We’re in our fourth port city, having visited Napflino, Kalamata, and Preveza. Napflino contained a deep remnant old Greece with villages of narrow windy stone built buildings, still housing Greeks living a traditional Greek life. Throughout Greece one happens upon these villages often butted up against newer parts of the area or as is the case in Kalamata, Preveza, Athens the city still contains an old town featuring cobblestone streets and stone buildings usually converted into retail to capture tourist income. We’ll visit one such village later today located in the foothills that over look Volos, which is perhaps the most modern city in Greece. Volos is in the Thessaly region, south of Thessaloniki. A port housing 85,000 residents and low in tourism. The city is an industrial center, a bridge between Europe and Asia.
It’s modern due to buildings erected after a 1955 catastrophic earthquake. There’s also a university which spawned additional cultural growth. Different from preview port cities we visited Volos has little tourism. Beginning in Petras, and finding it again in Ioannina, dress is less conservative, young people wear athletic clothing though when I did (white hair and not ‘young’) older Greek women expressed disapproval with the glance. With modernity we’ve observed interesting artifacts: more police, male gazing (at women) and phone gazing with young people taking continuous selfies. These features were absent in the Peloponnese region. Coincidence? Other features of modernity are wider streets actually suitable for 2 way traffic, and modern live music.
Along with modernity comes gastro innovations on Greek cuisine, we enjoyed a modern spin at Mezen.
