I woke up in a bedroom I didn't recognise. It happens to me often lately. The photo bag next to the bed was a hint that I was here for work but my mind was still confused. I opened the window and the fresh breeze from the sea woke me up for good. I was at Limira Mare Hotel and I had a big day of work ahead :)
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The first thing I had to do was to take a few pictures of the hotel, in order to "pay" for my stay. That was the deal. They offered us a place to spend the night and we offered them advertisement. It was a win win agreement both for the magazine, as well as for the hotel. That way we could travel all over Greece without any accommodation expenses and the places that lodged us, had free media promotion :)
After the hotel shooting, I visited the premises of Sotirale Family, producers of olive oil and honey. I was looking with interest the procedure of the honey extraction but in the same time, as something totally dissimilar with my life. Who would have told me that ten years later, I would be a producer myself, with my own label of organic extra virgin olive oil and my own bees!
But life is funny :)
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The castle of Agia Paraskevi is visible from the road so I stopped the car to take a couple of shots. It was not in good shape and I didn't go any closer but as I read, it is now renovated and you can visit it. The main purpose of the castle was to keep watch for pirates and offer security to the nearby villages.
The first settlement, after the castle, was Mesochori, a village with long history and amazing view :)
The next one is called Faraklo and it is actually a "sibling" village, very close to Mesochori. The view is equally magnificent and the history pretty much the same.
And you know me. I am a sucker for walks and photography in old villages :)
Agios Nikolaos is an equally beautiful village but my focus, this time, was elsewhere. To a very special restaurant, hidden in the lush vegetation that is called Neraida which means "Fairy" in Greek. A truly fairytale environment and as I've heard, a gastronomic paradise! But I won't lie to you, I didn't have time to eat there so I'll have to go back some time, to taste their delicacies!
I particularly appreciated the old jukebox, an absolute beauty and it even works!
As the afternoon was approaching, I found myself at a small fishing village, named after an old chapel. Profitis Elias looks like the end of the road. A natural port for the boats and a peaceful settlement to rest your soul!
Not the end of my road though! I still had places to visit, things to do. Including a restaurant where I could actually eat and a cocktail to finish my day :)
This is a screenshot of my day's travelling and the link to the google maps, if you are interested to look at it in more detail!
This was one more episode from my life as a travel photographer for a Greek magazine from 2009 till 2013. The location is Lakonia at the southeastern part of the Peloponnese region and more specific an area called Vatika.
Thank you for reading and if you want to know more about me you can check out my introduction post.
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