View first post of this trip here
The last 2 Nights were spent at a luxurious beach resort on the Coast of Navarino named Navarino Dunes.
Is home to 2 deluxe hotel, The Romanos, a Luxury Collection Resort and The Westin Resort (where we stayed), both operated by Starwood hotels and resorts worldwide.
Navarino Dunes extends over 1340 hectares(13 400 000 m²)on a gently sloping hillside stretching along a 1 km-long sandy beach,overlooking the Ionian Sea, and is an attraction to many families .
The compound includes conference center, spa, therapy center, a championship golf course, several pools and water bodies, a large choice of dining venues, and leisure facilities .
This big complex reminded me of the one that can be found on the strip stretch above Tullum to Porta Vallerta in Mexico, which we found unappealing.
We usually shay away from such large complexes, and prefer more intimate settings, however the excellent rating of the Navarino coast, and upon friends' recommendation we overcame our mental block...
.The low hilly sand dune on which the humongous resort is spread out on is covered by a natural vegetation of shrubs and more manicured lush green landscape, in between the Hotels Public areas, large pools, Restaurants and bars.
It is indeed a very nice facility, and hanging out by the beach and pool during these past days of frying heat-wave was a nice escapism.
Also dinner at one of the hotel's restaurants called KOOC was good.
On the way to our way to dinner, David saw a baby goat on a skewer above a fire so
got excited, and immediately asked for a Goat chops portion, while I kept with
the traditional the Greek Moussaka which was excellent.
Breakfast at the hotel was also fantastic.
On Greek Food
Although Greek food doesn’t come close to Italian , it can be tasty. Lamb and Octopus in particular .
Why are Greek Octopus dishes exceptional ?
Here is David's answer:
Octopus goes into Rigor Mortis 20 minutes after it’s caught ( fish about two hours ) and it’s hard and chewy . The Greeks “ tear “ the octopus muscles by beating it on a rock 100 times or machine beating it . So it’s relatively tender , although the machine is far less effective than the rock method
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The pristine cool Ionic sea water and attractive beach strip, with its complete equipment of chairs umbrellas, showers and other services, had compensate for the fact that access to the beach is much further away from where the hotel is located, and thus requires a dependency on an arranged golf cart ride.
One other drawback is that the bathroom amenities are below the standard of a 5 star luxury hotel, but service at all times was excellent.
From the language we could decider and conversation we had at the very full hotel, the brave who were vacationing here with us, were, some from Switzerland, where most are not vaccinated at all, Others were from Ukraine where the vaccine situation is not clear. They got insulted when we mistakenly identified them for Russians, And few were Italians who, apperently survived the pandemic .It seems that we were the only ones from Israel, as shouting in the Hebrew language was noticeably missed missed..
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Late afternoon on our second stay day, I needed to move my body and not only through water... so persuaded David to venture out for some exploration of the area.
20 minutes drive from the hotel, we paid an homage, to the ancient Mycenaean civilization, who left their treasures and dead, in ruins and many burial places, all around the area.
The art and culture of Mycenaean Greece, run from ca. 1600 to 1100 B.C. The name derives from the site of Mycenae in the Peloponnesos, where once stood another great Mycenaean fortified palace, we hope to also visit.
Visit to Nestor Palace
The most well-preserved Mycenaean Palace in Greece, built by King Nestor, son of Neleus famous king of Pylos mentioned in Homeric epics.
It is located in the area of Pylos on a hill known as Ano Englianos, overlooking the Bay of Navarino,
The Palace of Nestor was almost completely destroyed by a great fire in the late 13th century BC and was never rebuilt.
Although most of the palace site has already been dug out, since 1888 and in 1939 breakthrough, archeological investigations are still going on today, with the participation of the US Cincinnati's U.
The site reveals only the remains of the first floor's layout foundation where once the many beautifully decorated wooden pillars, burnt in fire, once stood.
The views all around of the Navarino attractive coast and the wavy olive trees
wooded landscape, from up this-tallest hill site, onto the horizon, are spectacular.. Thousand plates from the archives of the Palace of Nestor, with texts and pictorial images reveal important information on the daily life, as well as the economic and commercial activities of prehistoric Pylos.
The numerous archaeological findings from the site are kept at the Archaeological "Museum of Chora", (4 km away) as well as the Archaeological "Museum of Messenia located in Kalamata, which was closed when we visited the city on Tuesday
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On the way to dinner we passed a quint hidden sand beach, off the main Navarino coast road, situated about 7 km North of Pilos and is named:
Gragaliani - sand-beach
"Panorama" Sea Food Restaurant, is a family owned and operated fish tavern right on a rocky pleasant beach. in Marathoplis a quiet little seaside town, with a famous surfing beach Lagouvardos in the North side of town.
Sorry if all the Kosher keepers may get offended, but we had a great Lobster there.
Stay tuned for more....