Peloponnese, Please

Things I’d learned to ask when we saw ancient ruins was:

Who built it?
When?
And why?

Some people might be able to relate to this but for a little while there, my answer to all of those questions…was coffee.  Greece has great coffee!! And, traveling with a coffee drinker, I started drinking one cup every couple of days and it felt incredible!  COFFEE IS SO GOOD!

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The region of Southern Greece known as the Peloponnese peninsula, where we spent most of our time, has incredibly impressive roads.  And having recently come from Ukraine, this was something that I continually commented on and appreciated.

Smooth sailing all the way down these pristine roads.

As we were driving, the car started beeping, which, as you probably know, is never the best sign. Were we about to run out of gas or spontaneously combust due to some engine problem?? Nope! The car started beeping to warn us that the temperature had dropped low enough for snow. Snow? In Greece?!

Not enough to make this a ski vacation, but still. There is snow in Greece!

We had been seeing the snow capped mountains in the distance, from almost every stunning angle, but it was still a very strange feeling to be driving down the highway and to see actual snow on the side of the road, directly right outside. Definitely not something I had been expecting to see in Greece.  Surprise!

Speaking of surprise… This looks like a welcome party complete with colorful decorations!  The guests didn’t get the memo, though.

As we were driving around, curious about places we passed, we realized our guidebook lacked lots of information. It never talked about Northern Greece or about islands like Crete, and now that we were in central Peloponnese, we noticed that it didn’t have much info about our current location either, like that really cool monastery built into the hillside.  For such a popular tourist destination, you would think there’d be a better guidebook somewhere. So we started to wonder…hmm…could we make a better guidebook? It seems like a lot of work (especially because I can get overly thorough) but there is so much to see and experience!  Adventure Sam’s World Guidebook coming at you in 2019!! Just kidding…or am I? Yes, I am.

…or am I?

Sunsets in #Greece

Beautiful views abound!

Feelin’ blue?  So is this church.

A souvlaki stand with pork and chicken! Similar to something I’d see in Azerbaijan except for the meat; Greece isn’t Muslim.

We discovered mountainous villages and incredible hiking. I could have spent weeks exploring the area around Olympia! Again, I was stunned that this perfect part of the country wasn’t even mentioned in the guidebook.  (Will I have one coming out in 2020…maybe….) *wink*.

Gorgeous mountain town undiscovered by Rick Steves.

And they say cities have bad traffic.

Lots of hikes in the region start at this point. Are people supposed to pray before they hike? …should we be scared…?

Middle Earth?  Nah.  Greece!

All in all, the countryside was a great place to explore. We had a fun and happened upon some incredible views — which is literally par for the course in Peloponnese.

Adventure and coffee around every curve in the road,
‘mi