Since we had not visited Plomari, the largest resort area on Lesvos located about 30 km from Mytillini, we took off early Saturday to visit the capital of Ouzo production. According to the map, Plomari is accessible via a road from Vatera; although the road is shown as a secondary road so with caution in mind, we decided to take the main road between Polichnitos and Mytillini then turn off the main road at the appropriate intersection to Plomari.
We turned at the road marked 'Plomai' and drove through the mountains for about 15 km on a fairly decent road but then ended up in a small village called Amplikon where the road deteriorated to a single lane road winding through the mountains. After checking the map, we discovered this was an alternate road to Plomari and not one of the main roads. So, we backtracked to the main road, drove another 10 km to the turnoff marked Agiosos (the most beautiful hillside village on Lesvos) and Plomari. We had been to Agiosos earlier so we were familiar with the area, the streets are narrow and steep with cars parked everywhere and access limited. Just at the entrance to the village a sign indicated the route to Plomari which bypassed the village by driving around and above the town. Off we went with little trepidation, however the road was indeed steep and we ended up in the typical one-way narrow cobblestone lane with the locals staring and probably wondering what the foreigners were up to. At this point, the wisdom of taking this short cut are questioned, but after a few sharp turns we ended back on the main road and found a sign in Greek indicating we were on the right road to Plomari, so we chugged on.
The paved road continued higher and higher until we were almost level with the tallest peak in Lesvos, Mt. Olympus. The views were spectacular with Agiosos lower on the mountain, and beautiful views of Mt Olympus directly to the West. However, the road was getting much narrower as we progressed deeper into the countryside until it turned into a single lane heavily rutted dirt and gravel lane that only faintly resembled a real road. Washouts and ruts from recent rainfalls were abundant and at some places the road was barely wide enough for the small Panda to pass without going off the cliff, never to be found again. Again, the wisdom of selecting this route became a lively topic of discussion, particularly since it appeared to be taking us on a coarse of no return into "Deliverance" territory. But we perservered on, since this was not many other options, Barb nervously fingered her komboloi (worry) beads and occasionally hit me with great force in an effort to calm her nerves. As I recall, the beads are used to calm the nerves and keep the hands busy, not to be used as a weapon.
But, we soldiered on and eventually started downhill, which was promising, I remember my Boy Scout training; if lost in the woods find a stream and follow it downhill, eventually civilization will be found! So continuing down the road over bumps, dodging washouts, avoiding the occaasional goat, we finally came to the village of Meglachori and a paved road! Salvation! Then it dawned on us that had we continued our original journey, we would have ended up at this exact spot on a paved road. But, with much less adventure! The paved road continued downhill for another 10 km until we entered the narrow, one way, but really two way, steep streets of Plomari. Plomari was very busy, tour buses, lots of people on the quay and in the tavernas and Ouzoeries. During Easter time many people return to the islands for the traditional Easter services and feasting, so many people were in the village.
We stopped at a taverna for lunch where we ate mezedes, which are small dishes of appetizers, and watched the locals drink Ouzo while we had a Coca Cola. Since we had enough excitement for the day we decided to take the long route home on a main road along Gera Bay. On the way, we stopped in a small village to visit a beautifully restored olive oil factory built in 1888, which is now a museum. This factory operated for 90 years with the main source of power a steam engine. Olive pits were used to provide the fuel source and all of the machine equipment has been restored to working condition. Olive oil production has fallen in recent years since so many other countries including Eastern Europeans are now producing olive oil with cheaper labor, and with cheaper results. There are actually 10 categories of "Virgin" oil, Lesvos produces olive oil from their 11 million trees lower in acidity since it has a drier climate; the hotel owners still have olive orchards where they produce and bottle oil in smaller quantities for sale locally.
Sunday is Easter, lots of activities planned!
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