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Peloponnese
  • John Bickerstaff
May – Jun 2023

Peloponnese

A 10-day adventure by John Read more
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  • Trip start
    May 31, 2023
    John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    EU Queue

    June 1, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Calm start - relatively late afternoon flight gave us plenty of time. Targeted arrival at car park of 1 for a 4:15 flight seemed overly pessimistic. Spending 10 mins looking for a spot tempered that. On arriving at the bus stop and seeing stop 100 caused a little more concern - surely it wouldn't have to go via 100 other stops. Only 4 it turned out. Bizarre automated baggage drop that wasn't very automated. Jumped the queue because of an odd sized backpack. Nice. Plenty more queues to come. Security was negotiated with 1 glitch - Liz out of practice - packing her Kobo & phone. Just about had time for a bite to eat before boarding or that should read kid you that it's boarding, go through the gate, pack you in like sardines and then wait for 20 mins. Eventually boarded to find the flight was delayed by about an hour - nice. Emailed the hotel but got no response. Apparently thunderstorms were causing delays. At least it's not leaves on the line. Bit of a bumpy flight but passed relatively painlessly. Epic travelator frenzy once disembarked. Passport queue & because 1 of us has an Irish passport we could use the EU lane. Result! Took a while to realise that this was actually the busier queue. Followed instructions to meet the transfer. Unsurprisingly he wasn't there. Phoned and was told he was. Eventually he rocked up claiming he'd been at the other end of the car park. Hmmmm. Not going to argue but not buying it.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Toll booth frenzy.

    June 1, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Initially the plan had been to take the free shuttle back to the airport & get the car hire company to come & pick us up. The transfer business from yesterday had made us question the wisdom of this - we'd be at the mercy of their schedule which definitely had a lot of wriggle room. Additionally the hotel was only about half a mile from the car place so we could walk there & come back for the bags. The other option was to lug everything there and crack on for the villa. Something to ponder over breakfast when we figured what to do about that. The attached mini-market was great for sweets & biscuits, not great for breakie. Had a wander and found a bakery. Bizarre cream pasty sliced, diced & dusted with sugar & cinnamon sounded just the trick. Opted for the lugging - a bit warm. The car hire guy tried his best to upsell us - limited options for him - 1 bag (don't need a bigger car) already got excess insurance. Tried the breakdown recovery option - didn't help his cause by blabbing the car was only a month old. Settled back to chatting about classic Liverpool sides of the 80s and how as a lad in South Africa he hoped to be a professional but injury did for him. You'll never walk alone - indeed. Driving round the Athens ring road was interesting especially since the phone satnav was being narky. Pitstop at services couldn't sort it but magically pressing some buttons on the steering wheel seemed to do the trick. Crossed the Corinth Canal - Liz surprisingly passed up the bungee option and pushed on up into the hills of the Peloponnese and the ever relentless insistence for tolls. The roads were good & quiet, the tolls were cheap but it did wear especially the odd prices - €1.65??? The 200 mile journey passed easily enough bar a couple of thunderstorms - some epic lightning. Stopped in Kalamata for some supplies & petrol - another Liverpool fan filling up for us. Then to the windy country roads of the South - some belters - no point hurrying. Got to Gialova - our resort - and now to the difficult stuff - locating the villa. The owner Gianni, lived in a yellow house & once we located the correct area, which was yellow enough and big enough. Decision made then we had to fend off the dog. Fortunately for Liz it was the cutest little puppy. Apparently fully vaccinated and a bit mad. Gianni got his scooter & guided us to the villa. Absolutely perfect and a fridge full of supplies. View is perfect as is the pool. Settled down on the veranda with some Tzatziki (officially the only good use of cucumber) and bread and watched yet another thunderstorm trundle in across the bay.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Storm dodging

