(written 15:27, 9/5/2006 in Spisské Podhradie, Slovakia)
It was very tempting to stay in the amazing little room and town another night, but we had plenty of ground to cover this trip, and so after a nice but expensive breakfast at Restaurant Akrigiali (the language barrier had made us think it was going to be cheaper) decided to head further around the peninsula and back north again.
The roads we were on around the east side were no bigger than the day before tiny roads, and we were still surrounded by the gorgeous display of flowers.
What we had come to term "god boxes" were everywhere on roads like these throughout Greece. Originally we thought they were just someone's private shrine, but we soon guessed they would have to be a little memorial to a lost relative, containing pictures, candles, icons, etc. All in a little box typically on a pole at the side of the road. Where there were particularly nasty curves there were plenty, in some cases just one huge one which lots of pictures were in. Other places where there were straights must have indicated horrible head-on collisions. Not nice thoughts at all, they did however keep us focused on safe driving.
Moving down to the third peninsula across the south of Greece, we stopped at Monemvassiá. This was an island separated from mainland by an earthquake, plus with a walled old village on the sea-side, complete with windy streets and touristy shops. Lunch was at the Lonely Planet recommended place, which turned out to be only average, before we wandered around the village away from the shops - nice churches, cobbles, etc., and most importantly no traffic to contend with! The buzz of vespas (scooters) seems omni-present in Italy and Greece, and the break from the noise was most welcome.
Back on the road, we drove north-west to Spárti. The town itself held little interest for us, but we found Camping Paleologou Mystras on outskirts towards Mistrás, a target for the next day.
We spent the afternoon sitting by our tent munching on snacks and chatting, watching a nearby French family herding their kids around, before tucking in for a cold night's sleep.