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travellerjan & geetika -- we arrived i n Nafplion on a Sunday afternoon. When we walked around that evening it was packed -- perhaps lots of Greeks, but the most Americans we saw anywhere. The remaining 2 days in Nafplion were uncrowded. But geetika, as you pointed out that large parking lot was always full. I will say in several of the places we visited we were told each particular place was a popular weekend destination for Athenians.
Day 20 Greece Our destinations on this Monday are the sister cities of Methoni and Koroni. Koroni is about an hour away from Gialova with Methoni being only ½ hour from Gialova. It was the usual twisty & curvy roads with beautiful views of the water around every turn that led us to a spectacular fortress, the Methoni Castle. Just WOW! Parts of the fortress date from the 15th Century. The town switched hands between the Ottomans and Venetians and has a gruesome history as each time one country took over, thousands were slaughtered. The setting of the castle is incredible. The most notable sight was the beautiful Bourtzi tower at the far side of the fortress from the entry gate. The entire site has sublime views. We enjoyed the quiet, empty site for an hour or so and then...a German motorcycle tour group descended upon the fortress. Maybe 40 bikes were parked outside the entrance. I think they only checked out the castle itself, but they sure disrupted the solitude of the site. From Methoni it was a short ride onwards to Koroni, another sweet, whitewashed town. It was made for wandering. We had yet another delicious greek salad & seafood lunch with a spectacular view. We tried to drive to the castle but Siri was having none of it. She kept turning one way or the other on the narrow streets and it really became too much of a hassle. Besides it would be hard to top Methoni castle so we headed back for our last evening in Gialova. In Pylos we stopped and saw the Nino Bixio Tragedy Memorial in Pylos. This Italian Transport ship was carrying 2,000 Allied prisoners of war on Aug 17, 1942. It was torpedoed killing over 300 Allied prisoners-Australians, New Zealanders, British, Indian, south African and Free French troops. The survivors and dead were brought into the Pylos harbor. “Lest We Forget”. Photo at the end https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ef081f96e9.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2f17777d76.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fa1ecbaf64.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d9a8cd46a2.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7a3e7c426a.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...17ba2a12c3.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1680e666c8.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...190cf908b6.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4d96fff06f.jpg A Asmahttps://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2b281401d8.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e0ea5177e4.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...de616e5cd7.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f047b32556.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...7977324d3c.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...708baad0bd.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2dd4f08092.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...15d2d872df.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d2d6607b46.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...eba975a288.jpg Lunch --greek salad always delicious and seafood https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8c108e794c.jpg |
Wow, yestravel! I love, love, love your photos! Honestly, it’s so gorgeous and SO blue! Did you bring your magic paintbrush?😉
As you know, we had planned to go to this region but had to cancel and now I really, really want to go! Beautiful pictures. Truly. |
The photos are beautiful! The castle looks very unique! A motorcycle tour group would certainly spoil your solitude! I especially love the photos of the signs/paintings. So Greek!
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I saved reading your report for our long weekend, a really interesting read and great photos.
I especially enjoyed the tiny hamlets and the variety of landscapes, the street scenes, and the coast, the regions so different from each other. thanks for sharing. It’s a lot of work doing a report and those of us not travelling are grateful for the armchair experience. |
Karen -Thank you -- as I'm sure you will agree, Greece is a photographers delight. I think the Methoni Castle may have been my fav ruin of the trip.
Adelaidean -- thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying it. I try to plan trips with both a diversity of experiences as well as landscapes -- Greece was an easy one to do that. |
Day 21 Greece
We hit the road for Mani and for some stupid reason we listened to Siri on google maps for the route. It wasn't long before we were wandering tiny mountains roads being told to go one way and then another, none of it made sense. We had a Michelin paper map but the tiny towns where we were were not on it. Eventually we threaded our way thru the hills to something resembling a hwy out and we were finally on our way to the Mani Peninsula. Once again the scenery was spectacular with mountains in the background and the turquoise water down below us. The water would disappear and then peak out as we rounded a bend. Such gorgeous scenery. We decided not to do any sightseeing enroute. We did stop in Kardamyli for a good lunch and it looked like a fun town to explore…we will return. We reached our destination around 3:00 and checked in to another wonderful place in Oitlyo, Akrolithi Boutique Hotel. We lazed around enjoying the views and doing not much of anything. Eventually we dragged ourselves out for dinner to the neighboring town of Limeni, another cute little seaside village. Had a great fish dinner and then strolled the town. We ended the evening watching the sunset in a bar. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9a443146b0.jpg Kardymil https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...6885d463f1.jpg View at lunch https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e2145602cc.jpg View fromour room https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ba816925ae.jpg Looking out the window from the bed https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...9e2a47af88.jpg Limeni https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a9ac90a845.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...54ef06a78f.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...1b5b92aabe.jpg On the rocks in Limeni https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5831934e16.jpg Limeni https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...988d50bbf2.jpg Limeni https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...0d18431ad4.jpg Limeni https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...27973afcd9.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...38605d8f84.jpg Limeni https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...23ec91e4e4.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3ebf7cc8d3.jpg Another wonderful day comes to a close https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...239fb53376.jpg Another splendid sunset from Limeni |
Yestravel, these are gorgeous photos. The natural light is amazing. It’s golden! And that sunset is spectacular.
