In a mere two-hour drive from Athens, we zip past the sprawling seaside town of Akrata and start the steep ascent up curvy mountain roads, past resilient villages that take just minutes to drive through. The landscape is breathtaking, with a massive, imposing wall of mountain on one side, cobalt-blue sea on the other, and lush vegetation abounding.

As we reach the 3,000-year-old village of Seliana we follow directions until we come to a picturesque old church with a giant plane tree swaying beside it and then spot Re-Green’s unassuming entrance – a stone-built, square archway (a reference to the Mycenaean finds excavated on the land).  The place is run by Flery Fotiadou and her partner Christos Alexiou, Athenians worn down by the hard-core urban professional grind and who gladly packed it all in for a simpler life in the country.

Guests come and go at Re-Green which is a kind of organic farm where people can stay while attending workshops on anything from yoga and botany to bush craft and eco-living but the pair sticks it out at the remote spot throughout the year, hit by extreme weather in winter, and never, ever slowing down on their land-tending mission and on keeping everything running smoothly. After finally finding the exact spot where they wanted to set up home, they studied permaculture to learn how to make the best of what they already had – a small variety of trees and plants – creating a beautiful stone guesthouse, a colorful food garden and several naturally built structures such as an outdoor Jacuzzi, kitchen and steam room.

Of course studying skills like permaculture, organic and biodynamic faming, gardening and cob building are crucial for clueless city folk venturing to live the nature-based lifestyle, which is why Re-Green offers such courses encouraging others to follow in their steps.

While briefly there I participated in a two hour singing class with French vocal artist and teacher Claire Bosse, whose group of French ladies of all ages warmly welcomed me to join in on vocal exercises and learning African polyphonic songs. I quickly got over my hot-faced awkwardness from making weird sounds and doing body-percussion on my (complete stranger) partner and plunged into the creative fun.

In their two weeks there the group was also studying Land Art with Aegina island-based teacher Yiannis Psalidakos and yoga with his French partner Laurieanne Felicite. The average day was made up of vegetarian (local, seasonal) communal meals, workshops and free time, the latter offering the chance to explore the rich landscape, visit numerous animals like Maya the fuzzy donkey, chickens, cats, ducks and dogs; spot medicinal herbs, edible flowers and juicy berries growing randomly; and walks down to the river or taking in stunning vistas of the sky changing colour while sitting on a park-bench at the edge of a cliff.

Relaxing in Re-Green’s accommodations is also easy, as the pair have done a great job with the interior decor, combining old traditional restored furnishings and decor items with natural ingredients creating an understated-luxury / country chic vibe, with large comfortable Queen size beds, fireplaces, modern bathrooms and comfy sofas added to the mix.

Weeks after visiting Re-Green I still felt ebullient from the experience, perhaps because it’s more like a home than anything else, and definitely because its owners make it look so effortless but clearly work so hard to tend to every detail, making the experience really regenerating. The friendly, familial ambiance combined with creative and well-being oriented activities also makes this the kind of place that makes you want to go back, and I have promised myself, some time, I will.