Living like a King and Queen

Staying in a castle on an island – Monemvasia

Woah – what is that over there, Explorason asks as we drive along the Peloponnese Coast of Greece?

There before us, it appears to be a fort and castle, attached to the mainland by a causeway.

Beautiful cacti lined the causeway and made a perfect front for the azure blue ocean behind it. We park the car and head up the small road to the front gate.

I had no idea that hidden behind the arched entrance was actually an old castle. It was getting late in the day, so we decided to ask a hotel about accommodation.  We got a great deal with it being off-season – Thirty Euro, and then when we saw the room, we were so pleased!  So here we spend the night in a Byzantine Castle!

In the main lane are a handful of restaurants, cafes, and stores.

We decided to walk through a cafe to see if we could see the sunset over the ocean, and to our surprise, there was the lovely Australian couple we had shared the boat within Diros Caves. (You can read about it here).

They invited us to dinner, and we had a wonderful time. Lovely positive people, and a joy to spend the evening talking travel, and life with them.  We finished it off with dessert at a crepe cafe, and then to my surprise, they shouted us both the dinner and the dessert, which was really kind.

Next morning I woke as the sun poked its head through our window down the alleyway. I made a coffee, and sat out and had quiet time to myself in the morning. I love this time. It is time to be thankful and to appreciate what I have. Just sipping my coffee.

But to my surprise, I hear ‘clip-clop’ coming in the lane above, so I race up to see 2 horses bringing in building supplies. We may not yet have seen Greek donkeys, but seeing horses felt pretty good.

Explorason quickly is dressed and went chasing them at a distance.

Soon we found ourselves at one of the 30 churches on the island.

Some are Ottoman churches, and others private family chapels, Greek Orthodox. It is a mix.

We climb the wall of the town and take a walk along it. There we see the glistening water and several yachts sailing by.

There is a lot to see on the island. You could easily stay for 2 or 3 days and swim in the sea water pool, or hike to the top of the mountain to the fort and church there.

We found that it as too hot a day for too much hiking, and decided to explore in the shade instead.

There are beautiful hotels and gardens all around the island. Some are green, and some are barren, but they all share their own beauty.

Some of the buildings have a Turkish influence too.

We find ourselves deliberately lost in the little alleyways. I obviously love exploring, and I love getting lost.  We see holes in the wall and poke our heads through to view the ocean well below us.

Everywhere we look, there are nooks and crannies to investigate.

It is lunchtime by the time we decide to walk back to the car. Sadly we have to go.  We have a deadline to meet, and so we sadly leave our castle, and our island behind.  More wonderful memories shared, and a very happy time!

I’ll blog separately on the rest of the day – it was really fantastic!

Bookings and Enquiries: Book A Monemvasia hotel here

Questions and Comments

• Have you been to Greece?
• Did you get to visit Monemvasia?
• What do you make of their culture?
• How was the experience?
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