 |
 |
 |
Our
first hiking day! We drove down to the Mani, the south-central part of the peninsula. |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
| The
town of Stravropigi with Zarnatas Castle at the top of the hill. The Mani is an area of the
Peloponnese that governed itself for centuries, largely because the area was difficult to
get to. |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| The
interior of the Byzantine chapel of Ayii Theodorii in Kambos (the only Greek Orthodox church
we saw, since women can usually only go in with skirts on). |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
| The
city of Kalamata is visible along the coast beyond the olive tree orchard. Kalamata olives,
for which the region is known, ripen in late November and must be hand-picked to avoid bruising.
This area is especially good for olive-growing due to its reliable winter rains and hot summers. |
|
| Jim
pauses for a rest along the 3.5 hour hike we did in the region, walking from the town of Kambos
to the town of Kardamyli. Much of the hike involved walking along steep historic mulepaths. |
|
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| The
final stretch -- Jim walks along a particularly wide portion of the mulepath on our Kambos
to Kardamyli hike. Kardamyli is the town that is visible along the coast of the Messinian
Gulf, below the peaks of the Taygetos Mountains. Of interest to history and mythology buffs,
Kardamyli was one of the seven cities offered to Achilles by Agamemnon. |
|
| A
beautiful little cemetery nestled among the peaks of the Taygetos Mountains in the little
town of Malta, near Kambos, the start of the hike. |
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
