Category: Ports of Call (Page 2 of 39)

There’s a lot to Greek history, and it’s rather hard to keep track of in the Pylos area, because it involves so many eras. Nestor’s Palace is on the outskirts of the city, Nestor’s Cave is on the northern side of the bay along with the Paleo Kastro (old castle), as compared to the Nio Kastro (new castle) on the southern side near the entrance to the town of Pylos. We were on a mission to visit all of them (and to try to keep them straight).

The NioKastro was built in 1573 when the Ottomans occupied the Peloponnese, as a means of controlling the east-west commercial sea route. The castle and the area came under Venetian rule in the 1600’s and was later liberated by the Greeks in the 1800’s.

The fortress is surrounded by a huge wall, slowly crumbling away. Inside the wall at the summit is a smaller hexagonal fortress, allowing for the defense of Navarinou Bay with the help of 60+ cannons. Elsewhere on the property are buildings (ie. former barracks) that have been turned into museums.

The other building within the walls that is still in remarkable condition is the church of the Transfiguration of Christ the Savior. Originally built as an Ottoman mosque (still clearly evident in the building style), but later converted to a Catholic church under Venetian rule.

After a couple of days in town, we motored up to the north end of the bay where there was nothing more than sandy beach, clear water, and a chance to relax. Despite the heat, we were committed to the hike/climb up to Nestor’s Cave and the PalioKastro (old castle).

Nestor’s Cave is a real cave, but is rooted in mythology. It is here that Hermes, as a baby, stole 50 cattle from Apollo and hid them in this cave. We hiked along the back side of the marsh in the shade, then climbed the dunes until we made it to the cave. The cave is absolutely huge, and could easily fit hundreds of cattle, though it’s location makes it far more likely for keeping goats.

From the cave, it’s a short climb (courtesy of steel cables driven into the rocks) up to the old castle. Over 200 meters up from the shore, the castle was built by the Franks in the 13th century, and of course later used by the Venetians and the Turks.

The castle was eventually abandoned, with the building of the new castle at the southern end of the bay, and is in absolute ruin. However, climbing over the ramparts and exploring the ruins is a fabulous way to spend the day, and the views of the sea, as well as Voidokilia Beach are absolutely breathtaking.

Not a bad place to enjoy a beer and a sunset either.

Nestor’s Palace is one of those places featured both in history and in fiction. It’s considered one of the best preserved Mycenaean sites from 1300 BC, as well as featured in Homer’s “The Odyssey”.

The site was discovered in the early 20th century, and slowly uncovered over the decades. Unlike other Greek ruins that one can wander through freely, a roof was built over these ruins along with an elevated walkway. The disadvantage is that you cannot get up close, but the ruins remain in exquisite condition for more people to visit.

A fire destroyed the palace, but managed to preserve enough to tell us about life at that time in Greece. Clay jugs used for wine and olive oil can easily still be seen. A bathtub is perfectly preserved. Also found at the site were tablets called Linear B, one of the first known written scripts for mankind. (Unfortunately, the tablets and other artifacts are at a nearby museum which is closed for renovation currently.)

We spent the morning walking around the site, imagining what life would have been like thousands of years ago, and even picturing Ulysses enjoying Nestor’s hospitality.

No one warned us how much we would love Pylos. A natural hurricane hole (not that we needed one) that could fit hundreds of boats, the harbor is miles wide with lots to explore. We anchored near town the first couple of days, as we needed to clear in, do laundry, get provisions, and see town.

Pylos is somewhere between a village and a town. Mostly local Greeks and French summer here, but it’s not overwhelmed by crowds. Clearing in was easy enough, and both gas and provisions were an easy walk from the dinghy. If I had one complaint it was that there were no self serve laundry shops and it was an expensive place to have your washing done.

The Mares chandlery turned out to be our favorite shop, partly because it was such a well stocked store, partly because the owner (Fotis) greeted us with an orange drink, and partly because Fotis sent us off with a bottle of local olive oil with our purchases!

We loved watching the local kids head out in their optis for Wednesday night ‘racing’ (hard to do with the little wind they had).

We had some of the best pork gyros yet at one of the cafes in the main square, but the real treat was the wine restaurant where we managed to score a reservation. Overlooking the harbor, the food was some of the best we had in Greece so far.

We decided to split our run to Pylos over two days (we’ve got fewer daylight hours these days). The harbor of Kyparissia added on a few miles, but it was a good halfway point that came recommended by other cruising friends. With moderate winds I had a great sail down. I say ‘I’ because a belt snapped as we were motoring out of the harbor, and Trip was down below replacing the belt and tightening bolts while I was at the wheel enjoying the wind.

There’s not a whole lot to Kyparissia, but it was a quiet little harbor where we could anchor inside, see a couple of turtles, and have dinner overlooking the harbor. Then it was bedtime, as we had another full day of sailing ahead of us.

There were no cruise ships in town today (tourist sites otherwise clogged to the hilt), so Jan, Kate, Trip and I hopped on the train to Olympia, home of the original Olympic Games.

