Day 8: Medieval Monemvasia!
In the morning we took a 5-minute shuttle bus across the bridge to an old rock portal gate. Beyond was the magical old town of Monemvasia. We noticed every good has to be carted into town with hand trucks or mules because of the narrow, cobblestoned corridors. The town originally housed 1,000. Aristocrats lived on top, commoners occupied the bottom. Now there's only about 10 residents.
After the initial busy few hundred feet through the main road, the path opened into a wide courtyard with a bell tower and paths leading in several directions. We crossed under a stone archway and followed one of the winding paths down to a portal through the stone walls to the Aegean Sea. In the white shirt and blue shorts is our terrific guide Dafni.
In another direction we reached the lighthouse at the furthest point of the island. Several from our group climbed to the top of the rock. It was a little too hot for our family, we walked through the main town instead. Pretty shops had a wide array of souvenirs. Leo bought a hand crafted chessboard made of olive wood, Rachel beautiful fabric runners with printed palm trees and local artisan jewelry.
After shopping, the main old town lunch options were fairly crowded. We went back to the new town and ate at Souvlaki Luke. Everything was tasty and well-priced.
Aegean Sea
We dropped off bags, grabbed towels, and headed back down the steep hill to the Aegean Sea. The wide rocky beach created a striking frame of the Monemvasia rock. From the water you can really appreciate its massive scale. The sea was a refreshingly cool 72 degrees. We floated in the calm waters as the afternoon heat passed away.
Getting out of the water onto the rocky beach was a challenge, even with water sandals. The small, pointy rocks flooded under our feet, making for painful steps. It was manageable after some effort, but we had a few, can we get out of the water? moments!
Group Cooking Class
At 5pm the group gathered for a cooking class at the hotel. Several volunteers from our group acted as sous chef to make dishes - moussaka, chickpea patties, tzatziki sauce and baklava. We discovered this was to be our dinner and dessert, which added to the entertainment and banter with the volunteers to make sure they did a good job preparing the food!
The cooking class led into dinner being served at the hotels covered outdoor dining area. Hey, we're pretty good cooks! We talked for hours into the night with other tour members. Dafni shared stories and we chatted about movies, music and more.
