Driving Across Greece in Search of a Traditional Greek Meal

I hope you are well. My name is Christian, and welcome to my channel " Backpacking Bananas". I'm on my shortest trip to Greece, to Europe, probably in all the time I've been flying here from the other side of the world. One of my best friends just got married in the city of Volos. It was incredibly beautiful, and that's why I said I definitely had to travel that far for this event. Her big Greek wedding. It was wonderful. But before heading straight back to Sydney, I wanted to explore the area a bit. I had never been to this part of Greece before, around Volos. I had to take a 3.5 hour bus ride from Athens and I thought it would be worth taking a little walk. So the most obvious choice was to go to Skiathos and Skopelos

, which I had never been to and would really like to visit. But I realized that I really don't have much time. I only have two nights and I didn't want to take any chances with the ferry schedule, especially since I would like to spend much more time there. So we decided to take the bride's advice and came to the eastern side of the Pelion peninsula, to Damouchar. I don't know if I'm pronouncing this name correctly. This is a very small, rural town. By the way, this is one of the filming locations for " Mamma Mia", where "Dancing Queen" was filmed. They dance on the cobblestone streets, on the pier, and it seems they even jump into the water. It was all filmed here. So, Leah and I will be spending the next few nights here. Leah is in the room now. She is

not feeling very well today. I have a slight headache after the wedding. And I was pretty sensible, actually. I just went swimming, and now I'll tell you what we're going to do here. Even though I'm only in Greece for a few days, it's important for me to stay connected. So, as usual, I purchased a plan from Saley. Thank you Saley for your support and sponsorship of today's video. If you don't know, Saley is an eSIM provider from Volos. Leah and I rented a car and relied entirely on Google Maps to get to Damukhari. Of course, for this I needed to have the Internet. And it's simply essential for everything I do while traveling. We book accommodation on the go. We book transportation on the go. We look at restaurant reviews to decide where to have dinner. We

Google what certain dishes on the menu mean. And, to be honest, after arriving in Damukhari, we realized how terrible the Wi-Fi is here. So we rely entirely on our mobile data. We can't rely on Wi-Fi. The reason why this is the best eSIM provider today is because once you download one eSIM, you only need to activate it on your phone once. After that, you just add data for whichever direction you're heading, and it takes about 10 seconds. I decided to take 3 GB of data for 5 days in Greece, hopefully that will be enough, but it's very easy to top up if they run out. As always, I have a discount for you. If you use my code backpacking or follow the link saley.com/backpacking, you will get a 15% discount on all plans. So write this down for the future when

you know you'll be traveling abroad and need internet. Full stack, coconut oil. Pistachio. I was hoping it would be pistachio, but this is Sergio. So, this is a tavern. It's called "Uncle Sergio." This is the same one that was in "Mamma Mia." Sergio? Sergio. How do you say that in Greek? Sergio. Sorry, guys, I'm exhausted. Yes, I am really very tired. It was a busy weekend. Yemista is stuffed vegetables. You know, I love stuffed tomatoes and peppers. You wouldn't like it. I'm really sorry that there wasn't a pistachio one, so I chose another classic. I had spaghetti with shrimp.

Here she goes. Where did I stop? Today I will show you. We pay only 70 euros per night, which is actually very cheap for this place. Yes, there is simply no parking here, but that's okay. Before the sun rises, we head back to get the rest of our things from the car. And I just have an embarrassingly big suitcase, I don't know how to pack. It's light, but it was necessary for wedding things, because I had a steamer and cosmetics. She made it so that there were only two options. This came in handy because I came with my little jacket. You have toothpaste there, right?

Detergent? Everything you can think of. I was small. I wonder what you do when you don't have the things you need. Your way of packing used to be mine. I used to always take too many things. All in a row. I once packed an 80-liter backpack. Now, on the contrary, you take the minimum. Right now, yes, but I still You have everything you need, like technology. I always check who I'm traveling with. I ask: "Do you have these things?" curling irons, large round brushes. If no one had it, I would just do it, even though it would be a shame, but. you said you could go get your hair done.

This is true. So you could do that. Go for styling. There 's always an option, you know? Yes, there is. We are going back another way. that's a million times. I have pants and a swimsuit. Yes, there should be such things. I probably won't wear it, but I took it just in case. My God. This is wonderful. Gair Manoukian, this was our first choice of where to stay, but there were no places available. I wrote them a letter: " Do you have any available rooms?" And they replied: "We are very sorry." They were so cute. Communication with them was wonderful. They wrote: "Sorry, we have no vacancies." They tried to offer other options, but we only had two nights.

