"My" village

This post is a tribute to the smaller towns and villages of Greece. 


Everyone in Greece has their "own village", the village they belong to, the one they go to on important occasions like Christmas (weather permitting), national holidays like the 28th of October or March 25th, Easter week or in August for the feast of the Assumption that falls right in the middle of most people's summer holidays.

Everyone calls it their village not because they were born there (though some were) but because their parents, grandparents, great grandparents came from there, which means that half their kin still reside there. The bottom line is that Greeks always stay in touch with their heritage, and that includes family. That's why they travel several times a year to get together with friends, cousins, aunts and uncles, as well as grandparents of course.

The picture I've taken and posted here is of "my" village, Naoussa (now more commonly spelled with one 's'), the birthplace of my parents located in Northern Greece. It is a town in fact, nestled midway on the slope of a wonderful row of mountains -- foothills to the Vermio Mountain range -- overlooking the plains beneath. On clear summer nights, the bright lights of the major toll station 26 kilometers outside Thessaloniki are visible, meaning that someone sitting on one of the town's park benches,  looking out eastwards has a clear 70-kilometer line of sight. If that same person were to simply contemplate the plains below, they would find stretches of fertile vineyards. Now, that's what I call a view.

The picture I've taken, however, is not one that captures that side of the town. The camera was directed the other way, towards the back, the place which supports this urban nest -- the mountains. 

They are absolutely glorious. 

There's nothing like waking up in the morning to a sight like this. It fills you with awe and a calmness that few places manage to do so. The fresh invigorating air replenishes your lungs, while the emerald suede slopes soothe you with their presence. Rollicking shifts of light and shadows chase each other as clouds struggle to block the sun's rays from touching a verdant bed.

It is an image you keep with you all your life. It is an image I am sure many Greeks have when they think of their home towns.