We found our hotel a bit crowded and noisy so we
moved to a new discovery. Our windows looked out over the straits at the entrance to Navarino Bay. Beautiful.
We stocked up on the usual. At this stage Lyn’s lunch
diet still consisted of bread, ham, cheese and tinned asparagus.
We walked up to the nearby castle
ruins, climbing rocks and dodging sheep ...
For lunch we drove south to
Methone. It was an important place under the Venetians and the Turks so it had
massive fortifications. We had a chilly but spectacular picnic in a battered
tower.
The sun was out – a perfect spot. As usual we had the place to ourselves
... the Greek men were buying their fish further down (one man had little
sardines).
That afternoon
Lyn slept back in the hotel while I went adventuring. The area is probably most famous for the decisive Battle of Navarino which ended Turkish control of the Mediterranean. However, for me Pylos is the site of one
of the most dramatic stories in Thucydides. The headland of Coryphasion and the
island of Sphacteria were scenes of desperate fighting between Spartans and
Athenians. The plan was to try to find a way to drive to Coryphasion that
afternoon and catch the little local ferry across to Spacteria next morning.
I had no map but I drove along narrow farmers tracks between
vineyards. I nearly got bogged. Eventually I reached the lagoon but had to
admit defeat. The Nissan Cherry was definitely not a 4-wheel drive vehicle.
Lyn’s diary says
I made a great meal that night – which probably just means she was rested and
hungry! She was still unable to eat anything oily and so I usually cooked up a rice
and tomato stew. We still had the small saucepan and strange little immersion cooker
we had bought in Athens. All we needed was a power point in our hotel rooms.
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