18 March 2025 – Paralio Astros

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 2,091

We didn’t have the greatest night’s sleep last night so we made a leisurely start to the day and it was 10:30 before we left the van in order to wander along the beach and explore Paralio Astros.  The first section is fairly modern and non-descript, with a major repaving project currently underway but we did see some kids taking part in a traditional Greek dancing lesson which was lovely to observe.

Then as we moved into the older section of the town the buildings became more traditional and interesting.

One of the shops had a display of photographs with scenes around the town from yesteryear.

When the main central street came to an end we took to a stepped zigzag path up the hillside.

Most of the houses up here were fairly modern but they had great views across the bay.

The 19^th Century Greek Orthodox Church of St Vasileios had 2 Byzantine double headed eagles embossed on its doors.

The Castle of Astros was built in 1256.

It was initially called the Castella de la Estella (Star Castle), due to the shape of the peninsular it was built on.

Inside the Castle is overgrown and almost entirely ruined.

Great views looking out across the town and along the beach where we are camped at the other end.

And also across the Gulf towards Nafplion, where we plan to be heading for tomorrow.

We took a little detour to admire the scene.  There is apparently an ancient fortress on the Nisi headland to the right but we didn’t investigate further.

Spring flowers everywhere and masses of bees and butterflies taking advantage of the bounty.

The lighthouse sits in a charming little park.

And also overlooks a modern imitation of a traditional amphitheatre.

With all the money we are saving on freebie camping we’ve become very self-indulgent with our eating habits so we stopped off for lunch at a restaurant whose name I’ve not been able to translate.  I opted for calamari again served up with a rather vividly coloured beetroot sauce.  Lisa decided to get messy with the prawns again and has made a mental note to take a bib with her next time she intends eating them.

We got back to the van and found that all of our neighbours had upped sticks and left, so we are all on our own tonight.  The first few spots of rain were also just starting to fall and it has continued to do so for most of the afternoon, so we’ve had the guide books and playing cards out while we anticipate dryer, albeit chilly, conditions tomorrow.

19 March 2025 - Nafplion