Peloponnes – Part 2

We left Kalamata on a gloriously sunny day and headed to our next stop, Gytheio, on the Mani Peninsula. We had two routes from which to choose, south along the coast or northeast around the Taygetus mountain range, then southward toward our destination. Either way, at just under 8,000 ft., the snow-covered summit of “Profitis Ilias”, or Prophet Elias, loomed large.

Skirting north of the mountains would take us on a major highway, a toll road if I recall, and it was 50 kilometers longer than the coastal route. On the other hand, it was half an hour faster. Some days it really is less about the journey than the destination and the easier drive just seems more appealing. This was one of those days.

Our northern route would pass by Sparti, a modern city built next to ancient Sparta, famous for its “300”. I did not see the movie, so I don’t know the Hollywood story. As I understand it, the Persians invaded Greece during an Olympic year, so all the young, strong Spartans headed to Ancient Olympia to seek sporting glory while the “300” left behind to fight the Persian were veterans. Warriors, to be sure, but past their fighting prime. Also, the “300” were sorely outnumbered and then betrayed, so the Battle of Thermopylae was lost. The Greeks won out in the end, though, and the Spartans solidified their fierce reputation and got a movie deal, so not all was lost.

Anyway, from a distance, which is how we saw it, Sparti is beautiful, nestled below Mount Profitis Ilias. We made an illegal maneuver(s) so that Steven could get a photo, which he did, but then accidentally deleted it, oops. From Sparti we continued on to Camping Mani Beach just west of Gytheio to hunker down until the sun returned after a few days of rain.

I spent a bit of time learning the history of the Mani peninsula and the Maniot people. I’ll just give you the condensed version, which goes something like this:

Neolithic, Mycenaean period, Dorians, Spartan rule (rape, pillage, babies left to die, those guys were mean (!!) but pretty good Olympians). More terrible stuff, centuries pass, war, (rape, pillage) war, war (rape, pillage), Byzantine Empire, fortresses, fighting, decline, Mani self-govern. Invasion! Franks, Saracens. Byzantine Empire (again!!), Fourth Crusade (Pope Innocent, my ass!) fall of Constantinople, Ottoman rule (rape, pillage, I mean, when is there ever not?). Venetian pirates, Turks, feuds, tower houses, rock walls. More stuff, then the Greek War of Independence!! Win! Mani fought to remain autonomous. Lost. Grrrrr! Maniots abandoned Mani. Came back. Today, olives, AirBnbs and tourists. The End.

I hope no one is fact checking my history lessons, it’s not really my bag, but I do my best for you. Suffice it to say that Mani has a long and storied history for a place that is mountainous, rocky, mostly inaccessible, arid and desolate, but can still grow some damn fine olive trees. Also, Mani has some beautiful coastline with touristy villages, sea views and wildflowers, therefore, lots of visitors in the spring and summer, though pretty much just us and a few Germans in the winter.

GYTHEIO

We arrived at Camping Mani Beach with high hopes but found it to be poorly laid out, overgrown, ratty and unappealing, as though it had been abandoned until a few of us rocked up and parked by the beach. I suspect that it might show some improvement in a month or two, once the maintenance crews arrive to spruce the place up and prepare for the spring and summer onslaught, but this place is long past its prime. Still, hot showers and a beachfront was enough to keep us there for three days. Oh, and we caught up on laundry. Since the campground is pretty far out of town, there was really nothing worth doing in the area other than play catch up, which we seem to always need to do.

VATHIA

It was our trip to Vathia where we experienced the ruggedness of the Mani Peninsula. As we made our way south, there were a couple of narrow “iffy” spots on the road through old villages, barely wide enough for Bijou. It seemed to help when I held my breath, because she made it through without a scratch! On a hillside overlooking Vathia, for some reason we can’t even imagine, someone built a basketball court. It has long been abandoned, but it is mostly flat which makes it the perfect spot to overnight. Well, almost perfect. One side of the court has begun to disintegrate, so we had to take care not to park too close to the edge. The views from this spot were stunning and it was dead quiet at night because we were the only people around for miles.

When we left Vathia we were going to follow a route that Kevin and Ruth had raved about, following the road over the mountains and along the east side of the peninsula. We bravely headed up, up, up, and over on a narrow, twisty road with lots of switchbacks. Ater about 35 minutes of driving we came to a T junction. Do we go left, or do we go right? All I could see to my right was a road full of construction up the side of a mountain, so I opted to go left. After a total of 45 minutes of butt-clenching driving we finally came to a decent road, only to find ourselves on the west side, just five kilometers from the basketball court. Oh well, you’ll have to read Kevin and Ruth’s blog to see why they titled their post, “This should be listed as one of the world’s great scenic coastal drives.“

MONEMVASIA, EPIDAURUS LIMERA PENINSULA

The drive from Vathia to Monemvasia took us from the Mani to the third of the southern udders, Epidaurus Limera. We drove through Gytheio and stopped long enough to stock up on groceries, then continued our drive through mile after mile of orange groves. Just a few kilometers out of Gytheio we came upon the Dimitrios shipwreck, where we noticed a few vans parked nearby. We were tempted to join them, but it was a bit too early to call it a day. We stopped for photos and carried on.

