Chasing the sun round a car park and the trains to nowhere

Touch wood but we reached the halfway point of our journey with no mechanical issues. Avid readers will remember we had to replace our leisure batteries a few weeks ago but, other than that we have been problem free. However we had begun hearing a squeaking noise from one of the wheels a couple of weeks before Christmas and I decided it was either a wheel bearing or a brake problem. Given that we had to return to Kalamata to chase up our missing Christmas parcels, it seemed a good idea if we found someone to have a look at it.

Flowers in January

We left Ancient Messini on the Sunday and returned to the spot by the beach at Analipsi where we have spent several days on this bit of the trip. It’s really handy because the beach is great for the spaniels and there is a fresh water tap. As a bonus the beach bar, shut up for the winter, has an outside toilet with an unlocked door. We met a Dutch couple, touring in their old van, and a second Dutchman, travelling with his dog. We planned to visit the Fiat dealer in Kalamata, but Monday was a public holiday in Greece (Epiphany).  

Christmas arrives in the New Year

On Tuesday Greece came back to life after the holiday so we drove into Kalamata to check if our Christmas parcels had turned up, and were very pleased to find three of the five at the post office. We assumed the remaining two would be arriving at any time.....we were wrong as we found out later. On the way back to Analipsi we called in at the Fiat dealer and booked Florence in at noon the next day. We received a visit from the trader with the pick up who we first met before Christmas. This time we bought a big bag of oranges and some tomatoes but were disappointed that he had no more black honey. Not ready until March he told us.

Analipsi beach was becoming a familiar sight

The following morning we drove back to the dealer. However, it soon turned out that ‘noon’ in Greek time was rather flexible. Having done all the paperwork we sat outside in the car park with the spaniels. It was warm and sunny and the staff were a bit iffy about having them in the showroom. We confidently expected to be done and dusted in time for a late lunch. The first hour came and went, and it was not until nearly two that someone came out to take Florence in to the workshop. By this time the sun was starting to go behind the building, and we found ourselves shuffling spaniels, chairs and water bowls across the car park to stay in the warm. Luckily they finished the job by four, any later and we would have completely run out of sunshine. We drove away with eight new brake pads and €400 euros lighter but the squeak had gone.

Waiting in Neri’s shadow for the van

The train not departing

The following morning we decided to get some shopping done, so walked with the pups up to the town centre. This took us through Kalamata Railway Park, a sort of open air museum built around the old station. Kalamata used to be linked to Athens by a metre gauge railway, originally constructed in the late 19th century. But, in 2011, with Greece suffering a massive financial crisis, all metre gauge lines in the Peloponnese were shut down. Thus we found ourselves walking through a linear park, with railway lines, on which stood a collection of locomotives and rolling stock. It was as if the trains had arrived and suddenly discovered the line behind them had closed, so they remain trapped where they came to a halt. There are no barriers, no ‘keep off’ signs and no information. Everything has just been left to moulder away.

Shopping done we rewarded ourselves with lunch in a bistro, with some rather nice German white beer. The pups got plenty of attention from the waiting staff and some of the customers. They certainly seem to have been a hit with many Greeks. On our return to the van we found an e mail from the courier company who had found our parcels and will return them to Kalamata. In true Greek style we are not completely sure when they will turn up so we will stay in the area until they do. 

The sun set lights up the mountains behind Kalamata

This is being composed on an iPad as we have confirmed that the MacBook Air has definitely given up the ghost. Luckily I have found an Apple dealer in Athens who can order a replacement machine with a British keyboard. I think we will both struggle with the Greek version. We will collect it in four weeks or so when we head North to the Greek capital. Hopefully the one finger I use to write this won’t wear out before then. 

The best, least known ancient site

We’ve been to Olympia, and to Delphi, as well as several lesser known archaeological sites. We are looking forward to several other major places of interest in the Peloponnese: Epidavros, Mycenae, Mystras among others. But Ancient Messini wasn’t really on our radar. However, it was only 30km from Kalamata, we had a couple of days to kill before the shops and post offices open after Epiphany, and Lonely Planet suggested it was worth a visit. Well, we were utterly wowed. It’s an incredible site, on a vast scale, with several different complexes, lots of restoration, and the largest, most complete amphitheatre and stadium anywhere.

