A beautiful coastal town with my name in it? Yes please! KardAMYli ❤
This town is a good home base for people who want to explore the region, for hiking and beaches.

I did not do any hiking, but I saw a lot of happy, outdoorsy looking European tourists.

Aquarella Cafe, this cafe bar, was the perfect place to enjoy some drinks and snacks while working on my computer. I am professionally switching from design to development, and this is where I was finally able to start coding in my job. It was a beautiful and successful day.

Beaches

Kardamyli has a few nice beaches nearby. I visited Foneas beach and Ritsa beach. Both beaches were nice pebble beaches. I like a pebble beach because then sand won’t get stuck in my phone.

The beaches are nice, but my absolute favorite part by the water in Kardamyli was on the other side of the town at Tikla Quay. There were steps to get in the water, but I didn’t swim here. I saw a group of people doing water aerobics.

My Greek

My Greek is so good that multiple locals have continued my conversation with them in Greek after I say the greeting, γειά σας (ya-sahs). It is fun to use commen phrases in the local language like good morning, Καλημέρα (kally-mare-uh) and thank you, ευχαριστώ (ef-ha-reese-toe), but then I confuse the waiters because they expect the conversation to be continuing in Greek. After I say “wait I only know a few words”, they tell me that my Greek sounds good and that suspected that I might be Greek-American or something. It made me happy that people didn’t immediately default to speaking English when they see me.

The Wifi Passwords

I have noticed that most places have the wifi password match their telephone number, not including the country area code. If you are traveling around Greece, especially the Peloponnese, try the phone number of the place. In a pinch, sometimes you will see the phone number written on the sign of the guesthouse or restaurant! I tried it once in a restaurant instead of pestering a waiter, and it worked like a charm.

Tuesday is the day of rest.

Lots of places seem to be fully closed on a Tuesday: restaurants, museums, etc. I wonder why Tuesday is the day of choice for closing.

Accommodation

I decided to stay in Kardamyli for two nights. My first night, I booked it through Booking.com for like 87 euros. The second night, I was able to pay directly to the host 60 euros. After discussing with the manager on the app, he told me to give 60 euros cash to the owner. The owner did not speak much English, and I didn’t speak much Greek. He said “thank you! thank you!” with a huge smile, and his gratitude made me worry that he thought this was a gratuity for him, but I think he understood that I was staying another night and was happy for my additional night.

The rental place had a patio full of plants and it was pleasant aside from the mosquitos. Pro tip: putting minty toothpaste on mosquito bites, makes them stop itching!

Driving around

I forgot to mention in an earlier post, but during my journey between Nafplio to Monemvasia, I happened upon a shepherd on a motorcycle. He and his flock took up the entire road and made no signs of an attempt to let me through.

I slowly followed them for a few minutes, but then he kept looking back and me and waved me off as if to say “We will be on this route for the next hour,” so I turned around and took an alternate route that added 25 minutes to my journey. It was an interesting encounter.

Olive Oil

On my drive, I stopped at an olive oil place and I tried different olive oils. The man’s favorite olive oil flavor was basil. I really enjoyed the chili flavored one although it was quite spicy!

They also had some award winning healthy olive oil (1 teaspoon every morning type of thing), so I decided it would be interesting to buy too.

The man in the shop didn’t speak that much English but he mentioned that he has Family in Pittsburgh. The entire family has a guided tour they provide in October every year. Some of their olive oil awards were from LA, some from Malaga.