Peloponnese holiday: Now all the more!
View of the port city of Nauplia
The marble floor of the Platia Syntagmatos in Nauplia shines as if it had just recently been scrubbed. Our one and a half year old daughter goes her own way in the car-free place. She joins a group of children, from the surrounding coffees come back again and again, the parents sit relaxed. Now at the weekend, the cafes and taverns are full, many Greek guests have arrived. It looks as if they enjoy the atmosphere of this port city with its classical buildings, which is considered one of the most beautiful in Greece. In Nauplia everything looks like prosperity, the crisis seems to be far away. Once a group of demonstrators gather in front of the town hall at dusk, but they move on quickly, as if they no longer wanted to disturb. We let the day end on the Platia Syntagmatos: Relaxed evenings outside, we have missed in the first two summers after the birth of the child. The daughter will not be able to retrieve any of this trip later in her memory, for that she is still too small. But somehow their enthusiasm for the Mediterranean atmosphere of this place must leave their mark, we think.
Stage Sea: Epidaurus is one of the largest amphitheaters
In the Peloponnese I have spent the most beautiful journey of my childhood. At the time I was much older than our daughter is now. But still I wanted to spend the first big trip with her here. We are also curious about the country, which keeps making headlines because of its economic situation. Nauplia is not only a beautiful city, but also a good starting point to visit some of the most famous ancient sites of the Peloponnese. We are delighted that in the second half of September we are almost the only ones making our way to the famous Lion Gate of Mycenae. The sun is already pleasantly low in the afternoon and a strong wind blows over the hill, on the 2500 BC. Chr. The imposing fortress was built. Here the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found a gold treasure, which he held for King Agamemnon. Even more impressed we are from Epidaurus: now in the late season it seems so peaceful that one feels the atmosphere of a spa and a sacred site that this complex has been for many centuries. The highlight is the amphitheater -14,000 people found their place here 2,300 years ago and saw comedies as part of their therapy. Even today, the many stone rows fill up during the festival in the summer, in which theater greats like Peter Stein have already staged. Now only a few isolated Japanese people are on stage testing the acoustics of this best-preserved amphitheater in Greece. We also hear their voices in the top row to which we have climbed. The hilly landscape looks like a perfect backdrop. Whether the child notices the peculiarity of this place? At least she runs around the stage excitedly and seems to wonder how loud her little voice carries in the face of these seemingly countless steps.
Low season rest on the beach
Between the excursions and walks through the beautiful streets of Nauplias, we enjoy the tranquility of the small resort in which we live. It lies between the hills, from the pool you have a wide view over the plain. On foot we are in about 20 minutes in the old town and in five minutes by car on the beach, where hardly more bathers are to be seen. The water has stored the heat of summer, in the shade of eucalyptus trees we enjoy the peace.
After four days we leave the bustling port city for a small village in the Mani, the southern middle finger of the Peloponnese. In Kardamili, which was already mentioned by Homer, the taverns and cafes line up along the main street. The old stone houses radiate the originality for which this area is known. Towards the mountains lies the deserted old town, a Late Byzantine church and several houses, one of them houses a museum. Here, for the first time, we encounter the dark and yet fascinating history of the Mani: separated from the rest of the country by a mountain range, the Mani is known for its archaic structures. For a long time it was considered a kind of wild West of Greece, where feuds dominated life and there were no laws and schools until the 19th century. To get along in the barren landscape, people joined together to clans, which were constantly involved in small wars. Little wonder that in the neighboring town of Stoupa the writer Nikos Kazantzakis 1917, the model for his famous hero Alexis Sorbas met, a character who made the actor Anthony Quinn in the eponymous film world famous.
What is to be seen in Messene is constantly changing: In this little-known archaeological site, the archaeologists are still digging.
Change accommodation with a small child? Pure stress, friends had warned us.We decided nevertheless for a two-week round trip in the Peloponnes with three stations. So, we mostly traveled before the birth of the child, from place to place to place, with changing accommodations, which we often spontaneously sought. This is different: we enjoy that everything is planned, the car journeys between the destinations no longer than two hours, the accommodations carefully selected and a tour guide comes along with tips for the environment. Pleasant also that we can combine the onward trips with sightseeing. On the way to Kardamili we visited the Late Byzantine settlement Mistras. On the way to our next destination we want to stop in Messene, one of the most spectacular new archaeological sites in Greece.
