Hotel Castro Monemvasia

... Venice and Turkey over the years before becoming part of modern Greece. By the mid 1900s the town had been almost completely abandoned.<br><br>****side note, many towns on islands and the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece were virtually abandoned in the 1940s and 1950s when over 30% of the population left Greece and immigrated to Australia, the United States, Canada, Britain, etc.<br><br>Anyway, in the 1970s the artists and wealthy Greeks started ...

... Wojna Trojanska. Spedzilismy tam 3 godziny, pluskajac sie w krystalicznie czystej, lazurowej wodzie i odpoczywajac w cieniu drzew. A potem czas bylo ruszyc dalej, w strone jaskin Diros... ENGLISH: After Sparta we headed towards Diros Caves. We skipped (from what we`d heard - beautiful) Mistra, as in the sunny heat we managed to stop two Bulgarian guys - apparently musicians, that drove us to Githion. They were supposed to do sth there (or ...

... Greece. I spent great quality time with Mr. K and his buddy Spiro - another Greek-American, who after living in the US for decades, retired back to the lovely Grecian homeland. Both continue to enjoy life (and break hearts of local Greek lovelies).... FOTOS below are largely of the absolutely STUNNING hamlet of Monemvasia....

... tree cutting branches. Her husband is seated below giving instructions. Somehow I can't see Miryam up a tree in our garden, while I sit below with a beer offering helpful advice. There are three villages, Kardimili, Old Kardimili and New Kardimili. The village of Kardimili remains a true Greek village with fishing port and olive groves. New Kardimili is the beach area with luxurious summer homes and condos. Old Kardimili on the hillside above the main ...

... About halfway down the coast, the Badron Gorge has formed a wide fertile plain as its waters empty into the sea. The locals are using this land to the maximum growing vegetables, both in and out of green houses. We are all interested in this and spend a bit of time on a bit of a side trip into the cropping area, before stopping at the main town, Leonidio, for lunch. The Leonidio Ohi Day celebrations are over, but the locals have gathered in the little town ...

... never considered this to be a beach vacation but what do you know?!? The food has been fabulous everywhere we go. Not a bad meal yet. The people in Greece take eating very serious and spend hours eating and involved in conversation. A much slower and seemingly happier pace than what us Americans are used to. In Naplio we ...

... capital on this trip (with its foul air, pickpockets and ripoff taxis), but it seemed I had no choice. I decided to take the bus into Athens and take the Metro train to Piraeus. My route to my next destination -- Monemvasia, "the Gibraltar of Greece" -- I learned would require three bus trips, the final two with unknowable schedules and each with a separate fare. I would need to go from Nafplio to Tripoli to Sparta to Monemvasia. Buses on certain of those ...

We spent several hours exploring the rock village of Monemvasia. (Mono = single, emvasie = one entry/door) Established in 6th c. AD. This is an island (surrounded by the Aegean Sea) reached by a narrow bridge that has a weight-limit so we had to take a small shuttle across. Then once to the city gates the streets are rock paved and about 6 feet wide so all transport is by foot including carrying loads by pack animals, mules/horses. We saw many of them ...

... of the large humped rock. However due to a force 6 and a jetty collapse we couldn't stop, so it was back upwind 10 miles to Ierakas and an excellent late night fish dinner. Oh well, we'll just have to go back via land! We then spent two nights at anchor, at Kiparissi which has the starriest sky ever against toothy cliffs, and finally round the corner from PH at Hinitsa Bay where I discovered that I am ...

It is September, and we have decided to visit MANI this time. Our first stop is at GYTHIO, where we have lunch. Gythio is a beautiful port and so our lunch includes my favorite dish which is KALAMARI, sea shells, mussles, and of course my favorite starter OUZO.