September 26: Lagadia back to Stemnitsa, and Parts Beyond!
Lagadia is one of the most touristed of the towns on the trail. Our hotel had a couple of tour groups staying at it, more than enough folks to justify a full breakfast buffet.
After breakfast, we dashed out to the road so as not to keep our driver parked; as per usual, stopping for riders means stopping in the street itself. This morning, Panagiottis’ wife did the honors.
During the hike, we’d occasionally toyed with the idea of getting a ride back to Stemnitsa to pick up the car, but that would’ve been a dumb idea. There’s no place to park in any of the towns, driving through this region is a pain, and we still would’ve needed a ride to get the car at the end.
The Skoda was where we’d left it next to the trashcans. We climbed in and headed off.
First, we passed through the center of Stemnitsa and photographed the sign where our journey had begun.
Then we continued east, heading toward Sparti. We passed more fields of walnuts with more old men in Datsun pickups setting up to whack them. Then we drove out of the mountains, into the central plain, and back into summer.