Travels with Spaniels: A very long beach and a prehistoric burial site

Greece has some of the world’s finest historic sites, stretching back through antiquity. However, as we found when we visited Ancient Messina, the authorities are remarkably relaxed about letting visitors have access to them. So, where in the UK you might find barriers and notices warning you to keep off, the same does not apply in most of Greece. We therefore found ourselves standing among a number of ancient graves which had been carved out of the rock close to the sea near Neapoli with not a thing to stop us wandering all over the area.

We had walked to the site along what was probably the longest beach we had seen so far in Greece....and it was completely deserted. We discovered it was also one of the main nesting grounds of loggerhead turtles although, regrettably, we were too early in the year to see them. Our wander had been enlivened, although not in a particularly good way, by Max’s decision to set off again on one of his marathon swims. Thus it was we spent a great deal of the outward walk anxiously watching the head of a spaniel bobbing in the waves at least 50m from the shore. He is a strong swimmer but his tendency to completely ignore our calls for him to come back in are frustrating to say the least. He did eventually return, and spent the rest of the walk on a lead.

The longest beach so far

The dead are long gone

We were standing on the shore looking across the short distance to the small island of Elafonisos. Under the sea in front of us we could see some of the remains of the city of Pavlopetri, which was built during the Mycenaean period between 1600 and 1100 BC.

It was destroyed by an earthquake around 1000 BC, an event that also severed the island from the coast. Through the clear sea water it is possible to see some of the remains of the settlement. On the rocks where we were standing were graves, dating back even earlier to the Bronze Age. Apart from a simple sign saying ‘Prehistoric Cemetery’ there was nothing else to identify this amazing area.

What’s left of a Byzantine church

We were already reeling under the onslaught of history following our second visit to the island fortress of Monevasia. The day before we had wandered the narrow streets with the pups but had decided to return on the following day without them so we could climb further up to the old town. This proved a wise move because, not only was the path steep and winding, but the place was crawling with cats. In hot sunshine we climbed as far as the church of Agia Sophia which stands high on the rock overlooking the walls of the old fortress.

Having gazed down at the roofs of the houses below, and across the sparkling deep blue Aegean, we decided to pop into a restaurant in the new town (a mere thousand years old) where the friendly owner served us with a wonderful mezze and lovely local wine. We took the remains of the carafe out onto the terrace where we were joined by five local cats

Cats seem to run Monevasia

We had originally planned to move on the following morning, but the weather was so nice, and the town so lovely, we decided to stay for a third night. After walking up to the local supermarket in the morning, we split up in the afternoon for a bit of me and her time. I wandered around the town, calling in at a small fruit and veg stall to load up with local oranges. We have become addicted to freshly squeezed juice and 20 oranges for less than €3 seemed too good to miss. Neri meanwhile disappeared for a couple of hours and took herself up to the highest point of the rock. She knows full well that I am not the greatest climbing fan and get vertigo on a thick carpet.

The top of the rock

The roofs of the new town

The church on the rock

We left fairly early (for us) on Friday morning and took the winding and sometimes steep road across the island towards Neapoli. In general Greek roads are in very good condition, but going through some of the hill villages, you can almost feel Florence’s sides being squeezed in as the road narrows between ancient houses. Our journey ended alongside yet another beach where we could take the spaniels for a run, and then relax to watch a spectacular sunset over the mountains to the west.