Akanthos in Kalarrytes

To reach them Curlers from Arta will take two and a half full hours. The distance in kilometers is not long, but the road is narrow and in many places with small sediments on the road. Of course the beautiful route compensates you with the wonderful view of Jumerka and Arachthos, the Plaka bridge the tallest single-arched geyser in the Balkans, twenty meters high, and forty meters wide (Unfortunately, the bridge collapsed in 2014 due to a flood, but more than human indifference).

The Kalarrytes at an altitude of 1300 meters welcome me with a strong hail and dense fog, a fact that can not hide their unique beauty. With the Syrrako are both most well-preserved villages of Tzoumerka.

Once upon a time, more than 4.000 souls lived in the village, most of them cattle breeders and silversmiths. After the war the place was deserted, Residents today thirty one. The most recent o Napoleon Zaglis. Born in the village, he tried his luck in 1980 in the capital. His great-grandfather had studied in Trieste, he was a shoemaker and possessed the European art of shoemaking. The father transformed it into a grocery store, tavern, cafe. So it has remained to this day, until cafe "Akanthos" as the relevant inscription reads.

Η Acanthus is an authentic cafe - grocery of the time, with goods on the shelves, wooden floor, tables and chairs around a wood stove. Napoleon Zaglis, a great physiognomy, a sweet, philosophical handsome man. We share the table and our thoughts.

Cooking one by one, pork with celery and eggnog, beef stew with cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, rooster with noodles and Zitsa wine.

"Here time expands, you live life. Many visitors come, Greeks and foreigners to admire the beauties of the place. In summer the village comes to life. In the winter we say goodbye to each other ".