Lately we've been resting a bit more and not driving. During the week we parked somewhere on a beach and only thirst, hunger, or the weekend got us out of there. We're not forced to constantly move for electricity because the solar panels manage to charge us when there's enough sunshine.

We got out of the beach near the town of Astros due to lack of gas. The fridge would warm up in a few hours, so on Thursday morning we headed to town for shopping and to get gas, which we refilled at a local LPG station using a special adapter for the gas cylinder that we managed to get back in Slovakia.

For the weekend we wanted to head to the mountains for some hike and for a bit different view than just the sea, so we drove along the coast further south closer to the turnoff leading to the Parnon mountain range. On an extremely narrow road we arrived at a tiny beach and stayed there until Saturday morning. It was quite windy outside, so we parked Iveco behind some shacks by the beach. Only about two cars came the whole time, whose occupants went for a walk along the sea and a few hardy souls even jumped in. We haven't tried it here yet, but we're determined! I definitely hope it'll happen in the Peloponnese!

Variable Mountain Weather

I was looking forward to Saturday morning. We had quite nice weather all week and it looked like it might be on the weekend too. Unfortunately, it started changing Friday evening and on Saturday we were greeted only by clouds. But we didn't let ourselves be discouraged! We drove through the town of Leonidio and headed into the mountains. The road led in serpentines through a valley slowly uphill.

Our first stop was at the Moni Elonis monastery built into the wall of a rock. There were two monks, one of whom sat in a shop where he stubbornly tried to sell us their honey that they make there themselves. If we weren't already carrying one in the van, we'd buy it! It was thyme! But what would we do with two large bottles in a small van? He had a bit of trouble understanding that though. And even when Leo praised that their monastery is really nice, he even tried to convince him to stay there... I think they'd have to explain that again then. :D

A bit further a trail into the mountains began, which led over a hill to the next village. We wanted to climb it at least a bit to have better views and enjoy the nature around. It was a nice little path, but after about an hour of walking uphill it started clouding over even more and we could nicely observe how rain was approaching us over the opposite hills. A bit below the summit it caught us and so we slowly stumbled down to the dry van.

Snow? Again?

It wasn't exactly a downpour, but such persistent rain that unpleasantly runs down your neck. And so we told ourselves we wouldn't go anywhere that day and would drive to the nearest little town - Kosmas and sleep there. It was still several hundred meters higher up and so it happened that the rain turned into snow for us. It wasn't any big drifts, but such slush that it slides nicely on. With bated breath we arrived in the town center and stayed in the nearest parking lot. At that moment we were really glad we have beautiful brand new winter tires. :D

It stopped snowing sometime during the night and in the morning we were greeted by a beautiful two centimeters of melting snow. We wanted to wait a while for the sun to warm up our engine a bit and jumped into the local cafe for breakfast. They only had toast, but even that hit the spot. After Leo swept the solar panels and it finally started charging for us, we managed to start and we slowly descended into the valley on an already almost dry road (a Greek version of a snowplow - a pickup with a plow - even went out in the morning).

We ended up on a beach near the Monemvasia peninsula, which is nicknamed the Greek Gibraltar. And summer started for us there again. We spent the whole next day outside. I pulled out the washing machine again and everything dried nicely during the day. Leo's outdoor home office was in a hammock this time.

On Tuesday new neighbors arrived - a Czech couple in their best years in a caravan, and so in the afternoon we had pastry together (yeah, I baked :) ) and chatted for a while. They say they've been on the road for about two weeks. Every year now they go to Greece for 3-4 weeks and drive through it. This time they're discovering the Peloponnese. They even offered us Czech beer! So we had a moment of nostalgia and reminisced. :D

Up to the Peninsula!

We're somehow running out of food and need to go shopping, so we drove to the town of Gefyra from where the road to Monemvasia leads. We bought lots of fruit and vegetables at the market and spent the afternoon wandering around the peninsula. There's one little town below and one above. Both are enclosed by a thick wall where no car can go, so it's all accessible only on foot. The lower one is even inhabited, although most of the houses are hotels and cafes. And for those interested - a large part is for sale! We met several masons who haul everything there in wheelbarrows. It looked quite demanding, but even that doesn't discourage people from renovating such a place.

The upper town is one big ruin. No one has lived there for quite a long time. And now it's also a reserve because of plants. It was a really nice garden with lots of walls! :D And one renovated little church in the middle. After touring all of this, we finally managed to discover Greek gyros for 2.3 euros! And it was even excellent! Simply a great end to the whole afternoon.

Then we drove further west and we're camping again on one beach hidden from the wind behind several trees and bushes. Hopefully it won't fall on us sometime at night. :D