Western Peloponnese and Mani Peninsula

Heading south we turned inland at Pyrgos to visit Olympia the remarkable location for the very first Olympic Games. The large site was looking busy but fortunately most of the visitors were off a large cruise ship, the Viking Star, and were ending their tour and heading for the coaches. Thus we had this remarkable place pretty much to ourselves in warm sunshine with the spring flowers vibrant across the ruins and remains. The various buildings included churches, temples, baths and housing all focused on the numerous Greek gods associated with the place. Zeus was a major figure and his temple stood centrally with some columns in situ but many more lying around since damaging earthquakes over the centuries. The original Olympic stadium was a remarkable site with the grooved marble slabs that gave up to twenty athletes a starting grip still fixed in the ground. As we walked through the former entrance tunnel, now a large arch, we could almost hear the crowd of up to 40,000 roaring as events began.

The Museum displayed many of the statues rescued from the grounds as well as hundreds of artefacts including votive offerings at graves, cooking pots and utensils, tools, jewellery and ornaments. With even this large attraction closing at 15.30 we ran out of time to visit the sports museum but I'm sure we will be back....

Down on the coast we tucked away at a P4N hidden away through olive groves with a couple of French travellers for company and a young German couple with a toddler. It was good to use the common language of English as we had a chat round a fire later in a perfect location.

We moved on through the mountains and some very humble villages to the Ancient City of Messinae. A 7km wall had once encircled the population of 20,000 and we drove through a remarkable gate with a collapsed lintel near a restored section of the wall and Tower 17. As at Olympia the site cascaded down a valley and contained churches, temples, theatres, houses, baths and businesses including a water mill whose stream gushed down through the site to another amphitheatre with a temple at its far end. The downloadable audio guide was as good as ever and we spent several hours covering the site and adjacent small museum. Heading out to the coast we passed a superb monastery and arrived on a park up tucked away on a storm damaged road by a beach with the German couple already set up and another German lass in a large coach built van arriving at dusk and nearly reversing in to the collapsed section.

Nestor's Palace is probably significant to the budding archaeologist but it's low walls and dusty foundations under a large steel roof were not up to our expectations and we soon moved on to Pylos which had a small port, attractive square and high above another extensive fortified city reached by many stairs. In the town I noticed that a small fishing, snorkelling and camping shop also sold CG907s so we quickly exchanged two for a reasonable £15 each before moving on to Methoni. Here we took a rough track to a lofty vantage point, having taken an even rougher track that required a long reverse back between intrusive foliage. The correct location was a real gem with a grand view across to the village and its Bourtzi which was lit up at night as were some of the swanky newly built villas further round the coast. Next morning we dropped in to the pretty village for a look round the huge fortification which occupied the headland and culminated in the Bourtzi, the oldest and original defensive structure originally built on an island but now connected by a bridge which forms part of the harbour wall, reinforced at some point by the inclusion of old cannons. We ate in the square and bought some socks off a woman who was asking at the tables, as ever we feel hugely privileged in our situation.

Down at Finikounda we stopped at a small shop for a few bits and bobs and looked in on the beach where work was underway to repair winter storm damage in time for the forthcoming season. North facing Koroni is more sheltered so most places were open and after walking the path at the base of the cliffs where some of the castle foundations had collapsed requiring rock bolting and spray concrete, we climbed through a maze of narrow streets to the fortified town where a few people still live in traditional houses and a large monastery exists. The panoramic views across to the Mani Peninsula and Taijetos mountains indicated our next destination and we returned to the van for the run round the bay.

At Kalamata we had planned to take the E82 mountain road across to Mystras but it was signed as closed so aware of the 15.30 closing time we decided to take the longer but faster toll road that was deserted. Because of the high top the tolls (as in France) were on the high side but we were soon through Sparti and parking up at the lower section of Mystras, a Byzantine town once housing 20,000 people. The friendly Greek/Canadian ticket lady suggested we do the lower section first and then drive up to the castle approaches for the higher section so we set off in hot sunshine to follow a network of tracks and trails that led up the hillside with a mix of intact and collapsing churches, houses and shops leading to the beautiful convent of Pandanassa where a few nuns still tend the flowers and look after the remarkable church and it's frescoes. At the higher level we walked down to the Palace and other churches before a final steep climb up to the citadel with panoramic views.

