Day 173 – EU – Greece [Kyparissia to Gialova]

13/08/20

43km

  From Kyparissia (Greece) to Gialova (Greece)

Europe

Temperatures on the rise again, an Eiffel Tower and arrival by the Bay of Navarino

I had a pleasant surprise as I left the hotel this morning. The manager, Georgia, had left for me a very kind handwritten letter of encouragement (in french) along with a bottle of local red wine and another one of Ouzo (anise flavoured Greek aperitif). A very sweet gesture and a good boost of energy for the day ahead.

As soon as I hit the road, I could tell the air was a few degrees hotter than what I had enjoyed last week. A few degrees is all it takes to make a difference. By km2 I was already sweating a lot and it just got worse. At 10:30am as I was on a break, I looked at my Garmin and it read 44 Celsius (in the direct sun that is). I was toast for the day!

Running by the town of Filiatra this morning, I had a very surprising sight, to say the least! There stood a 26m tall replica of the Eiffel Tower at the first crossroad as you entered the village. No plaque or any explanation why it is there. I searched Google for answers but did not find much, except that it is dated 1960 and apparently greatly irritated the Mayor of Paris who allegedly wrote to UNESCO in 2012 to get it removed (!). Strange.

Today I am staying in Gialova on the splendid Bay of Navarino – just opposite the town of Pylos. I had planned to go visit the local site of the Myceanean Nestor Palace – which was pointed to me by two of the Blog readers (*anyone reading this blog is more than welcome to give me tips). Alas the bus service did not run this afternoon, I did not find a driver and I missed the sight.

Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: