Methoni

On the way to Methoni we travelled via Kalamata known for its olives. We stopped at Pilos, a small fishing port, and went to the local bakery and the owner had a brother in Melbourne! On to Methoni where there is a huge old Venetian fort on the harbourfront which covers 9.3 hectares. There is a spectacular martello tower on the very entry to the bay, which is accessed by a small stone bridge and causeway. The Venetians were here from 1200 to 1500 to be routed by the Ottomans who also ruled for 300 years until the Greek War of Independence. We stayed at Melina Apartments and had a swim in the Ionian Sea.

The next morning we stopped at Kalo Nero and sat in a beachfront Taverna for coffee on the beach. We saw a great example of very poor water awareness -we noted a sweet six year old girl and her two year old sister enter the water after the dad had dropped them at the edge together with a small yellow round blown up tube with a seat. Off they went into the waterand dad up to the Taverna with news paper and coffee- a tragedy waiting to happen! The six year old was able to go into deep water holding onto the tube; the two year old had no flotation whatsoever. The girls had a great time but dad did not see any danger and was not watching. We watched for 20 minutes and hoped there would be no problem. These people unfortunately are not aware of water safety. We should have taken a photo as an example.

This is part of my ongoing work I am undertaking for Leichhardt Council, tables and chairs on footpaths, also on beaches, here there appears to be many more chairs than would ever be occupied, maybe rents are cheap I will make more enquiries, we have noticed many fringe operations making improvements for the new peak season. I will have to spend more hours of research yet.