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Published: June 30th 2014
The strait of Corinth.
Created in the early 20th century to facilitate shipping from one sea to another, it unfortunately is too narrow to accommodate the modern cruise ship.Don't be alarmed at the title of this blog because it really did happen. However, you will have to read on to find out later in this section what that was all about. Jeanette was in for a big surprise.
Where do I start and how do I describe our journey through the Peloponnese to do justice to the experience? It is impossible to do, so while the enormous amount of fascinating historical information is extremely valuable and certainly educational, I will refrain from attempting to emphasize that too much where possible for fear of omission, error and of course, boring you to death. One idea is to Google an area or specific item if you are interested in more detail. I can assure you that it was an incredible experience.
Leaving Athens once again we headed along the scenic coastal road towards Corinth and our first stop where we viewed the deep
Corinth Canal that was dug many years ago to facilitate sea traffic from one sea to the other.
Onwards through continuing beautiful scenery and increasingly mountainous terrain, verdant valleys and quaint mountain hugging villages we entered Epidaurus and visited
Disembarking our luxury coach in Corinth.
This coach has WiFi on board which was so convenient to us. the ancient amphitheater, which is still used today by many of the world's top entertainers. Stars such as Kevin Spacey among others have increasingly played in various Greek tragedies here.
Continuing on our way we stopped at a most picturesque coastal town called Nafplion where our superbly trained guide Vivien (she majored in archaeology and history) gave us a brief history before pointing out interesting places to eat etc. We enjoyed the best gyro in Greece here in the company of a lovely Indian family from Minnesota whom we met on the cruise. While there we ran into some employees of our favourite cruise line, Azamara, whose vessel Quest lay at anchor nearby.
On our way we stopped for a rest at Nafpaktos. And what an enchanting place to have frappe in a cafe at the water's edge!. Its little harbour reminded me so much of Honfleur, France, except for its very modern architecture unlike Honfleur's medieval structures. I could have stayed here much longer.
It was a most full day as we next visited Mycenae, the heartland of Greek mythology and spent time on the huge complex atop a hill that housed 1600 BC Mycenaean royalty.
The incredible theatre in great Epidauraus
The acoustics here were simply unbelievable. Sitting in the far distant rows one could hear even a wisper from the centre of the stage. Their engineering was superb. We also visited the treasury of Atreus and the incredible and huge beehive structure that was thought to be the tomb of Agamemnon, built in 1250 BC. Finally we checked into our excellent hotel Europa. Family run, our room was excellent and so were all the meals we had there. Next day would be Olympia, location of the first Olympic games ever. It had been an exhausting day and we finally settled into bed knowing that the next day was going to be one of the many highlights of our tour.
Olympia The birthplace of the Olympics was a huge complex which catered to all the needs of the athletes who arrived here three months before the event which was held every four years starting in 776 BC until 394 AD when the Christian Emperor Theodosius 1 forbade the games as he considered them to be Pagan, since the games were dedicated to Zeus. Remember that after Alexander the Great's death, Greece was ruled by the Romans. We toured the hugely impressive complex which included accommodation for the athletes, the training area (no training took place in the stadium since it was a sacred place reserved only for the games themselves), a hotel, the Temple of Zeus (the statue was destroyed by the Romans and the gold melted down and taken to Constantinople), the Temple Hera (wife of Zeus) and of course the 45,000 capacity stadium which we entered through the partially intact tunnel (see our photograph with Gee and me emerging from it).
Athletes (only males took part) had to participate in all sports completely naked so that there was no possibility of concealing even the smallest weapon to injure and weaken an opponent. Consequently, only married women were allowed as spectators and single women were not permitted. The circular monument that we saw there had nothing to do with the games but was erected in the third century BC for the people by Alexander the Great's father, Philip, to remind them that he was once there. In it he had statues of his family. We also walked in the ancient workshop of the great sculptor Phibius who created the 12 metre high golden/ivory statue of Zeus which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world (the others were The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Pyramids of Giza, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus and the Mausoleum of Atalia in Greece). He also created the golden/ivory statue of Athena that once decorated the Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens where we visited.
Delphi In 800 BC this was considered the centre of the known world and leaders came bearing gifts of exceptional value to please Apollo and to hear the Oracle's prophesies. His temple stood on this site. The great wealth here, including that stored in the Treasury taken from the conquered Persians after the battle of Marathon, ultimately led to conflict, looting and destruction. Later the Romans destroyed the temple and built a huge church purifying the site in the name of Christianity. The complex was enormous, impressive and amazing to see the ancient inscriptions left for modern interpretation and understanding of how much this place influenced our world today. Kalambaka and Meteora A more impressive landscape would be difficult to find anywhere. My pictures will help support that view as several huge, sheer cliffs jutted towards the sky as if hand-carved by God Himself. Atop housed 24 monasteries and convents of which only 6 stand today, the rest having been bombed by the Germans to get rid of the partisans who sought refuge there during World War 11.
We visited both a convent and monastery and marveled at the seeming impossibility of constructing and access in past times. We saw the rope and pully system but it still boggled the imagination. Tourism has changed all that now. The next day we started our long journey back to Athens but I must mention two other very interesting and enjoyable events. One was a surprise visit to a small hilltop village for lunch with a local family. This fitted in perfectly with our usual goal of interacting with local people and we had a wonderful homemade Greek meal while we enjoyed a panoramic view of the cultivated valley below. Secondly, in Kalambaka, snuggled cosily, below the the towering peaks of Meteora and the monasteries above, we had an unusual lunch at Meteora Restaurant, served by the family grandmother and rated number one in the town. We all entered the kitchen and got served our choice directly from huge steaming pots of food. It was an unexpected and unique experience.
And so we ended our eye opening, educational and overall great experience in Greece right where we began, in Athens. The people everywhere were so kind and hospitable to us. We enjoyed their food tremendously, especially the grilled squid, grilled octopus, Slovaki pork, gyro pork, moussaka and their famed salad which, interestingly enough, never includes onion but huge chunks of delicious feta. Everywhere we went, the atmosphere was superb. Whether it was on the beach at Marathon or under the shadow of the Acropolis in Athens as we did for our final evening, eating outdoors among the Greeks and visitors alike, was fascinating and memorable. Those who have never visited and who do, will not be disappointed. And next, Istanbul.
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Sharon
non-member comment
fantastic
As usual, reading your blog is a treat. I like all of it, and I particularly like the eating with the family. that reminds me of Malta where we did something similar in one of the villages, and sat in the compressed dirt courtyard filled with pots of beautiful flowers, wonderful. The Olympic games in those days must have been a real 'eyeful' :)