Valtesiniko - A little story
A DIFFERENT POST
A popular destination for a nearby weekend on such days of the year is Dimitsana and the surrounding villages, such as Stemnitsa.
However, this time I ‘d rather tell you a little story about a man from a village nearby, named Valtesiniko, than show you pictures of these places
WHAT HAD HAPPENED WAS…
As luck would have it, once upon a time, in the distant 1996, I was serving my term as a Non-Regular Officer Designate of the greek Army, during the elections of that year.
Since I was serving my term in Corinth at the time, I was assigned to go for 5 days to the mountainous Arcadian villages, with my final destination being Valtesiniko, on a legendary REO and about 10 soldiers, if my memory serves me well. By the time we got there, I left the soldiers in 5 small villages at their respective polling stations (mostly schools), to perform guard duty for the days leading up to the elections, as well as for election day itself.
The plan was that I would stay for the 5 days at the police station, where the police officer would be waiting to accommodate me.
“A story to me means a plot where there is some surprise... Because this is how life is full of surprises.”
ARRIVING
When I arrived in the village, I found the station above a tavern, knocked, but got no response. I went down to the tavern and asked and the hospitable people told me that "Thanasis (random name-I don't remember after all these years) is probably asleep. Sit down and have a coffee until he wakes up". So I did.
After a few hours, the policeman woke up and came to the tavern for his morning coffee, without saying any words until about half an hour later. It was already 14:00pm.
OUR HERO
"Thanasis"was more of a "gendarme" than a policeman. He was like a 1950s novel character: short, dark, mustachioed, tough and heavy-set, a guy of indeterminate age. He might have been 45, he might have been 60, you never know with these kinds of cut people. I was a 20 year old kid and I thought I was in trouble and that the 5 days would go south very fast.
But life is full of surprises.
As if forgotten by time, this man was very much an incarnation of the little village, which had only this little tavern and the houses of the mountain people.
After we came together, this guy turned out to be a softie. Heavy drinker as he was, he poured me beers and tsipouros all day long. Luckily my 20 year old body held up and many times I outsmarted him without actually drinking whatever he was offering me.
ON DUTY
The debt of twice daily reports from the soldiers went without any incident and the days went by easily, with lots of laughter and meeting awesome, pure people.
Simply unforgettable..
After many, many years I decided to visit this place with my wife. This time, there was no "Thanasis", but the tavern was still standing. People didn't really know what had happened to him, but they remembered him very very well.
Apart from the tavern, the village now has accommodation, cafes and small shops. It still retains its seclusion and quietness and is still a beautiful destination, especially on winter days.
The election is remembered as the "couch election" and I discovered a wonderful place that I probably never would have known about otherwise; not to mention that amazing story I lived there once upon a time.
If travel is happiness, stories like this make it a blessing.
Unfortunately (or rather fortunately) I don't have a photo of this amazing guy, so you'll just have to settle for my story.
