You walk on lands that are here since the creation of the planet. You lift up a stone and you tell your children: "You know this is not just a stone, it's a tear! One of the many tears thrown, when the supercontinent Pangea drifted apart."
Then you find a small pebble and wonder how this was found here on the mountains...
You imagine all this place being covered by a sea called Tethys and you tell to your children: "In the old times, everything around here was covered by sea." (the visitors can get information about the geowonders, the geopark and the geotourism at the GEOPARK TETHYS information center that you will find at the entrance of the city).
Then, this sea dried up and became a land. Many trees sprout up on this land creating a tropical forest, where once huge elephants lived. They were called mammoths and had the longest tusks that this world has ever seen (you can see these tusks in the Paleontological Museum at Milia, Grevena).
These mammoths disappeared, because of the climate change and because they were hunted by men for food. So most trees disappeared too. But a piece of this forest still exists today and is called Valia Calda (warm valley)!
In this valley there are rare animals, birds, plants and fairies (and if you do not believe me, go to Valia Calda and you will find them. They walk on cyclamen...).
You wake up in the morning as the spring comes...
... and you fill your lungs with fresh air flooded with aromas of fir, pine, lime and almond and cherry blossoms.
You drink your coffee while enjoying the nut spoon sweet with walnuts that you have collected by yourself, from the walnut trees of your neighborhood. (Eat the cherry spoon sweet or the nut spoon sweet from Grevena, dredged with almond and walnut chips on top and you will feel me).
As summer comes...
...the odors and colors are enriched with lavender, other herbs and flowers and through this aromatic-chromatherapy, your mood changes and you feel healthy and calm!
Take your bicycle and go to the woods. In 3 minutes you are there! Stop and gather wild berries and other fruits of the forest (you can make jam that you will serve a Sunday morning at breakfast feeling the summer sun shine in you).
Stop and greet with affection your furry friends and continue your walk together if you want. They are friendly and are happy be your escort.
And the summer goes away...
...without any sorrow, because you know that after every autumn rain, you will collect the mushrooms that you will eat for lunch, accompanied by good wine or tsipouro from Grevena with your company.
Do not forget to buy lavender, mountain tea, chamomile and other local herbs and spoon sweets, handmade pasta, mushroom-based products, honey of the region, liqueur, almonds and walnuts, local cheeses and meat and sausages from the local stores of the city.
And before the sadness of autumn leaves its mark, you get caught up by winter...
...sitting around a fireplace with your family in a snowy village and playing games in the snow (probably you know Vasilitsa…).
And all of a sudden, you come across a beautiful flower that springs up of the snow and you realize that everything starts over again...
Text & Photos: Sofia Babou (http://ehappyhealth.blogspot.gr) and Roula Garabliana
