3 minutes on the dashboard... a driver's drive

Don enjoyed the drive today with all the up and down mountains and round hairpin turns and all the cut backs in the roads! Any one who loves to drive would appreciate the open air in a top down convertable. It was truely a driver's drive and one that would make most people's skin crawl.
I know, I know you thought you would never get it...well here it is resized and uploaded to YouTube...
http://youtu.be/RgURngdHYWw

 

Dionysus Hotel in Mytikas

The Dionysus Hotel in Mytikas really lived up to its name. Dionysus is the ancient god of food, drink, and hospitality who always makes sure everyone has a good time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysus

Our hosts were wunderbar! They spoke fluent German (daughter lives in Germany). I didn't realize how much German I understand before staying with them!! They did not speak much English but were adept at hand language and sounds that exemplify meaning! They were so very helpful and friendly I would have to rate the service a 10 (only because the scale doe s not go any higher).
This husband and wife team made us feel right at home. He even drove us to a nearby village when the market we wanted to go to was closed at that time of day. They gave us a map and a tour book of the area with local archaeological sites and even drove us to one nearby.
Our hotel room was spotless, large, and well appointed. The hotel was modern and well kept.

There was a beautiful sandy beach within a few steps of the hotel in a secluded little cove with warm water and a few bathers. Our host mentioned that this was a wild beach (clothing optional)).

 

 

Breakfast at the Dionysus could be classified as an event which Dionysus himself would be envious of and would definitely approve. It consisted of fresh coffee, fresh squeezed juice, a tray of cold meats and cheeses, boiled eggs, fresh bread with creamy butter, breakfast cakes with jam, and jellies and to make sure we didn't leave hungry ....watermelon!

Oh my goodness...there was so much care and attention put into this breakfast preparation and presentation that we felt like long time friends visiting again! The hotel, hosts, and food well exceeded our expectations and I would highly recommend it to anyone who comes this way.

Hotel Hercules and To Steki

Our stay in Olympia was made all the nicer by having a great host at our hotel. The Hotel Hercules
 http://www.booking.com/hotel/gr/hercules.en.html?aid=311088;label=hotel-96706-gr-_fINLvplXUzeBS5CETLoFgS2580930723:pl:ta:p1:p2:ac:ap1t1:neg;ws=&gclid=CJiYoO2u2LICFUPHtAodwx8ArQ
is a family run hotel in the center of town. Nicolas was very helpful and recommended a restrauant for us for dinner.

 

 

We had the all important Greek salad,

 calamari, and some lovely lemon sauce drenched Dolathes.

Our host made sure our room was ready and provided a great breakfast the next morning. 

 

To Olympia and beyond

We saw a sign for an Archeological Site at Lepreon and decided on a whim to take the 'road' up the mountain... well ok it was more like a goat path... but, not to worry we made it ok. Nearly went over the edge one time but Don's driving skills saved the day!







It was an ancient site and we were glad we stopped as we would not have had the experience if we didn't.


The air at the top of the mountian smells like a combination of lavendar and jasmine...how wonerful is that!

Some times whims work out well!!
 

A drive through town

A lovely little video driving through a small town in Greece. It is amazing how everyone cooperates while driving and how it all works so seemlessly. This would be impossible in North America...
It took a few days to determine how to best resize the video and keep the quality, get it uploaded to YouTube with sporadic internet connections, and get it onto the blog page without a great deal of trouble.
Here it is my first video upload!!

http://youtu.be/iSXFX_X6UEw

Hope you enjoy the ride...

On the Road to...food

The road system here in Greece is great and the roads are pretty good too! There are so many road signs (most times quite necessary) that every few meters there is another sign (usually telling the driver of a bend in the road). It would be a booming business opportunity printing signs.

This sign tells us that not only is there a hairpin turn going down hill but there is a narrow bridge at the bottom!! YAY!
But the drive is wonderful on good roads with fantastic sea views and friendly people to help along the way!

The Kalamata country side is covered with olive trees, with a smattering of Cyprus groves and now a few fig groves thrown in for good measure. This country is just bursting with fruit of all kinds. The side of the road in many places is lined with cactus which is heavy with fruit (cactus pears) almost ready to pick. No one should go hungry here!
We look forward to buying some olive oil  to bring home and some big juicy olives to eat along the way.
We already picked up some beautiful crusty bread, some zesty cheese and some cold meat for a nice lunch on some deserted beach!
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamata
Food grows wild here! It amazes me how much food is growing by the side of any road. Grapes, olives, pears, cactus, apples, persimmon,pomagranite, and oranges...the list seems endless!