Olympia is pretty isolated in the Pelopenese, but it is considered one of the most important religious and athletic centers of the Ancient Greek world. It was here that some of the greatest monuments to the gods were interspersed with the home of the Olympic Games. The original Zeus sanctuary has existed since 10th century BC, and the games were established in 786 BC.

Though the entire site is in ruins from a combination of neglect and massive earthquakes, it’s still easy to see the compound that once existed. Particularly amazing is to watch the archeological work still underway. (Fun fact, Jan, who worked on an archeological project as part of his PhD, explained that archeology is supposed to be conducted in phases so that the next generation has a chance to explore and uncover, which is important as our understanding of history evolves.).

As you walk through the site, you explore the temples to the gods (Hera and Zeus being the most notable buildings) as well as the buildings where the components of the temples were created. You also get to see the primary and secondary buildings needed to support the Olympic Games, such as baths, gymnasiums, apartments, etc. A free app for mobile devices is available to help learn about the individual sites, complete with augmented reality in the form of digitized renderings of the buildings that once stood there. You point your phone at the specific site and you can “see” what it used to look like.

As the heat of the day built, we retreated to the museum where remnants are now stored to prevent further deterioration. Cauldrons, pottery, armor, and other parts of every day life are on display, along with the statues once housed in the temples.

Feeling completely overwhelmed by everything we took in, we rode back to town on the train again. After resting a bit on the boat and waiting for the heat to come down, we went back into town to check out a weekend festival.

We stopped at a local fast food joint for hot dogs and beers, then walked over to another spot for a drink, and wound up at a concert at the festival. It wasn’t the best band we had heard, but it was still entertaining and a good way to spend a Friday night.

Katakolon gets a bad rap as just a convenient place to anchor to visit Olympia. Though the town is marketed toward the cruise ship crowds, we still enjoyed it (particularly when a cruise ship is not in!).

Plus, we finally got to catch up with Jan and Kate! Jan teaches mechanical and electrical classes related to boats on BoatHowTo, and Trip had taken one of his online classes last winter. We had met Jan briefly in Two Rock Bay when he swam over to compliment the boat as we were leaving (though we didn’t know who he was at the time), but now we were finally getting to meet in person.

We also had the chance to visit the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology. Unfortunately no photos are allowed, so I only have the one shot that I was permitted to take of a siphon at work. The museum desperately needs more space and money to do it justice, but it was wonderful to pour over all the ancient inventions that we still use today. My favorite summary was the image of a car, with multiple components highlighted that came from Ancient Greek inventors (the Philon theatre turned into pulleys and belts, robot servants turned into hydraulic valves, Ktesibios force pump turned into pistons and cylinders). The list goes on.

In the meantime, Trip had set up the sailing rig on the dinghy, and Jan and Kate popped over to test it out. Jan was giving Kate some additional sailing lessons, as she’d never sailed a small boat before (and there’s nothing like learning on an unforgiving dinghy). She did great!

Even though we had already seen the loggerhead sea turtles up close in Argostoli, I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to see more down in Keri. Although the location was beautiful, the visit was disappointing. There are too many ‘zoom zoom’ boats chartered by misbehaving tourists, going too fast, leaving trash behind, and giving the island a bad rap. I feel for the turtles here.

Turtle Island is beautiful, and we got up early to go visit before the tour boats arrived.

We were able to circumnavigate the entire island, and even had the chance to go through some caves so low you could only manage in a dinghy our size. Unfortunately, we came across a huge bag of trash partially submerged on our way back, and spent a lot of time securing it and then towing it to shore for proper disposal.

I’m happy to report that our time on Keri ended well, as we saw an OCC flag on our way back to the boat and stopped to chat with Phil and Norma on s/v Minnie B. It’s always good to catch up with fellow cruisers and meet new ones!

The island of Zakinthos was our next stop after Kefallonia, as we made our way south. We were not going to have the time to do the famous Shipwreck Beach, and the west side in general, though reportedly beautiful, was going to have to wait for another visit as the anchorages are all exposed to the forecasted winds. We dropped anchor in the southeastern town by the same name as the island, and had a fun little visit.

The town is cute, but the Byzantine Museum in the main square is a small masterpiece. Home to all the religious iconography that was salvaged from island churches after the earthquake of 1953, it’s a treasure trove of both NeoHellenic and Post Byzantine artwork.

My favorite piece was a painting of the Mother and Child done directly on a wooden platform, which was later covered with hammered silver. When art historians were restoring the piece and the silver was removed, smaller pieces of silver fell out, which had been offerings made over the centuries.

The ‘weird’ ending to the day, was my first taste of Madagascar grey vanilla ice cream. Seriously grey. Good, but not as good as others. Still worth a try.

Assos had been recommended to us, but only in calm winds, so we gave it a pass by boat and instead did it by bus from Argostoli. What a gem of a village.

The somewhat hair raising drive over gave us views of both Myrtios Beach and a view of Assos descending from the hills.

The village was Venetian, and is overlooked by an imposing Venetian palace atop the high point at the end of the peninsula. Considering the long, uphill walk and the heat of the day, we opted to give the palace a pass. Aside from that, there’s really not much to do besides eat and drink and wander to enjoy the beautiful view, so that’s exactly what we did.