Reflections: Stoupa and the Mani Peninsula Part 4

We are in our final day before busing back to Athens where we will spend a further 5 days before moving onto Vienna. We still have places to explore in Athens which I found to be a very friendly and walkable city with its 15 minute neighbourhoods. Local neighbourhoods are  well served by a range of shops providing daily needs plus relaxed cafes and restaurants. There is a sense of ‘freedom’ in the air be it a result of the weather or the city’s personality….or perhaps both!  Having done the ancients we can now get onto the here and now so will spend time in contemporary spaces. 

Stoupa has a mood and life style that captivates and land that intimidates. Its sense of place, space and pace with its imposing mountains, never ending sea, local personalities and tourist diversity infects the experience. It is very local and very European. Maybe the history of Greece is played out once again.  It has defined its past and defines its present.  

Our time here has been a rewarding and enjoyable experience. Time spent; experience gained. We have also enjoyed living in this Mani home with its very distinctive style, but typical in these parts, its balcony overlooking the olive groves and mountains and sea, its slate floors, windows and shutters, and rocky /brick exterior. There is certainly no one able to enter our domain without us seeing them through the windows or small ‘port’ holes. Yes a fortress of sorts that reflects the history of the Peloponnese and in particular the Mani Peninsula.  

The Mani Peninsula has been awesome; rugged, unkept, natural and authentic! The days have been boringly warm and sunny though some days there is a build up of dark clouds high above the souring mountains that mostly fade away come evening, only to try and do better next time! We have been provided with advice by our English neighbours who have ‘lived’ here and for over 20 years. They have prompted us to explore the small villages that dot the mountains. 

Those villages express the ruins of the past and the living of the present. The houses cling to the mountain sides, some in disrepair, some under repair others taking traditional shape and built with the local rock and labour skills. There are churches that have given up but many that have been returned to their Byzantine past through extensive restoration work. But no matter what is built it is dwarfed by the mountains and the glistening and wide sea. 

This is what Mani Peninsula offers who live here, or come to experience.