We WhatsApp’ed Mateo the unofficial harbour master at Monemvasia en route and fortunately there was a space inside the harbour for us. It was a bit noisy during the day as they’re extending the harbour, but interesting to watch the cranes lifting huge blocks of concrete onto the floating platform none the less. As thanks to Mateo, we did eat in his Taverna a couple of times, bearing in mind that the harbour was free.
But the real highlight of the stop was the beautiful old walled city of Monemvasia, perched on the side of the island with older ruins stretching to the island peak. The only way into the city is through a narrow L shaped pedestrian passage, to reveal a ‘high’ street of tourist shops, bars and restaurants with a 3 dimensional network of passages, steps and archways leading off providing a picture postcard view at every corner.
As we entered having cycled across the causeway we discovered that the Monemvasias Festival was happening, so we had the opportunity to listen to a folk concert on Saturday evening and a theatrical performance on Sunday evening.
However once the initial awe of Monemvasia had worn off, we realised that the city felt odd, apparently it has a permanent population of about 12 people, and although tourists stay in the many hotels and guest houses, most of the buildings, although perfectly restored are actually empty. So the city was more akin to a museum. However it was still a wonderful experience walking the narrow, very well worn streets and going up to the old city ruins at top.
On Sunday as we came out of the city we were rewarded with the news of the arrival of Oscar, a little brother for Rory!
Lots of photos below😃
