North to the gorge

Thursday, September 22, 2011
Diakofto, Peloponnese, Greece
We got up the next morning and returned to the Olympic ruins to catch the morning sun for photos, run (or walk) the Olympic stadium and tour the Olympic Games Museum (wished we had done this first)
 
The destination committee, which is carrying a heavy workload and convenes frequently, met and decided to head to Kalavryta and take the narrow gauge rack and pinion railway through the Vouraikos Gorge, roundtrip from to Diakoftot and back. Another great mountain drive and we entered Kalavryta by passing an impressive war memorial. The locals had rebelled against the Nazis and the Nazi reprisal was the execution of all the males in the community (1,436 men and boys). With a memory like this a memorial can't say enough.

Arriving in Kalavryta we inquired about the train schedule, only to discover the train workers were on strike, which we are finding is frequent in Greece. Trains are running tomorrow, maybe, but no one was certain. We toured the little town and decided to move on and drive the gorge road to Diakofto. The gorge was a deep, with a good road and very pretty scenery.

In Diakofto we found the Chris and Paul Inn, near the town center and only a few blocks from the beach. Owned by two sisters, the inn was the most run down of any we had stayed. Greek citizen tourism is down and little inns that like the Chris Paul (particularly those that cater to Greek national tourists) suffer in this down economy. Not mich to do in the little town. The harbor and the Corinthian Sea had some great photo opportunities with the fishing boats. The village center didn't have a lot to offer and the hotel wasn't a place to just sit on your deck and look at the neighborhood scenery.

Dinner was at Kostas (innkeeper recommendation). Instead of a menu, we experienced the more traditional method of picking our food. Kostas took us to the kitchen and showed us what was cooking and took our orders as we stood around the stove.

Back to the inn. No air conditioner (windows open), dogs baying, roosters crowing and a few other village noises made for an interesting but not so restful night.

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