Life in the village with the highest altitude in Zagori.
I have been living for the last 8 years almost permanently in Vradeto in the prefecture of Ioannina. It is the village with the highest altitude in Zagori, at 1,350m, and one of the ten villages in Greece located in the highest mountainous locations. It is considered one of the most isolated and difficult to reach villages, which is why it has been practically uninhabited for years.
In my grandmother's last years, she was the only one who stayed until the heavy winter, a pillar. She held Thermopylae, as I do now with my parents. The grandmother was Kostanto A., I was Konstantina A. the second. I took her name and follow in her footsteps.
My dad is from here, it's been our second home forever. Since 1973 we have had the cafe-tavern in the village square, from the grandfather and grandmother. It is one of the oldest coffeehouses in operation in Greece, as someone who wrote a related book informed us.
It may seem strange to you, but we don't have much free time, we are in our shops 10 to 16 hours a day sometimes! For us, these are essentially our homes. We eat there, together with the people.
In our "normal" houses, we only go to rest.
Initially we lived in Ioannina and worked in the cafe-tavern on weekends and holidays. The economic crisis affected my parents' businesses in the city, so we made the decision as a family to deal with the store on a permanent basis.
I had just finished my degree and wanted to go out, but I was won over by my father's idea to take the old village school, which was in operation until 1969, and turn it into a cafe that I would run and at the same time, I have the opportunity to exhibit the jewelry that I have been making since I was a child.
I was 24 when I opened my shop, "Skala tou Vradeto", and the youngest professional in Zagori. Maybe I still am. I made it exactly the way I wanted it, the menu, the music and everything you see. Our toilet is also a gallery! You can see it here .
It may seem strange to you, but we don't have much free time, we are in our shops 10 to 16 hours a day sometimes! For us, these are essentially our homes. We eat there, together with the people. In the others, our "normal" houses, we only go to rest.
What would I suggest you try? Everything! In our tavern, everything, really... if you've been at work for 50 years, you won't make many mistakes. It is very homely and family oriented, the place, the food, the staff.
In my little shop, in the winter, cinnamon, tea latte, mulled wine and the Beloi Sunrise cocktail. In summer, lemonade with fresh herbs, flavoured beer and Vradejito & Think Green cocktails. And all seasons our sweets and liqueur.
And jewelry of course! We have something for everyone!
If you come this far, you absolutely must go to Beloi. It is the best spot to admire the unique beauty of the Vikos ravine. It is a leisurely half hour walk from the village.
Skala of Vradeto is a unique landmark that you should visit. It is a unique example of popular architecture, in essence a stone-built path of 1,100 steps and three traffic lanes, which connects the village with the neighboring Kapesovo. It was once the village's only access to the outside world.
Another thing you won't believe is that one of the biggest difficulties we have is the lack of water. In many villages this issue exists, surprisingly, even if they are located in a mountain. In winter it freezes, summer ends.
I will not idealize village life. It's not easy. It has an innate melancholy.
Also the weather, as you can imagine, is very difficult. Vradeto also receives a lot of bad weather and snow.
Metres of snow... So access, house maintenance, snow removal, etc., if you want to live here in the winter, it is a big issue.
In the summer you'll find me out in the yard, drinking lemonade squeezed with fresh herbs, making jewelry, or creating anything. Also observing the flora and fauna that visit me.
To feed the stray/abandoned/at large dogs that show up, the birds, the insects, hopefully one day the bear.
And also to learn the distant places where our visitors come from and put a pin on our map! In winter one of the same, but inside, with the stove and warm liqueur from helmets.
I miss a lot of course, my friends above all. But, to tell you the truth, I feel fulfilled, I love that I have made something completely my own and I can create nice memories for the guests.
I never wake up saying "oh I have to go to the office". Although many times I say "oh," I am alone in the village.
I will not idealise village life. It's not easy. It has an innate melancholy. What I would advise someone who is thinking of leaving the city for a village, especially an isolated village like Vradeto – the truth is that you will hardly find such isolation in all of Greece – is to ask yourself if you can be autonomous in some issues because help or support is not self-evident even in the basics.
This article first appeared in Lifo.
READ MORE: Nymfaio – A Charming Village in Northern Greece That Resembles a Fairy Tale.
