Uploading WiFi is still very slow - Day 15 pics are HERE - yesterday and today are still chugging unfortunately...
4:30pm: at the hotel for a pre-dinner rest after another long day. Went to breakfast at the hotel rights 8 and set out about 20 minutes later. Our first stop was the Pyrgos Dirou caves about an hour away. You buy your tickets at one place then keep driving a bit to the entrance. This place is unbelievable. You walk down some stairs, put on a life jacket, and get into a small rowboat holding about 8 people. It is almost off season so there was no wait but apparently it can get quite bad. There is a guy masterfully steering the boat 1.2km on crystal clear water through the most amazing colorful caves. The photos and videos I took do not do it proper justice. At the end of the boat ride, you then walk a little bit to the exit. What an experience!! I went a little camera-happy here so once these photos post there will be a lot!!!
We next drove to the little town Gerolimenas, which has a couple cafes and hotels on a pebbly beach but not much else, then to Vathia, which is an insane fortified ghost town. According to Rick Steves, basically no one got along and the town is now deserted. All these beautiful old stone buildings just falling apart. We decided to cut off the southernmost end of the Peninsula and head back up the eastern side through a number of towns. This is a well-maintained but narrow and very windy road that was sometimes next to a cliff and definitely two-way! But the scenery is just stunning - desolate hillsides dotted with stone buildings new and old, olive trees, and gorgeous coastline. We looped up and around back to Areopoli, a little bit of a larger town, and had lunch in the main square at a nondescript place. We were tired and going to drive through, but not really stop in, a couple other towns but the way I put it into google maps didn’t really tell us where to turn for those towns, so all of a sudden, an hour later, we were back at the hotel. It’s OK, it is unlikely there is anything life-altering in those towns.
9:45pm: back at the hotel after a nice evening in town. We went to Tikla Cafe around 7pm and had a salad with various seeds and fresh figs. Matt had steak from local beef and potatoes and I had slow-cooked beef on pasta with mushrooms. Very delicious and still under 50 euros even with two glasses of wine. And sunset was particularly gorgeous tonight as if the sky was on fire.
After dinner, we wandered town a bit, I bought a handmade olive tree magnet, and we sat for a bit while Matt had a local beer before we returned to the hotel. And yes we drove the two minutes into town and back rather than hike that path again!
Tomorrow it is off to Delphi for a night to see the ruins!
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