Travelled: 85 kilometres from Pantazi Beach to Petalidi, the Peloponnese.
Visited: Kalamata, for shopping, Analipsi Beach swimming N37.00556, E21.97250
Stayed: Carpark below the town square in Petalidi, free no services, but tap nearby. N36.95910, E21.92854
After a couple of nights on the beach in Pantazi we drive north out of Mani Peninsula. The road continues to be one long S bend, but the scenery spectacular. The villages are become more frequent and larger as we approach Kalamata, we stop at the first Lidl supermarket for a stock up. It’s been a couple of weeks since we have been in a big chain supermarket. So we stock up on some meats and smoked salmon that have been difficult to get.
As we pass through the centre of Kalamata we stop at a Vodafone shop to donate some more euros in exchange for a couple more gigabits of data, so Pam can keep tabs on Nicholas and Indiana. As we pass through and out of Kalamata we see two more large Lidl supermarkets and a Carrefour. We always preferred the French Carrefour mostly for the fresh food and dairy but we have found the German Lidl very good this year and cheap.
Entering the Messina Peninsula we turn south again, the Gulf of Messina on our left. The view across the gulf is magic, the mountains of the Mani Peninsula in the distance, clouds still hiding the peaks. We drive of and look at a couple of beachs we have marked on our maps, we stop have lunch a swim and sun bake for an hour at Analipsi Beach. Nice beach but it’s a bit stark, no shade and the taverna looks like it’s closed for the season. So we keep going.
So we continue south for another 15 minutes and turn into Petalidi. We have a couple of sets of co-ordinates for stops so we drive to them both and have a look. One just below the town square and ideal for walking the village the other next to a little beach near the breakwall.
We decide on the town square for now as Pam is thinking about a haircut and I need some good wifi for an hour to get rid of the blog on the Mani. A couple more motorhomes drift in over the next hour and we won’t be alone tonight. I said I was quite happy to cut Pam’s hair, but she didn’t seem too keen. Jobs completed we start chatting to an English couple Dennis and Hazel and agree on drinks a little later.
After our BBQ some guys pull up and start unloading a marquee, so I wander over and have a chat. Apparently it’s market day tomorrow and we are parked in the middle of tomorrow market, but they say don’t worry there’s plenty of time to move in the morning. As our evening progressed the bells from the very nearby church tolled every half hour. But I hadn’t given it much thought as we went to bed. Anyway I heard the bells toll 3 am then 5 am and thought damn their loud, then we hear men chatting and assembling bit and pieces about 5.30 and we decide to move down to the beach.
I look out the window and the other motorhomes have already gone during the night. Three minutes later we find them all down at the beach having fallen victim to the church bells earlier in the evening.
Michael and Pam
One thought on “Petalidi, Greece. 2015 ๐ฌ๐ท”
Hi there, we were parked up at Petalidi last night when a lorry turned up with a load of live chickens aboard. We both had the same thought, โis it market day tomorrow?โ A quick google search brought up your blog and your experience there. We moved around the corner to the harbour to avoid the 5.30am wake up. Thanks and enjoy your travels.