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Stoupa and the Peloponnese for the first time
Gythio Review: |
Date posted: Oct 08, 2009
Posted by: Ginaelaine
Times Viewed: 216
More: Gythio
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We returned from our very 1st trip to Stoupa in July- and only 4 days into our holiday...... We booked to return next July!! We rented a perfect 1 bedroomed house just a few minutes stroll from the beach/harbour - we had a kitchen/living room downstairs, a bedroom, balcony and bathroom on the first floor and an outside spiral staircase to the roof terrace.
The flight with T. Cook went as well as a flight with T. Cook can - we arrived in record time due to a very strong 134 mph tail wind! It took just over 2 1/2 hours - a personal best according to the pilot! Our bags arrived quickly, we collected the hire car and were on our way within just over 30 from landing. It was a pleasure to land at such a clean and efficient airport - compared to others that shall remain nameless!!
We had directions to drive from Kalamata to Stoupa and they proved to be spot on - the only thing that we found was instead of taking just over an hour, the drive took us just over an hour and a half - because we kept stopping to take photographs!!
We - eventually - found our house, after a phonecall to the local contact and quicky unpacked the essentials - swimwear, towels, suncream and cash before setting off to find some lunch. We were both rather hungry, and so we stopped at the first harbourside taverna we came across, and what a good choice it was! We have been visiting Greece several times a year since 1997, and I can honestly say that ALL the food we had in Stoupa was by far the best we have ever had in Greece - quality, quantity and price! We had found our favourite lunchtime taverna - Akrogiali - and had most of our leisurely lunches there, washed down with a jug or two of excellent house red. We then wanted to swim, swim, swim and we did just that! It was so warm we were still on the beach at 7.30 pm, and it made a pleasant change for the sun beds and umbrellas to be free! We eventually dragged ourselves away from the beach to shower and change for dinner, and after walking the full length of the bay, we settled down to eat in Liastres, overlooking the bay. Another excellent choice, with great food, great views and friendly, efficient service - so much so that we ate there several nights during our stay.
The next morning we drove to Agios Nicholas, which is a very pretty little harbour with lots of waterside tavernas and fishing boats. Many photographs later we drove back past Stoupa to Kardamilli beach for a refreshing swim from the pebble beach before heading back to Stoupa for lunch. More swimming followed lunch and then drinks in Angeliki before dinner again at Liastres.
Up early Tuesday and off to the famous Diros Caves. The drive down was lovely, passing through some lovely traditional Mani villages (more photo stops!!) and amazing scenery. The caves were commercialised, but not overly so. I purchased my ticket and waited for the next boat. What can I say - the caves were amazing, like something out of fairyland with stalactites and stalagmites wherever I looked - my poor camera went into overdrive! All too soon the magical boat ride was over and it was time to walk the last few metres back to the outside world. It was so hot outside after the cool of the caves, that it was time for yet another swim, before visiting the little church above the beach. We then headed back to Akrogiali for lunch before spending a lazy afternoon on the beach. That night we had dinner in Pefki before walking along the bay to Enigma for late night drinks.
Wednesday morning saw a very hot walk to Kalogria beach for a swim, but we found it a bit too busy for our liking, so we headed back to our fav taverna for lunch. This was followed by another lazy afternoonn on the beach, drinks in Angeliki and dinner at Liastres.
I have forgotten to mention that most evenings we watched the sunset from our roof terrace, which was lovely. It was one of the only times we were able to sit up there for any length of time as it was so hot!
Another early start on Thursday saw us heading towards Kalamata to find the mountain road to Sparti. We had hoped to turn off before we hit the town, but we missed the turning and had to brave the town and all the traffic! I won't go into details, but 30 stressful minutes and a couple of wrong turns later, we were on the right road!! And what an amazing road it was - a real mountain drive with hairpin bends, deep gorges and cut away rocks and a tunnel! Words do not do it justice - it has to be driven to be appreciated. We took a detour to visit the Byzantine settlement of Mystras, which was incredible - had to fit a new camera battery!! There were churches, palaces and other ruins all over the hillside with a huge fortress at the top. It was very hot again that day, and so we were only able to walk around just about half of all that was there - we will return next year to see more. We continued our drive through Sparti to Gythio and beyond to a wide sandy beach for a swim before lunch and a drive back along the coast to Stoupa (avoiding Kalamata!!) and dinner at Akrogiali.
Agios Dimitrios and Trachila were our destinations the next morning - both vey pretty harbours with lots of friendly cats to photograph! Back to Akrogiali for lunch and then out in kayaks to explore the sea cave between Stoupa and Kalogria beach. Dinner again at Liastres and then a slow stroll back home along the beach in the early hours!
Our last full day arrived all too soon, and we set off to explore the mountain villages behind Stoupa. We drove through Kastania, Sidona and Exochori - stopping for goats a couple of times - before dropping back down to the coast road near Kardamilli. We had a final lunch in Akrogiali, did some more swimming and went out in a double kayak - taking the video camera this time! Muggins here was in the front doing all the work while Chris sat in the back filming! We wanted to go back to the sea cave, but the sea was a bit too rough, so we had to be content with filming Kalogria and Stoupa from the sea! We had our last dinner in Liastres and said goodbye to the two lovely hardworking waiters there - with promises to return again next year!
We had to leave for the airport by 10.00 am, so we were up bright and early to pack. Half way through packing, at about 8.00 am we both decided to go for one last swim and it was fantastic!! We had a good drive back to Kalamata and a reasonable flight home. Once again, the airport ws very efficient and the reps friendly - even though we were independent travellers! Landing at LGW was a bit scary, as there was a very strong head wind!
We have since decided we can't wait until July, and so have booked a week in May as well!!!
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