There's not much info on Messene, but as you noted mentioned here quite a bit. How did it compare to the other ancient Greek sites in terms of size and state of preservation?

Stemnitsa and Messene shots are so inviting. Thanks for your TR, yestravel. Knowing the quality of your DH's photo works, that he has jettisoned his camera for the iPhone is huge. 📸

Your report is greatly influencing our third trip to Greece, so many new to us and interesting destinations. And I have a new iPhone 13! Thanks for sharing so much of your latest trip to Greece.

Your

Enjoying your TR very much!

I’m leaving on Saturday for a wedding in Rhodes so I’ll definitely be referring back to it while there.
We were going to decide whether or not to rent a car once there but now I’m pretty sure we will.

Can you tell me where you took your COVID test for your return?

Greenhouse-glad you are enjoying the TR. Hope you have a wonderful time in Rhodes. We got our covid test at a Pharmacy in Naufplion. I deliberately stayed at a hotel there in case we needed help. 7€. Be sure to have a PLF as its needed to get the test.

Happytravler-You’re welcome. I think I said this was the favorite of our three trips to Greece.

Tdude-thanks. So much easier not to schlep camera gear.

tp- very well preserved and do enter via the Arcadian gate or at-least go see it. On this trip I learned I prefer Byzantine ruins to Greek ones…and thats a sentence I-never thought I’d say! Its hard for me to compare the size. It seemed smaller than say Mystras or Olympus, but larger than Methoni and lots of smaller sites we visited.

travler jan - the front bldg is nice and more like a small hotel. However when you add the back bldgs in it changes. Fortunately i never saw a big resort or hotel nearby. It certainly doesn't interfere with the peaceful area. It was packed Sunday night and I did wonder where so many people came from. In any case its a delightful spot.

Finally caught up. Great inspiration for our fall trip. We have been to Rhodes twice off cruise ships. I recollect visiting ruins in Lindos, where they filmed one of my all-time favorite movies, Guns of Navarone. I am excited to see Meteora.

Yestravel - re Zoe, I agree re back building. it came along 10 y rs ago, however it seems to b be more multi-roiom or apts for families so didn't involve me... when I was there, almost no one in back bldg. When I first stayed there, 2005 (almost no internet then) there were no beach chairs, Zoe's Mother loaned me a beach towel. They only prepared 2 main dishes for dinner, so u would stop in kitchen & see if u liked either, otherwise would walk down the way to a taverna. Those were the days...

meteora blew me away. Such a beautiful landscape.

jan- so glad fpr such success for the owners of Zoe Resort.

Love the photos of Messene and Gialova! Are these places on the Peloponnese Peninsula?

Yes! And lots more there.

I would love to spend a 10-15 days exploring the Peloponnese, but unfortunately don’t see it happening! At least I got a little taste of it!

You never know what the future holds! Until I retired it was not something I ever thought I'd be doing. Thanks for following along.

Day 19 Greece for anyone counting

This is getting repetitive, another sparkling day. It's a sunny Sunday.
After a leisurely morning we went about 14 kms to visit Nestor’s Palace. Once again we drove up and the area around the gift shop and refreshment stand were packed and I thought oh no…but once again we got to the site and it was empty. Nestors Palace was a glimpse into life more than 30 centuries ago. The museum shop had a enlightening film showing what it looked like & gives good insight into the site—very colorful. The site itself is small and had good signage.

We explored the coast stopping in Voidokilia for some photos of the lovely beach. Parking was theater - so funny to watch. A narrow road of course and cars going every which way or at least trying too. Most people were patient and it was amusing to watch as we waited our turn to get out of there. Gottravel backed out. This trip has allowed him to perfect his backing up skills but the damn high pitched beeping is driving me nuts!

We were headed for Pylos, when a sign caught my eye. We figured lets see where it goes. Don't you love it when a random sign turns into a real treat? thats what happen, we had a great lunch along the sea in a beautiful setting.

Later that afternoon we headed around the bay to Pylos. Compared to Gialova its a major city with a nice port and large square. Pylos was the scene of the Battle of the Three Admirals (French, British, Russian) against the Ottoman Empire in 1827 offshore. The victory of the allied admirals ensured Greek victory in the Greek war of Independence. Today Pylos is a beautiful peaceful harbor town. It could make a nice base to explore the area.

