Today is my last full day in Greece and I have already started the journey back home to Cirencester.
After breakfast this morning I left the hotel and went down to the beach for one last morning by the sea. I’d not swum at Finikounda yet so needed to correct that. I had a lovely couple of hours at the beach, got bitten by a fish, swam in the sea, sunbathed….
Before leaving Finikounda I had some lunch and browsed the tourist shops (needed to get a couple of things). Then I got in the car to drive back towards Athens.
The first third of the journey took about an hour and a half. My first stop was in the city of Καλαμάτα (Kalamata); In the Peloponnese it is one of the largest cities – second only to Πάτρα (Patra). I parked close to the city centre and went to visit the rather unique ‘Δημοτικό Πάρκο Σιδηροδρόμων (Municipal Railway Park)‘; An open air museum containing old trains. The old Kalamata Railway Station building is now a cafe.
From Kalamata I got back in the car and got on the motorway. From Kalamata it took 1 hour 40 minutes to reach Ισθμία (Isthmia), where I drove over the small bridge over the Corinth Canal. At this point I waved goodbye to the Peloponnese – entering the Αττική (Attica) region in which Athens is located.
From the canal it took me 1 hour 16 minutes to get to my final overnight stop of the holiday; Πόρτο Ράφτη (Porto Rafti), a short distance from the city centre, and is a popular coastal tourist resort. Compared to the Peloponnese it was busy.
I’m in an AirB&B tonight, about 1km from the sea front. I drove down to the sea this evening and had lovely meatballs with chips & feta cheese at a restaurant which was recommended to me by my host, Tasos. I ate at Φύκι Φύκι.
Tomorrow I fly back to London and then drive back to Cirencester so it will be a long day. If I get up early enough, I might go down to the beach before I leave.
Kαληνύχτα,
Φρεντ.
