Roaming the Ruins of Greece

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And so to Athina...Finally out of the airport and on our journey in our rental VW gripping on to seat as Rob drove on left side of car and on the wrong side of the road!!! Motorists here are crazy, with no obeying of the road rules or speeds, it is free for all, so i hang on for dear life as we enter Athena, an old tired city expanding for miles beneath the majestic Acropolis on the mount. Roaming the corridors of the city, up and down laneways, paved with a variety of tavernas, mixing modern with the old traditional, it isn't hard to find a cold Mythos (greek beer) and greek delicacies.. rob hanging out for a traditional souvlaki like back in melbourne! only they serve them here with bread and chips... as we head south to the Peloponese we drive along steep mountain ridges, passing through towns balanced on hillsides, magnificent vistas and bus loads of tourists at all the points of interests.. a little late to Delphi, so a quick run through the ruins of the "Centre of the World" according to ancient Greeks..overnight in Pyrgos, where we met Greeks from Sydney, happy to chat to other "Aussies". Ventured into Olympia, the site of the beginning of Olympic History, where the God Zues protected all. This site wasn't discovered until 1875, as much of it had been destroyed by earthquake. As we walked the athletic stadium where the games first began you could imagine ( I think watching Epic Theatre as a kid helped), the athletes and crowds. Onto a beautiful fishing port of Nafplion, and settling into a traditional b&b, walking distance to the many shops and restaurants. The Greeks stay up very late, as they have a siesta from 1 - 4.. often not going out to dinner till 10 or 11,, then as we found the next morning, a town that sleeps till 11.. they are extremely laid back! We climbed the 900 steps to the ancient white castle where the people of the city lived way back in the fourth century. Roaming the ruins of all of these archaeological sites,some dated back to300bc, and walking the museums filled with discovered treasures from these sanctuaries, you come to realise how young Australia is and short our actual history also is. With only a hundred or so kms between here and Athens we had time to cruise the winding roads towards Epidaurus the sanctuary of the ancient Amphitheater. This place was amazing, it seats over 14,000 people and has the best natural acoustics in the world. We were blessed to be there on a day, when a tall German man took centre stage (one of the tourists), and began to sing with his deep baritone voice to the crowds.. everyone applauded, from then on men and women, and children all stepped onto centre stage and did their thing also, i couldn't persuade Rob to sing one of his Joe Cocker numbers though..Now back to Athens,, busy packing and unpacking suitcases, in an attempt to make the load lighter-we have only been here a week and i guarantee our cases are a kilo heavier and so are we!!!

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Photos

Epidaurus
Early for the theatre.

Delphi
Ancient santuary of the God of Apollo once considered to be te centre of the earth

The town of Delphi
Many of the villages have quaint narrow streets, this one at least restricted the parking, sometime you would have to wait as car coming from the other direction squeezed through.

An Interesting choice in Napflion
Part of our menu,.. you have to wonder?

Dining inNapflion
We have enjoyed the local cuisine and usually order several small dishes such as Saganaki, Stuffed Vine leaves, stuffed Tomatoes, a Greek Salad and a caraffe of Vinio. By the end we are the ones that ere stuffed.

Still Eating
Our Breaky in Nafplion, they grow the Croissants bigger than we expected.

Nafplion, the lovely harbour
The Bourtzi fortress in the background adds to the beautiful vistas of this town

The Palamidi fortress
lokking out from the first of many gateways to this fortress

The Palamidi fortress
Annie at the entence to the inner area

Our stay in Nafplion
The charming pension that was our home in Nafplion