Nick awoke saying that he felt a cold coming on. I gave him my “Just-in-Case” meds for colds, and we decided to take an early walk. We were in  Kardamyli, a town that is wedged between the Messenian Gulf and Mount Profitas Ilias, the highest peak in the Peloponnese. Our hotel was lovely! Everyone in our group had a view of the gulf, and all the rooms had balconies. This day was called “a  vacation from our vacation.” How wonderful it was to explore at our own pace, or just to relax on the balcony or by the  hotel’s pool. The water in was cold, but one member of our group swam laps.

An optional hike was offered. It  would have two parts, one easy and the other challenging. I changed from sandals to  sneakers, and I brought my walking sticks. Smart moves! Unfortunately, though, I left my backpack and water bottle behind. You may wonder why Nick doesn’t carry these things. Nick is always carrying at least two cameras, so he has little room for anything else.

The old  town originated in the 1600s when pirates chased the residents into the hills. We saw a building in which olives were pressed for their oil, and a lovely home garden  in which the family grew their vegetables. We saw the Mourtzinos Tower, from which the residents could keep enemies at bay. Next we saw the church of St. Spyridon. Over the door, is a crowned double-headed eagle, a symbol of the Byzantine Empire and the Orthodox Christian Church.

At this point, our group members had to decide whether to continue to the challenging part of the hike, or to return to  the main street. We  were among those who chose to return.

The  return path was different from the one we had taken to get where we were. We walked along with others from our group, passing olive trees (the olives were in the flower stage), as well as orange, lemon, grapefruit and fig trees. The residents also grew all sorts of flowers. Once we reached the gulf, we  walked along  the water to get back to our hotel. We passed a restaurant called  Psaras, another reference to Nick’s surname, and we really wanted to eat there, but it had not opened for the season yet.  Nick decided to nap and I decided to read. Then I decided to a nap and he decided to read.

At dinner time, we walked out of our room and ran into seven people from our group. Some of them had really enjoyed their dinner from the night before and wanted to go back to the same restaurant, so we joined them. Everyone ordered either spaghetti carbonara or penne with sun dried tomatoes in pesto. Nick and I traded tastes, thinking that tomorrow we’d go back to Greek food.

8107 steps