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Travel to Monemvasia

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It was hard to leave Kardamyli and the coast after only two days but we were on our way to another coastal town called Monemvasia (with a mountain detour to see some Byzantine churches in the small, remote village of Kastania).

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Monemvasia's town history goes back as far as 500 or 600 AD.  To wander through places like Kastania and Monemvasia is part time-machine and part living history.  You're seeing these ancient ruins and Byzantine sites but in many ways they are still integrated into the living, modern community.  It's part of the charm of Greece and these two places offered many opportunities to wander though that amazing, compex history.

Visit to medieval Kastania on the way to Monemvasia

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The Rick Steves guide book describes Kastania like this: "A traditional Mani village that's completely off the beaten track."  The natural beauty of the place would be enough to make this visit worth it, and visiting the old Byzantine-era churches and hearing the stories were icing on the cake.

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Another advantage of being a part of a good tour is that a good tour guide has local connections that open doors (sometimes literally) on the visit.  We visited a few sites that Colin had arranged to be unlocked so that we could go in.  On my own, I would never have take the time or energy to track down a way to get in to see the churches.  But on the tour I didn't have to.  We went in and saw many frescoes--some beautiful, some strange, all interesting--and Colin pieced it all together with fascinating history, pointing out the most important and interesting parts of the sites and how it was integrated with the history of the local community.

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Arriving in Monemvasia

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There wasn't anything planned for our first night in Monemvasia, but I was looking forward to getting there because I heard that the hotel had a great deal on laundry service.  I managed to keep fresh by washing clothes in showers and sinks up until now, but it would be nice to get it all done properly--and at 10 Euros, it was a bargain.

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Once I was settled into my room and laundry dropped off, I strolled down the hill to the little main street and found a restaurant on the shore.  Seafood, cool breeze at sunset, a view of the Ionian Sea--doesn't get much better than that.

Lunch at Limeni

One of the most beautiful and photogenic places we saw in Greece was a place we only spent an hour or two. Limeni is a coastal town where we stopped for lunch on our way to Monemvasia.  For someone who loves taking photos, it was great fun.  

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We enjoyed a nice, relaxing meal at the seaside restaurant.  The water was so crystal clear that from my table I could see a big sea turtle swimming around a short distance from the shore.  We didn't stay long, but the natural beauty sure made an impression on me.

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Exploring Monemvasia

Tour of Lower Town

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By seven the next morning, I was eating breakfast and chatting with some tour mates. Before long, everyone was gathered for our tour of Lower Town Monemvasia with Colin.  We walked through the narrow lanes stopping from time to time to hear a story before moving on.

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Hike to Upper Town and ruins

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I have to admit, I found the idea of hiking to the top of Monemvasia a bit intimidating.  As it turned out, it was a lot of fun and I'm glad I joined the group that decided to hike up.  Actually, most of our tour group came along, with encouragement along the way from Colin.  The view was as spectacular as advertised and I took a ton of photos.  At one point, I just stopped, took a deep breath, and just tried to take it all in.  

 

By now it was getting warmer--mid 80s--but there was a steady, cool breeze blowing.  After a while of taking photos, looking around at all the different viewpoints, and getting our fill of water from our water bottles, we started back down to enjoy another amazing lunch and a relaxing afternoon in town.

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Fun and relaxing evening

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Being kind of worn out from the big hike up the rock, I was glad that we had a relaxing evening at the hotel planned.  First we had an entertaining cooking demonstration from the hotel owner.  With the help of four volunteers from our group, she showed us how to make traditional Greek eggplant moussaka and baklava.  She said she got the baklava recipe from her father, who got it from his father, who was a baker in a pastry shop.  (I scribbled down the directions but I'm not sure I got it all.)

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While our dinner was cooking we had some time for what Colin called an olive oil tasting.  He gave each table three olive oils from different regions (one from Delphi, one from Crete, and one from Kardamyli) and challenged us to notice and appreciate the differences between them.  It was actually a lot of fun--and delicious.  We dipped small pieces of bread into the oil oils one at a time and discussed the differences.  It was good food and lots of laughs.

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The rest of the night was nice.  I picked up my laundry, enjoyed a great meal (including what was made in the earlier demonstration, and went back to my room to pack up.   Another great day.

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