September is a month in flux. A roadtrip in September is fluxxflux . But some things stay the same. Breakfast and bedsheets. Waking up to a new day to gently observe the summer slipping quietly away.
Author: theoldmortuary.design
theoldmortuary has been a blog for about five years. It has evolved into an almost daily event. Pondering on the things that are inspired by my daily life. Often mundane, sometimes repetitive I swerve from hyperlocal activity to big and small thoughts without blinking an eye. I am an artist and writer. My hometown is Plymouth in South West England, part of me will always be connected to London and another part loves to travel.
#1039 theoldmortuary ponders.
So long Stemnitsa. Hello Gythio.
Both subjects far too rich to be dispensed with in my briefer travelling ponders. Just so much wonderful stuff to ponder but no time to ponder on a road trip. Even on travelling days we like to do in excess of 10,000 steps.
For the first time in a while we have reliable wi-fi, which has enabled me to download images from my digital camera.
The digital camera is less prone to overheating so I am very glad to have had it on this trip. Which has swung from very hot to torrential rain in the blinking of an eye. My phone has overheated and failed at critical Google Map moments but so far we have hit every location or ferry appropriately.
For now I am going to share the thumbnail images of the market in Nafplion. I have yet to sort through them but they are so bright and wholesome. A Saturday morning well spent. There were one or two essential visits in mind when we planned this trip. For me Nafplion market was one of them.
And so to sleep ready to explore Gythio.
#1038 theoldmortuary ponders.
Waking up on a rainy Monday morning in’the’ village. Not my village but a village nevertheless.
This village is the home village of one of my travelling companions, she has cousins on every corner in this idyllic Greek mountain village. Her husband and I grew up in a small Essex village, in England 50 years ago. We live half a world apart. Me in Plymouth, England and him in Melbourne, Australia.
For us there has been an anecdote on every corner of this trip. Small inconsequences of our teenage lives are remembered and chuckled over.People who we knew well are fondly recalled. People we barely knew are fleshed out as we share our personal experience of them. We both went to an entirely normal secondary school, not an iota of an enhanced educational experience for us. And yet every day we have marvelled at the people we met and the quality of teaching we received.
A good foundation for lives well lived.
#1037 theoldmortuary ponders.
The day we followed a hand-drawn paper map around Stemnitsa and a little bit beyond
Breakfast to fuel adventures in the sun. Leaving Stemnitsa for a Sunday Drive.
First stop, a monastery, where celebrations were ongoing to celebrate the birth of Mary, mother of Jesus.
Next stop Dimitsana for excellent ice cream and a wander about.
Then an adventure of 10 km of hairpin bends to take us down through a ravine to some ancient ruins and a crystal clear river. So cool on a hot day. But thunder and lightning were about which made the drive back spectacular.
Forcing us to take refuge in an excellent Kafenio for early supper while we waited for the deluge to pass.
No menu just a verbal recall of what was cooking.
Fabulous food and a great wine rack.
All the while waiting for the rain to stop.
So we could return to Stemnitsa for more nattering in the square.
A roadtrip within a roadtrip.
#1036 theoldmortuary ponders
So long Nafplion and the fabulous Fougaru Arts Centre. Oh the drama of not noticing a low level water feature and wading to the cafe, as wet as a fish.
Hello Stemvitsa and wedding trucks.
And dancing brides.
From the coast to the mountains. Another fabulous day.
#1035 theoldmortuary ponders.
Farewell Spetses.
Hello Nafplio.
Many happy hours spent wandering streets and catching up on our steps after a 15 minute crossing to mainland Greece.
The Cats of Greece pose, well executed.
I can feel warmth towards Greek cats knowing that it is not my back yard they are relieving themselves in. Travel makes me more broadminded and tolerant!
#1034 theoldmortuary ponders.
If you had to give up one word that you use regularly, what would it be?
Any number of swear words. I like to think I use them wisely and to make a point. But they slip out a little more often than they should, because I am a grandparent to impressionable small people.
Enough of my swear words.
The word I have used a lot today is luck and lucky.
For many more reasons than I need to go into here. Specifically because we took a ferry to a beach which looked like this four years ago
The owner made the decision to get rid of sunbeds, restrict trading to one taverna and have a well cared for public toilet.
The result for us was a quiet, peaceful beach approaching the end of the summer season.
Untroubled by mass tourism we swam and chatted on a near deserted beach. The water was crystal clear and we had a wholesome late lunch in the one remaining taverna.
#1033 theoldmortuary ponders.
Farewell Athens.
Last Athenian Breakfast.
Good Morning Spetses
The wreck of a breakfast at Spetses.
In-between a smooth ferry crossing and some evening wanderings.
#1032 theoldmortuary ponders.
So far our road trip is mostly about walking the streets of Athens. 16,000 steps in 30 degree heat today. Starting with an early morning trip to an art supplies store to buy more watercolour paper but also because the owner makes his own artisanal wax pastels. His store was fabulous and his work station at the back of the store was a riot of colour.
Handmade oil pastels.
I’ve never used oil pastels but these were sorely tempting. For the sake of luggage I bought a small tube of watercolour named Olive just to celebrate its Greekness.
Getting to the store was a fabulous trip of street graffitti and a ridiculously named Vinyl and CD store.
My self-portrait was taken on a tree that had been painted blue and decorated with shards of broken mirrors.
#1031 theoldmortuary ponders.
Share a story about the furthest you’ve ever traveled from home.
Not a story about the furthest but a story about our current road trip before it even started. The only motorway that links us with our local airport was closed. An easy two hour journey became a tense four hour journey via A and B roads in Devon. Our flight was at 5:15 and we arrived at the airport at 5:05. Never were we so grateful for a delayed flight but regardless of the delay, check-in for luggage was very firmly closed. Thankfully we met some fabulous people and we were processed with kindness and expediency.
We arrived at 2 am and can reveal the start of our roadtrip.
Our first day was an odysea of coffee shops and nattering and a museum of Greek culture where I met this splendid fellow.
Goodness how I love this face painted in about 1870. A face so full of mischief I would be drawn to him at a party.
Has he just eaten the last pie?
Or farted?
Has he just heard the most salacious and delicious piece of gossip?
Is he trying really hard not to giggle?
I have no idea but he has brightened my first day in Athens. I will take his unusual portrait image with me on my road trip.
And this fabulous abstract created in a Sephora beauty product shop. Just nearby to our Airbnb.
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