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Day 22 Greece
Today we planned to explore the inner Mani which extends south of where we are staying. We planned to drive to the end of the road today, Cape Tenaro at the southern tip of the mountainous Mani Peninsula. It’s the southernmost point in mainland Greece and the second most southern point in mainland Europe after Tenerife, Spain. We started right outside our bnb with the Kelefa Castle which sits on a ridge above Limeni. Not much is left to see so we quickly moved on and lucked upon a farmers market in Areopoli where we picked up some delicious strawberries and a cantaloupe. Next stop was at Panagia Faneromeni Monastery. It was an extravagant orthodox Greek site, always worth a look. Then we got off the beaten track by visiting a series of villages off the main road, Dryalos, Briki, Vamvaka, Mina and the sleepy little harbor of Mezapos. During this drive we finally saw lots of the famous Tower houses. There are so many moments while traveling that I wish I spoke more of the language of the country I am visiting. This morning on our drive was one such moment. This lovely villager was walking with her flowers. She motioned to take a photo which I did. Then she approached our car and offered me a flower and we tried to talk. She got I was from America. She loved her photos that I took of her. We smiled at each other and I profusely thanked her before she waved & said, “bye bye.” We continued on and stopped for lunch at the charming harbor town of Gerolimenas which lies below the great bluff of Cavo Grosso. There were many cafes and restaurants and even higher end places to stay. We had an excellent lunch at one, Kyrimai. We drove south with our goal of reaching Cape Tenaro. The further south we drove the more rugged the countryside and the more spectacular the views. We drove until the road ran out. It was splendid here with a warm wind. I passed on exploring the Sanctuary and Death Oracle of Poseidon…another time! We turned around and went up the east coast of the mani and that was even if anything more spectacular. The drive back on the eastern coast of the Mani from Cape Tenaro is the wildest ride of my life. Imagine driving the most vertiginous northern California/Oregon coast landscape with narrow Amalfi coast roads in a state of disrepair. And no guard rails. I loved it. By now we were anxious to return home, all the strenuous driving was tiresome. We continued north and then cut across the spine and were settled back at our Bnb before 6 pm. We ended the day in a beach town NeoOitylo, down the road and saw another lovely sunset. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ebcfc4ad5e.jpg Very early morning https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3edfcbda2.jpeg Not sure which is better the breakfast or the view https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...808bd19fc7.jpg Kelefa Castle which sits on a ridge above Limeni https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fc4dd99194.jpg Tomatoes were so fabulous https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d01c62ff6a.jpg Panagia Faneromeni Monastery https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c41f97dc41.jpg Strangers on the road that touch each other https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e1ac5ba824.jpg tower houses https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fc535dfbdc.jpg "The Frying Pan" https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aa65926375.jpg Bustling Gerolimenas https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...de48533e93.jpg Gerolimenas https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a802221c45.jpg Gerolimenas https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...451ec34616.jpg Gerolimenas https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...db8673df63.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...afcf211e9f.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...aea7a6f765.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...893edc691a.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b551d288e8.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bd4ce0921a.jpg Shades of blue https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d0f7aa65d5.jpg Pastels https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...79ee4de905.jpg ONe more lovely sunset |
Your drive around the inner Mani sounds wonderful Exactly what we enjoy doing. The woman with her flowers is so sweet. What a great photo! And I know what you mean about those scary roads. I am not the driver, but as the passenger I get exhausted after awhile from hanging on to the edge of my seat!
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Thank you for sharing another beautiful area we will have to consider exploring. And, I also loved your moment with the lady and the flowers.
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Originally Posted by whitehall
(Post 17372774)
Thank you for sharing another beautiful area we will have to consider exploring. And, I also loved your moment with the lady and the flowers.
