Bridge the Travel Gap

A Pelloponnese adventure ending with a mugging

In 2010 we decided to return to Greece and explore the Peloponnese peninsula. We married in Greece a few years earlier and love exploring this beautiful country. After leaving Athens airport with our rental car we stayed the first night near Corinth. Not an auspicious start with a rubbish meal and horrible cocktails. Happily breakfast was delicious and afterwards we went to look at the Corinth Canal which was very impressive. Then we went on to Mycenae to look at the ruins, museum and the famous Lion Gate. Then a 3 and a half hour drive to Monemvasia on the coast. We stayed at the Hotel Filoxenia for two nights. What a beautiful spot. We were on the other side of the causeway and walked over the next morning to the old part of Monemvasia which has no cars. We climbed to the top of the hill and to the citadel and replica Church of Sophia modelled on the one in Istanbul. If you do visit Monemvasia, climb the hill the views are magnificent.

After Monemvasia we drove inland looking for the Lousios Gorge ending up lost and eventually in the small village of Dimitsana where we got a great room overlooking a valley.

During our drive to Lousios Gorge and finally Dimitsana we stopped off at Mystras, once part of the Byzantine Empire. It is a lovely complex with a castle, working monastery, church and museum. I also had to do some Jedi driving managing to keep our wing mirrors. The photo below is when we finally found the gorge and crossed a small bridge to save going back the way we came and a shorter trip to Dimitsana from the Lousios gorge.

I wrote some reviews of the places we stayed at during our holiday. Do not be put off by the negative reviews of the Hotel Filoxenia. The hotel in Dimitsana was lovely. The location was overlooking a gorge. In Nafplio we stayed at the lovely Pension Eleni.

We then visited Olympia and on the way back to Athens visited the Epidaurus Amphitheatre.

Debbie who is a trained opera singer also sang at the sweet spot in the amphitheatre much to the surprise and enjoyment of some of the visitors at the site. We then returned to Athens and dropped off the rental car at the airport. The next stage of our trip was not so nice after we took the metro to Athens from the airport were mugged by a gang of very large men and woman. When I say mugged they opened Debbie’s back pocket of her day pack and legged it with her handbag. No one was injured but Debbie’s handbag had in it her passport, credit cards and license. That is another story on how to get back home without a passport, which we accomplished without paying a cent on a Friday night when the embassy was closed.

Aside from the mugging it was a great trip exploring and getting lost in the Peloponnese and seeing some wonderful historic and interesting sights as well as spectacular scenery.