    June 2, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Not wanting to break with holiday tradition so I went for a morning run while it was relatively cool. Chance to have a little mooch around Gialova. Quite a descent from our little villa. The clue is in the view - panoramic = high up. Took it gentle for my knee. Once on the main(ish) road it was a far more gentle slope. Very pleasant little place - little pier and lots of nice looking beachfront bars and restaurants. The run back was a little more challenging - the pool was ideal for cooling off. A multi-course breakie making use of the provided bread, honey & fruit. Limited plans - just explore as much as the forecasted storms would allow. Walked down to the town beach, marvelling at how quiet it all was - at most there were 6 of us on the beach. Had a nosey at some of the menus - not too astronomic. Decided to walk west of town along Divari beach and maybe take in the lagoon and if really daring the old castle ruins on the hill. All of this dependant on the looming black clouds. The beach also known as golden beach surprisingly given the name was more stoney than the town beach but was nice enough. Rumbles of thunder caused a rethink though and we cut through a camp site to a little road back to ours via the bike hire place. Liz wasn't fussed by the hill back up. Didn't join me in the pool though.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Gobby Yanks

    June 2, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Lunch completed - what to do... Reading & researching bike routes only went so far and replenishing food supplies would be handy but the threat of rain was ever present and short showers passed over. Decided to head to the nearest decent supermarket in Pylos and while there we'd have a little explore weather permitting. The road into Pylos was a little hairy but made it to the harbour and the sun was out. From there you could see Gialova and it looked grim. Harbour was typically Greek & pretty. Enjoyed the shade. Quite a few people were photographing a house nearby. The plaque indicated it was the birthplace of Greek Winter Olympic Gold medallist. Worthy of note I guess. Can't be many. Headed towards the castle past some busy water side restaurants. All quiet enough apart from the one with yanks in. Could hear them a mile off. Shut uppppp!
    Liz passed on the climb up to the castle though we'd likely as not be driving up there at another point. Pushed on to re-supply. Headed back and finally the rain hit as we settled down on the verandah. Still managed an evening dip.    Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Wide webs

    June 3, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Quick investigatory jog to get an idea of where you turn off for Kalamaris Waterfalls which is nearby. Also curious to see what the road is like. Back for a swim & breakie number 1. Then off to pick up my bike - dead local. He was insistent on making sure any squeaks were eradicated. On leaving it became apparent he'd failed. No matter. What did matter was the front gear changer was throwing the chain off. On top of that when going up the steep hill back the wheel was loosely fitted and slipped out of line and the disc brakes weren't happy. Did my best but a return was called for ... but not yet. Breakie no. 2 - a Greek classic - fresh fruit, Greek yogurt and Greek honey. Decided to drive to the Old Fort walk - otherwise we'd be looking at a 7 mile round trip which looked a bit much. The road itself was a bit much especially for a hire car. Took it easy. The closest car park was full, the next one had been cordoned off by a couple of selfish campervans. Found a spec and headed upwards. Not too many people about and some great views. Liz wasn't so fussed by the views of the massive spiders and their huge webs - all safely above head height. The castle itself was pretty ruined though you could walk the ramparts - no allowances for health & safety though - you're stupid enough to do this & you fall - tough, you die. We didn't. The ramparts did suddenly stop. The views of the lagoon and Voidokilias beach were from the top and this wasn't that. Looked like it involved scrabbling over piles of rocks. Liz passed & headed for shade. As it turned out the scrabbling was relatively limited though there were some hairy drops. The views however were worth it.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Squeaky overload.

