The Road Less Travelled in Greece

As we leave Olympus, we are armed with a list of places to visit. Peloponnese locals are so friendly. Two shopkeepers last night made lists or told us places to visit.  The first is Katakolo, and so we head back on the same road we had come along yesterday.

When we arrive, we discover this is, in fact, a port for cruise ships, and two a day (one morning, and one afternoon), dock here.

So there are a lot of tourist events. My legs are feeling weary from the Olympic run this morning, so we decide to take up the offer of a horse and wagon ride through town and along the beach.

We, of course, negotiate a deal for half fare for Explorason. I was unaware until watching the funny movie about Greece tourism again last night ‘My life in Ruins’ that negotiating is, in fact, the thing to also do in Greece.

We are joined by a few from the cruise ship, and off we head.  It is quite a sandy beach, and it is still quite wet in areas leading to and from it as a result of the solid rain the last few days.

This is quite a sleepy fishing village otherwise. The homes are simple, and tourism has kept it alive.

We head back and I am a bit disappointed our horse gets nothing to drink or eat. I do notice the traditional decorations adorning it, and the wonderful leather workmanship on the reins etc.

There are lots of tables and chairs and shops and restaurants along the front pier. The aqua water is just beautiful. The shopkeepers are happy people. They are patient and very friendly.

So we leave this place and try to head along the coast.  The road is really, really bad. It has puddles, and holes, and patches, and a lot of bushes. Strangely though, there is a load of traffic.

We pass cemeteries and wildflowers. It is quite pretty and very diverse.

We pass through quite a few towns. Sadly half the places are empty. Deserted or left to ruin, and many built homes are unfinished. I feel a bit like I am in South America, except there are roadside shrines to the dead all over the place.

We enjoy weaving in and out of the small seaside towns, and here this railway station shows the traditional stonework.

One town, Fillatra, has its own replica miniature Eiffel Tower.

Everywhere we drive we see various colored and shaped shrines to the dead.

As family fortunes improve, so do the shrines. In other parts of Greece, the shrines take on the appearance of miniature chapels, sometimes with interior spaces large enough to hold small ceremonies. Inside are candles, pictures, statues, crucifixes and other religious items. Some have candles flickering, others have metal boxes. All are different in content.

We then drive around the coast to a really pretty town of Marathopoli and also Pilos.

Old aqueducts can be seen in Greece. Sadly I notice a lot of graffiti is ruining Greece’s history. One end of this is spray painted.

Next town is Methoni.  It has a lovely and as you drive in the castle is quite grand on the foreshore.

It has a wonderful cove, and we would have loved to have stayed here.  We tried a few places, but as it is low season and we had no telephone, we didn’t manage to get an apartment.  After this, we tried two caravan parks and the accommodation was more expensive for a unit than an apartment in town, so we gave them a miss too.

I did get the feeling Greeks thought Australians were ‘rich’. In fact, one lady even said so to our face at a hotel, which really put Explorason off.  However, Methoni is a place I would consider going back to stay.

In the end, we finally stumbled across Finikounda and fell in love with the little fishing village.

I’ll blog about this tomorrow – it is just a wonderful little place, and reminds me of the movie ‘Shirley Valentine’.

Bookings and Enquiries: Book A Finikounda hotel here

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