DAY 106-GYTHION, GREECE

 Lovely little village that was the port city of ancient Sparta.  It was a cool and cloudy day with a high temperature of around 55F.

        This is a new port for us.  Located on the northwestern end of the Laconian Gulf, it is said to have been founded by in ancient times by Hercules and Apollo.  The town was built on a hillside and was the seaport for Sparta (25 miles to the north)  until it was destroyed by an earthquake in the 4th century AD.  Now it is a delightful, small town (population just over 7,000).
        Our excursion (Rebecca did not go) today, “Medieval Mystras”, departed shortly after docking at 8:00 this morning.  Our tour bus headed north along the rugged Taygetos Mountains.  The landscape was pretty much dominated by olive trees.  There also were some orange and almond trees.  After a very scenic drive we arrived in Sparta which lies in a valley.  We stopped to take photos of a statue of Leonides.  He was the warrior king of the city-state of  Sparta from 489 BC to 480 BC.  You may have seen the 2007 movie “300” which is about Leonides and the 300 Spartans fighting the invading Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae.
       Then we drove on up a mountain side to the ancient ruins of  Mystras.  The ruins are located on the slopes of the Taygetos mountains and overlook the modern village of Mystras and Sparta.  Ancient Mystras was a town built around a fortress that was erected in 1249 that overlooked ancient Sparta and protected it and the valley below.  We spent an hour and a half seeing some of the ruins of the lower part of Mystras.  The upper, part and probably most interesting, was closed now due to renovations.  At the upper level was a monastery , Despot’s Palace, and more of the larger buildings.  The mid level was mostly the housing area.

       The ship's internet really sucked today so I could not get my photos uploaded.  I will put them on later.  This evening we had a wonder dinner with Pamela & Charlie Montgomery from Vancouver, Canada, whom we met on our 2012 Circle South America cruise.  The headliner show tonight featured Steve Stevens again from the UK.  He was one of the best comedians I have ever heard and can play really mean trumpet.  Excellent headliner show once again!!!

       We departed Gythion at 6:00 pm and are now sailing to another new destination for us, Zakynthos, Greece.  We will be anchoring again tomorrow morning there at 8:00 am.  Our tour is to meet at 7:45 am and it is now 10:45 pm so better hit the hay.  It was another great day in Greece!
       Ok, it is 11:30 pm and I finally got the photos uploaded and captions added.  Sorry for the quality of my photos but my auto focus on camera is not working so I have to manual focus.  Also captions not great but I am tired and can't remember names of all the old ruins I saw today.

https://goo.gl/photos/DbJzboE74e2Tj3Vu5