Catching the bus to Methoni on 2 hours sleep, starving yourself of water and witnessing a needle in someones arm first thing in the morning can put one on a bit of an emotional edge. 6 hours on a bus, will throw you off that edge.
Tho, thanks to the tossing and turning I had an unforgettable view, starting with the cut that now separates the mainland and what has become the island Methoni lies on. On a wet morning, though carved and curving passes in rolling hills below wind farms and lone Byzantine churches, the road to Methoni is an endless swirl of corkscrew hills lined by shrines to those that took a corner too hard. Mesh wire drape over passage ways through the rock in attempt to stop a landslide. There are doors leading straight into the side of hillsides and tunnels thru entire mountains. A new road drifts smooth across the landscape, passing through each town, finally guiding us to Methoni. It is quiet, serene and green. Apparently the summer turns Greece into a desert, so I'm glad I've come now in the lush lure of spring. Methoni is 1200 people and apparently just as corrupt as the rest of Greece. Everyone is paid under the table, always in someones pocket, at basically every level of society. An unfortunate and consistent reality here.
Tho, thanks to the tossing and turning I had an unforgettable view, starting with the cut that now separates the mainland and what has become the island Methoni lies on. On a wet morning, though carved and curving passes in rolling hills below wind farms and lone Byzantine churches, the road to Methoni is an endless swirl of corkscrew hills lined by shrines to those that took a corner too hard. Mesh wire drape over passage ways through the rock in attempt to stop a landslide. There are doors leading straight into the side of hillsides and tunnels thru entire mountains. A new road drifts smooth across the landscape, passing through each town, finally guiding us to Methoni. It is quiet, serene and green. Apparently the summer turns Greece into a desert, so I'm glad I've come now in the lush lure of spring. Methoni is 1200 people and apparently just as corrupt as the rest of Greece. Everyone is paid under the table, always in someones pocket, at basically every level of society. An unfortunate and consistent reality here.
The schools in small towns consist of 4 hours writing, no music, no art, no gym. Which confuses me greatly as this is supposed to be the birth of art, music, literature and theatre. Only Greek is taught, I'm not sure anyone here is entirely bilingual except those who have lived abroad. Every one I've met has very little, if any, desire to leave Greece, so maybe that's why.
It is another world here, of distant islands hazed across a sapphire blue ocean. The ocean in Bermuda is green and blue but the Mediterranean is black and blue, a colour that photos simply do no justice to. Olive fields stretch for days and is the #1 crop in this area. In the winter it is a dead town, filled with old men who never left and old widows wearing black, mourning their husbands death until their own. In the summer it turns into a campers paradise along with most of the other nearby towns. Pylos, right next door, looks like an amazing little town to wander in. The problem here is a lacking official tourism structure. The tourism is there but it's not easy to run a company that would utilise it. Boat chartering is an impossibly I'm told and while there is a striking Venetian castle, nothing is done to profit off its existence. No structure at all for tourism, no office, no system, just a string of governmental officials and forms, making almost any attempt an attempt in vain.
I'm sad I can't spend more time here and sad that it's such a dead town in the winter and spring months. It'd be so interesting to see the difference that summer brings. Maybe one day, I'll be able to come back.
Sounds interesting Benes. There's a different tone in your writing. Keep it up! When i traveled i wrote for about 4 days in a journal, and that was it. I've forgotten so many of the names of places and things i saw. Berrrrmmmp!
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