Heipei

The Peloponnese city of Nafplio was to be our last stop on our way through Greece. We heard many great things about Nafplio both from friends as well as locals. They told us that Nafplio was one of the prettiest cities and it was often described as romantic.

The old center of Nafplio is located on the tip of a bay, wedged between the harbor and some hills. As a result, the streets are narrow and steep and there are only a few places to go to by car. We weren’t completely sure about the location of our hotel, so we had to do some driving, search, Googling and cursing. Eventually we found a hotel by the right name, only to realize that it was only part of the hotel we were looking for and that the other (prettier) part of it was run by the brother of the owner, further up the hill.

Eventually we found our hotel which had a grand view of Nafplio and the harbor, and could only be reached on foot. From there it was possible to take one of the many stairways down into the city, past the many stray dogs and cats and beautiful houses.

Nafplio was the capital of Greece from 1821 until 1834, and it still radiates some of its grandeur. There is Palamidi castle, towering high above the city, and there is Plateia Syntagmatos (Syntagma Square) in the city-centre. The streets and houses in Nafplio are incredibly well preserved and cared for. While there are a few of the mandatory tourist shops, the rest of the store-fronts are either really good restaurants or tasteful local shops. We were especially taken over by the myriad of absolutely sublime Tavernas we encountered, making us wish we could dinner three times a day.

From our hotel it was only a short walk down on the opposite side of the hill to a tiny and crowded beach. Once we saw the pre-arranged sun loungers, the busy waiters (!) and the constant stream of music we decided to skip it and head for another beach a little further away. Not wanting to take our car (and lose our parking spot) we actually walked there on our first day. This was a rare instance where we regretted our decision to do something during this holiday. The gravel walkway to the second beach was cared for and gave us some beautiful views of the coast, but it was also without any shade and took us almost an hour. When we arrived we had already been burnt by the sun, so there was not a whole lot swimming we could still do. The next day we took our car, but by then we could only sit in the shade, shirts and everything, and I still looked like a lobster the next day. But we still had a great time, the city and the food made up for any inconvenience.

We also found time to visit the ancient Greek city of Epidaurus, not far from Nafplio. Since the sun promised to become unbearable on that day, we had driven there earlier than usual. The huge amphitheatre of Epidaurus was another childhood memory I could recall, and I was glad that we went there again. Apart from the theatre, the stadium and a lot of columns, there really isn’t too much to say about the site except what I had already critised about Olympia.

On our last day we left Nafplio to drive to Athens airport directly. The only stop we had planned on that drive was at the canal of Corinth. I distinctly remember visiting Corinth as a child, but seeing the narrow and steep canal driven into the sheer rock was nevertheless an impressive sight. Since we weren’t in a hurry, we didn’t immediately get back onto the highway to Athens but instead took the small old national road going the same direction. This way we saw the small bridge at the far end of the canal, an interesting and fitting way to end our vacation.

Greece has been an absolutely awesome vacation in every way. The weather, the landscape, the food, and the people all make this one of the top destinations to go to to relax. In hindsight, it would certainly help to read up on ancient Greek history and mythology to be able to take in the wealth of historic sites. Also it really pays of to be able to read (and pronounce) the Greek alphabet fluently (lower- and uppercase), this will help a lot when navigating the roads. I was particularly impressed with the diversity of the Greek countryside, going from flat, arid Olive plantations to mountainous dense forests within an hour of driving. Last but not least, we didn’t notice the Euro crisis that everyone was talking about back home, and we were always warmly received by our hosts.

We left Kalamata heading east, on the road to Sparti. Just outside of the city, the road started climbing and winding through the hills and we were soon well up in the mountains. This is one of the occasions were I didn’t take many photos as I had to drive, which was a real shame since the road was so unique. If you search the Internet for “road kalamata to sparti” you get an idea of what it looks like. This was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and diverse stretch of landscape we saw in our time in Greece, and it rivalled even the stunning mountain roads of Canadian national parks.