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Oh, yestravel,
That lady with her flowers! Wow! And such spectacular views -- really, I can't get over the photos. They are spectacular! The blues...the views....all WOW! |
Karen - the drive was fabulous -- so much to see and the scenery was one big wow after another. We were both just blown away by it. Like you, we love just wandering and discovering whatever.
whitehall -- NW Greece and the Peloponnese are a treasure trove of sites and scenery. We could have spent more time but even with a month, we had to cut some places. But its well worth exploring and so very different from the islands. From reading your TRs I think you would enjoy it. geetika - yes, she was so sweet and that is exactly the moments I always recall. progol -- Thank you! the colors throughout this trip were nothing short of gorgeous. |
Day 23 Greece
I picked this day as the one to see Mystras as it was forecast to be the coolest day we were in the Mani. There was also a chance of rain and the ever present wind. Well, the forecast got it right. We drove thru rain, heavy at times, and wind to reach Mystras and the temps were cool which is what I had hoped. Took us longer than the hour but we were in no rush. I had on 4 layers of clothes, a scarf and hat and despite my wearing shorts I felt comfortable. And as the forecast promised, the day became sunny and warm later. So all in all Mother Nature cooperated with us. We had read that Mystras is a large, vertical site and can be strenuous to see the sites. We figured we’d take the lazy person’s approach and start from the upper, Fortress, Gate. After climbing up to and exploring the castle and then back down to see Agia Sophia we would move our car and park at the lower, Main, gate. Once again we were fortuitous in that when we arrived at the upper gate, it was empty. It was really windy and it was a choice whether to walk on dirt and near the ledge with the steep drop off or on the sometimes slippery, smooth stones. Our reward was some world class views both in route and when we’d made it to the top. We then climbed down to Agia Sophia. After admiring the handsome church and seeing the frescoes we went by car to the lower gate. By now there were some tour groups but the site is large so it was easy to let them pass by and continue on your own pretty much in solitude. From there we hiked to two more churches, the Metropolis and the Pantanassa. Both of these churches had excellent frescoes in fair condition. By the time we had visited the Pantanassa, we were tuckered out and called it a day. The extreme physicality of visiting this site cannot be exaggerated So after about a total of 4 hours climbing and climbing our knees were screaming for mercy and we descended back to the comfort of our car seats. Right near by tempting us was the Langada Pass which had been a must for us. But after all the spectacular mountain driving we had done the extra 3 hours to get home just wasnt going to happen. We drove up to Rte 82 which is the route for the pass that goes from Sparta to Kalamatas and drove maybe ¼ of it and then headed to Sparta and homeward bound. Its a beautiful day and I am loving sitting on our balcony staring out at the blue sky and water. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...067b3ec1d8.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4b981adca9.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...df7f619b2c.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ad2f3d958c.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c7ff54727c.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...2bc8f6a9fb.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5778e2bc5c.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f89328387f.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...12c436f2ba.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...87b386387.jpeg More blue and blue |
Yestravel, I love that you captured different views and scenes than we did. And the stormy sky really enhances the photos. What church is the painting in? I didn't go into Pantanassa.
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So interesting and I’m enjoying the mix of historic sites, tiny hamlets, food markets, people, and views.
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Originally Posted by KarenWoo
(Post 17372965)
Yestravel, I love that you captured different views and scenes than we did. And the stormy sky really enhances the photos. What church is the painting in? I didn't go into Pantanassa.
Adelaidean "So interesting and I’m enjoying the mix of historic sites, tiny hamlets, food markets, people, and views." Glad you are enjoying this. I loved the variety of what we saw and where we went as well as where we stayed. |
Day 24 Greece
Sad to say this is our last day in the rugged, rural, spectacular Mani. What a treat the days here have been. It's an area filled with tower houses, stone houses, castles. Cobblestone street and Byzantine monasteries and churches . A feast for your eyes and an escape from the insane world we live in these days. We planned to take it easy with no climbing in order to give our knees a chance to recuperate. And that’s exactly what we did. We have had breakfast to ourselves so it was a surprise to go to breakfast and see 10 people milling about. They all seemed to know the drill, masks and gloves to get food. They seemed to know each other and sat inside, we went to the terrace outside. We haven’t been around people much and now that we are in the home stretch of this trip and will need to test next week, we’re being super cautious as opposed to just plain cautious. Our plan was to drive the west side of the EXO Mani much of which we drove through coming here, but never stopped anywhere or went inland. First stop was to check out “our” town, Oitylo, further up the mountain. Lovely town, a bunch of men sitting around the central square doing I don't know what. Not a female in sight, Most villages have that. I typically smile and wave and they wave back. I want to shout where are the women? But my Greek is severely limited. We continued on our way and what came into our view, a bakery! I make it a habit to stop at bakeries. Spent 7.20€. I was astounded as usually we spend maybe a couple €s. We picked up a great little guide book that listed ALL the towns and villages. There are many. For us the first was Agios Nikon, a gorgeous stone built village. It's the last village of Messinia to the east. Nice church that was closed. After