We arose around 8:30AM, and left our room at 9AM for breakfast at the hotel. We were met by a feast of bread, meats and cheeses, delicious fried mushrooms, house-made jams, Greek yogurt, traditional Greek pastry and cookies, and croissants! AND fresh squeezed orange juice and coffee! After dining like kings (and queens), we said a melancholy goodbye to our lovely host, and headed onto the day's first destination: the Louisios Gorge.
The drive to the Gorge is extremely windy, with narrow roads that are right on the edge of the mountain. But if you don't mind the exciting drive, and can enjoy looking out the window, you get a stunning view of the Gorge as you make your decent down the mountain. We came to a little parking area, and left the car to start hiking down to our first destination at the Gorge: the 12th century monastery Prodromou. The monastery is nettled into the mountains, and although some parts of it look precariously sitting in the cliff side, it is astounding to think about how long it has been there. In Greece they are serious about being respectful at places of religion, so in monasteries and some churches women are required to wear skirts and men to wear pants. Before we entered, I put on a full length wrap skirt, and we explored the ancient rooms.
Instead of heading back to the car afterwards, my dad wanted to also see the 17th century Filosofou monastery, which was only 1.5 kilometers away. Though it doesn't sound long, but this turned out to be quite a hilly hike, particularly unpleasant because I was wearing sandals and it was extremely hot in the jungle-like forest. Although the hike was long, the forest felt magical and the monastery continued with the fairy-tale setting. Beautiful stone work makes the monastery look almost like a castle, and all around there are beautifully maintained flowers. After exploring another church (and getting to wear another full length wrap skirt), we finally headed back. By the time we arrived back at the car it was late morning.
Our next destination was Olympia, but unfortunately it ended up being a moderately stressful drive. Not only was the road very windy and tight, but because the roads were so small it took much longer than we had anticipated. Eventually we arrived in Olympia tired, stressed, and hungry. Right as we parked to try and get things for lunch it started to rain big drops. This seemed so ludicrous (I thought it wasn't supposed to rain Greece?!), that it actually lightened the mood a bit. We ran through the small town in the rain trying to find a bakery and grocery store, and once we had gathered our supplies, had a small picnic lunch in the car. We had some good fortune, and right as we finished lunch the rain let up. Since it was quite damp, we opted to see the museum first, and by the time we were done, the sky had completely opened up and the heat of the sun had almost completely dried the earth from the early afternoon showers. Exploring Olympia ended up being very enjoyable, and we leisurely strolled through the site.
Within a couple hours, we were again driving away from Olympia, and on towards the coast. We took main roads, and ended getting to Pylos in a short amount of time. Although we weren't staying here for the night, we wanted to walk around for a little bit because it looked like such a sweet town, sitting right next to the ocean. The buildings are all painted in bright colors, and the bustle of tourists sitting at cafes and swimming in the ocean gives the town a friendly atmosphere. Our visit was short, but we did have a drink at a water-side restaurant before heading back on the road. Our Air BNB was outside of a very small town called Finiki, and we were showed to it by a friend of the owner. The friendly, older Greek man was chatty, and eventually told us to have a wonderful trip before leaving us to our own devices. The house was absolutely beautiful, with a big balcony, and only a five minutes walk to the beach.
Around 9 PM, we finally walked down to a restaurant for dinner. The taverna's food was nothing special, but after the long day it felt good to relax for the evening. Heading back to the Air BNB, all in a happy post-meal state, I think the ocean air had done us all well. That night I slept deeply, look forward to a new day in the morning.
xx
Erin
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