Tripoli and Mystras

We decided to post up in Tripoli on our trip to the Peloponnese because it’s fairly centrally located to a few of the places we thought we might like to visit. We decided we didn’t want to have to pack up and move more than once during the trip. We got there on a Monday afternoon during siesta, and it honestly felt pretty dead and quiet. I was unsure if I appreciated its vibes, but we had a cute room with a fireplace. Tripoli’s only job was to be our home base.

It turns out Monday is just not THE DAY there, and I ended up really liking it there after a few evenings. The people are wonderful. They don’t all speak English, and a lot of the restaurants do not have menus in English. But all things are possible with a translator app and a smile.

I obviously made Joshua build me a fire every night. It’s been rainy since we’ve been home, and I am still working on washing the smoke smell from our clothing. Worth it!

While I was “researching” things to do by the seat of my pants (google maps zooming) on our first night in Tripoli, I found the Archeological Site of Mystras, which is just outside of Sparta. Yes, that Sparta. One review said it was the coolest ancient site they’d ever seen, so we made a plan to go there on our way to check out Kalamata the next day.

To say we were blown away would be an understatement. I’m not here to teach you about history, but click here to learn about it. I felt like we stumbled into a lost city. There weren’t many other people there, and it was eerie and dreamy.

It’s hard to believe that the last inhabitants moved out in the 1950s.

You could actually go in quite a few of the dwellings, and there are several old churches and a palace!

We saw a decent amount of the site, but decided to save some for later. We want to go back with Felix someday. It was quite a bit of hiking around, and we were starting to lose steam. There’s a fortress on the top of the mountain to look forward to next time.

The only thing the place seemed to be missing was cats, and then I found some outside the little museum and church! This guy was very soft.

We then drove through some absolutely majestic mountains to get to Kalamata, where we had fancy cocktails. We walked around some, but everything was closed, either for the season or for siesta. We thought about staying for dinner, but we weren’t feeling the vibes there. I did get some gifts at a cute little honey and olive oil shop. It said they were open, and when we got there they were not. We were about to head to the car when a lady cruised up and told me to wait a moment. She opened the shop and helped me pick out some honeys and jams. She was a delightful lady.

I probably have one more post in me about our trip. I’m going to set myself a schedule so I’m not such a lazy blogger! Hahaha!

Anyway, as previously stated, life has been someone soggy since our return, but this is great news. It’s blowing my mind seeing the landscape greening up and flowers starting to bloom IN DECEMBER. One of my friends said I can expect it to look like spring around here in a couple of weeks, and I am very much looking forward to that!