Costa Navarino: Sustainable Luxury Paradise – Day 2

Olives and Philosophy

Our trip to Messinia started with fashion: as you can see on my preceding blogpost about Costa Navarino, we admired some antique costumes both live and in a museum exhibition. The second day was more about nature – in a different way to experience it: the philosophy walk. Wait a minute, you might be thinking…philosophy? On holiday? Huh?

Yes! Because at Costa Navarino you can really experience the Greek culture, traditions and way of thinking. In the middle of ancient olive trees (the one in the photo is 1’000 years old, and if you want to read about the sustainability program and landscape preservation you’ll see how much work is behind this beautiful setting) one can walk, talk and share existential questions with a philosophy professor. Aristoteles and his disciples didn’t really have a class, so they started to walk. The philosopher also believed that physical movement greatly helped the mind to achieve clarity (and me too, by the way), and the tradition has remained. We talked about the role of women in ancient and modern society, education, fashion, and much more. Everybody had interesting points and made some  personal remarks.

Cooking Like Greek Mamas

Contrasting to this depth, the Greek culture is also extremely lively – being loud, chatty, and Italian, I often feel Greeks are my cousins. So when we went to an old, beautifully renovated traditional house for a cooking course with local ladies, I was delighted. I first boasted that I am the best pasta maker in the room, and then realised that all the ladies were much better than me.

An array of local, fresh ingredients was brought to the table. We mixed, stirred, cooked and talked. But above all we ate!

The Dunes

The Dunes beach in Costa Navarino was our next destination. The view just outside the resort were unbelievable – where had all the people gone? In Costa Navarino, one feels it’s never crowded. The smell of the sea, the clean air, the soft sand, the mild sun were so relaxing, that we wanted to stay forever. We played with the waves, stretched, talked, and of course enjoyed some drinks and food at the Barbouni Restaurant. Here, the most coreographic curtains I’ve ever seen gently move with the wind and give the impression of being in the water, or moving at a slow motion.

Nature

One evening, while walking in the semidarkness, Geri and I saw some flamingos flying low in the sky. We had never seen anything like that and froze – we were in awe. The birds were flying in formation and looked incredibly elegant. very big as well! We didn’t manage to take a picture obviously – they were too fast and we were mesmerisedand reacted slowly. So, to give an idea of the nature one can experience in Costa Navarino, here are some more pictures of the place. An incredible discovery I won’t forget – and a peaceful experience between past, present and future.

More About Costa Navarino

Here are more impressions from our trip – a truly magical place. Thank you Aegean Airlines for this unforgettable journey!