I’m still not sure if the Taygetus mountains of the Mani Peninsula are fact or figment, and I stared at this view for an entire week – at daybreak, at twilight, in sun and in storm. Real or not, these mountains beckoned. And I was entranced. Still am, when I look at the photos. They were taken from Harakopio (Peroulia Beach) in Kalamata, Greece, overlooking the Gulf of Messenia.
I’ve read my Patrick Leigh Fermor (Mani: Travel in the Southern Peloponnese) which sets off most beguilingly, penetrating on foot this all but impenetrable mountain peninsula (that until recent times scarcely had a road into the interior), but then, after some stunning episodes, the account digresses into convoluted regional history that this reader found more uphill-going than the near-vertical terrain. Still, it’s a book worth tackling for the magical inside-Mani experiences. It truly is.
But if the mountains have long kept people out, then it’s a different story for the coastal foothills. Some settlements along the shore, accessible only by sea, have been occupied since Mycenaean times, i.e. the Ancient Greek Bronze Age (c1750-1000 BCE). If you squint, you can see signs of humanity in the first photo.
But that’s enough of the prosaic. These scenes are just for dreaming.
Lens-Artists: the mountains are calling This week Amy sets the challenge.
Tish Farrell 
Indeed, these scenes are the subject of dreams or landscape artists
what a view the owners of that final image have each day Tish!! Lovely mountains, must admit I’d not heard of them. Love the image with the sun’s rays especially
Thanks, Tina. And yes a blissful spot to live in that last photo.
Beautiful mountain views from your lens, Tish! The sun rays is spectacular.
Thank you for sharing with us.
Many thanks, Amy. You gave us such an inspiring theme this week.
Excellent. LOVE the clouds/mountains/sea combos. 👍
Many thanks, John.
There is something about mountains seen across an expanse of water/ A romantic sight indeed.
Yes, that view across water does add magic. It’s the same in Anglesey across the Menai Straits to Snowdonia.
That second one with the light streaming through is a stunner, Tish.
Thanks, Jo.
Awesome response for this challenge Tish! You captured those mountains beautifully. Love the sunset!
Many thanks, Anne.
mesmerising mountains – and Mani so close to Menai in outlook and sounds at least
Mesmerising is the word, Laura. And yes, the Menai congruency is rather fascinating. I nearly added Snowdonia across the Strait shot.
Love these scenes, Tish! And PLFs prose style is beguiling – I went to Romania after reading ‘Between the Woods and the Water’ Alas, never made it to Mani….
I was thinking as I wrote the post, I need to get back to him. Such a ‘nourishing’ writer.
Indeed so!
The mountains do actually look like a mirage, one of those books from the 20s and 30s where you set foot in the mountains and it’s half a millenia past because the world stopped? But the golden rayed sun, now THAT is magic!
Fact ot figment…hard to tell. Your images are magical, Tish. The second one with clouds, mountains and sea…I could not leave it, my eyes kept going back to that one. Of course I love the sun shining through in the next image, but this one, the colours, the mood, the magic. Wonderful.
Thank you, A-C, for that lovely comment.
You are welcome!
Hi Tish
The history of Arctic exploration is full of reflections seen as mountains. But for your fine pictures it doesn’t matter if it is some optical illusion or not. Every picture creates an illusion anyhow.
Thanks for sharing.
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Many thanks for those thoughtful observations, Klausbernd. All the best to you Fab Four.
I love the photo of the person in the water and the sun highlighting the landscape on the left.
That was quite a moment, Donna.
Looked like it.
Amazing photos of a dreamland!
Thanks, Agata.
Magnificent!