The Byzantine church and some houses of the "ancient city" of Kardamili
Even if we change the quarters, this journey is quite relaxed. Is it because our daughter is uncomplicated? Or is it not rather us who are satisfied and balanced? Or is it the people who meet us friendly everywhere? Also in Kardamili we settle in quickly. Directly under our apartment complex is the old town, behind the sea flashes, on the other side are the mountains. ?There? says our daughter again and again on the balcony and points to the blue area. And since? she says, when in the evening the moon and a sparkling sea of stars open. The breakfast is one of the best moments of the day, which we like to prolong: Because of the lovingly prepared food, the view and the interesting conversation with Stavroula Dimitrea, the boss of the plant, which looks over again and again. Our daughter meets her first big love, the cats. A good dozen of them have found a home in the Vardia apartments. They sit lazily in the porch swing or roam the rosemary bushes. If it were after one and a half years, we would spend the whole day in the apartment complex. It explores little paths, archways and walls. She slips cheerfully across the marble floor of the spacious apartment. She is pleased when Stavroula Dimitrea shows up, laughs so much and leads Ella around patiently.
View of Kardamili
Even in Kardamili's taverns the evenings with toddlers are uncomplicated. Sometimes the cook's ten-year-old daughter enthusiastically takes on the little Germans, sometimes the landlord gives her his bunch of keys or she goes from table to table and welcomes the few German individual tourists who are still around at this time of year. For some years Kardamili has developed into a small and tasteful tourist center on the Mani. Has the crisis also arrived in this inhospitable area, we ask ourselves? In the taverns the hosts tell us that they notice very little. The locals here are less affected than the Athenians. They have their property, their real estate and the olive groves they live on. Luckily the tourists come anyway? at least still in the season 2011. However, there are already less and less young people who want to live here, they are moving away to the big cities. Not only because there are few perspectives in the Mani, even the traditional structures are perceived by many as overwhelming. And the alleged German-hostility of the Greeks, of which in the German media is to read the flare-up of the crisis? We feel nothing of it.
The fishing village Gerolimenas
On the third day we do a Mani round trip and drive down the east side of the finger. We marvel at the landscape, which seems to become even more meager and deserted with each of the many bends. We pass small villages and churches and see again and again residential towers, which were mostly created in the 17th century. They are silent witnesses to the arguments over grazing rights. Hostile clans sometimes entrenched themselves for years. Every now and then a truce was agreed to bring in the harvest, then the archenemies silently ordered each other's fields, only to fall over each other again. We stop for lunch in the small fishing village of Gerolimenas and then glide in a barge through the unreal-looking underworld of the stalactite caves of Dirou. In the late afternoon we reach the southernmost point of Europe, which at the same time looks like one of the most secluded? little wonder that the ancient Greeks here assumed the entrance to the underworld of Hades.
Vathia: one of the most picturesque mani settlements
Of course, our stay in the versatile Mani is too short and we also reluctantly leave the accommodation we felt so comfortable in. But nevertheless, we look forward to the onward journey to Messinia, the opposite finger of the Peloponnese: The departure to another place makes the holiday appear longer. We are looking forward to Costa Navarino, one of Greece's most spectacular new holiday destinations. After the originality of the Mani we go into a luxury holiday world, a plant of superlatives, which opened in 2010 and which does not seem to fit into the image of Pleitegriechenlands.
In the "Sandburg" of the Costa Navarino childcare takes place.
Costa Navarino also has the pleasant quiet of the postseason, with some of the restaurants and pools already closed.Likewise, the Hotel The Romanos pauses, with its 4000 square meter Anazoe Spa still open. In the water park of our accommodation, the Hotel The Westin, we are the only ones who venture into the unheated pool. Ella is delighted with this playground in the water. It also shines as we enter the building where childcare takes place. "The Sandburg" looks like a mixture of fortress and Hundertwasser house. We, too, parents, who are currently on the lookout for a day-care center for a day care center marathon, are impressed by how diversified the rooms are.
