This Is Sparta
After leaving the Southern Lights I got the opportunity to stay a while in Sparta. This I gladly did - for who in their right mind would not wish to adventure in such a historical part of the world? I put on my exploration boots, swiped on my exploration apps and brought an extra exploration sweater, because it could get a bit nippy after dark.
Unlike Ancient Sparta, modern day Sparta is not a duomonarchic, austere, elitistic bunch of spear waving, child throwing, warmongerers - it's actually not to unlike other medium sized Greek towns. But if you follow the sign above they'll hand you a cool helmet and a shiv, and point you in the direction of the weekly enemy city state.
I had walked quite a bit along the streets of the town, when I suddenly came over the bend of a road and could see the first peaks of Taygetos through the distant mist. Although a misty day they were a quite impressive sight. (My phone seems to have doubled the amount of mist though...)
There was a football game happening inside the stadium. Outside a child kneeled by the statue of Leonidas. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe the child made the game happen through intertelekinetic contact with the spirits of old...
In the garden of the archeological museum, old broken things.
And headless petrified women guarded the entryway.
I passed the local endless pit, close to the main plaza, where they seemed to be having some sort of political deliberation.
And the Laconian shield. I find it very beautiful in its simplicity.
Church of Sparta - day and night.
Day two I took the small country road leading west, toward the mountain.
The Taygetos range lay covered in clouds, the higher peaks behind the first row just hinted with their presence in the fog.
Not all Spartan houses were spartan in design. I passed several homes of rustic charm and others of even quite extravagant build.
Yet other stood derelict and overgrown.
And after having walked to the foot of the mountains, I found my way back to my base along a broader road. Leaving the slopes and peaks of the mountain to my imagination, and for coming days.
