Spending the night on a giant rock

I planned to spend a night in Monemvasia. On the way, I stopped to have lunch at Kyparissi. This pebble beach had brilliant blue water with huge waves.

Kyparissi

The waves were so big that I did not go in very far. Although the huge waves beckoned me, I did not want to end up on international headlines as a drowning tourist. I stepped halfway into the water, and then a wave much taller than me knocked me off my feet and back towards shore. I decided that I was content watching a few other brave people swimming amongst the waves. Otherwise, the beach was empty.

*Me with one of the smaller waves. My phone was brave to take this picture, and then I put it away from the water.*

At the restaurant by Kyparissi beach, I accidentally ordered too much food, so I decided to take my leftovers me. Somehow, it feels more polite to take my extra food than to leave so much on the table.

*The olives in my greek salad tasted homemade, like they were locally harvested olives in red wine vinegar. They tasted kind of like sherry wine.*

I continue the journey onward to Monemvasia.

Monemvasia

Monemvasia is a charming town located on a huge rock! No cars are allowed there, so I left my car in the parking lot to retrieve the next morning.

My poor car the next day. The rental car owner lectured me about the corrosive behavior of salt upon the return of my very salty car, but I told him that his colleague told me to not worry about washing the car if it got dirty so I hadn’t washed it. Opa!

In Monemvasia, I stayed the night in Izambo Guest House. It is at the very top of the inhabited town. Above that, is the old town where there used to be buildings long ago.

I made the mistake of feeding some of my leftover calamari to two stray cats right outside my bedroom door. I threw one piece at them; they proceeded to fight each other for it. So, I immediately threw a second piece to keep the peace. I was going to anyway. Later, I heard loud meowing at my door. The cats remembered where I live and they wanted more calamari!!! When I left to walk around the town, one of the cats was there. I said “oh-hee” which means no in Greek, and I shooed it away.

The cats in Greece are well fed and well loved. I have seen some tourists give pieces of bread to the cats meowing at their tables, at one point this tourist couple was surrounded by eight cats. The locals leave out piles of wet cat food as well.

Now, to explore Monemvasia!

*From the top of Monemvasia’s old town, the view of Gefira, the connecting mainland town*

For dinner, I ordered meatballs with the “Greek pasta” and the pasta legitimately tasted like Skyline Chili! It had a slight tomatoey taste to the noodles.

Spoon Sweets

At a gift shop in Monemvasia, a shop owner explained to me about “Spoon Sweets.” I had never heard of a spoon sweet. It is a small dish of something sweet, typically preserved fruit. He said the most common was sour cherry but that wild cherry was also very common. I purchased the wild cherry one to take home with me. Since this conversation, I have checked every menu to see if they have a spoon sweet. I have tried orange, vanilla, grape, and sour cherry. I really love the concept. It’s like a dessert but smaller; just a spoon of sweet!