Two Sore Backs

OK, this should be short and sweet, mostly photos.

The road to Kyparissi climbs up mountains and descends to the sea several times over.  Switchbacks are everywhere. It is spectacular.

We arrive in Kyparissi and check to see if there’s room at the Avra Hotel.  We like to avoid booking online. That way the hotel owner gets the entire charge, not 80%. 

ALL the rooms are available. In fact, that evening Tasos, the owner, took his mother to a nearby town for a medical procedure, leaving us as the only ones there.  (Everything went well, his mom was fine.)

The following morning we checked out the cafe next door. It’s owned and operated by a sweet couple, the coffee is great, and we promise to come back to tour their garden and take photos.

The town is nice and there is very little tourist presence.  It’s mainly Greeks who come here, for family vacations, in July and August.

We decided to do the 3 km walk to the Church of St. George. 

Access is by path or boat only. No road. There is a nice sailboat tied up to the dock.

Along the path we meet up with a small tour on their way back from the church. Turns out the group leader is Peter Prontzos, a prof from Langara College, in Vancouver.  We have a nice chat with him and a few others in the group. They are mostly Canadian and surprised to see us here. We got some very good travel tips.

The walk was nice, as was the church.

Back to the village for more walking.

It’s the end of orange season and they were dropping all over. Later that day I noticed a tangerine tree overhanging the road. Same thing, big collection of rotting fruit on the ground. Not wanting to waste anything I snuck one off the tree. It was the best tangerine I’ve ever tasted. It brought to mind how the best tasting carrots always come from a raided garden.

We took a long walk to the northernmost part of town – we will hike for food.

Lunch was memorable for the conversation we had with a neighbouring table – lots of Canadian connections.

The next day we had a nice chat with four Brits at a restaurant near the hotel, in the Paralia area of Kyparissa. Here they are the following day getting ready to sail to Nafplion.

My inner coach is always saddened by football pitches in disrepair.

This probably has something to do with it. 

That was fun.

Back to the cafe for coffee and a garden tour.

The owners were camera shy, but insisted on taking our photo.

It was cloudy when we left for Monemvasia, but we decided to check out “The Playground” viewpoint anyway. I am guessing it was named by mountain climbers who use it to access cliffs in the area.

The road from Kyparissi to Monemvasia is even more spectacular, and treacherous. The photo below is deceiving. It appears to be looking up when in fact it is looking down, way down, from a viewpoint. The ocean is reflecting the gray sky.

Here is a short video after leaving this viewpoint. Very tight, especially for vehicles on the outside.

We later stopped at Limin leraka for a terrific lunch beside the water.

This piece of water is apparently the only “fjord” in Greece.

We had a nice chat with a couple from Germany. They spend each summer sailing catamaran around the Mediterranean. Very nice.

And then it was off to spectacular Monemvasia!