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The Unwritten Places
Cover has some mild creases and a tendency to curl slightly upward. Ffep has a crease. Book and pages are all very clean and unmarked. Ships fast from California.
319 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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About the author
Tim Salmon
21 books7 followersI grew up in the countryside in England, was educated as a classicist at Oxford University and set off to spend the rest of my life as a bohemian wanderer in the eastern Mediterranean. But we know what happens to the best laid plans... Marriage, children: I ended up teaching, in Greece, Libya, then in London, for the first twenty years of my adult existence. And then I began writing: mostly about travel, mostly about Greece and France; guidebooks, travel journalism, accounts of journeys. My interest has remained the world I originally discovered as a classicist, the countries where Greek and Latin once were spoken, in particular the mountainous bits. I have done translations from and into French and Greek and I have a special interest in schizophrenia because of my own son's plight.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 25, 2014
Travelling to Greece, the historical land of legends and myths, is sure to kindle the adventurous spirit in any emotional mythophile. It is practically the promised land to all unforgettable escapades to an ignorant man. Tim Salmon narrates his experience and makes it seem heavenlier than expected. Tim's straight-from-the-shoulder yarns render a vivid picture of present-day Greece. Tim is rather poetic than descriptive in his narratives. His sense of looking at a landscape, people and events around him is unique and his words convey to the reader the exact feelings that he experiences so that one can empathise with him. A reader will come to learn to appreciate the wonder that is life around him and definitely look at everything around him with much more detail. A recommended modern classic demanding a re-read ...
June 1, 2020
A friend gave me this book in the late 1990's after we got back from a trek in the Agrafa (led by Michael Cullen , a friend and collaborator of Tim Salmons). To my shame I've only recently got round to reading it. I particularly enjoyed the first part of the book as the author walks similar routes to the routes we took in summer 1995 in the Agrafa. This book is beautifully written by someone who has a passion for the people, landscape, history and natural history of the Pindos mountains. He has a particular fascination for the Vlachs, the last semi-nomadic people of Europe. He succeeds in his aim of joining in with the dhiava, the journey of the Vlach shepherds, sheep, dogs and pack animals down from the summer pastures to the winter quarters (or the transhumant journey, as Tim calls it).
A the end of the dhiva, and at the end of the book, Tim's companions say to him, as he catches the bus back to civilisation, "Kali andamosi. Till we meet again."
Tim peppers his journal with notes about the politics of the region, and the politics of Greece, such as the events of the Occupation and the Civil War, and records conversations on these matters. He maintains an even handed position. Tim is also alive to environmental issues. My only slight reservation about this book is that, at the same time as celebrating the fast vanishing way of life of the Vlach shepherds, it also criticises the urban lifestyle of most modern Greeks, and overall seems to offer a pessimistic view about the future of Greece.
Alao, a map of the route of the dhiva would have been welcome.
Thoroughly recommended for all those who want to learn about the true heartland of modern Greece, and who are looking for a trekking destination that's beautiful and off the beaten track.
A the end of the dhiva, and at the end of the book, Tim's companions say to him, as he catches the bus back to civilisation, "Kali andamosi. Till we meet again."
Tim peppers his journal with notes about the politics of the region, and the politics of Greece, such as the events of the Occupation and the Civil War, and records conversations on these matters. He maintains an even handed position. Tim is also alive to environmental issues. My only slight reservation about this book is that, at the same time as celebrating the fast vanishing way of life of the Vlach shepherds, it also criticises the urban lifestyle of most modern Greeks, and overall seems to offer a pessimistic view about the future of Greece.
Alao, a map of the route of the dhiva would have been welcome.
Thoroughly recommended for all those who want to learn about the true heartland of modern Greece, and who are looking for a trekking destination that's beautiful and off the beaten track.
May 8, 2025
An easy-to-read account of the author's time spent among the remote rural communities of Agrafa and beyond. He has a fascination for the Vlachs and their ways of life, and befriends a couple of them, being almost co-opted. The author has a nice way of introducing Greek words and phrases into the narrative and is quite attentive to the smaller details about diet, clothing, and so on. The book could perhaps have been shorter, however, as it begins to get a little repetitive. However, I read this soon after John Hillaby's Journey to the Gods, which covers some of the same ground.
February 17, 2016
I have a lot of feelings about this book because the author is writing about 1) my ancestors, the Vlachs, 2) the area in Greece where my family is from, and 3) the transhumance of shepherds and their flocks from their winter quarters to their summer quarters, which is something only the Vlachs did, and which is becoming less and less common these days.
Vlachs speak a Latin-based language that is similar to Romanian. My grandparents speak this language, which is called Arumanian (the Vlach people are also called "Arumani"). To confuse things further, though Vlachs are most commonly associated with Greece, there are Vlach settlements in Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania. My grandfather was born in Albania; he has a Romanian surname; he speaks Arumanian. My grandmother's family lived in Greece and also spoke Arumanian (she was born in the States). I am not sure how the families met but I am fairly certain it would have happened while the shepherds and their families lived in the mountains during the spring and summer. I assume my grandfather's people returned to Albania in the winter and my grandmother's family returned to the lowlands of Greece (to a village called Almyros outside of Volos; which I have visited). The author describes a few other villages - Grevena, Samarina - which I have also visited, so I felt lucky to have a picture in my mind of the places he wrote about. Samarina is the highest village in Greece; surrounded by mountains and pine forest. Even today it is the site of a major Vlach gathering on Aug 15 to celebrate the Dormition of the Virgin; it is a dream of mine to someday attend this festival.
