Sunday, January 24, 2016
Hello!
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| Loved the ceiling! |
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| Add caption |
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| We shared the wonderful sauteed mushrooms |
Dinner last night, at the Chromata Restaurant, was excellent – who knew there would be good
food at literally, the back of beyond up a mountain? We didn’t!
BUT! - One of the things of which I have always been frightened is going
off a cliff. I remember when I was about
7 or 8 and visiting relatives in Pittsburgh, they had an apartment in a
building with a very steep driveway, and I refused categorically to go down it.
My folks would have to stop at the top and let me out, and then drive
the car down to the parking. Well, last
night’s drive to the restaurant was AWFUL,
and it wasn’t that far away. I have
dealt with traffic and cars all over the world – Rome, Paris, London – but
driving up a VERY steep road with these
incredible switchbacks, where even with a small car, you couldn’t turn it
without stopping and backing up first, was the worst. I somehow managed to get us to the
restaurant, and that was it. Literally,
I was walking home. That left poor
Robert, who hasn’t really driven this trip, to get into a new car (manual
transmission) and get down the hill.
Fortunately, he was up to the challenge, which I most decidedly was
not. So…on to the restaurant.
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| R's pork medallions with potatoes |
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| My braised beef on mashed potatoes |
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| R's fabulous orange cake! |
First of all, it was small – about 10 tables, and it was
still decorated for Christmas. Some
clever person used their beamed ceiling to put up lots and lots of pine
branches. Then, hung from the branches
were all sorts of white, red and white and red ornaments. It was spectacular! It actually got me
wondering if we could somehow do an arrangement of branches like that in our
living room … but obviously, not a great idea… There was also a wood burning
stove in the room, which finally got going so that they could close the front
door; it was arctic! And, while we got
there about 8:05 pm, we were, of course, still the first folks there.
They had a nice selection of starters and mains. We decided to share a starter of sautéed
mushrooms with local olive oil and honey – and they were amazing! Robert is now more determined than ever to
develop some mushroom recipes of our own when we get home. For the main course, R ordered pork which was
perfectly but not over-cooked, which came with fried potato slices (which were
great). I had their beef braised in wine
and served over a bed of mashed potatoes sprinkled with pomegranate seeds. For dessert, I had vanilla ice cream and R
had to order their “orange cake.” We
weren’t sure what to expect, but it turns out the orange cake was what we had
been given our first evening at 3Sixty. It was terrific! For the record, I just Googled Greek Orange Cake and found that there
is no alcohol in it at all (R was convinced there was) – it’s basically orange
juice and orange zest, Greek yogurt, phyllo dough and a few other things. We may have to try that at home too!
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| View this morning from our balcony |
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| Mountains to cross |
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| So we did! |
By this time, almost 9 pm, the restaurant was beginning to
fill up, so out we went into the c-o-l-d.
Robert did a fabulous job of getting the car down the hill. As I said, I walked. End of story!
(While I’m thinking of it, a few words about our lovely
apartment. It is c-o-l-d and it is
basically cast concrete! I realized that
the second time I ran into the bed, and nothing – and I mean nothing –
moved! I think it’s possible that no one
has stayed here in the past week or so, and everything got really, really
cold. R had the heat cranked up to 30
(86) degrees but it never got over 22 (71).
Now normally 71 would be way too warm, but with the floors, walls and
counters in concrete and cold, it really took a long time for things to warm
up. Robert was such a hero last
night! He volunteered to warm up my side
of the bed, and I love him for it! (For
other things too, but that was special!)
More later, as we’re off to the western shore of the Peloponnese!
m
xxx
A site-less day!!
We’ve decided that we deserve a day off, and that the drive
over the mountains from Sparta to Kalamata would be enough excitement for
us. So…
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| Down to sea level once again |
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| The view around Pylos! |
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| Pylos harbor |
Up about 6 this morning, to finally, a warm and snug cozy
flat. R made a wonderful wood fire last
night in the wood burning stove in the living room after we got home from
dinner. I was so tired that basically I
came back and went straight to bed – but I did watch the fire for a couple of
minutes, and it was great!
Our hostess brought our breakfast to the room around 8:30
am. We had some wonderful grilled ham
and cheese sandwiches, as well as bread, homemade jams, cake and orange
juice. I did up the dishes in the
kitchen afterwards, and we were ready to head out.
This morning’s route was to take us from Sparta to Kalamata, which is on the coast.
Problem was, there was this HUGE
mountain range in between us that we had to cross on very narrow and winding
roads. As R said, it would have made him
feel better to see a car coming in the opposite direction, but that didn’t
happen until we actually reached the summit of the mountain. There was snow alongside the road, and water
on the road and, with the freezing temperatures last night, I really took my
time, as I didn’t want to run into any black ice unexpectedly. Eventually we started down again, and both of
us took big sighs of relief not to have run into any problems. (Traveling in the winter can bring up a whole
host of difficulties you didn’t think about!)
We made it into Kalamata,
which is a really big city, and then downhill all the way to the coast at Pylos.
Pylos is where some wonderful discoveries
were made this past October, when a group headed by the University of
Cincinnati found an unrobbed and rich Mycenaean
tomb on their very first day digging! Obviously nothing has yet been published
or exhibited about the findings, but it is a really exciting place!
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| View of Methodi beach near our room! |
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| More Methodi beach |
From Pylos we
turned south to Methoni, where our
place tonight – Niirides Villas -- is
located. As the booking confirmation
contained the GPS coordinates, Robert and Emmy were able to get us within about
50 feet of the place, and we could see it from there. We checked in and were shown to our little
guest house. It’s a largish place with a
full kitchen and dining table, as well as a nice patio with a long view to the
water. As it appears that we are the ONLY folks in town tonight, other than
the owners, we were shown to our little villa very quickly.
It’s nice and new – still smells like fresh paint! And it
took a while to get the heat turned on, as well as the television. They actually have BBC World and one other channel in English, but again, no Eurosport…darn it! I am destined NOT to have any sports this trip!
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| Our veggies, mostly zucchini |
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| We both had chicken and potatoes |
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| The baklava was fantastic! |
We got things moved in, and then decided that food was our
first priority. So, out and into the
small town of Methoni. At first appearances, it looked like we were
going to be out of luck, because the only place that we could tell was open was
very smoke-filled and not an option.
However, Niko’s Taberna (Niko’s Tavern) across the street had its
lights on, and when R tried the door, it actually opened! And they were serving lunch, even though
there was only one other man in the room.
They led us directly into the kitchen, where the opened the
oven and the pots on the stove to tell us what they had. We both selected some wonderful looking
chicken with potatoes, and a plate of veggies.
Not sure if it was just because we were hungry, but the food was
great. Definitely home-made, and very
tasty. We each cleaned our plates. For dessert, we got small pieces of baklava, which was wonderful; I’ve never
enjoyed it so much! On the way back to Niirides, I just did what everybody else
did, and instead of touring around the back roads trying to get into town,
drove down the beach and through a small river and up the other side! Who knew?!
We are now back at our little villa and taking the rest of
the afternoon (it’s already 3:15 pm) off!
That hair-raising drive over the mountains this morning was adventure
enough for us for one day!
Tomorrow, we’re heading north up the coast to Olympia!
More later!
m
xxx
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