5.22.07 Olympia and the Greek Beach (Kyparissia)

Kyparissia Travel Blog

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May 22nd, 2009 – by: TessaHill

Okay, this place is tricky driving in a tall RV!

5.22.07 Olympia and the Greek Beach (Kyparissia) - Good moves, bad moves

Good move: Up early to Olympic

Bad move: Waiting until morning to see Olympic ruins

Good move: Greek beach campground

Bad move: Driving through Makissa

Good move: Stopping in town before campground

Great move: Campsite beachfront- watching the sunset:

Makrisia- remember when driving in Greece that you do NOT want to drive through town.

Okay, this place is tricky driving in a tall RV!

No, no, NO. You want to go *around* the town. I don’t care if directions by the previous campground owner were to go through town.

Man, it was a Copan Ruines flashback for us. The one-lane road, tight buildings with balconies, and the hills and curves, it’s just best to avoid it. First we came upon about 15 older men sitting outside – by this time it was obvious even to us that no RV should be driving in this town and their mouths dropped open when we came around the curve. But they kindly pointed the direction when were befuddled by the Y in the road- neither option had looked easy.

At one point, we finally decided we weren’t going to make it through with the current traffic situation and started to back up, but the pickup truck in front of us was kind enough to back up. Then we saw a bypass road as we reached the stop sign at the end of main street. Brother!

This morning we made it back to the UNESCO site- archeological ruins of Olympia, birthplace of the Olympic Games.

Olympia

We were really kicking ourselves though. We could have planned yesterday a little better and seen the site before it’s 8pm closing, which would have enabled us to have the place to ourselves during a delightful evening. Instead, the swarms of tourists came: dozens of busloads, the crowds around the boards, the heat, the arguments in the ticket queue about whether tour guides could break in line for the front- it was frustrating. To think we’ve been traveling a year and would do something so stupid as to not use our camping position to our advantage. It was a stinging lessons, to be sure.

But we saw all of the Olympic ruins and enjoyed the Ancient Olympic Museum, which basically held artifacts and statuary found in the area. It only cost 9E for me and the kids were free, which was very nice.

By 10:30 am, it was steamy when returned to the campground, checking out, and getting directions to the beach. The campground owner was shocked we were from the U.

Greek sunset beauty

S. I guess they don’t get many campers from there. He gave us a nice map of campgrounds in Greece, which will be very helpful.

By 12:30, we’d traversed the small town mentioned above and made it to Kyparissia. A smart move was parking alongside the road where there was room, having Souvlaki (pork shish-ka-bobs) and bread from a tiny café, buying fruit, spinach pie (spanakopita?), pastries and bread, swimming goggles, beach mats, and cash machine. This meant that when we traversed the small town with the camper to get to the beachfront campground, we don’t have to leave again.

I hear the waves as I type. We have a low fence between us and the sandy beach. The campground is very nice and we might not leave.

The “restaurant” here at the campground has an outdoor grill and you place your order with the lady on the corner under the porch.

Greek sunset beauty

She gives you a number (like 4) written on a small paper. Eventually your delicious food arrives on a tray at the tables around the back. You can see the sunset through the trees. It is delightful!

We ordered a bunch of Greek food: Moussaka (meat pie), Greek salad, tsaziki, souvlaki, and pizza- all were wonderful and far more than we can eat, so we took it back to the camper.

There is free internet here! I succumbed to electric for 3.50E a night extra to charge my computer. Our nightly fee is 24.50 E, which seems reasonable for a nice beachfront location with clean showers, bathrooms with actual toilet paper and soap provided, and internet. And did I mention the sunset?

It is Friday night- we might just hang here for another night. Weekends can be a good time to stay put.

Greek sunset beauty

Plus, we need to rest. Jazy and Charles seem much better from their allergies, but Lia and I still hardly have a voice at all. Getting sick is not on my plan. Besides, you could travel the world to find a Greek beach this nice and it is right outside our window!