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Background: Greece achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829. During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, it gradually added neighboring islands and territories, most with Greek-speaking populations. In World War II, Greece was first invaded by Italy (1940) and subsequently occupied by Germany (1941-44); fighting endured in a protracted civil war between royalist supporters of the king and communist rebels. Following the latter's defeat in 1949, Greece was able to join NATO in 1952. A military dictatorship, which in 1967 suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country, lasted seven years. The 1974 democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy. Greece joined the European Community or EC in 1981 (which became the EU in 1992); it became the 12th member of the euro zone in 2001.

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By Overseas Adventures by Amy
August 29th 2009

Olympia - site of the ancient games Europe » Greece » West Greece » Olympia

Partially restored monument

Location: Katakolon and Olympia Weather: Sunny, 34 °C I have a true appreciation of how students feel about listening and work when it is hot! Today I travelled to Olympia - site of the original Olympic games but while the guide was explaining things all I was trying to do was find some shade. It was a bit like the episode of the Simpsons told from the dog’s perspective, every time the humans spoke the dog heard random sounds - I was listening but not listening. The Museum at Olympia was good, the air conditioning made it so. Some of the [View Full Entry]

By Henrik og Mette
June 29th 2009

Dag paa stranden. Europe » Greece » West Greece » Patras

Dasedag..

Her er en kort update herfra :-) Vi har som sagt valgt at tage et par dage her i Patras (En hyggelig lille by), og i dag tog vi til Rion som ligger 10 minutters togkoersel herfra. Her er der en strand (Dog ikke helt saa paen som ved Vesterhavet ;-)) hvor vi kunne laane nogle solstole (Mod at vi koebte drikkevarer i ejerens bar) og her har vi saa daset hele dagen :-) Det var bare skoent at kunne koble af og bade i det Ioniske hav :-) Vejret er skoent (27 - 29 grader) og ved vandet var det [View Full Entry]

By Henrik og Mette
June 28th 2009

Saa er vi kommet til Graekenland Europe » Greece » West Greece » Patras

Fra Napoli

SAA er vi endelig kommet til Graekenland. Fredag morgen tog vi med et tog fra Napoli til Bari hvor vi skulle sejle fra. Sejlturen tager omkring 15,30 time, og det er hundedyrt. Rederiet vi skulle sejle med ville have 16 Euro per person bare for at faa lov til at sidde paa daekket, og det var kun saa "billigt" fordi vi har Interrailpas. Ellers tog de 77 Euro per person for at faa et saede at sidde paa indenfor - saa vi valgte at tage daekket. Vi skulle sejle kl. 20 om aftenen, men allerede kl. 17 gik vi ombord. Vi [View Full Entry]

By Birdy85
May 20th 2009

Greece Europe » Greece » West Greece » Patras

New country, same old tramp, same old bike

We're ın Greece. I know you're not meant to pass opınıon when travel wrıtıng, the strength of the wrıtıng should convey all. Bugger ıt. We lıke Greece. We've only spent one day here but ıt has already endeared ıtself more than Italy dıd ın almost a fortnıght. Takıng that short ferry has shuttled us from one European country to another, whıch seems half a world apart. If not half a world ıt must have been a tıme capsule to a world half a century apart. We have travelled fıve hours from the ferr [View Full Entry]

By LostHunters
May 12th 2009

Katakolon Europe » Greece » West Greece » Olympia

nice beach

This stop was amazing!!!! <Hey all sorry for the lack of entries we are in rome and have been here for a little over three days, internet cafes fill up pretty quick so it has been pretty hard to get on one so hopefully we will get a couple knocked out. Katakolon is the port city to Olympia home of the first olympics. Jess and I had been looking a ruins for long enough so we walked around the little port which took about 15 minutes. Just about everything that could be converted to a tourist junk shop did, so we [View Full Entry]

By LostHunters
May 7th 2009

Still in the Greek Islands Europe » Greece » West Greece

Our ship docked at Mykenos, Greece yesterday. We were both pretty indecisive of what we wanted to do for the day. We ended up taking the shuttle from the ship to the town. The town was the perfect picture of a Greek island town. After walking through the streets a bit, we decided to catch the ferry to Delos. The ferry was 15 euros each round trip to and from Delios, and admission to the ruins was only 5 euros each. This was definately less than Royal Carribean was charging for their tour of the ruins. The ferry ride was about [View Full Entry]

By devyn
March 27th 2009

Day 49 - Don't ask me what that says - it's all Greek to me Europe » Greece » West Greece » Olympia

olympic rings

Ever wonder where we got the English word "gymnasium" from? I know I have...n't. (lol) Perhaps it wasn't a shock that we borrowed the word from the Ancient Greeks, but what surprised the hell out of me was that it meant "place to be naked." As in bare-bottomed, with all your bits and pieces on display for public inspection. Er? I think we have another English equivalent to that though...it's more commonly referred to as "porn," in my native tongue, lol. Athletes would also slather their naked bodies with healthy amounts of olive oil to imbue their skin with a healthy [View Full Entry]

By Dena
March 25th 2009

And many monkeys live here? Europe » Greece » West Greece » Olympia

Temple of Poseidon at Sounion

I can't believe it has been nearly a month since I last posted! I have been keeping very busy and life has certainly been pretty hectic. As usual, Greece has been a lot of fun! On the sixth of March my program took us on a tour of Brauron and Sounion. Brauron used to be a Temple to Artemis and Iphigenia and Sounion was a Temple to Poseidon with a smaller Temple to Athena across the way. The weather was a bit dreary due to a sandstorm blowing over Greece from the Sahara, but all in all it was a great [View Full Entry]

By KayD
March 17th 2009

Journey From Patras to Kos Europe » Greece » West Greece » Patras

Festival in Patras

Sunday !st March To those of you who have held your breath for the next exciting instalment .... I'm sorry! Catching up on 17th March. Leaving the ferry at Patras the sat nav. decided not to work , so we followed our new German friends out onto the highway, finding out later that they were following a greek man who was f0llowing .. no, not really. Later when the sat nav did work, we had a hair-raising journey , cars and motor bikes over-taking from both sides at great speeds. Finding Pireaus was o.k. but the Ferry terminal.. a night mare, [View Full Entry]

By KayD
March 1st 2009

Leaving Italy arrival Greece Europe » Greece » West Greece » Patras

Leaving Ancona

Sunday 1st March 2009 We had agood start off to Ancona,a little misty on the along the road but no problems untill we got stopped by an Italian policeman for not having our lights on in a little tunnel, he fined us 30 euros! All the while people are thundering past at twice the speed limit. Bastardo! The scenery was unexpectedly beautifull all the way along the Auto strada Atlantico. Arriving at the Ferry port in good time to buy tickets and be near the front of the queue. Rob was chatting to a Greek man in front , who suggested [View Full Entry]

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