Need not have worried about the weather, the day dawned bright and sunny (again). Watched the sun light up the castle and the rock above us. Drove up to the entrance gate for an earlyish start - before any tour buses. The site at Mystras is a deserted medieval Byzantine town - although some parts were occupied until quite recently. There are lots of partly ruined and intact houses, churches and monasteries. There is also a large palace complex which is being restored. This part of the Byzantine Empire was lost to the Franks in the middle of the thirteenth century - they built a substantial castle on the top of the rock - and then recovered in the 1260s. It then developed into a centre of learning and administration for the later Empire. It ... read more

Tuesday 4 October: Monasteries and castles Another bright, if crisp, morning. After an excellent breakfast. We decided to retrace our steps to Dmitsana and take the road down through the gorge. Several old monasteries le in the gorge, we went in search of the Philosophou, learning a little more of the greek alphabet at each sign! Found our way to the new monastery and were welcomed by a monk who insisted we partook of greek delight. We then went on the walk to the old monastery, up and down along a rough path to a crumbling ruin set on a cliff ledge. Amazing location. Took the dirt road to Prodromou clinging to the opposite side of the gorge, amazing views (and drops). Four wheel drive is a marvellous thing at times. Dropped down out of ... read more

Sunday 2 October: a long day Awake early, ring Alitalia to check the bag has arrived. It has! After breakfast we drive back to the airport in glorious sunshine with lots of views south across to the mountains of the Peloponnese. So we pick up the bag and begin again. Rearrange today’s itinerary a bit to take account of the lost morning, decide to miss out on Acocorinth and put some kilometres on the car. The multilane motorway runs out at Corinth and we begin to experience “real Greek” driving. The A road has about a lane and half on each side and it is soon apparent that the idea is to pretend it is a dual carriageway. There is clearly a very different highway code in operation - solid white lines do not appear ... read more