Finikounda - Kalo Nero

Saturday, 10.06.2023

Our destination today is Gialova. A small village in the Bay of Navarino. On October 20, 1827, almost the entire Turkish-Egyptian fleet anchored in a semicircle here, with 89 ships and 2438 cannons. The Greeks' liberation struggle was to be thwarted from here. When the mass deportations and atrocities committed by the Turks became known, the Allied forces of England, France, and Russia sent their fleet (a total of 27 predominantly heavy battleships with 1276 cannons) to the Greek waters to issue a threat. Most likely out of panic, the first shot came from a Turkish ship and within minutes triggered the final major naval battle with sailing ships. It is hard to imagine how all the sailing ships could fit in the bay. Shooting at each other from the closest distance without room for maneuvering, chaos ensued with exploding ships, burning wrecks, corrosive smoke clouds, and flying sparks. By dawn, only 29 of the Turkish ships remained in the water, while the losses of the Allies were minimal (I transcribed this text from the WoMo series, volume 19).

We cycle about 5 km to Divarios Beach and hike up to Paleokastro, a castle ruin, in 20 minutes. The path is partly very narrow, rocky, and overgrown. Spiders have spun very large webs along the way, with several not quite small versions of themselves sitting in them. Every time I pass under one, I fixate on the spiders, hoping they are not jumping spiders, and then turn around to see if they are all still in their place... Once we reach the top, we walk around the collapsed castle walls, which is sometimes quite risky as it is occasionally a narrow ridge and steep on both sides. A little surefootedness is required... We also find the viewpoint from which you have a wonderful view of the beautiful Ochsenbauch Bay. Truly beautiful!

Back at the bicycles, we head back to the camper van. We had planned to stay one night in Gialova, but we don't really like it here, so we go for a swim in the Ochsenbauch Bay (Voidokilia) and then continue to Kalo Nero with a short stop in Marathopoli where we find a great spot on the beach... And also a good restaurant and then we experience a great sunset! Happy anniversary!

By the way, today I also completed the tourist triathlon: cycling, hiking, and swimming...