    June 3, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The return verified the car option - by now it was decidedly warm but also breezy which eased the heat. All in all it was a relief to drive back. Quick dip to cool off - Liz needed longer and I was itchy to sort the bike. I'd tightened the wheel but the brakes were still catching and as for the squeak... Decided to take a short cycle upto Kalamaris Falls and on the way call in & get Mr Bike to do some more adjusting. In the end I decided to push onto the falls and see if it would sort itself out. It did not. The squeak was annoying. I regretted my decision. Ah well. What I didn't regret was getting a gravel bike. Very well suited for the dodgy roads / tracks. The falls were well signposted & there weren't any opportunities to go wrong. 2 cars at the end of the road boded well. Locked the bike to a tree and pushed on by foot deep into the woods. Very lush, especially by Greek standards. After a short while there was a trickle & a nasty feeling that this was a wild goose chase. Fortunately not - the path was relocated & eventually so was the waterfall. Apparently you can swim but no towel or swimmies meant just admiring the sight. Back to base via Mr Bike - left without squeak. We shall see. By now Liz was cool so a late afternoon walk into town and a first swim in the sea. Back in time for yet another glorious if slightly breezier sundowner.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Bug bite inevitability.

    June 4, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Rather than a run, the bike was now the morning wakener of choice. The initial plans had been thwarted by a combination of my own incompetence (I'd deleted the chosen route) and the villa's lack of WiFi (couldn't download it again) Decided to take a 15 mile loop around the lagoon - scout out if there were any flamingos and how buggy it was. Beyond the initial turn off it became apparent that a gravel bike was the ideal choice - nice wide tyres as the old man recommends. Chewed up all the bad surface. Couldn't do anything about the endless cobwebs I was cycling through and the clouds of mossies. It would be a minor miracle not to be bitten. That said it was a peaceful little ride - some nice views from the bird hides. Still it was something of a relief each time the path opened out. Around half way I came to Voidokilias beach, that which I photographed from above yesterday. It would be rude not to have a look. Other than some rough campers the beach was deserted. Nice. A couple of climbs through little villages, get some bread & back for breakie.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Methoni Coachload madness.

    June 4, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After much discussion a trip destination of Methoni was settled on - easy parking, castle, beach and supposedly a pretty place. And if we were energetic enough we could stop off in Pylos on the way back and take in a few bits we missed. So much for easy parking - the Greeks aren't the most sensible of parkers. They have a tendency to just stop in the most random of places - almost as if they get bored trying & give up. There was nothing at the beach car park & similarly at the castle car park though there was a hint of someone leaving. Doubled back and hovered ... and hovered. Eventually it was ours. While we were still relatively fresh, the castle seemed the best option. Only 3€. Bargain. Unfortunately it seemed we were following 1 of the many coach tours in town today. Into the bargain we had a particularly loud Spanish family to contend with as well. Tried to take the quieter routes though the Castle Lighthouse was very much the focal point. Rightly so as it was quite striking. Much climbing for views was done as was sheltering in the shade. Definitely got our 3€ worth. Decided to find the ubiquitous tree lined town square that all Greek villages have, except we couldn't locate it. And when we could we couldn't find someone to sell us a cold drink. Then we did. Heaven is a shady square with an ice cream and cold drink. Once recovered, had a walk along the beach past yet more coach tours cowering in the shade of the coaches themselves. Decided to save the sea swim for later. Headed back for a very late lunch.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Cross channel swimming.

    June 4, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    There's nothing better than a swim with a purpose and when it was mentioned that locals swim across the channel between the old castle car park and Sphaktiriq Island interest was piqued. Post Methoni Castle hike Liz was a little sunned out so she decided to chill at home with a book while the cross channel swim was tackled. A short 3 mile bike ride, locate somewhere to tether the bike and then stash everything in the waterproof bag. Thought it yesterday but this confirmed it - the sea is definitely warmer than the pool. Very nice. Made it fairly easily, though it could've been easier - a sandbar further down the beach meant some others had got half way without a stroke. Nice little chill on the other side and then back, making use of the sandbar. Back to find the Macedonian neighbours banging out shitty Europop. Not great - better not be upto that at 1am or I'll probably do absolutely nothing other than chunner to myself.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Snake count - 5:2 to the dead uns