Monemvasia is an island that was separated from mainland Greece by an earthquake in 375 AD. The name, mone-em-va-SEE-a, means “single entrance”, which is the case, as there is only one archway that leads in and out of the fortified village. The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway bridge that is about 200 meters long, which is also a parking lot for visitors. Only a few folks actually live in the village, but lots of people work there in the shops, hotels and restaurants. Since no cars can drive through the archway, everyone must park outside the village and walk in, including delivery folks.

We had read reviews of a few campers who had parked up for the night on the causeway, but a few others said they had been asked to move on by the local police. We decided not to chance it and went directly to the marina. We were not alone there, but we managed to get a front row seat with a gorgeous view of the sea and the island.

This is one of those places that under normal circumstances could be quite crowded, but that we had to ourselves. Quite often Steven and I talk about what our experience in Europe might have been like if not for Covid. Our nearly tourist-free travel is a privilege we never expected to have, in fact, couldn’t have even imagined. Sometimes we feel guilty that we have so greatly benefited from the unexpected consequences of a global pandemic. We did our best to avoid crowds pre-Covid, and we wonder, if Covid had never happened, would we have even bothered to visit some of the places we’ve been? It’s hard to say.

LEONIDIO

Before travel days I typically spend some time with Google Earth so that I can get an idea of what to expect. In Greece, I have learned to use the Street View feature and practically pre-drive any parts of a route that concern me, especially if we are driving through villages or over mountains. For some reason, though, I didn’t even look at the map before we left Monemvasia for Leonidio and boy was I in for a shock! We went from sea level, across the Parnon mountains and through the tiny settlement of Kosmas. At an elevation of just under 4,000 feet, we found snow! Once we squeeeeeezed through Kosmas we found ourselves on a tortuous mountainous descent with an ungodly number of curves, turns and switchbacks.

Sometimes I feel sure that we are the only people who have ever traveled this route in a motorhome, because who would actually choose to drive this route? Like, on purpose? But it turns out that there are not a lot of options, so folks who visit Leonidio from the south drive this, or another very similar one. Once we got set up in the campground, we stayed for a couple of days, mainly because we were feeling lazy. Also, the shower at this campground was quite frankly the cleanest I have seen in Europe, and there was endless hot water! It was worth every switchback to get here just for the showers.

DREPANO, ARGOLID PENINSULA

Our departure route from Leonidio was along the hillsides of the coast. It was beautiful, but I admit that we have reached a point where a little village spilling down the mountain to the sea is becoming a bit familiar. I hate to say that, but it’s true.

We set our sights on Camping Argolic Strand in Drepano, which would bring us to the fourth and final peninsula, Argolid. While the campground was nothing special, there was a little restaurant in town that offered fabulous food! We arrived in Drepano after 1:00 pm and we were starving. We had stopped in at a little cafe in Monemvasia for breakfast, but Steven forgot his CDC vax card and that is a must to enter just about any business in Greece. We had to leave, so as he waited outside, I ordered our coffees to go, but no food.

After we got parked in Drepano, we hustled into town for lunch. The first thing I asked was if they had moussaka and as has been the case in every single restaurant we have visited in Greece, the answer was “No.” I was crushed! Again! I was astounded that I had been in Greece nearly a month and could not find moussaka anywhere and I told her so! Then she said, “Tomorrow.” OMG, exciting! In the meantime we ordered Greek salad and medium-sized gyros. This has become one of our go-to meals in Greece and at this little restaurant, everything was incredibly tasty.

The next day we showed up for lunch and sure enough, moussaka was on the menu! It was out-of-this-world delicious. I have always loved cinnamon in savory dishes and moussaka is one of my favorites. I don’t know why, but I haven’t had it for years! We also ordered gemista, tomatoes and green peppers filled with a spiced rice mixture. Each region has its own specialty filling and families have their own style with recipes handed down from one generation to the next. Along with rice, the filling (gemista is Greek for “filled with”) might contain eggplant, feta, potatoes, ground meat, lentils, zucchini, onions and so on, along with fresh herbs such as mint and parsley. Also, olive oil, lots and lots of olive oil. I urge you to try this dish, it is amazing. There are tons of recipes on the web for gemista and moussaka.

We stayed in Drepano for three days and enjoyed lots of wonderful Greek food and a few hikes around the area to walk it all off. I guess we would have stayed longer if there had been decent hot water for the showers. Alas.

As mentioned above, in this pandemic world, we have really benefitted in many ways from a Europe devoid of tourists for the most part. Back in 2020, when we visited Prague in the Czech Republic, Steven visited Charles Bridge for some early morning photography and was struck by how few people were there. Usually there are hundreds of tourists milling about at this iconic spot. He decided to memorialize the feeling of being there that morning in a painting. You can keep up with what he is doing by following his Visual Art page here.

NEXT UP: Corinth and Athens.

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