Bob and Ann in Greece 2008

Please visit May 1 slideshow

Stalactites and Stalagmites in the Cave

In Greece, May 1 is a holiday. School is out and workplaces are closed. Traditionally, wreaths are made out of woven twigs and are decorated with flowers. The Greeks hang them on their doors. This is especially prevalent in the countryside where we spent the day.

We left Deep Mani at 9:00 and traveled north on the peninsula to the Vlyhada Cave in Diros. The cave is a huge complex much of which is filled with a combination and sweet and salt water. We boarded small 6-person boats and were poled 1.2 km through the fascinating caverns. There were thousands of stalagmites and stalactites along the windy route. It was eerily quiet and we could hear the water dripping from the ceiling. The final .3 km was on foot and we exited the cave slightly above sea level.

Boy with Fish in Areopoli

We then went on to Areopoli, the capital city of this region where we stretched our legs while Harris took one of our yesterday's casualties to get checked up at the local clinic. It was fun to walk unescorted through the town and see what the locals were doing on May Day. Most shops were closed except for the food stores and cafes. Many had flower wreaths on their doors.

Ann on the Way to the Beach


Old Town Kardamyli Ancient Church

The Kalamitsi Hotel in Kardamyli was the next stop. It is on top of a low bluff overlooking the sea. Today was warm, so we could open our doors to smell the sea water. We ate lunch outside. Thinly sliced lettuce was dressed with olive oil, raisins and finely chopped caramelized walnuts. It was complemented with a macaroni, ground meat and cheese souffle (It tasted better than it sounds). We attempted to work off lunch by a walk down to the hotel's small private beach through olive and loquat trees.

We had a little down time until 5:30 when we rode into the village and strolled through the old town's preserved buildings. After that we went to dinner at the Harilaos Restaurant, eating on the patio overlooking the sea. We were entertained by a group of 20-something kids who were there on a holiday drinking special coffee drinks, smoking, laughing and singing to the restaurant's recorded music. Other than the cigarettes, we found their fun-loving attitude refreshing compared our American sports-bar oriented fun spots. After they left, Harris taught us how to dance the Greek way to the music of Never on Sunday. This was one of our more fun evenings.

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