Day 8: Hotoussa, Greece

 

Village House, Hotoussa

30 December 2025

We woke to grey overcast skies - and also, three cats parked outside our windows miaowing to be fed, as soon as we opened the shutters. Sigh.... Jim gave them some more chicken, so they've been rewarded and will continue to hang around!

We decided to visit a different town in the mountains today - Lagkathia, known as the home of the stone masons. It's perched on a mountain side, just like Dimitsana, and is quite touristy and rustic. Luckily, there were very few visitors today, as the roads are narrow and winding and barely wide enough for one car - let alone two!

We stopped in the main square and sat in a lovely cafe with a cup of tea (for Jim) and a hot chocolate (for me). There's a wonderful view from the square, but it was too cold to sit outside.

After that, we came back to the village but stopped at a local butcher and baker on the way to buy some fresh bread and homemade sausages - the local variety that Jim's mum used to make, with orange peel in them. We also bought several kilos of dried dog and cat food.

We cooked the sausages in the oven (because it was too cold to be outside with the barbecue - and also, the cats would have made life difficult!) 

While they were cooking, I took the rest of the roast chicken down the road and fed as many dogs and cats as I could find. I was very pleased to see that the dogs were eating dried dog food when I arrived (which they quickly abandoned in favour of the chicken). But, obviously, somebody regularly feeds all the animals. None of the animals look particularly skinny, so that made me feel better.

When I came back, we had our dinner - of sausages, bread, tomatoes, cheese and olives. All delicious! It was just a pity the weather wasn't good enough to sit outside.