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Tripoli is not a bad place, but I don't mind leaving either. Instead of taking the main road trough the valley, we take some backroads through the mountains. It's very quiet, the villages seem to be asleep; cycling is a pleasure here.
A coffee stop in Skorsinos before we get to the steep climb towards Longanikos.
From Longanikos to Georgitsi, the road is almost flat. We planned to have lunch there under a big Plane tree (Dutch: plataan, French: platane) but the only bar that is open is not interested in customers it seems. From here on, it is mainly down-hill to Sparti and Mistras.
Some people go for a ride in the area or to the Langadia pass (the highest pass in the Peloponnesos), but most decide to visit the remains of the old city of Mistras.
The castle (Kastro) is situated at the top of the hill. The inner city with the Despote palace, the old Nauplie entrance, and the Saint-Sophie church is just below it, and further down there's the outer city with its many churches and monasteries.
After a 2-hour walk, we reached the castle at the top of the hill. There's not much left of it but the view's great!
In the afternoon, we wanted to go for a swim, but the pool didn't look too good so we ended up with a drink on a terras, writing postcards :)
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