Then I booked another place, which is also nice, but not as great, although cheaper. Confirmed the booking there. And the next day these guys write to me: " Oh my god, we actually have a free room. "Someone canceled the reservation." But I didn't want to undo what I had already confirmed. Although they were so nice. Gair Manoukian. Oh yes. Just say, "Hey, sorry, the number is no longer needed." I hate canceling reservations. There's nothing I hate more, You don't like canceling plans, do you? than to let anyone or anything down. I don't like trains that stop at every station.

Me too. No. Well, it's a change of plans, unless something can be done in that area. I like the direct route. Glasses on the eyes. We're going to have breakfast. It looks amazing, but we'll leave our stuff at the hotel first. Just think, Meryl Streep ran through these streets about 20 years ago while filming a movie. Stop it. Isn't this place cute? It is simply magical. It's so nice to walk here early in the morning. This is where we stopped.

He says that when you were a child, your mother would ask you, if you were sitting in the front seat, say, eight or nine years old, to hold a map and point the way. Yes, not my older sisters. No, they were hopeless. That's why you've been so confident and well-oriented your whole life. Whereas I was just a passenger. However, the topic of navigation seems very interesting to me, because I think that if you're a child and you're constantly being asked, "Where to now?" Left or right on this turn? And you look at the map.

You know, it's no wonder you became the way you are. It, when two people from a Greek film company showed up in our village, talking about the possibility of filming a film here. Oh, that's beautiful. It's just so beautiful. Oh, look, we can go down there too. Oh my God, this is gorgeous. don't think I'll go swimming in these waves a little aggressive. If we go swimming today, I want it to be somewhere very quiet. Yes. It's like after a wedding, no longer hungover, but I feel like I still need to relax. Um, I'm really glad we took a car, period, and a mini SUV, because the roads in Greece, especially where we are in Pelion, are very winding and steep. And

so I notice that we approach turns where there may be potholes or sudden steep climbs. And that's why it's really nice to be in a slightly taller car. We're going to a town called Zagora because, according to ChatGPT, there 's a cute little souvenir shop there. And we're not quite ready for dinner yet. Um, but we just thought we'd take a little walk today. We have a car. Um, Damouhari is absolutely gorgeous and I'm so glad we stopped there, but we just thought we'd explore the Pelion area a little more and see what's around.

Oh, he doesn't have one. He does n't have it. I just want some pasticcio. Everything is fine. This place is beautiful. Good. Wow. Okay. So before returning to Damouchari, we stopped for lunch in Mures. I know, but it's okay. other dishes he has. Yes, I hope I'll get something else. Look at this view. I know. Um, I hope he has pasticcio for dinner, because he's not here. This is the tavern " Drosia" in Mures.

Look at this. Oh my God. This is madness. Surprisingly. It's pretty empty here, but it's lunchtime. Oh, this is for you. A. This is moussaka from Flistos Poli. They didn't have pasticcio, even though it's on the menu, but they just listed what they had today. And there was moussaka, so I had to have moussaka. Actually, I feel a little hungover because I decided to take it, I thought I was taking half a carafe, but it turned out to be half a liter. And Leah didn't drink, so I drank it all myself last night. So I feel it in my

head a little bit this morning. Leah and I have a flight out of Athens tomorrow morning. We are now on the eastern side of Pelion, so it is an hour and a half to Volosos. But this is only on the way to Athens, and our journey today will last 5 hours. Let's start with those winding mountain roads towards Volosos, and then there should be a bit of a motorway. But yes, I really hope this little headache doesn't get worse. But we have cold cappuccinos and espressos in the morning to cheer us up. And it will just be a day on the road. I didn't plan any stops because I think we'll just stop whenever we want. It's cloudy today, friends. Oh my God. I'm not kidding, we did a lot of research on this trip specifically because I wanted pasticcio for lunch.

So happy you got it. We were on the phone. We consulted with ChatGPT. I got my pasticcio. I just took the chicken fillet. You know what? I ate a lot of food on this vacation, and often when we stop, I'm never hungry, but I always finish everything. I'm never hungry when we stop, and I always think, God, it's a little early to eat, right? It's already half past one. It's not too early. This is the usual time for lunch. This is a normal lunch time. For me, the ideal time for lunch is around a quarter to two.

A little late, isn't it? You She is incredible. Are we in a town called Nafplio? Yes. Which is a little further than the middle of our journey to Athens. So yes, we found a tavern. We are very glad to be here. By the sea. If you don't know, pasticcio is something like Greek lasagna. That's the best way to describe it. Mhm. It's almost like macaroni and cheese in meatloaf form. That's right. Real pasticcio is made with pasta of this size, with large holes. Mhm. Greek udon. Mhm. Greek udon. No, no, it's just a way to explain the size of the pasta. It's like udon noodles, only bigger.

Yes.