[Aug. 2023] When we were planning this trip to Greece, the first place we wanted to go to was Monemvasia, which is located at the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese Peninsula.
After seeing the guidebook describing it as “Greece’s Mont Saint-Michel,” I looked at photos online and realised that it was a unique and wonderful scenery.
However, it was extremely difficult to get there by public transportation, so we gave up on it.
But I couldn’t forget about it, so while we were in Nafplio, we asked a taxi driver who was waiting for a passenger if he could take us there.
My husband is good at this kind of negotiation.
In the end, a driver with the respectable name Alexandros offered to take us there and back for €300.
It’s expensive, but it takes 3 hours to go, 4 hours to stay, and 3 hours to return.
Our friend also joined, so dividing by 3 it was a reasonable price of €100 per person.
As promised, Alexandros showed up at the meeting place at 8:30 a.m.
He spoke very little English and it was difficult to communicate with him, but he appeared to have a nice personality.
We drove along a quiet beach for a while, then headed into the mountains with a hairpin curve.
It was cool to see these rocky mountains.
On the way, we passed a boring looking town with a sign saying Sparta, and finally arrived at Monemvasia.
Was it the famous Sparta?
According to the guidebook, Monemvasia is located 99 kilometres southeast of Sparta.
After passing through a short causeway, you will cross over to a rocky island that you can imagine that it has suddenly risen from underground.
When we got off the taxi in front of the old town gate and went through the L-shaped tunnel that was the entrance to the town, a bright tourist town spread out in front of me.
Souvenir shops and restaurants line both sides of the narrow cobblestone street.
And many tourists are walking around.
After a 3-hour car journey, we decided to take a restroom break at a cafe near the entrance to town.
We settled on a terrace seat on the upper floor with a nice view.
We could look down on the beautiful blue-green sea and orange roofs.
Behind is a rocky mountain.
My expectations for walking around the city have increased.
I ate pancakes at this cafe and tried iced cappuccino for the first time.
It may seem like a bad idea, but the iced cappuccino was quite delicious.
However, there were a lot of sparrows flying onto this terrace, grabbing things and flying away, so it was a tense moment for me, who has a fear of birds.
