We leave our accommodation and walk around the Gialova wetlands. Not many water birds about but plenty of bush birds, flowers and beautiful coastal scenery. When one does not know their Greek plants its hard to tell what is native or not but they have some plants that are not Greek, and that’s the abundant eucalypts.

We stop at Pilos and visit the old Turkish fort and the have coffee on the foreshore of the Ionian Coast. The fort is a nice museum about the work being undertaken to recover artifacts from the marine environment. They show a short video about the decisive sea battle of Navarino,a key battle in the War of Independence against the Turks. The Greeks are very conscious about their military history and campaigns, it’s not surprising since so many nations have invaded Greece and tried to control them.

We have a look at ancient Messina, a large archaeological site nestled up against the mountains. A large theatre, agora and gynasium. The ancients ability to use water is impressive.

We then climb up the mountains heading east for Sparta. The Tom Tom we are using leads us not along the new highway but what must have been the old. This road is no wider than a car in many places with shear drops into the gorge below and many times no guard railing. The navigational error is a blessing as it was the best mountain drive we have ever done. Through forests and passing a couple of tiny towns perched on the edge of a mountain it’s well and truly off the tourist path and the locals looks tell us that. We stop at the top to take photos and assess our climbing feat, the mountain plants are in flower everywhere and we can see snow capped peaks. The trip down the mountains to Sparta was even more spectacular, deep gorges and forests. They say it’s the most picturesque drive in Greece and we can’t argue with that.

We stop for the night at the Mystras Inn. The Greeks hospitality is friendly and genuine and we dine into the night once again enjoying the Greek cuisine and drinks. The dine and drink late into the night.