The Adventures of Snowy - Week 113

How to buy land and Build a House in Greece

113. Holidays!

We continue our short break in Nafplio, and before the old year ends and the new one begins, we take a planned day trip down the coast.

We travel round the perfect horseshoe bay that connects the first and second peninsulas of the Peloponnese.  The road travels close to the water with a thin shale strip and a few bare spindly trees.  It’s the water that is captivating in its winter light.  It shimmers and merges with the sky as the sun fights to make it through cloud, so both are illuminated bright white, and you can’t tell where one starts and the other stops. And the sea is dotted here and there with protruding small rocks that birds perch on, silhouetted against the silver expanse behind.

Our final destination is the town of Leonidio.  On arrival, we turn off the coast road and head inland.  It’s dramatic landscape! Abrupt, tall, mountainsides rise up at both the north and south sides, enclosing the town.  The rock here is red limestone, so the mountains are an intense ochre-red and any amount of sunshine makes them glow, offering a golden backdrop to every building and the surrounding countryside.

The river Dafnon passes through the centre of town with three bridges joining its banks.  Today this place is a protected architectural site – the buildings are as they were; grand, formal, some with towers, and all consistently characterful, with winding cobbled lanes and small public squares. 

It's become famous for rock climbing and it’s easy to see why.  We noticed the landscape changing as we travelled south. The rounded, sometimes pointy mountains that we are used to level out, and the monumental walls of rock become flat topped long ridges. It has a whiff of the character of Westerns – we half expect to see cowboys, horses, and dodgy saloon bars!

Around a decade ago, rock climbing enthusiasts started documenting the area so there are now 2,500 climbs across a range of grades available, with more to follow.  And some include caves (Yay!)  There are even large-scale vertical, deep-drop caves here, only to be navigated by the brave. 

Just above Leonidio, looking out to sea are a line of short stocky round brick towers – windmills!   Two were built in the eighteenth century and the last in the nineteenth.  And we notice three more further north too. 

Between Leonidio and Naflio lie a series of villages that play to the curves and inlets of the coast line which has been eroded into interesting shapes.  We pass by and look over to the harbour of Sampatiki with houses huddled round.  The sightline from the road offers a birds eye view of this small land protrusion.  And boats are moored up against an ‘L’ shaped thin mass that extends into the sea.  It looks tranquil and perfect surrounded by water on every side.

And we drive round Arkadiko Chorio, consisting of layers of what these days are, mostly holiday homes. Access is via a lane that leaves the coast road to venture onto a round promontory. It then spirals round several times, passing around 150 houses in layers, to the top.  Here is a sizeable, white-washed church with pale bright blue roof and a dome at the apex in the same colour.  Visible from every direction – the church dominates the cost and skyline asserting its presence and flexing its authority.

We stop at Moustos Wetlands, the most important one of two in the eastern Peloponnese.  There’s a large spring water lake surrounded by stretches of grasses, that offer shelter to migratory birds. The Old Folks spend a long time sitting on wooden benches that line a small area offering good views, to watch who’s out on the water and what they are up to. 

There’s a Scuacco Heron in amber and black-white flecks, and several Black-Headed Gulls.  And we are not sure if it’s the Green Turtle of Sea Turtle or both that keep forming ripples on the surface of the water that push back into multiple circles.  Sometimes they just break the surface but sometimes we see triangles of small heads quickly grabbing air before descending into the depths again. 

Its peaceful, so quiet, and mesmerising.  Other birds fly, skim the water’s surface, some dive and then bob up several metres away, while other larger birds of prey sit on water-edge perches made from bare branches of hospitable small bare trees. 

We arrive back at the Best Abode Yet at the start of the week.  By mid-week we are hopeful that work will have resumed on our landsite.  But no!  A trip up the Petrovouni Road confirms this and we see that the large Excavator has been removed from site.  The smaller of the two sits on our land in silence. 

We are all a bit anxious and concerned.  Every other building site we pass has the daily sounds of activity emanating from it – the chip-chipping of rock, whirring of cement mixers, and the heavy grumble of machinery – but not ours!

We call into our Architects office and are reassured that Excavations will resume on site next week!  There’s something about our local contractor having a job booked in, prior to accepting ours, that had to be accommodated…  As usual it’s all a bit complicated and unclear (so that’s everything crossed for Monday!)

Its good to be back in the village and I can tell the Enormous Amber next door is pleased to see me.  He’s so huge his movements seem to be in slow motion.  Getting up takes a while; moving through a series of turns, shrugs, and hoists, he finally makes it to all fours. And he tries to jump up and play but it’s more a case of floundering and heavy landing.

We do nose-to-nose through the metal open fence between our front outdoor spaces. 

Despite this slight setback, I’m hopeful that 2024 is going to be a productive year!