Sunday 03 June Kardimyli

Chirruping sparrows on one side of our apartment and swooping house martins on the other as I have my 8 am swim. We leave on foot at 9 and follow an ancient kalderini through an olive grove to old Kardymili with its 18th C church and Venetian style campanile. We can go up the Mourtzinos War Tower but not out onto the top so the only view is through miniscule arrow hole slits. Not really worth 2 euros! Perhaps not surprisingly we get lost and struggle to find the church of Agia Sophia, even though it's perched on top of a prominent rock. We pass the tombs of Castor and Pollux (allegedly) the heavenly twins, and brothers to Helen of Troy. Kardamyli is mentioned in Homer's Illiad, as one of the towns offered by Agamemnon to Achiles. We eventually find the little church and then head down to the Viros Gorge, and pick our way along the white lambent rocks, smoothed by winter torrents. It really is gorge...ous! 3 hours later we head off on the bikes ( this is like a slow triathlon in reverse) and try to reach a state of quiescence on the beach, but garrulous Greeks with their young families put pay to that idea. We complete our triathlon with a dip in the glittering sea.

After a light lunch at Elies we lie stuporous and sweaty in the white heat of the 3 pm sun. Now there's only the blissful sound of chicadas behind us and the lapping sea in front of us. Threatening clouds over the mountains and the odd rumble of thunder send us scurrying back at the end of the afternoon, but it seems it will not rain down here.