Stone House, Kardamili, 10th July 2007
We set off at 7.15 after an early breakfast and headed south to Areopolis, then onward into the Deep, Mesa, Mani with Patrick Leigh Fermor (Mani – Travels in the Southern Peloponnese, 1958) as our guide.
Charouda: Off the main road down a wandering lane through olive groves – many houses in the village restored, oleanders from pale pink to deep fuchsia. ‘…the old church of Michael Taxiarch…a little golden basilica standing among cypresses and topped with a brood of cupolas gathered around a central dome.’
Back on the main road, whitewashed olive trees like upturned spectral spiders.
Kita: A fine medieval church, Agios Georgios, rugged towers and guardian geese. ‘The canyons of lane that twisted through the towers were empty and silent…tower after tower soared on either hand…The main square was scarcely larger than a room…’
South through hills terraced behind rocky buttresses; a bleak and sun blasted landscape sprouting prickly pears.
Yerolimena: Coffee overlooking the sea to sheer cliff plunging into the water. Blue and white fishing boats with yellow and green nets; black-red sea urchins through crystal water in the harbour. Cicadas in the eucalyptus set up a continuous reeling. ‘…the little port of…a few houses, a quay lined with caiques, a mole running out into the bay.’
Vathia: Abandoned and at one with the rocky hillside, given over to lizards and jackdaws, wind sighing gently through eyeless windows. ‘The wide ridge was jagged with broken towers like the spikes along an iguana’s back…an angular stook of towers was rooted in a cloud of cactus and olive, ending on the brink of the steep fall of the ledges…’
Porto Cayo: Swimming to wash off the sweat and dust. Lunch of sea bass on a terrace hugging the shore. ‘…a beautiful but rather mournful bay, a deep inlet scooped from the eastern slope of the peninsular. … It is called Porto Cayo either from Porto Quaglino of the Venetians or a Port aux Cailles of the Franks for the surrounding rocks are the last place where quails, migrating south in thousands, alight before flying off to Crete and to Africa.’