Kardamyli, Nafplio, and the Road in Between

 Oct 5

Late afternoon yesterday I walked up to the “old town” Kardamyli, while Carol rested after swimming three times when I was slacking off. 

The old town isn’t a town, though maybe it once was. Rather, it’s a small complex of buildings that includes a 3-storey tower, an iron workshop, olive press, and storerooms. These now function as a small museum consisting mostly of information panels and old photographs. There is also a functioning church there, and a wedding party was just wrapping up as I arrived.

The gate and church, with wedding party

View from the tower

Likely the toilet, since there's a chute below that hole which would direct waste away from the walls

Extremely steep staircases for three storeys, making me one courageous person

The Mani Peninsula, where Kardamyli is located, was the only region in Greece to not be conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th Century. The Maniot clans were militaristic and independent, and at constant dispute with each other. They built their fortifications on hilltops throughout the peninsula — you can see them everywhere. The one at Kardamyli is one tower among the many in the Mani.

Dinner spot, Dioskouri Taverna

Not sure why we're leaving this place

I was speculating about this couple, who looked Keith-Richards weathered, all evening. Wonder who's the boss?

And then breakfast, at Aquarella Café

We felt so welcome at Anniska Apartments

This morning, we set off on a drive down the peninsula, taking the long way around to our destination, Nafplio. We had planned to visit a couple of hilltop towns, which would have been much like old town Kardamyli, but we both felt we had seen plenty of hilltop settlements, and were content simply to drive the curvy road and enjoy the scenery. This is dry, scrubby country, reminiscent, a bit, of the terrain around the Okanagan, except with sea views. Many little villages clung to the hillsides, and we had to wonder why they were there and what would be their livelihood. Maybe I’ll look that up. There were a few olive groves, but other than that, nothing but steep slopes.

We stopped in the tiny town of Mystras for a break. The small town square was like small-town squares everywhere in Europe. There were a couple of eateries, a bakery, and a shop that sold a few fridge magnets for the few tourists who pass by there. It was about lunch time, and though our big breakfast was only a couple of hours behind us, I ordered a lunch that turned out to be a big heap of tomatoes (and no, the tomatoes here have not been great; granted, I’m spoiled by my own home-grown ones), while Carol took the wiser choice of having an iced tea. Which came in a can. 

Just us in Mystras

We rarely enter a town without driving around in a circle or two, part of the experience, so we did that. Then headed down a nice wide highway, which turned into a nicer, wider toll road, until our exit to Nafplio. Passing through a town then, we detoured again, just because we could. Once in Nafplio, we found our place straight away, met with our host, Sophie, who showed us to our apartment. We then had to move our car to a public parking lot, which, you guessed it, took a bit of maneuvering, especially since I refused to drive down a pedestrian street (which would have been legal, but nope I’m not going to do that). Oh, driving in strange places is so much fun! 

So here we are in Nafplio, or Nafplion, our home base for three nights. The point of being here is that it’s easy access from the ancient sites of Mycenae and Epidaurus, which we’ll drive to tomorrow and the next day, in turn. The town is lively-crazy with tourists of all nationalities, the entire old town taken up with pedestrian streets lined with restaurant tables. The tourist shops have slightly different wares than other places we’ve been, with emphasis on cheap jewelry and not-so-cheap jewelry, and some nice and some not-so-nice crafts. Mostly, I wonder why people come here, but then I remember I’m here, too, and it’s to have a base to explore the more interesting sites nearby.

View from old town Nafplio

Note champagne in the lifebuoy

The weather has turned tropical, which I love. There are big yachts and bigger yachts in the harbour. One is the biggest I’ve ever seen, the Topaz. I looked it up; it’s 147m in length. For comparison, the biggest of the BC ferries are 160m long. And I found this:

TOPAZ is among the largest private luxury yachts in the world and is owned by billionaire Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family. He is also owner of the Manchester City football club.

 

Topaz, apparently also known as A+

Something tells me I’m not going to be invited aboard.