Kalamata

 We were tired last night when we arrived. It had been a long day. Being late when we got in we had no real idea where we were located in the city. The Ktel bus station was just on the edge of the city not far from our lodgings. We are in a small street hidden in the myriad of other similar streets. It took a bit of finding.  It’s nice as it has both balcony and full roof terrace but is in what seemed a pretty obscure area surrounded by other apartments housing the local city dwellers. We have never been here before or stayed in a Greek city. It looked nothing like what we were expecting after a long journey to get here. 

How wrong were we. 

The hosts are Greek and originally from Kalamata. They now live in Chester and are back home in Kalamata for their holidays. Mama looks after the air B&B when they aren’t here. They were very helpful and welcoming.  This morning we had breakfast on the balcony and set off to try and arrange our onward travel. Once that necessity is complete we can relax and enjoy our time here. We went back to the Ktel bus station but the ticket guy was really unhelpful. He agreed that the timetables on the internet in no way reflected the actual operations of the bus routes and made a point of letting us know it wasn’t his fault that the company was crap. He dismissed us with a cursory shrug of his shoulders. We went back into Kalamata centre to explore or decreasing options.

It’s funny how things always work out. We made our way to the “historic” centre of the town. It was amazing. A beautiful old square surrounded by gorgeous little tavernas and hidden corners. In the centre stands a Byzantine church that was the place where the founding fathers of Greece started the Greek war of independence.  We seated ourselves on a comfy sofa in one of the tavernas and had coffee, well I did. Crispy of course was straight on the hard stuff. Coke Zero. We got chatting to a German lady who grew up here and now returns regularly to see her friends and family. She was a very good friend of Teressa the cafe owner. Teresa it seems has a son called Peter who runs a travel agency. Peter has a friend who also is a travel agent who deals frequently with Ktel. Within the hour all was sorted and we had our tickets and connections for our journey to Nfplio safely in the backpack. 

It was hot. The flashing green sign outside a pharmacy informed us that the temperature was now 34 degrees. We had been on the hunt for tickets for the best part of two hours. We retired to the comfort of the lodgings and it’s air conditioning. After a short rest we set out to explore Kalamata. It’s amazing. I was trying to find a suitable description for it when Crispy suggested that it reminded her of Barcelona. Perfect description.

It’s all built around one long road that is mostly pedestrianised leading from the old town down to the harbour. Cosmopolitan and organised. A comfortable mix of shops and bars. The lower portion of this Greek “la rambles” turns into a large park containing the old railway station. A pleasant green space filled with numerous steam engines that have been made safe and are now climbing frames and play things for the locals. It is special and very pretty. I climbed onto the foot plate of an old black engine and was in my element pretending I was it’s driver. I love steam trains. Crispy indulged me for a while before demanding I get down in order to allow some children a chance to play. I was not happy at having to leave “my” engine but Crispy reminded me that it’s good to share. 

I begrudgingly climbed down from “my” engine and we walked around the remainder of the park before returning to the little taverna we had visited earlier to dine.  The food was good and we even indulged ourselves with a glass or two of the local vino. She has promised me that we can go back and play with the trains tomorrow if I am good.

Tomorrow we are going to the beach (and the trains) Crispy needs some beach time and if it’s as nice as the rest of Kalamata then we are in for a treat.

(Kalamata was heavily involved in the battle for Greece during WW2. It was the scene of heavy fighting and the place of evacuation of the cornered allied troops, mostly ANZAC, to Crete as the axis forces advanced their occupation)

Bare and Crispy signing off, Kalamata, near the trains, Peloponnese, Greece