Wednesday 1st October 2025 – Kosmos, Greece

We had a relaxed start before we left the campsite and headed to Skala and its Lidl supermarket. We wanted to see Geraki Castle but we realised that, as it was a Tuesday, it would be closed. It was only as we arrived at Skala that we realised that it was Wednesday, not Tuesday, and we would be able to visit the castle. We arrived to find an Austrian couple standing outside the locked gates and it was obvious that the site was closed. There is a national strike today and it reported as affecting transport – air, rail and bus. However it is a public sector strike and this may well be affecting archaeological sites. It is also possible the this less popular site might only be open by prior arrangement outside of the high season.
We had lunch and then headed off, climbing into the mountains to reach Kosmas at an altitude of 1,150 m. Good views on the way up but clouds were gathering around the tops of some of the mountains and it was much cooler.
There is one very narrow stretch of road through the centre of Kosmas and we were unlucky enough to meet a campervan coming the other way. There was no way that we could pass but the campervan driver kindly backed up – not an easy manoeuvre. Just a few metres on we turned off the road to park in the square below the church. This appeared in Park4Night as somewhere where we could stay for the night. It was a lovely position – a little shade and right by a lions head fountain and just below the plane tree lined main square of Kosmas. We walked around the village, admiring the views of cloud-wreathed mountains and tree covered valleys before returning to the main square. We checked out the restaurants and bought some forest honey and walnut cake from the ‘traditional products’ shop. Just as we finished the walk, the threatened rain arrived and we headed back rapidly to the van where we had the walnut cake with a cup of tea back at the van – light, sweet and delicious.
The rain relented in time for us to walk the few metres to the restaurant and had a very good meal with excellent house rose wine.
Photos: A famous 1981 shipwreck just north of Gythio, also the site of part of ancient Gythio, much of which lies under the sea; The locked gates of Geraki Castle; We have passed many memorials to people killed in battles in WWII and the Greek Civil War – this one at a pass close to Kosmas commemorates an attack on the Italian forces by ELAS (Greek communist resistance) and the people of Kosmas and the surrounding villages; The very traditional interior of the Kosmas taverna; The main square of Kosmas with its plane trees and, believe or not, the main road through the town; Our pitch after the rain with the lions fountain just to the left of the van.