Tag 78-80 - This is Sparta!

Since the weather in Leonidio has been letting us down for a few days and we're weaklings who didn't have the skin or strength to climb despite two rest days, we decided to seek our salvation in some culture.

Interestingly enough, on the first day we found ourselves in front of closed doors twice, because in Greece, apparently attractions close at 3 pm in winter.

The next day, we were wiser and forced ourselves to get up extra early in order to explore the Peloponnese beyond Leonidio. As culture in Greece goes, it mainly consists of ruins – ancient ruins, Byzantine ruins, Ottoman ruins, ruins of ruins – which we won't bore you with in detail today.

Just so much: we visited the fortress and city of Mystras (lots of ruins), ancient Sparta (not so many ruins), Messene (surprisingly intact ruins), and a castle in Pylos (particularly angular ruins).

No wonder the fairytale and deserted beach Voidikilias stands out so much this time of year. It is one of the countless beaches along the coast around Pylos and with its shallow blue water, it truly invites you to swim. Shielded by rocks and accessible through a small opening, it is the perfect natural swimming pool.

Our drive over the Langada Pass from Kalamata to Sparta was also very impressive. The road winds up to 1300 meters and is hardly traveled. Thanks to the blue sky, we had a great view and were able to enjoy the scenery of the rocks. Gretchen also got her share of adventure, as the road runs directly below rocks that have been roughly blasted away.

After we had already passed the highest point, a Greek woman asked us if there had been black ice today, which apparently is not uncommon on the pass. Whoops. (No, we haven't learned anything since Olympus.)

As you drive down towards Sparta, on the left you'll find the spot where the Spartans used to throw down the male infants who were too weak for the harsh life in Sparta.

Generally, Sparta was probably one of the few places of that age where it was advantageous to be a girl. The boys who, after passing the first hurdle, hadn't ended up in the gorge, were torn away from their families at the tender age of seven and were then raised by the state in the so-called "Agoge" for military service. This included rigorous training, combat games, education, and many hardening measures. Among other things, the boys were whipped, with the bravest one receiving an offering for the gods. They were also deliberately given little food to get used to hunger and be encouraged to steal. Finally, at the age of 20, they entered active military service and were considered full-fledged citizens of Sparta at the age of 30 – if they had survived until then.

The girls, on the other hand, were also raised by the state, but this was not focused on combat training, but mainly on physical and mental fitness. The girls learned to read and write and were not supposed to marry before the age of 20. However, if they did, they had to live for a while with shaved heads and in men's clothing, so as not to frighten the Spartiates who lived in exclusively male groups until marriage. (Sorry, I sneaked in a short history passage there.)

Accordingly, we are both quite glad that we only have to deal with our own luxury problems of today. And what is our luxury problem number 1?

Right, our charging booster, which is acting up again. Only when we realized that our charging booster was not charging our auxiliary battery as intended, was it almost empty and we spent a few evenings by candlelight out of necessity. Tomorrow we are heading back to Leonidio, where we will also tackle this problem.

Until then, candlelight on!