Bob and Ann in Greece 2008

Please visit April 29 slideshow

Corinth Canal

We left Athens this morning for a long bus ride to Deep Mani on the southern coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula. On the way, we crossed over the Corinth Canal which serves ships coming from the Western Mediterranean and Adriatic en route to Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea ports and vice versa.

Mystras Church

After driving for awhile, we passed Sparta (no ruins there) and arrived at Mystras, a Byzantine city built on the side of a steep hill and is now a World Heritage Site. The bus took us up a windy road to the top where we met our guide, Angela, a German/Greek transplant. She walked us down the village path through three churches and past many ruined buildings. Some of the churches still had their original tile and frescos.

When we were finished, we were bussed to the village below the ruins and had a long, leisurely, filling lunch in an outdoor patio.

Harbor in Pubeio

We pushed on with the bus, stopping once in the small town of Pubeio that has a harbor on the Ionian Sea so that Harris could go to an ATM to get some cash.

Beach in front of our Hotel

Our daily bus ride ended up in the "quaint" O Gerolimenas Hotel in the Deep Mani. Gerolimenas is a small village on a cove of the Ionian Sea. It has lots of buildings made out of stone. Our hotel is one of them. Our room has two stone walls one of which abuts my side of the bed. I have to be careful not to hit my elbows and knees against it.

We had a late, light dinner in our hotel and a short walk to let it settle.

The map of our route is below. To see it in Google Earth, follow this link.