A little before we reached the city of Sparti we left the main road to drive up a really tiny and even steeper mountain road. Our destination was the ancient town of Mystras. When we arrived at the upper parking lot the sun was already punishing us, but this wasn’t to keep us from seeing the ruins.

Mystras is located in the Taygetos mountain range. It was built there for tactical reasons, and we soon discovered just how steep the climb up the mountain to the ancient fortress really was. There were some ruins which had since been consumed by nature while others (like churches and cathedrals) were still very much intact. From the highest point, the fortress, we could see all of Mystras and lot of the surrounding countryside.

On our way back we noticed that there was a second parking lot (the lower entrance) to the ancient town, so we stopped here as well to see some of the additional buildings. The highlight of the lower part was definitely the Metropolis (Cathedral), with its beautiful courtyard and dark church interior. The rest of the day was spent driving towards out final destination for this holiday: Nafplio.

The day was far from over when we left the wonderful Polilimnio Waterfalls. We drove straight west until we reached the coast and the town of Pilos. In Pilos we parked our car at the pier and walked around the central square to finally get a coffee and some ice cream. With its central square and the small restaurants surrounding it, Pilos is the kind of town I think of whenever I remember our vacations in Greece when I was a child.

After Pilos we drove to Methoni, a sleepy tiny town with a formidable citadel. We parked the car somewhere near the entrance of the citadel and started strolling around its huge defensive walls. After a few hundred meters we were almost ready to turn around and go back when we came upon the most serene beach we had seen in Greece. Although we had done plenty of swimming already that day it only took us a few minutes to get back to the car and get changed again. The beach was wide and very shallow, so one could just walk for hundreds of meters while still being able to reach the ground.

The last stop that day was the tiny town of Koroni. It might not have been much smaller than Methoni, but the street to the harbor was a lot more narrow and went straight through the central square in Koroni. There is really not much more to say on Koroni or the other places. We drove back to Kalamata for our last night before leaving for Nafplio.

On our second day in Kalamata we went on a daylong road-trip around the western tip of the Messenian Gulf. The main reason we drove straight west was a tip from the receptionist in Katakolo. He had prepared a small annotated map of his favourite spots on the Peloponnese. One thing he repeatedly told us what the absolute had to visit Polilimnio Waterfalls, the highlight and an absolute must-see on our trip. Although he had warned us that getting there would take a fair amount of hiking, the photos and the remoteness of the waterfalls meant we had already made our decision.

To get to Polilimnio we had to drive through two small villages and follow local signs. The latter part of the road was rough gravel, but there was enough traffic that we were confident to be heading the right way. We had to park the car eventually and make our way downhill by foot.

The Polilimnio Waterfalls are a series of small lagoons fed by a mountain creek. The valley is just a few meters wide in some spots, quite steep in other places and in general densely vegetated. When we came upon the trail we decided to hike downhill first, not knowing where we’d find the bigger lagoons. After about half an hour of hiking and climbing down slippery rocks and iron rungs we had arrived at the lowest lagoon. With just a few square meters of even surface, we stripped down to our swimming suits and jumped into the lagoon. The water was ice cold and completely pure, shimmering turquoise intensely.

After the lowest lagoon we had to hike back up, happy that the whole path was covered in shade. We passed a number of lagoons on our way up, stopping at a smaller one to swim and have some lunch. By now we had figured out that the biggest lagoon was still ahead, so we continued uphill. In this narrow valley we weren’t alone at any point in time, there were Greek and other tourists of all sorts and ages. Having climbed some particular rough terrain, we finally arrived at the biggest lagoon, called “Kadi Lake”. It wasn’t only the biggest lake but also the one with the most spectacular waterfall, good rocks to dive off of and enough space for a few people to enjoy it at the same time. Used to the cold water by now, we immediately stripped down and dove into the water. It was even possible to swim below the waterfall and feel the force of the water coming straight down. When we were done swimming and taking in the breathtaking view, we headed back to the parking lot, which took us quite a while. For the rest of day we had planned to visit some small cities along the coast.