Blogs from Corinth, Pelopennese, Greece, Europe - page 2

SO NOW WE ARE OFF ON OUR WANDERINGS A FEW DAYS SEEING LOADS MORE PILES OF STONES BEFORE SETTING OFF TO THE ISLANDS. THURSDAY DAWNS (8.30AM) GLORIOUSLY SUNNY AND WE FIND OURSELVES MEANDERING ALONG THE NARROW STREETS OF ANCIENT ATHENS DRAGGING ALL OUR WORLDLY POSSESSIONS (HOLDALLS) BEHIND US, DODGING THE TRAFFIC AND DOGS AND OLD LADIES TRYING TO SELL US STUFF. WE CATCH THE METRO TRAIN TO THE PORT OF PIRAEUS ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF ATHENS. YOU CANT BUT NOTICE ALL THE GRAFFITI IT IS EVERYWHERE PLASTERING ANY SURFACE WITHIN REACH OF THOSE THAT SPRAY. IS IT STREET ART THEY CALL IT? AS WE ENTER PIRAEUS WE PASS 2 OLYMPIC STADIUMS AND THEN WE ENTER THE CHAOS OF THE PORT OF PIRAEUS. FIRST THING WE DO IS BOOK A FERRY TO SERIFOS. WE PAY, WE ARE ... read more

I really never had any intention of bungee jumping; it was a purely spontaneous opportunity that I seized after some convincing (especially since heights make me queasy…) Anyhow, my roommate decided that we were going bungee jumping on Oct. 9th because that was the second to last weekend to do it before it closed for the winter season and also because the weather was nice (when we left…) I was hesitant about going at first because A) I don’t like heights, B) I didn’t know the safety statistics of the place; granted they have been in business since 1991, and C) it was expensive—like 16E for transportation, 60E to jump, and 10E for a t-shirt saying that I did jump (because you need a souvenir after doing something like that!)…about $120 USD total. I told Megan ... read more

Howdy, readers. We're in Greece now, but I'll give you the whole story... I apologize for the pun. (written on Saturday) Originally, we had planned to drive south from Venice on Thursday and Friday, and catch a ferry Friday night to Saturday morning to Greece. However, my dad was browsing the internet and found a different, longer ferry route that left on Friday at 2 pm and got in on Saturday at 8-ish, and it left from Venice, which eliminated about 10 hours of driving. So we're on that ferry now, and we have had some lovely views of the Greece coastline. The water here is absolutely lovely, navy blue in the deep water and turquoise in the shallows. We've had only good weather on the ferry, which is fantastic because noone is terribly seasick :). ... read more

Monday 9th May 2011 School, Laundry and Domestics followed by walk along beach. Tuesday 10th May 2011 A short drive to the ruins of Ancient Corinth or Korinth which in antiquity was a city-state (polis) on the Isthmus of Corinth, the narrow stretch of land that joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece, roughly halfway between Athens and Sparta. In classical times, Corinth rivaled Athens and Thebes in wealth, based on the Isthmian traffic and trade and hosted the Isthmian Games. At the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC 400 Corinthians are listed as fighting with the Spartan 300 against Persians and Corinth played a major part in the Peloponnesian Wars. The Romans destroyed Corinth following a siege in 146 BC, when they entered the city they put all the men to the sword and ... read more

Location: Athens and Corinth Weather: Sunny, 31 °C As I had visited Athens before joining the cruise I selected to visit the Corinth Canal and the site of Ancient Corinth. The Canal was amazing; it is difficult to believe that it was made entirely by hand thousands of years ago, the rock has been carved so smooth. We stopped to take photos and have a coffee break - I had the worst coffee ever, smelt good, looked good but tasted awful! I saw signs of the recent fires around Athens as we made our way to Corinth, all were very close the suburban areas. Lots of the vegetation in Athens in terms of street trees are Eucalyptus, they look great but not the best for a fire prone area. The site of Ancient Corinth was good ... read more