We had left Camping Finikes, a little sadly, on Friday, after a wonderful two week break. We needed LPG, and there is little to be had on the Messini peninsula. We’d made the gas last much longer than usual because we were on mains u for the fridge and the hot water, only using gas for cooking. But now it was well into the yellow. We also had a very slight leak, not enough to be a risk, or seriously deplete supplies, but it was cauling a slight whiff from time to time. Advice from our Austrian neighbours, who build motorhomes, confirmed it was most probably caused by a tiny piece of grit in the valve, and the best way to clear this is to refill the Gaslow canister. 

So we said our goodbyes, and took the scenic route around the coast and back to Kalamata. Our first stop was at an LPG conversion workshop which also offered filling, but they refused to touch our system, claiming their gas was not for cooking. We’d been refused once before in Greece, at a Shell garage, but had put this down to their tie up with Coral, the Greek equivalent of Calor. It seems they really don’t get the Gaslow system here, or the fact that our regulator works for both propane, and the heavily butane weighted Greek LPG. Never mind. It was back to the BP garage we’d filled up at before Christmas, where the same young woman filled us up without question. And since then we’ve neither smelled gas nor seen any indication we’re losing any. If you’re worried, don’t be. I’m assured by those in the know that even a lit cigarette thrown next to our tank wouldn’t ignite anything as LPG disperses far too quickly.

Once we’d filled up the gas tank it was time to sort the food cupboards, and there is a handy roundabout in Messini with a Lidl, a Sklabenitis, and an AB supermarket. We got the staples in Lidl, and exotic extras like broccoli in Sklabenitis. Then it was back to the beach at Analipsi where we’d met Barry and Gill before Christmas. Max was happy to go for a swim in a stream coloured black by olives.

The next morning we headed up to Ancient Messini. It was a glorious day, even in the mountains, and soon we were stripping down to t-shirts to scramble among the ruins. At our very first Greek archaeological site we had tried to keep to the marked path, before realising that it is impossible to read some of the interpretation boards unless you enter into the heart of the buildings. You are expected to amble around, and now we step carefully between pillars, up and down steps and under porticoes. 

At Messini we explored ancient baths, temples, the agora, a couple of unusual tombs, the amphitheater and the highlight, the vast stadium at the heart of the gymnasium where young men had spent three years studying and practising sports. The field of play had been curtailed by the Romans, who had turned it into a gladiatorial arena, but the seating was largely original, including the ornate ones reserved for VIPs. As if all this wasn’t enough, a short drive up the hill took us to the remains of the ancient gate to Arcadia, in a 9km wall around the town, remnants of which still exist, looking like a miniature version of the Great Wall of China as it drapes around the hills. 

We parked up for the night under the shade of trees in a lay-by near the wall, looking down into the valley. It would have been a wonderful day, but for a little accident with a glass of wine which has rendered our MacBook lifeless. I hold up my hand. I was tired, reached for a cushion and somehow the glass tipped over on the table and splashed onto the keyboard. All efforts at resuscitation have failed, and we shall have to manage without while we explore options for replacement. If you’re reading this, then we have at least figured out how to publish the blog from an iPad!

A festive spell by the sea.

The blog has been dozing for the last couple of weeks because so have we. On a journey where we rarely stay more than two nights in one place, we have spent the Christmas and New Year period in a small campsite near the village of Foinikounta on the South Western tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. In the summer the area is heaving with holidaymakers from across Europe, attracted by the beautiful beaches. In December we have the place pretty much to ourselves, sharing the space with a huge 12 tonne German 4x4 motorhome, they have previously travelled from Patagonia to Alaska in it, and an Austrian couple who build motorhomes for a living and have arrived in one of their own vehicles. 

A bit of company

Time-wise we are now pretty much halfway through our European journey, having travelled a little over 10,000 miles since we left Lancashire on July 4th. We will be taking another 6 months to get back to Blighty but won't be going around the north of Norway on the return journey. The general plan is to stay in Greece until the end of March then, as Spring begins to arrive, cross to Italy on the ferry and meander north, with the occasional diversion. 

