There was serious rain in the morning and we thought that it
might scupper our plans for the day. Fortunately, the rain gradually cleared
and by 10:00 we were in a taxi heading for Gythio. We asked the driver to drop
us off at the ancient theatre on the far side of the town, expecting it to be
part way up the hill behind, but it is actually low down, almost at sea level.
It is thought that an earthquake in the 4th century AD destroyed the
city. Earlier, Gythio was important as it was the seaport of Ancient Sparta.
The theatre is Roman and the lower seats are well preserved but it isn’t
spectacular.
We then walked into the town and found the Cultural Centre of the Municipality
of Eastern Mani. This houses a small museum with information about the working
and home lives of the local people in the recent past. The museum is free and
there were signs in Greek and English and we were issued with a substantial
exhibition catalogue, also in Greek and English that gave us lots of
information and pictures of the exhibits.
After a coffee, we walked on to islet of Kranai (or Marathonisi) that is now
joined to the mainland. Legend has it that this is where Paris and Helen spent
their first night after he had abducted her from the King of Sparta. On the
island there is a rather nice building with an impressive tower and on the tip
of the island there is a lighthouse built of marble in 1873.
We decided to have a special meal while we were in a fishing port and we chose
‘Saga’, a rather posh fish restaurant. We started fava, a chickpea puree that
was delicious and served with caramelised onion and fried capers. I definitely
need to try to replicate that when I get home. Jane had shrimps (giant prawns)
with spaghetti and I had gilthead bream – both were very good.
We wandered up through the town that climbs up the hill behind the port and
then returned to sea level to get a taxi back to the campsite.
Many years ago, we visited Gythio and remember it well for the number of
ouzeris each of which had octopuses drying on lines outside. This acted as an
advert and ouzo was served with a meze of grilled octopus. We only found one
ouzeri today and there was a distinct lack of octopus. Gythio has gone
considerably up-market and the ouzeris have been converted into restaurants and
bars offering fancy cocktails. It still has its charm but not as much as it
used to have.
Photos: The one ouzeri that we found in Gythio, although it was really a
restaurant; The pretty harbour with some very posh houses on the waterfront;
The pretty towered house on Kranai; A cat with her kittens on Kranai; A view of
Kranai from the town above the port.
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