Blogs from Pelopennese, Greece, Europe - page 22

As my guidebook indicated, Sparta is not exactly overrun with great archaeological finds. We started the day at the Sanctuary of Amyklaios where there used to be a monument to Amyklaios whom Apollo slew with a misplaced discus blown into him by the North wind. This site was somewhat unique in having a pie-shaped portico labelled the 'throne of Apollo' of which nothing is still visible. The site is still being excavated and it was entertaining to view the beer and pop cans showing where the stakes are for the excavation of this 2500 year old site. The retaining wall around the Sanctuary is still retaining but there is not much else visible. We then went to the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthaia which is where the Spartan boys became men via a flogging so we used ... read more

We took the overnight ferry from Hania to Piraeus to start our transit to Sparta. We started out badly with a lot of confusion over who was rooming with whom but eventually got it sorted out and were escorted to our 'staterooms' by one of the ferry staff. The rooms had four bunkbeds, two on each side, a wardrobe, a nighttable and a bathroom with a shower, very compact, very functional. The whole boat was a maze of corridors and stairs that didn't seem to have a lot of rhyme or reason to them. There was a pool but it was out of order, a disco, and a mini-market with quite a variety of items from food and drink to clothes and sourvenirs. The ferry also had two dining rooms with table service for the 'distinguished ... read more

Continuing our southerly route along the Peloponnese coast and through the Saronic Islands, we have been travelling considerably slower than our first 2 weeks. We have visited reasonable sized towns and found a few lovely bays, but not many. Old Epidavros is a safe harbour and nice town. While there we took the bus inland to the ancient archaeological site and the “theatre” which is very well preserved. Around the site 2000 year old buildings are being renovated to their former glory with EC money. Unfortunately, in many cases they are 90% renovation and only 10% original. Kate’s birthday was a great day. Lots of present opening in Angistri in the morning (travel flower vase a real hit) then sailed to very cute Vathi for an extravagant lunch (giant prawns in tomato and feta sauce) and ... read more

Well friends, it was a sad day leaving Pelekas Beach in Corfu. We camped at Gouvia Bay on the East Coast and then rented a car to tour the island since I have no faith in Mark's scooter skills (sorry darling). We drove to Sidari up North but too touristy and the beach wasn't as nice as some we had seen. We lucked upon Pelekas Beach on the West Coast of Corfu and fell in love! I've been to Thailand and India and I've seen amazing beaches but this beautiful sandy beach with it's crystal clear water ranks on the top...not a lot of tourists...and the best lodgings I've ever had. The Rolling Stone...remember it folks...it's a bit like Shangra-la. The Lonely Planet review says, "The psychedelic windchime on this joint's massive terrace is the most ... read more

This summer we really hit the water running had no problems to delay us. We landed in Greece at 10am on Sunday morning. By the end of the day we had anti-fouled, polished and prepared for launching. We spent the night onboard still on the hard. On Monday morning we did a massive shop with our hire car visiting 3 different supermarkets - including LIDL and Champion. At 2 in the afternoon Freedom was launched and we loaded all our shopping onboard. At 8am the following morning we started our journey from the Ionion to the Aegean. 2 weeks and 215 nautical miles later we are here. The first few days was re-visiting familiar places, we were then stuck in Patras waiting for the crazy wind to die down. When we escaped we only managed 2 ... read more