Category: Greece – 2022

We’re amazed!  Athens is much more vibrant, restaurants and shops more upscale, than we remember from our last visit here.  Restaurants are creatively decorated and life here takes place mostly out of doors at this time of year in a very festive way!

We visited our favorite deli/restaurant from previous visits called  “Karamanlidika by Fanis”.  The restaurant specializes in salads, cheeses, cold cuts, and a unique complimentary dessert.

This morning we each took an online proctored Covid test in the hotel room.  It was very angst-producing but we each “passed” with negative results.   We’ve uploaded our results to the Delta Airlines App so if all goes as planned, we’ll get to take our direct flight home Wednesday!

It’s been an excellent adventure but we miss family, friends and our routine at home!  Take care all!

 

…to chaos in Athens!

Athens is busy, buzzing and crowded!  Wow! We’ve walked around neighborhoods, visited flea markets, strolled in the National Gardens and eaten our weight in souvlaki!

This evening we took a break from Greek food and found a fun pizza place, Granello.  In addition to pizza we had a colorful and tasty salad of cherry tomatoes, burrata cheese, and pesto!

We’re staying in the center of Athens in a hotel cleverly named, Central Hotel.  If we lean out our window, we have a view of the Acropolis.  It’s nice to be close to the Metro and shops.

We’ve been testing these past 3 days and we both continue to test negative for Covid.  Tomorrow will be the real test as we will do the required test to fly on Wednesday.

We are grateful that we’ve been able to safely take a trip like this!  It’s been great fun!

 

We’re still here!  We packed several Covid self tests and we’ve both tested negative each time.  Fingers crossed for the test we take before our flight home!🤞

We are very happy with our hotel choice in Pylos -Karalis Beach Hotel.  It sits right on the water and from our balcony, have a view of Pylos, the clear waters, and the rocky shore below.

Today we drove to Voidokilia Beach – in the shape of the Greek letter Omega, it forms a semicircle of dunes.

From the sandy beach, we followed a rocky path uphill to an archeological site of an Mycenaean tomb.

The seaside village of Gialova is nearby.  There are upscale shops and restaurants right on the beach – after our trek, we stopped for a lunch of Calamari and Greek Salad.  Gialova is very popular in the summer – it’s still early in the season now and not very busy.

We’re not eager to leave Pylos but tomorrow we’ll drive 3.5 hours to return the rental car to the Athens Airport.  From there, we’ll take public transportation into the city for a four night stay.

We will miss these glorious sunsets.  It’s beautiful here!

 

Continue reading “Adventure Continues!”

We arrived here yesterday after the short drive from Koroni.  The water is blue-green and clear – it’s too cool for swimming but we imagine that it’s very busy in the summer.  In the photo below, you can see how the town is clustered around the water.

It’s popular with sailors.  We met a man last night who just sailed in from Sicily – he lives on his boat and travels all over the world!

Like most other Greek towns we’ve visited, the flowers are beautiful and well loved.

Pylos is described by Homer in both the Iliad and the Odyssey (Book 17) when Telemachus says:  ”we went to Pylos and to Nestor…and he received me in his lofty house and gave me a kindly welcome…”  He’s describing his trip to Nestor’s Palace.  

Today we drove 30 minutes to the Archeological site of the Palace.  It doesn’t look like this now but it must have been spectacular in its day.  

Today, it looks like this:

Many important archaeological remains have been found here including thousands of clay tablets with inscriptions written in Linear B.  It is a really interesting site in a beautiful setting.

There are lots of blooming olive and fruit trees here – we were surprised that this  is the bloom of a lime tree!

There is a Castle in Pylos – right above our hotel. Tomorrow we’ll make the trek to the top.  We’ll be here a couple more days before we go to our last stop on our mini Greek Odyssey…Athens!

It’s peaceful…shops are open in the morning and this fisherman looking out to the sea, displays his morning catch.

We made a loop around town and admired the pretty alleyways.  We’re told that the town gets really busy in the summer but not so much right now.  The weather is mild and we are grateful for the light crowds.

Not every alleyway is pristine, but buildings like these add to the character of the town.

We walked to a section of the beach under the castle and took a selfie.

Aphrodite the cat stops by for regular visits…she seems to know when we’re eating tuna and sardines for lunch.

We’ve discovered that turtles live here too!  The owner told us that at least six of these guys roam the property.  We spent a good chunk of the afternoon watching them.  They move around faster than you’d expect.

Larry named this one…Meet Trenton the Turtle!

Shops open again later in the afternoon and we’ll have dinner in town – we’re staying on the outskirts of town but close enough to walk.

Tomorrow we pack again and head for our next stop…Pylos!

It’s all uphill but the reward, once you arrive, is a spectacular view!

We spent a couple of hours exploring the grounds.  Today, most of the interior is occupied by a convent whose chapels, outbuildings,  and flower-strewn gardens cover the site.

The area can be daunting as stairways with rickety railings lead to the edge of the cliff!

But up the stairs we went…

It led us to a view of a chapel, wildflowers and the sea.

