Greetings from Greece
Greetings once again from my father’s balcony in beautiful Mystras, Greece. As I type, about six cats are lurking around the table in the hope of a tidbit, and I can hear the neighbour’s goat bleating and a cockerel crowing.
The highlight of this visit has been wildflowers as the countryside is bursting with them in such abundance. The birds song is almost deafening and the bees are in full action.
Our first excursion was to the depths of the Mani. Spring is the time to visit as it is baking in the summer. We had lunch in a fish taverna in Limani by the water’s edge and watched as the taverna owner negotiated his daily purchase with the fisherman on his boat.
We then drove east over the hilltop and were plunged into deep cloud. The wild flowers were just spectacular and as usual my long-suffering family had to put up with me yelling “Stop the car!” so I could leap out and take a photo.
We decided to to take a walk along the beach but soon came face to face with a herd of frisky bullocks on the water’s edge so beat a hasty retreat back to the car!
Yesterday we drove up to Mount Parnon to visit some of the mountain villages and stopped in Tzitzinas which was completely deserted apart from one man planting potatoes. The houses are mainly well looked after which made it all a bit eerie – but my father tells me the town is full of life in the summer. Greeks don’t like being cold!
We took a long walk up a steep mountain path passing terraces of glowing red anemones and purple wild irises. I even spotted a few yellow ones which I gather are pretty rare.
On our descent we encountered a wild tortoise walking casually down the mountain. I was thrilled to see it as they are becoming increasingly rare to come across as people steal them. 😞
Wishing everyone a wonderful bank holiday weekend,
