I went deep into Mani to Kardamili and my senses were alive. I smelled the salty sea, thyme-covered mountains, grapes, and currants. I tasted wine called “Hercules Blood,” touched the mystic caverns of the awesome Diros Caves, and heard the shrill sounds of the cicadas. What I wanted most of all, however, was to see the ancient love nest of Helen of Troy and Paris, the young Prince and son of Priam, the Trojan King. I was in Peloponnese making my way toward it.
Kardamili was the home of Patrick Leigh Fermor, the great Philhellene travel writer and English commando in Crete during World War II, and rumors were that he was seen at times in a local pub. Driving deep into the rugged paths of Mani, the scents of thyme, rosemary, grapes, and currants were in the air. Towers appeared on the torn, barren land then disappeared just as suddenly. The town was wild and naked, night was falling, and there was not a pub in sight.