Mystras, we swore off restored Byzantine churches. That lasted all of eighteen hours. Then we ran across the superb roadside church in Lagkada and its fabulous frescoes and icons. We explored the beautiful church, Metamorphoses, which was just recently restored and it was open, lovely! There was the usual square with several men shouting and gesturing at each other. Finally one walked off in a huff and drove off. The remaining men continued shouting at each other. Greeks shout a lot! At that point we decided to find the byzantine churches in Kastania when realizing we needed gas. Gas stations are as rare as churches are common in this neck of the woods. We plugged Kastania into google maps and it was only 20 kms or so, not a problem, plenty of gas to make it there and onwards to Kardamyli where we figured there would be gas. We began our ascent up the mountain road that got narrower and narrower and then turned into the dreaded gravel or more accurately rock path. Nope, this might not have been the best idea and we decide to bail and do one of those insane turnarounds. I got out of the car to guide, but gottravel said it was to survive to tell the story when he went over the steep side of the mountain. Obviously he got us out of another tight spot and we headed to Kardamyli which we were excited to see. We find gas that was 2.479 a litre, just shy of $10…we didn't fill it up. Kardamyli was a disappointment. First lunch, the restaurant was out of everything I tried to order and then the food we could order was bad. The town itself seems geared for tourists rather than locals. A jazz festival was going on for the next week or so but it was far from crowded. It was relatively amusing to browse the main Street with all its higher end stores. We have been in such rural places, it was an oddity. But it bored us pretty quickly. Ok, we are now determined to find Kastania. Google maps had several routes, we chose one and off we went up the mountain on the usual narrow, winding roads with sheer cliffs on one side and stunning views, but the road stayed paved. At some point we lost our guidance but knew we wanted to go through Saidona, one of the traditional mountain villages. We made it in about 30 minutes. We saw the tower Dourakis and 1 church but since we were not climbing today, we forgo seeing the other ones. Time to go home and it was an easy ride only about 5 kms down the mountain to the main road. How in the heck did we get directed on such a circuitous route on our first attempt? Oh well, it only added to our adventures. We got back to our wonderful room and just hung out. We love it here. We had a final, nice dinner in Limeni in another restaurant where there were only a couple of other customers. This has been the case throughout this trip once we left Rhodes. We saw another nice sunset and headed back home. Absolutely loved the Mani -- it may have been my favorite part of this trip. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...83e0357844.jpg Its so early the moon is still out. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...ef17e06379.jpg Morning light https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a7c694c4c7.jpg Otylo which was once a center of piracy & slave trade https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3fbc5b849d.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...bd12bf1ab5.jpg Where are the woman??? https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...efd3091d1a.jpg A woman -- working, of course https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...e321f8f379.jpg Must stop for a bakery https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a7f223f87e.jpg Langada church of the Metamorphosis https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d830fe17f7.jpg Langada church of the Metamorphosis https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...a25ec0f185.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5f1253dcc3.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...84dfd5df62.jpg Langada church of the Metamorphosis https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5c48406ef2.jpg Restoration at Langada church of the Metamorphosis https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...fba8808f96.jpg Asian Japanese type roofline in Nikon -- home of the Nikon camera https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...cd9d92b497.jpg Another crazy turnaround on a mountain road https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...58f204f7bb.jpg Kardamyli https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...8c686c6481.jpg Karadimyli https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...4bb56e05dd.jpg Can you stand one more view down an alley to the water? https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...c6d194602a.jpg Tower of Dourakis in Kastania where Kolokotronis, a Greek leader in the War of Independence was hidden here from the Ottomans. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...d4a4f9a07d.jpg Who knew the Greeks invented the mullet https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...16c6e615b4.jpg Our "home" https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f3a3541b3e.jpg Our 'home" https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...3702118767.jpg Tomatoes and feta -- delicious https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...5f33d3941e.jpg Evening light in Limeni https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...b5e6f822ba.jpg Blue crown passion flower |
Love your photos and your description of Day 24 and your drive through the area! Your comments about Greek men always shouting are funny! The women are definitely very hardworking! They must be all home cooking dinner for their men while the men are hanging out at cafes!:) If we return to Greece some day, I would love to include the Mani, along with Rhodes, Crete, Paros, Meteora . . . . . Too many wonderful places to see!
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Originally Posted by KarenWoo
(Post 17373423)
Love your photos and your description of Day 24 and your drive through the area! Your comments about Greek men always shouting are funny! The women are definitely very hardworking! They must be all home cooking dinner for their men while the men are hanging out at cafes!:) If we return to Greece some day, I would love to include the Mani, along with Rhodes, Crete, Paros, Meteora . . . . . Too many wonderful places to see!
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