Day 4: Monemvasia

Wednesday 22nd June 2022

A More Relaxed Pace Ahead

Today was the start of a more relaxed pace for the trip. With the only hike completed yesterday, there was no reason to leave Mystras too early. Ed and I met for breakfast just before nine and took our time eating. We both felt sore in the legs from yesterday, but I wasn’t quite as bad as I had expected.

We packed our bags back in the car and set off for Monemvasia around 10 a.m. We stopped for fuel as we passed through Sparti as the main road is packed with petrol stations, so it seemed like a good opportunity. The rest of the drive was stress-free, and sitting in the air-conditioned car felt like a welcome relief after climbing a mountain!

Same Place, Different Hotels

While booking accommodation for this trip, I had recommended a place in Monemvasia called Pramataris as it was reasonably priced and with good reviews. Ed ended up booking his room before I got around to it, resulting in him taking the last one and me having to find alternative lodgings! Fortunately, I found Hotel Filoxenia just a few buildings further down. It was a bit more expensive and didn’t include breakfast, so arguably not as good a deal, but it looked nice and was slightly more centrally located.

Arriving in Monemvasia just before Midday, we were again early to check in, but I stopped outside Ed’s hotel so he could go in and see if the room was ready. It was, so I left him there with his luggage while I found somewhere to park the car closer to my hotel. Unfortunately, my room wasn’t ready, and I was asked to give them another 30 minutes to get it sorted out. I needed to get online and check my work, so I grabbed my rucksack from the car and took it to the beach cafe operated by the hotel. I could access their wifi, so I had no issues catching up on work.

When I explained the situation to Ed, he came and joined me once he’d sorted his room out, and we sat for a while, Ed having a beer and me a Freddo Espresso coffee (making some effort to be professional while working and avoiding the morning beer!)

Too Hot to Sightsee

Today’s weather was warmer than any previous day of the trip, reaching 35 degrees, according to the forecast on my phone. It certainly felt hot sat at the beach, and we were grateful for the shade at the cafe and the gentle breeze from the sea.

Once I could access my room, I unloaded my luggage from the car and got settled in. Ed and I agreed that we would leave walking across the causeway to see Monemvasia until later in the afternoon, hoping it would have cooled down a bit. I spent a few hours in the room relaxing and catching up on work and this blog then took a cool shower and dressed for the evening.

At 5 p.m., it was still pretty hot, but we didn’t want to waste more of the day hiding from the sun. We began the walk across the causeway to the central historical part of Monemvasia. It took about 40 minutes to reach the outer wall that encircles the village on the southeast side of the hill.

We were glad to finally reach the outer wall of the village, especially as it was more shaded once we hit the narrow streets. Before tackling the climb to the top of the rock, we found a bar and sat on the small balcony with a beer to relax and recover from the sweaty walk.

More Climbing (Sort of)

We finished our drinks and decided to get to the top of the rock and see the ruins and views. My legs started to rebel at the prospect of more hill climbing, made worse by the shiny cobblestones that offered little grip. Fortunately, it didn’t take long to reach the top and return to some level ground again.

The ruins at the top aren’t overly well signposted, but we had a good time exploring the sights. It takes quite a while to reach the front of the rock that overlooks the mainland part of the resort, but it’s worth it for the fantastic views:

Dinner Time

Getting back to ground level proved to be quite a challenge. Not only were the slippery cobblestones even more hazardous coming down but my hips and knees had started aching again from all the recent exertion. By the time we reached the bottom, we were both hobbling severely!

Before heading back across the causeway, we wanted to stop and enjoy another drink, so we found a cocktail bar called Enetiko, where Ed had some Ouzo and I had a strawberry daiquiri. By the time we got back to the mainland, it was nearly 8:30 p.m., and we were hungry. I’d found an Italian restaurant online called Da Savatino, which was just around the harbour from our hotels. The meal was delicious: I had rigatoni with ham and mushrooms in a cream sauce, while Ed had penne with vegetables in a tomato sauce. We shared 0.5ltr of wine and chatted as we ate.

It was almost 11 p.m. when we left the restaurant, but it had been a great day. We strolled back to our hotels, and I immediately fell asleep.

Next stop… Elafonisos!