Exploring Paleokastritsa

Monastery and around

I continued my exploration of the Paleokastritsa area by taking a 40 min walk to the Theotoko Monastery on the hilltop overlooking the sea.  I got there before the museum opened so visited the little church first and sat in the breezy courtyard in the shade.

I thought I’d check out alternatives to the beach at Akron Beach Club.  I settled on the second one.  They charged EUR5 for a lounger and reasonably priced food was extra.  While not cheap, I did it.  I was hot and ready to cool off but the water turned out to be freezing.  My large Greek sandwich and iced coffee came and it made for a nice brunch.

I was amongst the first to be there so it felt nice and private.  By around lunch time, the place was nearly full.  By that time I had had enough too:  four swims and a bit of lazing around.  So I walked back in the heat.

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The Grotto

I decided to rest before going to the grotto later in the afternoon.  While it looked like a private stairs with a gate leading to a large posh bar, the swimming and coastline is free (apparently by Greek law, similar to New Zealand I guess).  But land access to the coastline is not obligatory by law.

I left my bag with some others and took a long swim in there.  The music was blaring and there were lots of the body-beautiful.  It reminded me of the Beirut beach clubs which I had walked past except that the people are less hairy!  There were lots of young Russians and Germans.  The latter looked l like they were all athletes.  Quite of few of them climbed up on the cliff to jump into the water.

The place probably looked better from above than in the water.  With a few boats coming/going it felt a bit fumey.  But I didn’t want to leave regretting not having done it.  So I’m glad I did.

I took dinner at tavern a short walk away just to spread my money around.  It was a simpler place and translated to lower prices too.