Messene and the hornet from hell

Posted On: Oct 3rd, 2015 at 17:48

Greece
Day Five: Messene and the hornet from hell.
Today was a relatively bad day. I say relative because I am driving around southern Greece with temperatures of 27 degrees in a t-shirt and shorts, with a great sun tan and all the freedom that comes with it. So, a ‘relatively’ bad day…
It started off well enough – got up early and was out the hotel by just after eight, such was my plan, but that was about it. I reached Mystras just a few kilometres up the road and looking at the site I realised I did not have the time to climb the mountainous terrain and get to my other two stops, so I decided to continue on to Messene as Mystras wasn’t actually a part of my main itinerary. That was actually a pretty good choice in the end because for the first time on my travels my free Sat Nav that I downloaded onto my phone, and which has worked perfectly up until today, started to malfunction badly. Well, actually it didn’t malfunction, it just started sending me down dirt tracks instead of main roads. Occasionally I had to override the system and use my own judgment to get back on track, or the correct diversion. I probably reached Messene (Meh-see-nee) about an hour later than I’d hoped, somewhere around 11am. And what an incredible site that was. Some photos are below…
And then it was on to Bessai, but things were about to get worse. The Sat Nav continued sending me along dodgy tracks and by the time I reached Bessai it was around 15:30. To make matters worse the site was closed. That might not sound bad until you realise it sits on the top of a mountain, 3200 feet up towards the sky, and the drive was gruelling and often frightening with sheer drops next to my window. I was utterly disappointed when I found out the site closes on weekends during ‘out-of-season’. So, I missed a site today, and if I’d have known that before I could have stuck to the main roads and reached Olympia by 15:00 and made up some time by visiting the site today. Instead I reached Olympia at 17:00 and will visit the site first thing in the morning, as I am staying here overnight.
But that’s not all. After being sent on many different and wrong roads I ended up driving very fast along a back road towards Olympia and was due to arrive any moment… and then I heard a loud thud and a giant – and I mean giant – hornet landed on the dashboard in front of me. I was splattered with its innards all over my arms and clothes and the car as well. I can tell you that stuff does not clean up too well. I stopped the car and tried to get it out but it landed on the floor. I know it sounds silly but I thought it may still be alive so I left it there. And lo and behold it WAS still alive when I reached Olympia! It wasn’t going to harm me but it was still moving. It was the largest hornet I have ever seen in my life, at least two times bigger than any I’ve seen back home. I put it outside the car and had a very needed shower. What a horrible experience!
Let’s hope tomorrow brings better news…
However, sitting outside a restaurant just now, drinking coffee and relaxing in the perfect weather, somehow you just know it’s all worth it and it’s all happened for a reason… and what a gem awaits me in the morning!

Asclepeion

Asclepeion

Stadium agora

Ancient Doric temple dedicated to the Messenian family

The impressive stadium

Seating at the north end