Arrived back in Gialova in time for a picnic dinner on our balcony and another great sunset.
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Lone wind surfer in Gialova early on Sunday morning
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Gialova morning
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Zoe Resort beach area which got very crowded on Sunday
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Bath Nestor's Palace
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We havent seen a lot of bicyclists this trip. These are the first group we've seen.
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Voidokolia Beach - supposedly a common postcard photo
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Voidokolia Beach
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Glamping along the coast
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Pylos
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Pylos
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Pylos
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Yummy picnic on our balcony with local products we picked up today
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Sundown
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Moon Up
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Sunday night was a big night in Gialova -- it was jamming
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Yin & yang

OMG, at Zoe's when I first went, (2009?) no sunbrellas, only the palms for shade, no sunbeds, Zoe's mama lent me a beach towel. Now, ranks & ranks of chairs. Nonetheless. still looks serene at sunset. Glad u got to Nestor's Palace. When I went (2015?) it was supposedly closing down for renovation -- but I had an "open sesame" password, name of my U of Penn Archeology Prof -- and the husb/wife archeology team gave me a personal tour -- this was just a month before they made their stunning warrior grave discovery!) ... Western Pelops SO rewarding (even tho it took me a 6 hr bus ride to Pylos each time).

Love the unexpected find. How were crowds in the Peloponnese? I would expect less than the most popular islands but things seem to be different everywhere these days.

Yestravel, I love your comment "don't you love it when a random sign turns into a real treat?" That is what happened to us on Naxos, which will be in my next installment.

Love all your photos! Those thatched sunbrellas are everywhere.

tp - "How were crowds in the Peloponnese?" As you suspected way less than say Rhodes, Delphi or Meteora., altough none of them were horribly crowded, just not empty. It was easy towrk around the few tours that we encountered . We didn't go to any of the popular islands but I am sure no comparison. Once we left Meteora and we drove via the NW to Pelopennese we had virtually no crowds anywhere except at entrances to sites, but the sites themselves as I have said are pretty empty. The exception was a Sunday evening in Nafplion which is a popular place. It was probably my least favorite place on this trip and it was fine for what it was. (We had been there 30 years ago and it was a nice small town, very different from today.) Monemvasia on a Satruday evening was surprisingly crowded, but not jam-packed.

traveller jan -- yes, Zoe's is quite the place with a nice tourist infrastructure. Was the huge pool area there when you were there? It was more like a boutique hotel than a resort. And it was definitely serene. We weren't home on the Sunday most of the day and it never seemed crowded to us. I thought the museum at Nestor's Palace really insightful. The colors it showed were startling. Its nice that the Peloponnese is so undertouristed. Its seems so much more real than the islands I've been to which are gorgeous but mostly filled with tourists. We saw lots of Greek tourists and some European. Very few Americans until Nafplion.
And its the best to "discover" some unknown place on a trip. We dont plan in real detail so fortunately it happens a lot for us.

karen -- yes, they were popular! That and the sunbeds I saw signs for everywhere at beaches. NOt being much of beach people anymore we rarely took advantage of them.

YOu were in Nafplio on the Weekend.... and that's the "getaway time" for Athenians... during the week many fewer people. In fact, on one of my first trips there, it was the first weekend in June, and for the irst time ever ALL those cafes on the seafront were TOTALLLY full at the 6-8 sunset/cocktail hour... hundreds of people, every table.. and ALL Greek. that's when I learned that the 1st weekend in June is "Holy Spirit" (Pentecost) - a 3-day weekend holiday. Since then I have always googled "Greek holiday dates" just to be sure.
And no, the pool wasn't there on my first visit to Zoe, but on my 2nd or 3rd it was, and that big bldg behind, which is mainly multi-room units I learned... I just ignored both because WHO would use a pool when that aquamarine water beckoned in front!

We got to Nafplion around noon on a Saturday and the huge parking lot by the water was full, not a spot. But we it was quite calm, we saw very few people in the old town, the tavernas and cafés. Don’t know where all those people went, but we weren’t complaining!