Then, I drove towards Ioannina. I've been spoiled by the Rockies and the Sierras, but this was pretty anyway. It was another two lane road with barely any shoulder. In at least one spot, I had to stop and wait for some sheep and goats to cross the road with their shepherd.
From Ioannina, I visited Dondoni -- an oracle that was very powerful
in Greece before Delphi's oracle. Once, it was for the Great Goddess,
but eventually Zeus came in and crowder her out. Priests would
interpret divine will from the rustling of the leaves in a sacred oak
where Zeus was believed to live (locally).
It would have been really cool if the tree was still there, but 2500
years is a long time for most trees. Instead, I saw the remains of
theatre and more ruins.
There was also the ruins of a Byzantine church. I was wondering how
long it would be before we look at Judaism, Christianity, Islam,
Buddhism, etc with the same eyes as we use to look at Greek mythology;
when will they seem so quaint? What will people believe in then?
After Dodoni, I decided to skip the Zagoria villages and their slate
buildings and head straight to Corfu for some time on the beach.
After a nice sunset on the ferry, I arrived in Corfu in the dark and
headed to Pelakas on the west
coast.
In Pelekas, I stayed at Pension
Tellis-Brigitte. Brigitte and Tellis were the nicest people I
stayed with in Greece on my whole trip. The people I met at their
pension -- their friends, family, and other guests -- were great too.
(Hi Heidi, Jan, Wendy, Petra, Alex, Roula, and gang...).
