Mushrooms + Culture of Greece

Pozar Springs+ Prespes Lakes

Tentative Date**

June 24- 29, 2025

**This offering is subject to general interest…

If this offering calls to you.. GREAT! We want to know! We arent opening registration for this date until we have solid numbers who are 100% committed to this NEW region we are visiting.

Please add your name to our email list and let us know you want to join the POZAR + PRESPES offering in June 2025

*This page, info + dates are best viewed on a computer. Sadly, Phone view and display mixes up our itinerary.

6 days of food, flora and fungi of Northern Greece

If you dont know this region holds a bit more tender space to my heart as this is the area where my family stems from. So lets just say, we’re going close to home.

Join us for a dreamy, grounded and focused time surrounding the fungi, food and botanical wonder of Northern Greece. Alongside our travels, we are visiting hot springs, ancient sites, mountain villages and cities and sacred old mature forests surrounding the Prespes Region. No shade to the Pita from other parts of Greece, but I am bias, and I do believe we have some of the tastiest Phyllo dough pies, also known as Pites(pita; singular), so get ready for the yummiest Spanakopita, Nettle Pita and other wild mountain greens cooked to perfection with smoked sheeps milk cheese and phyllo. (Vegans you’re in luck our favorite Pita spot DOES made vegan Pites!

Become intoxicated by endless elder flower blossoms and the sights of Broom flowers. We go back in time, literally. As we ascend towards the northwest borderlands, the elevation paints a different picture compared to the urban coastal and delta lands surrounding the cityscape Thessaloniki. You’ll see the transition of the ecoscapes from when we depart Thessaloniki and start entering higher elevations and escape the humid heat of the seaside to a more pleasant mountain air experience, laced with foraging, food, water therapy and more.

All our senses will be activated, you’ll hear the rhythms of the pollinators and you’ll wonder how there could be so many bees on one chestnut flower. Chestnut flowers! Its a attraction unto itself. We spend time where the lowlands forests, trimmed with Poplar + Linden trees start fading into woodlands of Beech, Chestnut and wild plums. Join us to experience a sincerely underappreciated part of Greece that hosts immense diversity and gifts. This area is known for its lively dances, the homeland of colonizer Alexander the Great but also some of the best traditional phyllo recipes you’ll ever bite into.

Day one**:

Thessaloniki + Edessa**

We meet in the morning and take a nice long scenic stroll through my favorite city, Thessaloniki! We visit our most frequented markets, cheese shops, and cafes to taste and smell your way through this ancient seaside city. After Lunch we start our drive towards the Northwest pocket and borderland of Greece. We visit the city of Edessa to bare witness to the glory of the waterfalls there!

Day 4

Florina -> Prespes

Wake up in Florina, enjoy the Pazari, shop for gifts and smell and taste your way through this borderland city agora. You WILL eat thee best spanakopita here, in this little city nestled in a valley. After our gastronomic tour of Florina, we start our journey towards the Prespes Bioregion by way of some of the most glorious Beech forests we have seen yet. Beech trees are great mushroom trees and if we get lucky we might catch some fungi! En route to Prespes, we stop at a holy site that is the sources to the headwaters of 5 different springs. Its one of our favorite forests ever!

THOUGHTS ABOUT BOOKING FLIGHTS:

*We ask that you not fly or bus out of Thessaloniki the last night(June 29, 2025) til at least after 6pm if you must depart the same night the seminar ends.

We highly recommend purchasing travel insurance and/or refundable tickets

Day 2:

Pozar Hot Springs

We travel up river and wake up in the glory of Mount Kaimaktsalan. Today we dance with water maiden Sycamore Plane Trees and hike in the river gorge of Thermopotamos. We hike in the morning into the early afternoon through the Black Forest and by later afternoon everyone is free to enjoy the springs, spa* and water therapy. We reconvene for a dinner at one of favorite all time tavernas in Greece.

Day 5

Prespes Lakes

We wake in the borderlands, in the basins of Europe’s oldest lakes, formed by tectonic activity. The Prespes lakes are a special ecological and geological area. Here we take strolls and link up with our local truffle hunting guide! We meet his dog Avra, the sweetest angel pup and she will hopefully find us some beautiful Black Summer Truffles! We feast lakeside and enjoy the sunset.

Be ready to join us DAY ONE in Thessaloniki by June 24, 2025 by 9am

Exact location is given upon registration.

*spa + hotel services are not included with registration

**days that dinner is not included for A la Carte registrants

Itinerary is tentative and subject to change.

Day 3**

Pozar-> Amnitio->Florina

In morning we hit the road towards Florina! We roll through gorgeous countryside lined with fields of wild flowers, tart cherry trees and grapes. We stop at a local mycophiles restaurant for lunch and eventually make our way to this evenings accommodations.

Day 6**

Prespes-> Grevena->Thessaloniki

We enjoy a slow morning and soak up the last bit of wilderness. We weave back through the mountains, away from the border and make our way towards Grevena, the City of Mushrooms. Here we meet Fotis Paraskevaidis, the owner of To Manitari(the Mushroom). We visit his factory, shop + stroll to other myco centric shops with the city of Grevena. We taste fresh goat and sheep milk cheeses at my favorite regional cheese shop and have a late lunch at a delicious mushroom forward restaurant. After our meal we begin our trip back to Thessaloniki. No dinner is served.

WANNA GO?

LET US KNOW!

This is a gentle reminder that Greece this time of year can be hot during the day and cold at night. We spend most days outdoors. We chase the rain and the sun. Sometimes itinerary changes due to weather. On the road, infrastructure like bathrooms, sidewalks, paths and roads are often unpredictable, and can often be not ideal and sometimes these are factors that are out of our control, including, acts of god, natural disasters, illness, acclimate weather, etc. We hope, it is clear that, we are passionate about hosting and organizing in Greece and always make sure everyone is comfy and healthy. Everyone has the ability to take everything at their own pace. We often walk 2-5 miles a day and sometimes more. We ask for you to read everything thoroughly and honor our agreements and terms upon registration to this small, hand crafted assembly of folks on their way to extraordinary places of antiquity and incomparable beauty.

Already planning your own trip to Greece? LETS MEET UP!

If you would like me to meet you and your party there, I am open for private multi-day mushroom + ecologically centered excursions.

email me directly: smugtownmushrooms@gmail.com