Tuesday 14 June: the new road to Monemvasia

 We’d both been rather dreading today thinking we had to retrace a lot of our steps UP hill in order to cross the mountain range towards Monemvasia. However by using Kamoot and Google Earth Simon has found a new road that doesn’t appear on his map but which cuts across a lower mountain range to join the coast road on the east of Laconia. We catch the 9.30 ferry over to the mainland and start our sweaty ascent. Not as bad as previous days and we are soon rewarded with spectacular views over the ocean and Monemvasia beyond. The road sweeps downwards lined with colourful oleander, thyme, rosemary and yellow broom. We stop at a small beach for a swim and a rest reading for a few hours sharing a small beer and a baguette. Likened to the rock of Gibraltar Monemvasia is an ancient city dating back to the 6th century with a lot of churches and terracotta roofed houses perched in the cliff. It is joined to the mainland by a narrow strip of land and we enter through the only entrance “moni emvassi” which is where the name comes from. We’re not allowed to take the bikes any further as the streets are cobbled and stepped. We eventually find our hotel and our rooms are on two floors with two terraced areas! This will be an interesting place to explore when it is cool.