Greece 2014
- In 2014 we spent a month in Greece, from mid-June to mid-July.
- Flew into Athens for a few days which gave us a chance to revisit some favourite sites and take in some of the smaller musuems and other landmarks.
- We picked up a car at Athens airport and drove to Delphi then ‘circumnavigated’ the Peloponnesian Penninsula, anticlockwise.
- With a visit to the Monastery of Hosios Loukas on the way, we stopped first at Delphi and then at Olympia. Stayed for two nights at both locations which gave us full days at the sites and museums.
- After that we slowed down and enyoyed the pleasures of the Peloponnese. Spent a week in a tiny place called Gialova, just north of Pylos. Great beaches, ancient sites in close proximity, fantastic tavernas full of Greeks. Next stop was Kardamyli on the Mani Peninsula, a proud, distinctive and beautiful region of Greece. From there we went east to the amazing fortified medieval village of Monemvasia, built around the edges of a massive rock outcrop. Headed north to visit the World Heritage site of Mystras, once an intellectual powerhouse of the Byzantine Empire.
- Finished up with a week in Nafplio as a base for exploring the vestiges of Mycenaen civilisation. It’s a charming place in itself.
- All of our trips have been good, but this one was special.
Athens 2014
Flew into Athens, landing early afternoon local time. Our hotel was in Makrygianni which is a district in the south east of central Athens. We found it a good place to base ourselves. Hadrian's Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus were close by and we had a lovely late...
Delphi
From Athens we picked up a hire car at the airport and drove towards Delphi. On the way we stopped at Moni Hosios Loukas, one of three World Heritage monasteries from 11th and 12th centuries that are characteristic of the second golden age of Byzantine art. It has a beautiful...
Olympia
Left Delphi the following morning and drove west along the northern shore of the Gulf of Corinth. Stopped for coffee in Monastiraki and watched the locals go about their business for a while. Crossed over the gulf at Patras, stopped in the port town of Kyllini for a very decent...
Gialova
Left Olympia next morning (Friday) en route to Gialova, and detoured to visit the World Heritage Temple of Epicurean Apollo at Bassae. Wow. It's in a remote mountain location 1,131 meters above sea level. (That's roughly the same height as Hobart's Mt Wellington/ kunanyi). And...
Kardamyli
We stayed three nights in the beautiful village of Kardamyli. It's in the north west corner of a region called the Mani which occupys the central of three peninsulas jutting out along the southern edge of the Peloponnese. The mighty Taygetos Mountains rise to 2,407 metres and...
Monemvasia
We left Kardamyli mid morning en route to Monemvasia. In the village of Nomitsi we stopped to check out the tiny church of Ayioi Anagyroi which stands defiantly on the edge of the modern road. The name Anargyroi translates as ‘without silver’ and refers to the saints Cosmas...
Mystras
The World Heritage archaeological site of Mystras preserves the remains of a city with a remarkable six hundred year history, from its founding in 1248 to its abandonment in 1832 at the end of the Greek War of Independence . After the Fourth Crusade in which Constantinople was...
Nafplio
We parked ourselves in Nafplio for the last week of the trip. It's a lovely city at the northern end of the Argolic Gulf and is dominated by its fortresses. The Akronafplia Fortress is the oldest, dating back to the Bronze Age and rises up directly behind the city. The Palamidi...
