{"id":3039,"date":"2011-11-13T15:54:37","date_gmt":"2011-11-13T15:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/?p=3039"},"modified":"2012-04-26T11:27:08","modified_gmt":"2012-04-26T11:27:08","slug":"1-night-nafplio-dimitsana-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/?p=3039","title":{"rendered":"1 Night Nafplio, Dimitsana 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dimitsana - mountain village in the Peloponnese's<\/p><\/div>\n

It is now almost three days since our return from holidays, however, with Internet woes, up until now I have been unable to write and post a Blog about our travels so I trust my memory will serve me well.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Left the house around 0900 hours last Monday to meet Raymond and Heather for coffee at the harbour … we were catching the 1000 hours ferry to Kosta, from\u00a0where we would set off in their black metallic Jaguar on our journey – travelling in real comfort and style.\u00a0 First stop – the Cavernous Churches of Ayios Georgios – Metamorphosis, where you enter what is like a caldera through a cave and inside the caldera, are two little churches … an amazing place.\u00a0 Our next stop would be for a late breakfast – hilltop location high above New Epidavros with spectacular views … a pity about the haze on an otherwise beautiful day for this time of the year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our destination that day was to be the old city of Nafplio … the first capital of modern Greece, a seaport town in the Peloponnese’s,\u00a0overlooked by the castle of Palamidi.\u00a0 After finding a Parking lot down by the waterfront, we walked with our luggage to check in at the Ilion Hotel located on the hill just beyond Syntagma Square.\u00a0 The former residence of a 19th Century Mayor, the hotel now filled with antique furniture from the owner’s personal collection.\u00a0 A unique and quirky place … each room with a theme, painted in bold, warm colours with murals, paintings, prints, objets d’art, curios and collect-ables everywhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That afternoon, looking out to Bourtzi Castle, we sat having drinks in the sun on the waterfront.\u00a0 After an early evening siesta, we ventured out once more … this time to Alaloum Restaurant for dinner, where the portions were huge and the food delicious.\u00a0 In the Chef’s Salad – of particular note, the tastiest of tomatoes …\u00a0Grilled Mushrooms to die for … Soutzoukakia (spicy oblong meatballs in red sauce) and much more – we\u00a0definitely over ordered, however, it was a meal to remember.\u00a0 Then a walk to\u00a0‘O Lathos’ (Mistake) Bar which Costas had been to\u00a0before … almost impossible to describe, full of junk and memorabilia collected I would imagine over many years by the rather sombre, stony faced owner\/operator.\u00a0 Many of the bits and bobs were\u00a0somehow remotely controlled and would move at the press of a button … including a table which moved just as a patron was about to pick up their drink – unbelievable stuff!\u00a0 I want to take my son Dave there one day – I know he would love it!\u00a0 Finished our evening off at Allotino … my friend Doreen and I stayed in the Traditional Pension above in 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tuesday morning, after a soak in our Jacuzzi,\u00a0Costas and I had Room Service Breakfast on our balcony.\u00a0 Delivered to the room on a trolley, everything from Rose Liqueur made by the hotel owner,\u00a0orange juice,\u00a0yummy bread, ham, cheese, hard boiled eggs, yogurt and honey, homemade preserves and coffee.\u00a0 It was another beautiful day and following a walk around the old town, by midday we were once again on the road …\u00a0through Argos and Tripoli and the mountains, heading for the small village of Dimitsana.\u00a0 We had made a booking at the Koustenis Village Resort … an assortment of stone buildings, our rooms were side-by-side, upstairs, fireplaces and\u00a0with balconies overlooking the Lousios Gorge.\u00a0 A little further out from Dimitsana than we had expected, however, the family owners were more than happy to drive us to the village … we would walk back in the early hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That first afternoon, our first lift up to the beautiful traditional village of Dimitsana … with its stone built houses and at an altitude of 1000 metres.\u00a0 We walked around the cobble-stoned streets taking photographs and the other three (not for me) climbed up the spiral staircase of the Bell Tower for even greater views.\u00a0 A delicious lunch at ‘Sto Kioupi’ Restaurant followed by drinks at the only place we could find … a cake shop come cafe (both with fireplaces) then a ride back to our hotel for an early evening siesta.\u00a0 That evening we returned to ‘Sto Kioupi’ for dinner, back to the cake shop for a drink or two and discovered their Portokalopita (Orange Pie) which was simply out of this world!\u00a0 The light of the moon helped us find our way home,\u00a0laughing or singing for most of the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wednesday dawned … we could not believe our luck – yet again, gloriously sunny and warm weather.\u00a0 After breakfast we checked out the family’s\u00a0animal ‘zoo’ and the nearby Open-Air Water Power Museum.\u00a0 In the 18th Century, Dimitsana was a commercial centre and it flourished during the years, up to and including the Greek War of Independence in 1821.\u00a0 It’s\u00a0position on the Lousios Gorge meant that water was available to power mills that were involved in the production of flour, animal skins, metal works and most importantly, gunpowder, without which the Greek freedom fighters would have been doing a lot less.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back to the hotel and into the Jaguar for a tiki tour, stopping first at the village of Paliohora where we saw a Lotus Tree.\u00a0 Continuing down into the Lousios Gorge along a winding road, the autumn colours were stunning … across the Lousios River and up the other side, on to the Monastery of Panagia Tou Filosophou.\u00a0 After a while, a\u00a0monk came out to greet us, inviting us into the reception area for a drink of water and\u00a0loukoumi (Turkish delight) sweet.\u00a0 Unfortunately, he had a pronounced speech impediment and as he spoke to us in his very best English about the history of the Monastery, I\u00a0had an uncontrollable fit of the giggles.\u00a0 I could not stop … Costas was telling me to go outside, however, I thought that would be even more insulting – I was so embarrassed!\u00a0 The Lousios Gorge hides a number\u00a0of secluded monasteries along it’s walls\u00a0… they became centres of resistance and education during the years up to the Greek War of Independence.\u00a0 After travelling down, up and around the mountains, we eventually arrived back in Dimitsana for a light lunch, back to the hotel for a siesta followed by a repeat of the evening before … ride up to the village, dinner at ‘Sto Kioupi’, drinkies at the cake shop and a walk home – singing and laughing along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Thursday morning following breakfast\u00a0(another amazing day – 32 degrees at 1100 hours) we set off via an alternative route heading back to Spetses.\u00a0 While the car was being washed and cleaned, we had lunch in Porto Heli, drove the short distance to Kosta, caught a sea taxi at 1630 hours and\u00a0back to the island.\u00a0 A great\u00a0time was had by\u00a0us all\u00a0…\u00a0yet more\u00a0wonderful memories I will have forever!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is now almost three days since our return from holidays, however, with Internet woes, up until now I have been unable to write and post a Blog about our travels so I trust my memory will serve me well.\u00a0 Left the house around 0900 hours last Monday to meet Raymond and Heather for coffee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3039"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3044,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3039\/revisions\/3044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.itisallgreek2me.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}