Florence having a much-needed rest

The time here has been a welcome break. We have access to a washing machine and have fresh water on the pitch. Better still we are about 50 yards from half a mile of pristine Greek beach where the spaniels have enjoyed running across the empty sands. Max, who has developed as a strong swimmer, has now taken up surfing having learned that he can swim out and ride back in on the waves. A little disconcertingly he has also taken to swimming out 70 or 80 metres from the shore and ignoring our entreaties to come back. Elsa meanwhile has discovered she can run past a local house and set the guard dogs barking, something she has enjoyed on a daily basis. 

Nothing worse than a crowded beach

There is very little happening around here at this time of year. We took a half hour walk into the village of Foinikounta to find almost every bar and taverna closed and shuttered. On most of our daily beach walks we haven't seen a soul. There is a small grocery shop about ten minutes walk away where we have been able to get any necessary supplies, albeit at prices a bit more expensive than our normal Lidl shop. But the staff are friendly and the fresh bread is a delight. On my last shopping trip the owner gave me some delicious Greek cakes.

Foinikounta is a pretty fishing village

We don't have an oven in the van so our Christmas lunch was a Greek meze with dishes

Christmas Day Swim

being prepared and eaten throughout the whole of Christmas afternoon and early evening. We rounded off the feast with a bottle of Tokay which we had picked up in a Hungarian vineyard. It has certainly been strange celebrating Christmas in bright sunshine and warm temperatures. Apart from two or three wet days when we first arrived, the weather has been gorgeous, so much so that Neri had a Christmas Day swim with Max, and it has normally been warm enough to walk in t shirts. 

My attempt at saganaki

Pigs in blankets...Greek style

Hungarian nectar

Neri's tiramisu

The evenings have been spent catching up on His Dark Materials which I have managed to download from iPlayer. We are much enjoying it, so much better than the awful film version from some years ago. We have also been watching Christmas University Challenge. When we are at home we join a number of our neighbours on New Years Eve for a quiz night, organised by Ray, a retired teacher. Before we left home he handed us an envelope with a prepared quiz so we wouldn't miss out and we had our own quiz night in the van. New Years Day was so warm we sat outside and had a barbecue. 

New Years Day BBQ

Our sojourn here is coming to an end. We have used the time for a bit of cleaning and a few simple maintenance tasks. Last night we shared drinks with the Austrian couple who, like us, will be moving on tomorrow. Our plan is to drive towards Kalamata, top up with LPG and get some shopping done. We will then spend a couple of nights near Analipsi, where we have stayed before, then head back into Kalamata on Tuesday (Monday is a public holiday) to see if our delayed post has finally found its way through the tortuous Greek mail system. From there we will spend our time exploring Mani and Malea, two southern peninsulas of the Peloponnese. Lonely Planet voted this area of Greece in top spot in its Best of Europe list so we are looking forward to seeing it. 

Plenty of room for spaniels

Elsa does like a good pose

Our Christmas neighbours

Christmas Eve in a Greek campsite

There's been a definite change of pace in Florence this week. As Christmas approached we concentrated on our preparations, and making our way slowly to the campsite where we plan to spend at least the next week. It's been a time for cleaning up, stocking the fridge and  giving the spaniels chance to run free. It's also been rather wet down here in Southern Greece, so there have been a few days of staying in and putting our feet up.

Black honey, fabulous with Greek yoghurt

After making our way down through the mountains from Olympia, we had fetched up alongside a beach near Kalamata with a few other vans. We decided it was too good a spot to forsake for the centre of Kalamata, so we stayed a second night, doing our normal weekly shop in the local Lidl. No sooner had we returned than we were visited by a friendly couple in a pick-up selling local produce. We explained that we had just done our shopping, but were happy to look at their stock, and were delighted to part company with €13 for a large bottle of local wine, a huge jar of black honey, and a bag of proper Greek tomatoes - ones with an actual tomato taste. It's good to feel you are making a contribution to the local economy, and the honey in particular is fabulous.