We had plenty of daylight left so decided to see if the E82 would get us back to the coast as I had seen a blog post saying there was a diversion suitable for vehicles up to 3.5 tons. Thus we began to climb a steep gorge with almost endless tight hairpins that also passed through rock tunnels and overhangs leaving all signs of civilisation behind as snow covered slopes got ever nearer. We passed a large Austrian coach built van parked up  that must have struggled and a few miles further on at 4,000' pulled in on a large layby with a working water tap and far reaching views. A moody sunset and billowing cloud set the scene for a memorable night with the Eber keeping us warm and cosy before we filled up with water and set off down the mountains where within minutes we came to the diversion. This dropped for miles down to a small chapel where we stopped to listen to hymns and chants from a church far below and yet again I was glad to be in a modest vehicle as the road was something of a challenge.

We stopped at Karavopetra for lunch in a tavern right on the sea and then passed through Areopoli and turned off down a side track towards the coast, carried on along a rougher track and tucked away under a hot sun for an afternoon of reading and research with the solar panel doing its thing. A small chapel on the way out had beautiful frescoes and we started seeing more of the stone tower houses that the Mani is famous for. I had last been in this area on a bicycle but my memories are dim, IIRC as a result of few photos due to a faulty SLR camera, and the fact it was almost 40 years ago.

Many of the buildings have been restored and provide holiday accommodation and we pulled in at Yerolimenas which is coming back to life as a boutique resort. As we enjoyed a drink entertainment was provided by a JCB gouging out an access track through storm piled shingle to enable him to haul out a fully laden boat trailer.

Nearby Vathia was a hillside village of fortified houses, some already restored and others waiting, one building must have been the olive oil press judging by the mill stones lying around on wooden shafts.

Down at wild and rugged Cape Tenaro we parked up just beyond a solitary taverna and began the walk out to the lighthouse. The track passed the ruins of a Roman village still sporting two lovely mosaic floors and headed out along Greece's most southerly mainland point. We met a couple of other walkers but a guy ahead of us with a rucksack had disappeared as we reached the lighthouse itself. In its lee we enjoyed hot sunshine and were somewhat surprised when 3 friendly but boisterous dogs suddenly appeared from around the corner. It turned out that the guy was the lighthouse keeper and he had been out for supplies including kerosene for his heater. The lighthouse was a French design, built in 1988 and now running on solar power with his needs coming from the panels and battery store. He does ten day stints which must be quite a challenge as there was no sign of any communications equipment and certainly no internet signal. Anyway we left him to it, returned to the van and then drove to a lofty perch for the night along a short section of track and just before a row of bee hives. We watched as the lights came on in the villages dotted around the Cape and slept soundly after some IPlayer catch up.

A scenic coastal route took us round the coast on a blustery day to Neapoli where we parked on the shore and had the stormiest night ever in the van with strong winds rocking us about and a Saharan dust rain turning the van a fetching beige. We were as always warm and dry and left the following morning to park at Monemvasia which occupies a strategic headland and was built in the 6th Century by the Byzantines, housing up to 60,000 people and serving as the capital in effect. Again it was occupied by various regimes over the years and once the Corinth canal opened in the 19th century it lost its importance as a port. During WW2 4,000 troops from NZ were rescued in a dramatic evacuation. Nowadays few people live there permanently but it offers accommodation, a few shops and cafes and superb views if you climb to the upper city.

A twisting road through remote mountains brought us out further up the coast near Leonido where Semelis Camping provided an excellent service stop with everything sorted, laundry done and hook up, all for a very reasonable €25. It was a very well kept site with good facilities and hosted a few Germans, Dutch and Austrians over wintering in larger vans. The small village was quiet and we noticed a larger number of vans using the free parking lot but I guess they would be moved on in the main season.

So we are now in the rather enchanting town of Nafplio, parked near the harbour where two superyachts are moored up. Both are from the luxury Lurssen marque, Blue at $600,000,000 dollars is owned by the UAE sheikh who also owns Man City and costs a million dollars a week to run. At night they were both discretely illuminated so perhaps the owners were escaping the turmoil in their part of the world.

We enjoyed exploring the town's pedestrian free streets between the port and the headland but decided against the 999 steps up to the citadel. After an afternoon in the van writing this blog for the second time as it had failed to save it then failed to save again so we went off in to town for a commiseratory meal. We hit lucky on a rainy evening with a cosy and stylish restaurant that served excellent food and had very friendly staff. Most of the other customers were Americans on a ten day Greek tour  which would be a tight schedule compared to the leisurely approach we are able to adopt.

However even that is drawing to a close with Mandy heading home from Athens on Mandy and my ferry towards Turkey on Tuesday. Before then we have a couple more sites to visit including Mycenae and Corinth so expect a final Greek blog some time next week. 

Extras, extras.