Blogs from Pelopennese, Greece, Europe - page 17

Marika, Will and Kim recently became Greek citizens and yesterday had a lovely drive through their second country (they of course maintain their Canadian citizenship). We drove from Athens over the Corinth Canal and diagonally across the Peloponnese peninsula. We stopped at Mycenae – Agamemmon’s citadel. While the area had Neolithic settlements about 5,000 years ago, the Mycenean civilisation about 3,500 years ago. In Homer’s Odyssey, Mycenae was founded by Perseus who slayed Medusa. This is where the classic tragedy of Elektra and Orestes and Klytemnestra took place. We drove down and peeked at Greece’s former capital,. Nafplio then drove through rain and wind through the Peloponnese mountains through Tripoli and then down to the South West corner of Greece sticking out into the Mediterranean. Our resort is the jewel of the region. We were greeted ... read more

Monday 30th May 2011 A short drive today from Tolo to Mikenes near ancient Mycenae calling on the way at the delightful seaside town of Nafplio. The town was the first capital of modern Greece, from the start of the Greek Revolution in 1821 until 1834. Due to its strategic position it has quite a chequered history changing hands between the Ottomans and Venetians time and again. Its harbour is guarded by three castles one on a small island ( Bourtzi ), another just above the old town ( Akronafplia ) and one capping a tall cliff above the town ( Palamidi Fortress ). The town itself has narrow atmospheric streets lined with elegant Venetian houses. We strolled along the harbour and then into the town. In Syntagma ( Constitution ) Square we found the Venetian ... read more

Wednesday 1st June 2011 Leaving Mycenae for the site of Ancient Nemea situated in a quiet and utterly peaceful valley, chosen as a venue for one of the Big Four ancient Greek Games. Then as now it would have been normally quiet and unvisited - erupting briefly into pulsating activity only for the period of the Games. The Sanctuary site where the three columns ( additional ones have been reconstructed in more recent times ) of the Temple of Zeus have stood since the 4th century is impressive and visitors are able to walk within the temple and get a feel for the original scale of the building. The museum is superbly laid out - with models of the site as it was which you can compare directly with the view through a picture window. Here ... 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

Wed 6....Having found our lovely spot on the beach at Stavros, on the bulgy bit east of Chania (Akrotiri Peninsula), where we stayed a couple of days, we made a move. Zig-zagging down to Souda, we then came back through Kalives where we’d been before and programmed TomTom in for Georgioupoli via the scenic route of the next sticky-out bit. Whilst the road was OK, the latter bit took us through tiny villages where there were only centimetres to spare either side. Georgioupoli is another place that would be packed in the season but at this time of year, reasonably attractive with a main square, a river and harbour and a long beach. We found a taverna to meet our needs.....Gyros pitta, booze and Internet. After lunch we drove on to Rethymno and were generally disappointed. ... read more