There is always a queue at the post office

The next day we drove into Kalamata, followed by Gill and Barry, the British couple from Bulgaria, who were keen to find the car park we had searched out on Park4Night. We joined the queue at the post office, which stretched out across the pavement, only to discover that our hoped for parcels were yet to arrive. Fortunately there were three Christmas cards to cheer us up. Next it was off to Sklabenitis, the Greek equivalent of Waitrose, where we were planning to shop for our Christmas food and drink. Their range was a little wider than Lidl, and we were able to find some of the more unusual ingredients needed for our planned meals, as well as some nice Greek wine.

It was already mid-afternoon, but we wanted to make some progress towards Finikounta, where we are spending Christmas, so we drove across the peninsula to Pylos, a busy harbour town with ample motorhome parking in its sprawling boatyard. Three huge Dutch motorhomes were there before us, all over 8m long, but we tucked up alongside them, feeling like a size four trainer in a drag queen's shoe closet. 

Boats in all stages of decay

The next morning we took a stroll around the town, walking along the harbour, around the huge castle walls, through the buzzing town square and back through the boat yard, where among the rotting carcasses were some sprightly veterans and seasoned travellers, one from Cowes, another from London. We stopped to watch a crane carefully lowering a smart yacht with a newly scraped and painted bottom back into the water. 

We were both keen to get to our Christmas stopover, and nervous that it would be a disappointment, but there was only one way to find out. We set off on the half hour journey to Camping Finikes, half expecting to find it deserted, and to have to find our own way in. But as soon as we pulled up we were greeted by a friendly couple, who directed us to choose a pitch, and then find Rod, a British man who would show us around. We parked up on the front row, looking straight across shallow dunes to the sea, and then made the acquaintance of Rod, one of the long-term residents who also serves as the agent for the owners over the winter. 

The spaniels are happy

We felt immediately at home. We had a great pitch, with a good view, water, electricity and shelter. The site was occupied, but with only four other vans we were hardly crowded. And best of all, a gate just in front of us leads straight out onto the beach, where the spaniels can run free and there is hardly anyone else around. We have spent a couple of days cleaning, putting up our handful of Christmas decorations, and doing some general maintenance. We've chatted to the neighbours, a German couple in a huge truck in which they have travelled from Patagonia to Alaska, and had Rod in for tea and a Greek mince pie. There is an excellent small supermarket ten minutes walk away, and a pretty village a little further which we have yet to fully explore. It's a good place to spend Christmas, and we are looking forward to some time standing still after five months on the move. 

Flowers still bloom here

The weather is mixed...

A village to explore

Corporal punishment for athletes, mountain villages and lots of cats

I should say, here and now, I am not a big fan of athletics. This means that, unlike my better half, who has broadcast from two of the Games, I have never really got the Olympics. I did once come up with a proposed slogan, "Three Weeks of Drug-fuelled Minority Sports", but, in fairness, that only applies to the Russians. However on our second morning in Olympia we visited the museum dedicated to the original Olympic Games, and I found it fascinating. Without boring you with a lot of statistics, those early games ran successfully for more than 1100 years and only came to a halt because the Roman emperor Theodosius I banned them in 393 AD as part of his move to impose Christianity on the Greeks. All those naked athletes running around and dedicating their victories to Zeus, was far too pagan for the early Christians.

An Olympic mosaic

The museum held many of the artefacts found when Olympia was excavated, but it also had interesting information as to how the games were organised and the sports that took place. These early games were entirely a male affair, women were not permitted to be spectators but any male, whether citizen or foreigner, freeman or slave, was entitled to free entry to the stadium. Many of the events like running, discus and javelin, are still part of the modern Games. However, I really would really like to see chariot racing return and I was much taken with the description of Pankration, a cross between boxing and wrestling with a bit of kicking involved. We did learn that eye gouging was not permitted, unless, of course, you were in Sparta. 

A bit of Pierre lies here

One other thing that would spice up the modern Games for me would be the return of corporal punishment for athletes who cheated. I feel a few public floggings would make the field events so much more interesting. After leaving the exhibition we collected the spaniels and made the fifteen minute walk to where there is a monument to Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games. His heart is buried beneath the stone pillar, the rest of him remained in Switzerland, where he died in 1937.

