Safe Return Doubtful

There were storms overnight, with rain drumming so hard on the roof that I struggled to hear the film I was watching and had to turn on the subtitles.

After a few nights of watching stuff from the horror genre I can recommend only one film at the moment, an Argentinian folk horror called When Evil Lurks, and something much shorter and older that I’m enjoying, the original series of The Twilight Zone, from 1959. They’re a bit hit or miss, but the less good ones are still 6 out of 10. There are some really good ideas, and it’s no wonder they went down so well at the time.

I drove on this morning, after a quick walk to the village War Memorial, which commemorates their dead from 1943. A walk with the wispy mist that had covered us earlier in the morning, now lifting amongst the jagged peaks, to give a fine day.

More winding roads, 20 mph at most, and a descent into Konitsa, where I used the supermarket, and continued south, regaining the height I’d just lost, into the the opposite side of the Tymfi massif, up numerous hairpins, to Papingo.

This was a recommendation from Hugh, who was here cycling in May, when there was still snow on the tops. It’s the perfect time for a visit at the moment. I’m sure there’s usually lots of tourists, but today just a handful. Like many of the villages here in the mountains of Western Greece it is nestled into a nook in the steep forested slopes. But this is particularly striking in appearance, and there is much more infrastructure, in terms of hotels, cafes, and restaurants.

The 80 on the red sign below is for the Ultra Race that took place in the summer.. https://www.zagorirace.gr/en/tera-80-km/

Above Papingo, about 100 metres above, on another winding road, is the smaller sister village of Mikro Papingo. After lunch, Roja and I took a track that headed down into the valley, dropped a couple of hundred metres, before climbing back up through the forest to the smaller village.

There was a couple of restaurants there, and some more holiday type accommodation. It is also the starting point for trails into the higher hills. We completed the circuit by returning on the road, which was quiet, just a couple of vehicles passing us.