We are parked at the tiny harbour at Kardamili (substitute ‘y’ for ‘i’ anywhere) and it is simply gorgeous. This followed a fantastic drive from Agio Konstantinos, all of 45km away – but, in my defence, a very interesting 45km!
To make up for this, our next stop is only 8km away … The road went up and over the spine of the Peloponnese, mostly in very good condition and drivers who were very considerate of our bumbling progress. The air was quite thick with smoke – this is obviously burning season, and even the snow capped peaks in the near distance took on a very brownish hue. The van is just caked – it seemed to drizzle for 10 seconds every half hour, and that has coated the van with a thick brown goo – our lovely skylight is now a washed brown curtain. Hope our next campsite has a hose?
The walk through Kardamili was lovely. This was the major harbour for Sparta in ancient times, and is mentioned in Homer’s Iliad as one of 7 cities that were offered to Achilles by Agememnon as dowry to marry one of his daughters. The Old Town also has Venetian fortifications from the 17th C, although not in a great state of repair, but with an interesting mix of Venetian, Byzantine and Greek architecture.
The town now seems to be on the up, with numerous new residential and tourist accommodations being built, occasionally even tastefully done. Tomorrow off to another Kalogria beach – caused havoc when Niki first put in our coordinates a week ago, but now much easier to find as it’s just around the headland. Weather is set to improve (marginally), and I’m working myself up to getting the wetsuit on and doing some snorkelling… time and temperature will tell.
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