The author does a good job of explaining the Vlach origins, history, and the trials of the modern shepherd; I learned a few things that had been unclear to me in the past. Strangely, he doesn't seem to have a very warm feeling toward many of the Vlachs he meets; I sometimes got the feeling that he was less interested in the people, and more interested in doing the long journey on foot through the mountains. He actually wrote this, which I give major side eye: "goats are a particularly women's concern, probably because of ancient notions of cleanliness and purity that associate her frightening sexuality with the devilish goat rather than the pure lamb of God." UM: what? Though at the same time he does admit that he feels like he IS a Vlach, welcomed in the "tribe" and honored to take part in their journey. He also apparently learned to speak a bit of Arumanian which is quite impressive. It is a dying language. (I digress here but I am a little confused how my mother and many of my extended family members grew up with Arumanian-speaking parents, but save for a handful of words and phrases, don't know how to speak it themselves.) Save for a few paragraphs describing marriage traditions, I was a bit disappointed that he did not discuss more about Vlach culture; though I suppose this would be a good idea for another book!
Amazingly, over the course of several years, the author befriended a group of Vlach shepherds and managed to accompany them on their transhumance journey. This is an arduous trip on foot through the mountains, with pack animals and a huge flock of sheep and goats (think: 3,000-4,000 of them) divided between 3-4 shepherds. The trip takes about 2 weeks to complete. The shepherds make the journey twice a year: from the lowlands to the mountains in the spring, and then from the mountains back down to the lowlands at the end of autumn. Vlachs were considered nomads, but they did have "summer quarters" and "winter quarters" where they lived; and during the transhumance they set up camps along their route. In the old days, several dozen family members and several thousands more flocks would take part in the journey. Today, most Vlachs don't do the transhumance at all; and only men do the journey now, with far fewer flocks than in the past.
It's also quite nice how many Greek words and phrases he includes in the book. However, I think for a non-Greek or even a non-Vlach, much of this book would be hard to understand. The writing is descriptive and clear, but I think what he is writing about is still a little murky. For me, it is a piece of an ancestral puzzle that I am trying to put together. I feel grateful toward this author for researching and writing about the Vlachs and publishing this book.
Vlachs speak a Latin-based language that is similar to Romanian. My grandparents speak this language, which is called Arumanian (the Vlach people are also called "Arumani"). To confuse things further, though Vlachs are most commonly associated with Greece, there are Vlach settlements in Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania. My grandfather was born in Albania; he has a Romanian surname; he speaks Arumanian. My grandmother's family lived in Greece and also spoke Arumanian (she was born in the States). I am not sure how the families met but I am fairly certain it would have happened while the shepherds and their families lived in the mountains during the spring and summer. I assume my grandfather's people returned to Albania in the winter and my grandmother's family returned to the lowlands of Greece (to a village called Almyros outside of Volos; which I have visited). The author describes a few other villages - Grevena, Samarina - which I have also visited, so I felt lucky to have a picture in my mind of the places he wrote about. Samarina is the highest village in Greece; surrounded by mountains and pine forest. Even today it is the site of a major Vlach gathering on Aug 15 to celebrate the Dormition of the Virgin; it is a dream of mine to someday attend this festival.
The author does a good job of explaining the Vlach origins, history, and the trials of the modern shepherd; I learned a few things that had been unclear to me in the past. Strangely, he doesn't seem to have a very warm feeling toward many of the Vlachs he meets; I sometimes got the feeling that he was less interested in the people, and more interested in doing the long journey on foot through the mountains. He actually wrote this, which I give major side eye: "goats are a particularly women's concern, probably because of ancient notions of cleanliness and purity that associate her frightening sexuality with the devilish goat rather than the pure lamb of God." UM: what? Though at the same time he does admit that he feels like he IS a Vlach, welcomed in the "tribe" and honored to take part in their journey. He also apparently learned to speak a bit of Arumanian which is quite impressive. It is a dying language. (I digress here but I am a little confused how my mother and many of my extended family members grew up with Arumanian-speaking parents, but save for a handful of words and phrases, don't know how to speak it themselves.) Save for a few paragraphs describing marriage traditions, I was a bit disappointed that he did not discuss more about Vlach culture; though I suppose this would be a good idea for another book!
Amazingly, over the course of several years, the author befriended a group of Vlach shepherds and managed to accompany them on their transhumance journey. This is an arduous trip on foot through the mountains, with pack animals and a huge flock of sheep and goats (think: 3,000-4,000 of them) divided between 3-4 shepherds. The trip takes about 2 weeks to complete. The shepherds make the journey twice a year: from the lowlands to the mountains in the spring, and then from the mountains back down to the lowlands at the end of autumn. Vlachs were considered nomads, but they did have "summer quarters" and "winter quarters" where they lived; and during the transhumance they set up camps along their route. In the old days, several dozen family members and several thousands more flocks would take part in the journey. Today, most Vlachs don't do the transhumance at all; and only men do the journey now, with far fewer flocks than in the past.
It's also quite nice how many Greek words and phrases he includes in the book. However, I think for a non-Greek or even a non-Vlach, much of this book would be hard to understand. The writing is descriptive and clear, but I think what he is writing about is still a little murky. For me, it is a piece of an ancestral puzzle that I am trying to put together. I feel grateful toward this author for researching and writing about the Vlachs and publishing this book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews