Come in Corfu

 (Usual waiver applies to grammar, typos, spelling as I'm posting via  a small phone screen on the hoof 🤭, click on the pics to zoom in).

Yesterday had a day of travelling 🚕🚌🚌✈️🚕 and finally arrived in Corfu last night. 

We are staying in a little traditional cottage up a quiet footpath only lane. It's super cute but the only drawback is coming downstairs  -  you have to remember to duck or you could do yourself an injury 🤕.  Our neighbors are not tall 😉 little old ladies that wear black and it's lovely and quiet as there is no car traffic, yet it's only 10 minutes walk from all the action.

Woke up this morning ready to explore the old town and we started off to the coastal path where we saw three cruise ships had docked over night, uh oh! The old town was slammed with cruise folks.

There's a sense of dilapidated old world charm. Some magnificent old buildings that are crying out for a makeover. The building in the above pic would have been fabulous looking over the port back in the day. Edward Lear, the famous artist and writer,  lived here for many years. He was deeply captivated and called Corfu 'Paradise' and ' the loveliest place on earth'. I can only imagine how magical and unspoiled it must have been back then.

Corfu is known for its cobbled streets in the old town, the beautiful pastel coloured buildings and of course the beautiful  beach spots and blue, blue water. I gather latterly it's known for Mumma Mia and Alan and Amanda's Corfu experience 😁. It's certainly popular. 100,000 resident population and annually over four million tourists, yikes!

We just followed our noses and meandered through the old town dodging the big groups off the cruise ships.

There are beautiful parks and historic buildings throughout the old town, so plenty of opportunities to rest awhile and just soak it all in. Wonderful!

We waited while a wedding party did numerous retakes of their 'spontaneous' wedding walk through the archway below. I guess it has to look perfect even though it's about the fifth take. Weddings of course are special, but there appeared to be little awareness of the public space wanting to be visited by so many others. After a waiting for several takes/retakes  we decided to get closer and enjoy the beautiful historic archway, we got a few shouts of 'tourist move' and few not so nice  sweary words from the blushing bride who, from the language expressed, may have been a sailor in a previous life🤭.

The public sculpture and monuments are stunning.

The old and new fortress were both slammed by cruise boat passengers so we may visit on a quieter day.

This is one gorgeous old town. You can certainly see why it's been visited, fought over and loved by so many over hundreds of years. 

A slow coastal stroll back to our cottage via the old marina - boat on the right has seen better days 😁. 

Ended the day with a glass of vino on our little terrace and had a great conversation about flowers with the little old lady across the lane - she spoke Greek, I spoke English and we understood each other perfectly 😁 ...the language of gardeners 💗.

From Tripoli to Kalamata

 (Usual waiver applies to grammar, typos, spelling as I'm posting via a small phone screen on the hoof 🤭, click on the pics to zoom in).

After finishing the terrific Menalon Trail we had May 4th,5th,6th in Tripoli - time to get the laundry done, a few holiday admin tasks and some R&R to give our calf muscles a well deserved break.  

We had a fantastic apartment with an equally fantastic shower - if you dropped the soap you had no problem picking it up😁. Some of the Greek bathrooms have the tiniest showers -  so tiny you're lucky if you can raise your elbows to wash your hair🙄.

Just outside our apartment was a church with a bell tower and it was actually quite pleasant to hear church bells ringing. On the last morning the bells had a special ring which we think meant the local market was on. 

The produce was beautiful and fresh - grapevine leaves to make dolmades, fresh fish, fresh herbs, artichokes, local honey and vinegars, old fashioned potatoes straight from the garden....not a pre-packaged plastic bag of potatoes in sight. 

Thursday 7th May we got the trusty KTLM bus to Kalamata. Fantastic comfy bus and great roads. We left the high altitude for the coast. As we came down into the valley you could see  the Kalamata olive orchards....as far as the eye could see. Surprisingly lush and green 👌

Kalamata has a population of 58,000 and felt like the big smoke after all the little mountain villages. It has H&M and Zara stores....so we certainly had left the quiet villages behind. There's an old town, new town and a port/marina. The old town has some fantastic street murals. 

The monuments and statuary to the history of the area is visible throughout the town.

Our first day proper in Kalamata was overcast so perfect for walking and exploring, not too hot.

 The old town has some wonderful old neo- classical architecture but much of it is in bad shape. You can tell it will be stunning once all restored.

It's a very walkable town and we walked back to the port/marina area where we decided to stay. We passed through the train park which was the original Kalamata stream train station and now serves as a green space for all the apartments close by. 

So glad we decided to stay at the Marina.

 It's only 20 mins walk from the old town but so restful and there's just something about being by the ocean.

The water is a gorgeous deep blue. 

The Port Authority is in a gracious old building on the quey with two Australian bottle brush trees out front 👌. 

There's still a working fishing fleet alongside the yachtie crowd and day cruisers.

When you're at the seaside it would be rude not to try the fresh seafood. We're working our way through the options. Shrimp, radichio Kalamata bruschetta 👌

Octopus on fava bean mash with lemon infused Kalamata olive oil.

Nothing fancy, just grilled anchovies and grilled octopus - sublime!

The marina and port cats are a bit of a sorry looking lot. They appear to work as a pack and for the first time ever I saw a bunch of cats working the marina tables as a team. I did spy some water bowls and cat kibble bowls further along the quey so some good person looks out for them. They have a high survival instinct - watched one hunt a skink sunning itself before it's demise.

I figured out why there were so many jet fighters buzzing about the mountains here. Kalamata has a Military international flight training center for advanced pilot training on M- 346 silver hawk  jets.  We saw them most days when we were high up in the mountain passes. Boy are they fast, loud and impressive. Germany and Croatia do their advanced pilot training here at allegedly €2.4m per pilot😯 as part of a NATO agreement (according to Google). Great income earner for Kalamata region. 

Three more days here in sunny Kalamata by the sea, can't complain 😁 😎.

Tripoli -Margarite Apartments

Kalamata - Ethereal Luxury Apartments 

Lagkadia

 (Usual waiver applies to grammar, typos, spelling as I'm posting via a small phone screen on the hoof 🤭, click on the pics to zoom in).

Our last day on the Menalon Trail. The forecast was for a high of 9°C and a low of -2°C and precipitation around 2pm. No wind though so we didn't have the wind chill factor like yesterday 🥶🥶🥶.

The lovely hostess at our hotel made us a gorgeous breakfast and sent us on our way with a package of her home made apple strudel. So kind and the best place on the trail! We set off and the sun was out and the sky was blue 👍. Awesome way to start the last day.

As we were on the climb out of Valtesiniko village I thought I heard someone calling my name and I looked back down the trail to see Talia! We had walked together for about three days. We actually started the trail together so it was nice to go full circle and finish the trail together. Talia has been hiking on her own, she's a gutsy lady.

 

We had to follow the green trail markers today and God bless the good folks that marked this section, it was really clear.

This last section of the Menalon Trail felt like a bit of every stage of the trail rolled into one, hard slog up hillsides, some farmers meadow's with spring flowers, forest paths soft underfoot, small stream crossings, boulder hopping, almond orchards, quarry remains, shale and rock challenges and magnificent views. We could see why it was so cold, check out the snow in the pic below. 

One small section had ropes for safety and I was glad of them, but it was pretty easy.

The views, when you caught your breath, were spectacular. 

I loved passing little monks and shepherds shelters. You could see how useful they would be in bad weather.

When we finally hauled our tired selves up the last ridge and we could see the final village of Lagkadia we had a "high five" moment! It was still at least an hour descent, but nice nonetheless to see it in view as the weather was starting to change.

This is where the green trail markers let us down, there was a big gap and  it was a bit confusing. The path  started to take you away from the village so after about a 10 minute backtrack on a sheep track we starting winding our way down and all was well. 

We passed an old waterwheel that used to power the village. It was steep going, nothing like one last challenge to close out the trail.

We could see the main village road was blocked by landslides....no cars in or out that road😲. We decided we'd work out our exit strategy after lunch, we needed rest and good food beside a fire. 

We found a great restaurant on the side of the canyon, the fire was on and our final lunch together was just perfect , chef's kiss👌. Check out the baklava.

 

Lagkadia has some groovy shops and a couple of good taverna. 

The kitty cats on this doorstep could sense the weather changing, clever creatures.

View out our hotel window after lunch and showers. Glad we finished the trail the time we did. Tomorrow, with no bus able to get to the village,  our hotel has arranged for a taxi to take us via a back road to a bus stop about 30 minutes away and we hope to get a bus to Tripoli - all part of the adventure!

Menalon Trail you have been fantastic. Challenging, beautiful, unique, quiet and unspoiled. It reminded us of the Camino Santiago back in the early days. It may gain in popularity but you really have to want to come to this special area, Arcadia in the Peloponesse. The monasteries are stunning, the food is divine - fresh, wholesome and good size portions for hiking. The locals have been lovely. The history of each village unique and fascinating. We only met six other hikers but they were good folks,  equally in awe of this adventure. We got a lift from the local police too ...a real adventure all round💗

Now we can give our calves a few days rest and recovery 😁 before......watch this space xx 💗

Lagkadia Four Seasons Hotel