We have finally moved on from Camping Koroni. The site really grew on us and we stayed a little longer than we had intended. It was so well situated for the lovely little town of Koroni and the Easter celebrations and we have had a truly relaxing time there.
The next three days or so are going to be exploring the Mani peninsular. The Mani apparently has quite a reputation. Geographically it is a mountainous ridge, rising to over 7,000 feet, which is still snow capped at this time of year. It forms the middle of the three peninsulars which jut out from the south of the Peloponnese.
The reason for its reputation or even notoriety stems from the fact that the Mani was never really conquered and controlled for 2,000 years. The Dorian Greeks, the Romans, the Venetians nor the Ottomans every really subdued this area of Greece. Furthermore it is infamous for its blood feuds which carried on into the late 19th Century.
The area was made up of clans and feuds could break out between them that could only be ended either by the complete annihilation of one clan by the other or their total submission. One result is that many Mani villages have tower houses, which were used both as accommodation and defensive structures. One famous English explorer in the region in the early 19th Century, was advised to avoid a particular village because a blood feud had been going on in the village, between two families, for over 40 years!
Suffice it to say this is a rugged and isolated part of Greece. But it is also supposed to be very beautiful, so we are looking forward to spending a few days there.
Today, however, was just a driving day to get us into the northern most part of the Mani. Unfortunately our journey was a little spoilt by that rarest of phenomena in Greece – rain. We had also not taken into account that supermarkets’ would be closed on Easter Monday.
We set course through the major regional town of Kalamata and drove uneventfully to our current resting point near the village of Akrogiali in the northern Mani. Our scheduled stop to restock at LIDL was thwarted when it and all the other supermarkets were closed. We managed to find a baker’s open, so we will not starve.
The beginning of the Mani Peninsular
I had a number of stopping places, wildcamping, in mind, but we stopped at Akrogiali on a deserted road next to a lovely beach for lunch and then, with the weather still not good, we decided to stay here overnight (36.948250, 22.144434). Tomorrow is forecast to be sunny again, so it will be much better for sampling the delights of the area.
Basil’s spot for the night
We have been for a walk along the beach, which the dogs, as always, loved, but have done nothing much else of interest today. I tried to persuade Sarah to watch Zorba the Greek this afternoon, but she didn’t seem impressed. I will have to insist before we leave this part of Europe. Anthony Quinn hamming it up as Zorba is great fun, if I remember correctly.
Beach with Basil – a little flash of white almost dead centre in the photo, just above the road
Since this is a short blog I will venture another observation about Greece in my occasional series of cultural insights, based on virtually nothing, except a few days in the country. Today dogs.
Greece has many dogs. Some just roam around, apparently owned by nobody, but these days all very well fed (I don’t think this was always the case). It is not these dogs that my observations concern, but rather the ones owned by Greeks who keep them, either chained up in the yard, or locked out on a balcony or in a garden, where the poor canines have nothing better to do than bark all day and all night. We have walked past dozens of houses already where a German Shepherd, Doberman or just a mongrel have tried hurling themselves at us, snarling and barking, only to be brought up short by a rope, chain or just a big set of gates. And as we walk through narrow alleys frequently dogs of all shapes and sizes bark down on us from balconies above.
I can appreciate the cultural differences in attitudes to dogs. I grew up in rural Lincolnshire where dogs were just left to roam free. But two things puzzle me. Firstly what is the purpose of having a dog and then just ignoring it by leaving it outside to bark at every passer by. It can’t be for any real fear of crime. In a small town like Koroni, where everyone knows everyone else, I can’t believe crime is much of an issue. But the even more perplexing point, is how are the owners able to get away with the noise generated? In Britain, even one dog like this would have the council out with decibel meters. At nighttime you can hear constant barking throughout a town. How and why do neighbours put up with it? If you are living close to one of these many dogs it must drive you mad, or perhaps you get used to it. I suggest they might be even more annoying than a Scops Owl!!
In future, even more controversially, Greece and cats!