The Westin of the Costa Navarino
As in Nauplia, many Greeks travel here on weekends, especially young couples and families. We meet a young lawyer couple from Athens, they are here with their three year old daughter. They have read so much about this new resort that they wanted to treat themselves to a stay here. They are proud of this project, which in their opinion throws a different light on Greece. They admire the shipowner Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos, who comes from this area and gradually bought land for decades to realize his dream: to build a large holiday resort in his homeland while preserving its beauty and creating new jobs for his compatriots , 16,000 olive trees were transplanted. The buildings are based on the traditional architecture of Messenia and are carefully integrated into the landscape. Sustainability is a big topic in Costa Navarion. There is even a small museum of its own, the Navarino Natura Hall, dedicated to the subject and explaining the nature of Messenia. We enjoy the comfort. Little stress moments with our toddler, we experience only at the dinner. We try two different restaurants. The atmosphere is upscale, the prices too. The staff is friendly, as Ella gets restless, but I'm still strained. She wants to romp around and roam around like in the taverns of the Mani. On the third evening, we discover a small tavern on the grounds: Here the food is cheap and Ella is not always in danger, something to ruin.
Autumn is announced on the beautiful sandy beach.
Here we encounter a piece of Sylt in the Peloponnese. Against the backdrop of a wild sea you can walk wonderfully on the sandy beach. For swimming, it is now too dangerous and most Greeks on the beach too uncomfortable. But a group of satisfied Germans has gathered, the parents enjoy in the sun loungers the still warming sun, the children romp in the sand. When we come to the beach on the penultimate day of our stay in the morning, the sea has washed away a good deal. The summer is now over here, which makes it easier to say goodbye soon. Some hotel employees are eager to replenish the sand. One beckons cheerfully to us. This is the picture that we will take home from Greece, we are sure.
Travel Information Pel0ponnes
Nafplio Food and accommodation: - Tavern Omorfo Tavernaki, corner Vas.-Olgas / Kotsonopoulos-Str: Beautifully located on a street corner in the old town, many fish dishes, well-attended. - In Café Stathmos in the old train station you sit pleasantly quiet. - For parents: The cafes around the Kapodöstrias square, next to playgrounds. Here you can also meet many locals. - Hotel Anthemion: Pleasant, small resort, quietly situated in the hills, from 28 Euro per person per night. Worth seeing: - Palamidi Fortress: Venetian fortress from the 17th century, attention 999 steps, great view over the bay of Nauplia. - Bourtzi island with fortress, the landmark of the city. In summer you can go by boat. To bathe: Karathona beach: about 1.5 km Kieststrand, gently sloping, some beach taverns, which also rent beach chairs.
Many of the rooms in the Costa Navarino have their own small pool.
Kardamili Food and accommodation: - Tavern Diskouri on the road to Stoupa, good food with a view over the harbor. - Skardamoula's Garden, where you sit in the garden. - Vardia Apartments: 18 apartments with large balconies and beautiful views, friendly and familiar atmosphere. From 19 euros per person per night. To bathe: In the neighboring town of Stoupa the beach is more beautiful than in Kardamili, gently sloping with some trees that provide shade.
Worth seeing in the Mani: - Vathia: Particularly impressive largely abandoned settlement - Gerolimenas: Small fishing village, where you can dine in nice tavernas right by the sea. - The caves of Pírgos Dirou, located near the town of Areópolis, the visit of the caves with a guided boat takes about half an hour,
Costa Navarino resorts in Messenia: Consists of the five-star hotels The Romanos and the Westin. Large, luxurious resort with golf course and spa, opened in 2010. Accommodation in Westin from 90 euros per person per night, in Romanos from 123 euros.
- Nearby port is Pylos. - In the nearby nature reserve of Gialova Lagoon live 271 different species of birds.
All accommodation with flight, rental car and various Peloponnese tours are bookable through the Greece specialist Attica Travel.
The Temple of Zeus in ancient Olympia
Aeolian sites on the Peleponnes: - Corinth: Impressive Appolot temple. - Epidaurus: spa town of antiquity with famous amphitheater. - Messene: A recent excavation that has become one of the most evocative of the Peloponnese in recent years, including the city walls, the stadium and the Ringhallentempel. - Mycenae: starting point of the culture named after her in ancient Greece. - Mystras: Northwest of Sparta, medieval ruined city on the northern slope of the Taygetos Mountains. - Olympia: venue of the ancient Olympic Games, first held in 776 BC Were mentioned in writing in Chr. Impressive especially the remains of the stadium and the mighty Zeus temple. - Palace of Nestor: Was next to Mycenae the most important center of the Mycenaean culture, better preserved than Mycenae.