    June 5, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Morning cycle today was to be a little further and a little hillier. Plan was to head to Pylos and work my way back inland along quiet roads and tracks. All felt OK till the first climb out of Gialova and some old guy sailed past with a cheery Kalimera. Tried to keep up for all of 5 seconds. Not happening. Plodded onwards. Some nice views of Pylos that couldn't be enjoyed from the car - at least if you were driving. Took in the Chapel as well - suspect there was some sort of service going on - chanting being broadcast then some big bell ringing. 2 mile climb out of Pylos was fun. Not so much for the snake population - only added to the dead column. The best live sighting being at the Navarino Fort that made Liz rather jumpy walking back alone. All the climbing gave some great views of the bay and a good insight into how the knee is holding up. Fingers crossed. The great thing about this route was it avoided the final climb back to the villa, descending back on a track through the local olive groves. Quick swim and fruit for breakie.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Mountain pass hairiness.

    June 5, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    On the face of it heading over to Koroni seemed a good bet - only 30 miles - not too far, picturesque and a range of things to do. All of those things did apply but the route took in getting across the mountainous spine of the peninsula. So that was the annoyingly narrow road to Methoni with Greek drivers insisting on taking up all the road and then the endlessly windy roads from then onwards. All of which made Liz jumpier than a field full of Cuban high jumpers. Made it and parked up on the quay avoiding the spots on the waters edge - reversing into the sea may not be good for the excess. Walked along the quay taking in the vast quantity of tourist eateries and the pier. The coastal walk promised a little more than delivered - basically just around the headland to the beach but quiet enough - the tourist masses were either eating or in the castle. We were castled out. Back into town for the obligatory shady spot, ice cream and cold drink. Did the job. Google suggested a viewing point - going to be a bit of climbing. Once there the obvious thing was to come back via the beach and since we're there it would be rude not to have a swim.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    My kingdom for a mellow stray dog.

    June 6, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    A lazy day with lots to do... The obligatory morning cycle & shock, horror, it was cloudy. Going for it with a hilly inland blast - 700m of climbing - that should give the knee a test. To top it off, for some reason the route started off with a 5 mile climb, rather than finishing with a 5 mile descent. Oops. Battled through it and planned to stop at Nester's Palace with about a mile to go. Just as the car pull in approached a group of stray dogs clocked me. They did not like what they saw - and made it known. Pass on the stop and a little relief that a passing car stopped the pack in their tracks. Calm down. On the way down from Chora, yet another group of stroppy dogs. The route was based on pretty rural, rough tracks so maybe that was the problem. Anyway 6 climbs, some great descents and back in time for breakie No. 2.
    Lounged, swam and ate before having a little wander into town. Continued to speculate who was on the big boat. Running joke was that it was Jurgen. Had a selfie with the boat just in case. Walk back was hot. Final act on the bike was to get me to the ship wreck half way up Divani beach. Snorkelled round it for a while - lots of fish. Dropped the bike off - sad and back for another cooling swim, Liz sneakily getting photographic evidence.    Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Lots of old stones.

    June 7, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Early start. Small matter of 60 unpredictable miles to get to Olympia - home of the ancient Olympic games. Such an iconic place would suggest there might be tourist issues so the sooner the arrival time the better. On the road pretty much to time and all was going smoothly until we hit some roadworks. Not your average setup - the whole road had been dug up with just gravel and very little clue as to where to go. Lots of guesswork & the assumption that if it was badly wrong someone would say something. They didn't & we got through only 10 mins later to get a warning about tyre pressure problems. Stopped at the next available point & examined them - seemed ok. Followed the instructions about resetting the pressure monitor & hoped for the best. All this ate into the schedule. Eventually rocked up at Olympia to be greeted by a car park full of coaches - no space for actual cars. Scooted round town & found a patch of land & again hoped for the best. To the historic site and the hoardes of tourists & school parties didn't fill me with joy. Where possible we'd be looking for the quiet routes but certain areas - namely the stadium was going to be bad. Wandered for a while getting a feel for the Olympic Village the Took in the stadium and the Temple of Hera, where the flames are lit. By now we were post midday sun so decided to try the museum and took in some really old stuff. Some of the artefacts, in fairness were quite impressive. Left just as 2 school groups arrived. Had a little mooch around town - lots of tourist tat - though the honey store intrigued. Headed back to the car as the school parties approached. Detoured to avoid the dodgy road and got back to find all was cloudy - no sunset just tidying and eating up.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Mad scooters.

