As a group we decided we want to make use of our two weeks Easter holidays and therefore came up with the idea to travel around the Peloponnese.
The planning process, which started weeks before we set off to Athens on the 20th of April, proved to be difficult and lead to use changing our route more than once, as we had to figure out a way how to manage with the varying bus schedules on national holidays as well as weekends.
We started our journey on Saturday morning by taking the plane to Athens where we met one of our friends from the On-Arrival Seminar for lunch. In the evening we proceeded by bus to Delphi, our first official stop of our trip.
In Delphi we stayed in a small traditional hotel and used our time to visit the archeological site as well as the archeological museum. Whilst walking around the city we also came across an amphitheatre, located in the European Centre, where we tried out the amazing acoustic, those theaters are so famous for.
On Monday we took the bus to Patras, the next stop of our journey. Our hotel was directly located in the city centre, giving us the perfect opportunity to stroll around and enjoy the atmosphere of the city. Once we had settled in and rested for a bit we went out to explore and ended our first night in Patras with a nice dinner in a small restaurant. As the castle and theatre of Patras were closed on Tuesday, we paid them a visit on Wednesday morning before we set out for Olympia.
Our first impression of Olympia was small, yet very touristic town, with various souvenir shops along the main road. During our stay we visited the archeological site and in the evening found a nice trail leading us through hills and trees.
The trip to Kalamata was kind of adventurous as we took a taxi, which saved us a lot of time, instead of the bus what we had originally planned. Our days in Kalamata were relaxed and we mostly spend them at the beach, as it was warm enough to lie in the sun and go for a quick swim. The apartment we had managed to rent was very spacious and even had a washing machine, which we made us of as most of us only travelled with hand luggage and therefore only had clothes for one week.
As we wanted to experience the traditional Greek Easter we went to church on Saturday night. At midnight the church’s bells started ringing, people lit their Easter candles and balloons were set into the air. The atmosphere during the celebration was very festive and it in general it was impressive to watch. On Monday we also went to see an Easter celebration, typical for Kalamata, where men are holding self-made burning rockets in their bare hands. The tradition is kind of similar to the Rocket War in Chios.
Our next stop was Nafplio. On our way there however we made stop in Corinth, as we had to change the bus, and used to opportunity to marvel at the impressive canal. Sadly we didn’t see a ship go through.
We enjoyed our stay in Nafplio a lot. The city has a part with small streets lined with cafes, shops and restaurants, just perfect for strolling around. While exploring the city we also found a nice little beach, where we spend one of our days. Nafplio also has two castles, both of which we explored. In order to get to one of the castles you have to go up a ton of stairs but it is worth it, the view from up there is nothing but amazing. As we were already in the area we made a trip to Epidaurus on Thursday so we could also see Greece’s largest and most impressive ancient theater.
On Friday we took a bus to Athens, the last stop of our journey. Our stay there was however not without problems. When to tried to do the self check-in to our apartment we found out that someone had tried to break open the key save and made it impossible for us to get out the key. In the end after, informing our host about the situation, we had to wait two hours before we got another key. The neighborhood was not exactly the nicest but the apartment itself was fine and even had a washing machine.
In the evening we did a Free Walking Tour, recommended by a couple we had met in Nafplio. The tour was a really nice experience. We got a lot of information and shown to hidden places, which we most likely wouldn’t have discovered ourselves.
The next morning, while eating fresh cinnamon rolls from the bakery as breakfast we had to use a blow dryer and flat iron to dry our clothes, which we washed the previous day, as they didn’t try by themselves over night.
It was just our luck that it was raining when we had made plans to visit the Acropolis. Once we had dropped off our luggage at public lockers, we still made our way up to the archeological site. After walking around for a bit and looking at the different temples, we came to the agreement that none of us was overly impressed, which could have also been due to the constantly heavier getting rain.
Before we went to pick up our luggage and got on the metro to get to the airport we had lunch in a small restaurant that served fresh made pasta.
It was a nice end to two amazing weeks full of fun and unforgettable moments.
To see more pictures, visit our gallery!
Also click here to watch our video about the trip!
