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The Geraneion Hotel (Hotel Geranium) is mirrored in the lake at Kaiafas. (Right, from top) Railway bridge outside Kopanaki; loom at the convent in Kalamata; Pyrgos town square; ancient runners from a red-figured vase.





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DIROS CAVES, KALAMATA, KAIAFAS,
PYRGOS, OLYMPIA
Day 13—No, we won't be descending to the Underworld, but to a nether world of stalactites and stalagmites—the Caves of Diros. We'll glide through this underground wonderland in silence, in small boats that are propelled like gondolas.

In Kalamata, famous for its olives, we'll stop at a convent to admire the nuns' weaving skills and browse th e beautiful textiles in their gift shop. Then it's on through Kopanaki, Kalo Nero, and Kaiafas, with the sea on our side.

We leave behind Messenia and, after crossing the River Nedas, we enter Ilia. We'll be traveling among pine trees, with the sea on our left, and soon, Lake Kaiafas on our right. Kaiafas is a summering spot popular for its sandy beaches and hot springs that flow inside the mountain on the far side of the lake (see photo above).

Then we cross the mighty Alfeios River, which borders ancient Olympia further upstream, and on to Pyrgos, home town of XRX Publisher Alexis Xenakis and our Achtypis Tours' friends Stavros and Takis. Pyrgos, in the 1950s, was a quaint town of neoclassical one-and-two story homes. Today, its beautiful churches, town square, famed Eparheion hillock, and its columned Public Market remind us of the elegance of its past.

A short distance from Pyrgos, we reach the place whose name resonates down the ages: Olympia.