    June 8, 2023 in Greece ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    And so begins the long goodbye. First the small matter of getting back to Athens. All packed up, waved our goodbyes to our very nice home for the week and on the way out to Ionnias, the owner. Decided to try to break the back of the journey as soon as possible. Just 1 stop - the Corinth Canal. No bungee jumpers this time & Liz wasn't persuadable. Watched the boats passing through and confused a Dutch couple who recognised my Feyenourd top & thought we were also Dutch. Sorry - just a fraud. Now to the hairy stuff towards & round Athens. Sandwich stop and then deep breath. The toll motorway was reasonably quiet and the driving reasonably predictable. Once off that, the 20 miles to Marathon was not so much. Lots of manic scooters zipping in and out, no helmets and not a care for their lives it seemed. The hotel was tucked away in the back streets 1 block from the beach - relieved to park up sans scratches and dents for now. Decided to get to the room, calm down and regroup. Once sorted we had a nice little walk along the quay & waterfront - far nicer than expected even managed a swim. Whether stuff would dry was another matter. Had to refuel the car prior to the handover so unfortunately it was back in the car and since that was the case we drove upto Marathon to see the 'site' of the original marathon. They sited the stadium for the marathon in the Olympic games at Marathon unsurprisingly so there was all sorts of monuments and paraphernalia left over from that to have a look at. Back and first meal out on our last night in Greece. Opted for a fish restaurant by the harbour. Nice enough but very salty - which we'd already decided was a Greek thing. Back to pack for the next leg.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Sightseeing at cruising altitude.

    June 9, 2023 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    On the way in, the traffic jams caused a little concern so an early breakie it was. Nothing to write home about but it did the job. Back to the mania of the local roads and the dickhead scooters. At least this time most were wearing helmets, that said they were all ignoring the traffic lights - give with 1 hand take away with the other. Relieved to find that Google had sent us to the toll road, I suspect to avoid the multiple jams. Ended up at the car hire depot early but the South African guy was there and finished up the paperwork for us again spending more time talking about the mighty reds than anything else. Rather that than talk about scratches and such like. The shuttle back was with a German family who had their car broken into in Athens so that's nice. Athens was far more humane than Manchester limited queues and settled to wait for boarding. Managed to miss the call but no panics other than the wrong boarding passes being in the wrong passports - much confusion. Spent the first chunk of the flight spotting bits and pieces over Athens, Greece and Albania.Read more

  • John BickerstaffPeloponneseJohn Bickerstaff

    Whistle stop tour of Basel

    June 9, 2023 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    The original flights booked had us flying directly to Manchester. In their infinite wisdom easyJet decided to cancel that and we ended up with a layup of 5 hours in Basel. The plan was to check-in the bag for the second leg and then go and do a little sight seeing rather than spending 5 hours seeing Basel airport. That was dampened at check-in. Could only drop the bags 150 mins prior to departure. Not hp. 2 options. Hang around or find somewhere to dump the bag. Checked at information and there was no left luggage at the airport - the only option was at the station. 5 hours at the airport or lug the backpack into town, dump it and have a wander. No choice. Buses into town were every 10 mins and it was only a 20 min journey. Reckoned this would give us around 2 hours looking around. The lockers at the airport were ultra tech - centrally controlled, card payment and qr code secured. Dumped everything and wandered. Headed to the Market Square. Liz spotted a sausage seller and they were good - better than airport fare. Hunger and thirst sated, we mooched down to the Rhine - walked along in the shade and clocked a view of the cathedral. The one note of regret - could've had a dip in the Rhine. Ah well next time. Back to the airport for the last leg of the 2 day journey.Read more

    Trip end
    June 9, 2023
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