From Olympia we travelled East, finding a nice quiet spot by a river for an overnight where we were disturbed only by the odd tractor going past. The next morning we began the long winding ascent into the mountains. We were now in Arcadia, once home of Pan, who has been my favourite Greek mythological figure ever since I read The Wind in the Willows. 

Not somewhere to live if you have vertigo

After a series of hairpin bends we started going through mountain villages, with buildings clinging impossibly to the sides of sheer drops. Most of them are classed as 'traditional settlements' and are protected by law from unsuitable development. They are hugely popular with Greeks who flock to them in the summer to escape the scorching temperatures on the plains. While the mountain road was fairly easy, as long as you avoided looking down, it narrowed considerably as it passed through the protected buildings in the villages. At one stage I had to back several hundred yards for a Greek lorry driver, who had swung round a bend in font of me, his mobile phone jammed against his ear.

Dimitsana

We decided to stop in the village of Dimitsana because we found a) a place where we could park Florence and b) a water tap. It is typical of these villages with steep winding streets, beautiful old buildings and narrow alleyways. We had decided not to take the spaniels with us and it was just as well as we were joined by a small collection of cats as we ambled through. Instead we were able to look in the shops, climb up to an old church on the edge of a precipice, and watch locals sitting out in the warm sunshine enjoying coffee and ouzo.

Elsa would have gone berserk

Neri took over for the last leg of the trip where we had planned to spend the night at the village of Karytania. True to form the approach to the small parking area in the centre meant a climb up a steep road with acute hairpin bends but it was well worth it as we found ourselves on a small paved area with a view that went on for miles. While many catering establishments are closed in Greece in December, we found a small bar just down the road where we received an enthusiastic welcome from the multi lingual owner, and enjoyed a couple of glasses of fresh local white wine while listening to a group of locals chatting about their day. When I went to pay the bill I received an enthusiastic hug from the lady behind the bar which, as far as I can remember, has never happened in my local pub. 

The valley from the castle

The next morning we looked down on a valley full of cloud, which quickly burned off as the heat from the sun got to work. We made the steep climb to the ruins of a small 13th century castle perched high above the village where we were rewarded by stunning views. The castle had been built in the time of the Frankish rule in that part of Greece. Karytania disappeared from the gaze of historians until 1821 when the inhabitants were among the first to rise up against the occupying Ottoman Empire. Busts of their leaders are dotted around the village, one of them, somewhat disconcertingly, gazing directly at Florence's door every time we left the van.

Not a lot left of the old castle

After leaving the village, to the enthusiastic waving of the bar lady who was sitting out in the sun, we headed for Megalopolis. Today it's a small town whose livelihood depends, in part, on two huge power stations but in ancient times it was one of the biggest settlements in the region. It was believed by the historian Herodotus, (not always reliable), to be the site of the series of battles that saw the Gods finally overthrow the Titans. It was certainly the scene of later battles, not least when the Spartans invaded. All that remains today is a series of stones scattered over the fields and the remains of a giant tiered theatre that seated 20,000 people. Most of the site is closed off but we wandered in to look at the theatre. The place was deserted and the ticket office at the entrance was locked up. However, we found an old Portaloo, possibly abandoned by the Spartans, in which we could empty our toilet cassette. 

We took the decision to drive straight to Kalamata rather than linger in the mountains. There

'All the world's a stage'. The theatre at Megalopolis

 will be a couple of months after Christmas to explore the Peloponnese and we need to get some shopping done and collect the post we have arranged to be sent to us, assuming it has found its way through the Greek mail system. Tonight finds us back by the sea, alongside a beach that seems to go on for miles. We took the spaniels for a walk along the sand and allowed Max to enjoy his love of swimming. There were two other motorhomes when we arrived, one German and one with Bulgarian plates. However, we were surprised to discover that the latter vehicle was owned by British ex pats, he was born in Eccles, who were living in Bulgaria. As dusk fell another French and a German motorhome arrived so we are quite an international community tonight.  

Old church in Dimitsana

Morning in Karytania