It’s time for dinner and we’ll enjoy a salad and some pink wine.  Cheers!

We didn’t know much about this fishing village when we arrived but guidebooks made it sound like a charming village.  It is!  We’ve walked around the harbor and picked out a taverna for dinner.  Shops are closed until 6:00 so we’ll go back when things are more lively.  It’s a quiet Saturday afternoon.

We are in the southwest peninsula of the Peloponnese – about 35 miles by road from Kalamata.

We are staying at Pelagia Apartments – right above the Gulf of Messina.  The apartment has everything we need.  Our host, Antonis welcomed us with a glass of homemade lemonade and a bottle of olive oil.  This is the apartment building;

And, our view of the sea.

It’s a 5-minute walk to the main part of town.  There is a grocery store, hardware store, bakeries , shops with tourist knickknacks and a jumble of houses.  The draw here is the long sandy beach and fish tavernas along the harbor.

There is a Venetian Castle in Koroni.  Building started in 1206 and its walls still stand.  Today, it shelters the convent of Timiou Prodromou.  We’ll explore it tomorrow.

The sea breezes are  cool and this apartment comes with a sweet cat named Aphrodite!

This will be a nice place to hang out for the next couple of days.

It’s quiet here…there really aren’t so many tourists around town.  We’re surprised but imagine that everyone else must be in Santorini!

We wanted to try some Greek wines and went to this shop for dinner last evening.  We could buy half glasses of wine as a way to taste a few.  The cheeses – creamy smoked goat cheese, cheese with thyme, truffles,  and a buttery-tasting cheese with plum chutney were all fun to try!

Today we drove 30 minutes up a narrow, winding mountain road to check out the village of Exochori.  There is a church, a couple of houses, and many olive trees.  While we were there a fierce wind storm nearly blew us off of the mountain.  We found a sheltered area, waited for a break in the wind, and made our way back down the mountain!

This is the village from across the gorge.

And flowers in the cemetery.

We walked quite a lot today!  The beach here is rocky but there is a road beside it so we can avoid the pebbles.  On the way back to our apartment, we walked through Old Kardamyli.  Lots of history here!

Time to move on!  Tomorrow we’ll drive about two hours to our next stop – Koroni.  It’s a small fishing village – we’re anxious to check it out.

This is the kind of place that you take a ‘vacation from your vacation.’ Everything here is done at a very relaxed pace!

The road that runs through town is also the Main Street.

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We are staying at Vardia Hotel, in a small apartment above the town – we have a spectacular view of the sea and town below.  We stayed here seven years ago when we were first visited and like it so much that we’d return again.  Kardamyli is sleepy during the day but busier in the evening when everyone is back from their daytrips and looking for a taverna by the sea.

Yesterday we visited the nearby town, Stoupa, to drop off laundry and have lunch.  If you want to spend time on the beach, this is your place!

We stopped for gas – and calculated that at 2.12 Euros per liter, (8.97 USD per gallon), it costs about $140.00 to fill the tank of our small rental car.  In the photo below, Larry is learning the “ins and outs” of owning a gas station in Greece.  The young owner holds a Masters Degree in business and his dream is to own a station in the U.S.

Just above today’s modern town is Old Kardamyli – the settlement has a fortified tower, a church and other stone buildings.

There bell tower is decorated with ornamental designs showing moon, stars, and the double-headed eagle – described by a guidebook as a “lovely mixed bag of symbols.”

The small museum here provides details of the complicated history of this settlement.  Below is a view from the Tower House.

There is a pebble beach here and we found a good taverna nearby for a meal of Moussaka and roasted spring vegetables.

Though the breezes are cool, the sun is intense and perfect for flowers and vegetables.  There are many beautiful flowers in ceramic vessels – in addition to these purple flowers, geraniums and nasturtiums love this sunny climate.

And now, oleander is blooming as well!

We’re happy here!

 

 

We made a dinner reservation for Larry’s birthday at O!live Restaurant in Gythio!  It’s along the waterfront and owned by a husband and wife team.  It was a fun dining experience and a place we’d recommend to anyone visiting in Gythio.

The appetizer was local smoked pork, cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers and olives.  Simple and delicious…olive oil and oregano are an important part of a dish like this!

The fish dishes were perfectly prepared; the pink wine lovely;

And the chocolate brownie dessert a nice way to end a delicious meal.  The staff went out of there way to make it a special evening!

This morning there was a huge thunderstorm!  Heavy rain, lightning and big thunder.  It was a good morning to read and relax.  It’s still the May holiday so shops are closed again today.

Once the rain stopped, we drove 30 minutes to the town of Aeropolis…’the city of Ares’.  There is a nice town square with bronze statue of Petrobey,  a Greek general and politician.

Many of the buildings in Aeropolis are constructed of stone.  Here’s the church;

and a tower building, common in this region.

We are staying in Las Hotel in Gythio.  It’s one of the more modern buildings in town and the breakfast area (shown below) is nice.

Wild nasturtiums are everywhere!  It looks like they thrive in this sunny climate!

Tomorrow we pack again to drive to our next stop, Kardamyli!