Monemvassia to Tolo
Tearing ourselves away from our pink bedroom we drove over the causeway right up to the entrance of Old Monemvassia, past squillions of cars already parked. The occupants of which were presumably already in the town. To our utter satisfaction someone 40yds from the entrance was just leaving – now that’s a first.
The town as the guide book says clings to a cliff face. In it’s heyday it was a very important Byzantine-Venetian fortress state. One enters through a grand archway after which you unfortunately have to run a gauntlet of jewelery and clothes shops along narrow cobbled streets. However, these are in keeping with the place as in the old days all the artisan’s workshops and restaurants were situated there. Today the shopkeepers sit in the sun playing backgammon and drinking coffee.
A yellow wagtail (a first!)
Narrow alleyway with ancient doors.
Which run upwards in a zigzag fashion to the miniature version of Constantinople’s Aya Sophia fairly near to the top of the rock. This church has had a chequered career veering from church to Mosque
The Aya Sophia with Turkish bath in front, left over from when it was a mosque.
and back to church and each time having bits added in keeping with the worship going on inside, it even had a Minaret added at some stage but no evidence of that now. Typically it was locked which was very disappointing having made it all the way up there. One should add that ‘old Monemvassia’ has 40 churches of which 26 are still recognizable, the rest having fallen into terminal decay. We headed on up from the Aya Sophia to the very top where the citadel still stands but is derelict. At this level there is a strong smell of wild curry and fennel, the plants are almost alpine in nature and we had a very rewarding time trying to photograph some Yellow Wagtails and Rock Nuthatches.
A Rock Nuthatch
Sardinian Warbler
Yellow Wagtail
There is a viewing point near the top (not presumably put there for that purpose) where standing near to the edge is quite stomach turning.
View from half way up to the citadel.
It is very exciting to see that a number of the derelict houses are being renovated, presumably as second homes or accommodation for the shop workers but it will help to preserve the place. The only means of getting sand and cement up the cobbled alleys is by donkey or mule, of which there was a surprising number either working or grazing nearby.
Pony and a mule delivering cement!
From Monemvassia we headed back North West towards Skala and from there northeast to Leonidio. The mountains we encountered on the way are frankly enormous, and the scenery is breathtaking. We were just below the snow line and there were spectacular crags with pines and tundra below.
View from one side of the mountain.
Goat block!
in Kosmos at 1700mtrs we thought we’d stop for a drink but it was so cold we got back into the car and headed on down to the east coast.
View down the other side.
We were also suddenly seriously short of petrol so had to virtually free wheel the 25kms down to Leonidio.
On the way down we were stopped by some people who were on the way up and warned that around the next corner was a herd of goats. There was, and they were accompanied by an elderly couple with a van. The goats would go over the side of the perpendicular mountain, and whilst they worked their way down whilst grazing, the couple drove down to the next bend to see them safely across that bit of road. It would have taken days to get them all the way to the valley.
Having made it to the coast and refueled, we headed north for Nafplio and from there onto the fourth and final (eastern) finger of the Peloponnese. The countryside has been changing all of the way from rolling hills with orange, almond and olive groves, wisteria and roses to an Alpine feel with oaks, pines and mountain ash on the mountains and then back to fruit trees and sea pinks on the coast. We’ve seen a lot of pine martens or maybe mink squashed on the road as well as a deer and sadly the ubiquitous dog and cat.
Every hilltop seems to have it’s own deserted Frankish or Venetian tower, so high above sea level one wonders how on earth they built them, and did the occupants get sent there for a day or a week – whatever it was it must have felt like a lifetime!
From Nafplio we followed the coast south east to Tolo which the guidebook raves about but our first impression was one of horror has the main street was lined with charabancs disgorging tourists – a breed to which we do not accept that we belong to! However we found a small family hotel immediately overlooking the beach where we and one other couple were the only guests and immediately the world seemed to calm down again and all was well.
Rovivi Island (how appropriate) in Tolo from our bedroom,
Sadly back in mass tourist land the standard of food drops and we had a mediocre supper of micro-waved moussaka and beef stew. There were large numbers of British teenagers so we thought it might be a noisy night but our bedroom over-looked the beach, not the street, and was well double-glazed. We had the most comfortable night for ages.
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