Invited by the Tourism Development Organization before Mount Athos we met in November 2015 for 48 hours in the rather unknown to most in front of Mount Athos inland Chalkidiki, defined by three Natura sites - the Holomont massif, the Aristotelian mountain and Mount Athos.

At the airport "Macedonia" of Thessaloniki we were received by Maria Pappas, Marketing and Communication Director of the Organization (founded only 5 years ago), a charismatic and happy woman who having organized a very tight - but also intoxicating and filling - program revealed an area which for years lived in the shadow of the tourist Halkidiki and which thanks to the planned actions is evolving into a rapidly developing tourist destination.

We were enchanted by the autumn landscapes with the unique forests of beech, oak and fir, we tried fine products, we met excellent cooks who introduced us local dishes We were fascinated by the open heart, the hospitable mood and the housekeeping of the locals and in the end we exclaimed "It does not exist like the mountainous Halkidiki!", paraphrasing the well-known attack of the Thessalonians.

The program started with a visit to Tsantalis winery, where along with the wine tasting, we got to know the work of the Tourist Organization before Mount Athos and in particular the actions of Mount Athos Area Kouzina. This was followed by a visit to beautiful Arnea, where we wandered in the cobbled alleys between the extremely carefully restored Macedonian houses, with the typical local colors of indigo, ocher and coarse red. In museums of History-Folklore and Textiles we approached her history of the place, while from our visit to three beautiful churches (pilgrimage of the Great Virgin, Metropolitan Church of Agios Stefanos, church of the Patriarchs in Paleochori) we took a sample of religious-pilgrimage tourism that is developing in the area.

From a purely gastronomic point of view, we tried the five varieties of honey of Dimitris Georgakas, sheep and cow yogurts in the modern workshop of Antonis Karagiannis, The buns with chestnut cream at the confectionery of Dimitris Xonikis, on jams and liqueur of Lanara cafe, the traditional ones giaprakia by the Women's Association of Paleochori (with cabbage, salted pork and oatmeal), pumpkin pie of Theanos Pagonis who presented it to us in her husband's rose oil workshop, the jams and sweets from the women's cooperative "Dryades" in Barbara. Two rich meals, one at Bakatsianos restaurant in Arnaia, where Dimitris Polyzos presents his creative cuisine, the second at the hotel "Agia Varvara" by Giannis Tsoukalas, where we tried the black Greek pig that breeds in the village of Varvara and finally the delicious dinner at tsipouro cauldron of George Karavasilikos starring wild boar with plums, completed our exuberant tour. Leaving, we commented again with full satisfaction: "There is no place like mountainous Halkidiki!".