future plans for the shop, but also for various trips. After coffee we drank raki drink with honey. What better to warm up a bit, well, despite the prevailing sunshine, the temperature did not exceed 5-6 degree.
The time had reached 1pm. When we decided to depart, although we wanted to stay longer. Every time this happens, when we visit the "Oneirologio. Our destination was the village Lagkadia (76km). Carefully we left Ano Doliana, because of ice, towards Tripoli. Following the signs to the hospital - although we were a little lost – we drove the route to Vitina through Alonistena (45 kilometers away). The winding road climbs up to 1450m. altitude, offering signs with an impressive panoramic view. The vegetation of the area was pine and chestnut trees.
The road reached the outskirts of the Vitina village (55km.) following the sign for the city of Pyrgos, we headed west on a path to comfortable curves for the next 25km. About 2-3 turns before Lagkadia, emerged the village perched on the mountainside. The view made us to stop in order to relax and shoot some photos.
The picturesque Arcadian town is a masterpiece of stone, with impressive two and three storey stone houses built along the slopes on a steep slope, with running water, imposing a mountainous landscape. It is the home of Deliyannis family and other army leaders and fighters of Greek revolution of 1821. The central square has cafes and restaurants. It is standing right on the edge of the stream and it is full of trees. We chose one of the restaurants for dinner. The fireplace that was available, it redeems us from the cold that prevailed...
The time had reached 5pm. when we asked for the bill. Unfortunately it gets dark at 6pm. and we wanted to reach the highway of Korinthos-Tripoli, as we did not want to have problems with ice. Just before the national road and since it was not dark, we decided to visit the impressive church of St. Fotini, located about 3 km. from the road of Vitina-Tripoli. The church with the "strange" architecture located just opposite the archaeological site of Ancient Mantinia. The way it is built to refer more to ancient Greek temple and less as church. Personally, those I had showed, have been impressed with the specificity, at the point that the archaeological site passes unnoticed...
Arriving on the highway, we greeted and took the way back to Athens and Kalamata. Our minds are already looking for the next tour destination...
