Tolo - Valtaki Beach

Thursday, 01/06/2023

Today we have a slightly longer drive ahead of us, we want to go across the country over the mountains towards Mani and take a look at Sparta. I'm a bit worried because I tend to get sick on very curvy roads, but the concerns are unfounded. The road is really well built, no comparison to the highways in southern Italy! We quickly go uphill, past rugged cliffs, the roadside is lush with oleander in full bloom, the higher we go it is replaced by yellow blooming broom. Although nets are stretched on the rock walls to catch falling rocks and smaller debris, some still manage to reach the roadside, which I find somewhat worrying. Suddenly we see something crawling a bit ahead on the road: a turtle! I ask Martin to stop, he briefly weighs whether the life of the turtle or the danger of getting hit by a rock on the roof is more important, but then decides for the turtle. He stops and I run back, and I think turtles would make good seismographs, even before I reach her, she already starts retracting. I carry her a little bit into the undergrowth across the road, she thanks me by hissing, but I forgive her for that... We drive through very small and cute places, all of them making a very clean and tidy impression. Shortly before Tripoli we reach a high plateau, which is lushly green, a completely different picture than before. After a while we reach Sparta, which interests us simply because of its historical significance (Wanderer, kommst du nach Sparta and so on...), the excavations are interesting, but not groundbreaking, and we are rather disappointed by the "new" Sparta, more could definitely be done there. The square in front of the neoclassical town hall, designated as the most beautiful square in the city, is definitely not more beautiful than the sports field in Ettlingenweier!

6 kilometers away from Sparta lies the ruined city of Mystras. In the 13th century, this was a cultural center and later even the capital. After numerous looting and destruction, Mystras was abandoned and a new city was built on the site of ancient Sparta. If we had done our research properly beforehand, we could have driven to the entrance of the ruins and then visited them. So we trudge up the road from today's Mystras, which consists only of a few houses and taverns, in the midday heat (it can't be much further, come on, just one more turn up ahead) and we are very heated and exhausted when we reach the entrance. The city is spread out over 300 steep meters, of course we also have to pay admission and so we decide against it, take some photos from the outside and start our descent.

We have chosen Valtaki Beach as today's overnight spot. There lies the shipwreck Dimitrios, which broke loose during a storm in December 1981 in the port of Gythio and stranded on Valtaki Beach. It has been there ever since, rusting away and is a popular photo motif. Behind the dune on the beach is a simple parking lot in the sand (so not a designated campground), where some motorhomes are already parked, so we simply park next to them and feel young, wild and free... Right next door is a nice restaurant that we will visit in the evening...