Hinter Kardamili the land becomes wild and barren. The town on the northern edge of the Mani peninsula in the Peloponnese was discovered in the 1970s by British dropouts, people who were then called hippies. Quite a few of them got stuck, they still look the same as they did then, now with white beards. For several years, rich Greeks have also been living in the area, who can afford a holiday home in the area.
But just, behind Kardamili the land becomes barren and the road curvy. If you’re not careful, you’ll miss the bumpy turnoff towards the sea, which has a sign pointing to Patrick Leigh Fermor House. From the gravel parking lot at the end of the lane, a path leads to the gate of a monastic-looking property. When you enter it, you feel like you are in the villa of a late Byzantine nobleman: shady stone arches with niches, lush and well-tended gardens with cypresses, olive groves, oleanders and fragrant shrubs. The open sea and the cloudless blue sky close the horizon. Any Cisalpine Mediterranean fantasy is served in the most beautiful way.