Agamemnon and all that

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We left Athens this morning for a brief visit to Mycenaean territory in the Peloponnese. We had a good long look at Mycenae itself, with its famous Lion Gate. The setting is magnificent, above the plain running north from the sea and between two mountains that provided natural protection on north and south. Then a brief visit at a workshop where they're trying to reproduce the methods used in ancient times to create vases and bronze statues. On to Tiryns, another Bronze Age city that's slightly older than Mycenae. They're so close to each other that they must have been bitter rivals.

We arrived at Nafplion, a port town that was occupied by the Venetians for many years. You can see it in the older buildings (and in the gelaterie!) It has a really Italian feel.

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