Looking back to our trip to Greece and the Greek Islands...
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| "Santorini" Acrylic painting by Lynn Myette |
We arrived in Athens, Greece in the middle of the night. Why is it that we always get the taxi driver from hell - he wildly drove thru the centre of Athens and in no time at all dropped us of at the "Coral Hotel" a Best Western hotel across the street from the sea on Possidonos Ave. I was never so glad to get my feet planted on the ground again after the long flight and this taxi ride.
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| Athens, Greece |
After a shower and a quick sleep we get up ready to explore and to try and avoid jet lag. We walk around the neighborhood of the hotel and find an area with many cafes, restaurants and taverns close by. We find ourselves coming back here several times just to walk and people watch. This is also an area where the people park their Smart cars where ever they can fit them. Athen's population is 5 million. 40% of Greece's population live in Athens.
The next morning after coffee and breakfast we hop on the bus to go to the Plaka. The Plaka is Athen's oldest, most picturesque and well known quarter which surrounds the Acropolis. Getting off the bus on a main street, we then wind our way down the narrow streets and find ourselves among small shops, restaurants, taverns and homes. Looking up we get views of the Acropolis which is perched up on a hill near by.
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Acropolis, Athens, Greece
and we see the Temple of Olympian Zeus
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The next morning we meet with our Cosmos Travel Guide and our group. We are then off to see the Acropolis and this ancient city. We first stop for a look at the Olympic Stadium.
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Olympic Stadium
and then to the Acropolis |
The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena Parthenos (the Virgin) patron of goddess of Athens and has stood atop of the Acropolis for nearly 2,500 years. The Parthenon was built from 447-438 BC entirely of Pentelic marble from Mount Pendeli, except for the wooden roof.
From the top of the Acropolis we enjoy the great views of the city sprawling below us in every direction.
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View from the Acropolis
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Next we go to the Corinth Canal. The Corinth Canal cuts between the mainland and the Peloponnese. This engineering feat was initiated by the Roman Emperor Nero who was obsessed with the project and tried to dig the canal by hand using 6,000 Jewish slaves that he had brought from Judea. It was finally blasted out with dynamite and completed in 1893. It's 4 miles long, 300 ft deep and 75 feet wide. The journey from Brindisi, Italy by ship to Athens was shortened by more than 200 miles by traveling thru the canal.
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| Corinth Canal, Greece |
And then we journey into the Argolics to make a stop in Epidaurus. Epidaurus is best known for its classic theatre with its perfect acoustics. Here we visit this open air theatre which can still seat 14,000 spectators. It is one of the most perfect, and the best preserved of the ancient Greek theatres. The worship of gods of healing in Epidavros goes back to the prehistoric period. The prestige and reputation acquired by Asklepios as the major god of healing led to great economic prosperity for his sanctuary, which made it possible to implement a large building programme in the 3rd and 4th c. BC.
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| Epidaurus, Greece |
We then head for the coast and spend the night in the seaside resort of Tolon. We are staying at the Flisvos Hotel.
In the morning we are off on an excursion to Mycenae, a city fortress cursed by the gods, rich in gold and warrior kings.
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| Mycenae, Greece |
Mycenae was the main centre of the Mycenaean world and gave its name to a period and a civilization that evolved throughout the entire Greek world between 16th and 12 c. BC and spread to all known sites of this period in the Mediterranean basin. The Mycenaean acropolis, dominating the surrounding area and the Argive plain, uniquely placed to control the communication routes in all directions and naturally strongly defended, was the most appropriate site to house the royal house of the Altreidae and their people.
Excavations done on the hill in 1874 demonstrate that the site was already inhabited in the 3rd millennium BC. The site is densely covered with ruins that are difficult to interpret in the short time we are there.
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| Mycenae, Greece |
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| Mycenae, Greece |
Back on the bus, we travel south deep into the Peloponnese to Sparta where we will spend the night at the Maniatis Hotel.
In the morning we are off to see Mystra, at one time known as "The Florence of the East". Once again, I am so happy that the guide takes us to the top of the hill on the bus and we are to walk down. On our walk down we see so many people trying to walk up the hill in the heat and not really enjoying it. I thoroughly enjoyed this walk down thru Mystra.
On the naturally defended hill of Myzithras in Lacedaimon, the ruler of the Frankish Principate of Achaia Guillaume de Villehardouin built in 1249 a strong castle called the "Oriokastro", which played an important role in the history of the last centuries of the Byzantine empire, before falling to the Turks in 1460.
In 1262, the Byzantines made themselves masters of Mystras
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| The beautiful views from Mystras |
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On the path down Mystras
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Olive trees at Mystras
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Later in the afternoon, we are back on the bus driving to Pylos which is located on a majestic bay on the Messenian gulf.
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Pylos, Greece
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This is a nice clean town and we enjoyed walking around it and down to the pier. We are staying at the Karalis Hotel.
This morning we leave Pylos and drive north to see Nestor's Palace. The Palace at Pylos is considered to be built by Nelus, the father of Nestor, and founder of the Neleid dynasty at the beginning of the 13 century BC and was destroyed by fire. Pylos was the second most important centre in the Mycenaean. The palace complex, known as the palace of Nestor, of the kingdom of Homer's Nestor, who took part in the Trojan war and ruled for three generations is mostly an archaeological site (there is no actual palace) covered over with a protective roof and the remains seem few compared to other places. It is visually unattractive and perhaps at the time, I needed to know more about it to appreciate it. So be sure if you are going there to read up on it so that you can appreciate it. The views of the fields, rich farmland, and hilly countryside are good.
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Beehive Tomb by the Palace of Nester
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Back on the bus, we travel northwest to Olympia, where we will be staying at the Antonios Hotel (4*). This hotel has an exquisite view out over the valley of ancient Olympia, also known as the "Valley of the Gods".
The exact origin of the Games are shrouded in myth and legend but records indicate they began in 776BC in Olympia, Greece. There is a disagreement between many scholars as to when the games began.
It also says that the games that were held in this area already in prehistoric times, were reorganized in the 8th c. BC by Iphitos, King of Elis, Kleisthenes of Pisa, and Lykourgos of Sparta, who instituted the "sacred truce" so that athletes could safely travel from other countries and there would be no war. From that time on the Olympic games were held every four years. The athletes competing in the games had to be true-born, free Greek men.
Women were not allowed to participate in or watch the games. They held games of their own called the "Heraea" - as early as in the 6th century BC.
Victors in the games were crowned with crowns made from branches of the wild olive tree and the greatest honour. Sculptors would create statues of the Olympic victors. It was said that when they returned home , they were granted money and prizes such as olive oil.
The Greek tradition of athletic nudity was introduced in 720 BC by the Spartans and this was adopted early in the Olympics as well. The Greek term "gymnos" means naked. The Greek term "gymnazo" means to train naked. Athletes competed in the nude as a tribute to the gods and to encourage aesthetic appreciation of the male body.
On the middle day of the Olympics 100 oxen were sacrificed to Zeus, King of the Gods. A temple was built and a 42 foot high statue of Zeus was built out of ivory and gold and was placed in the temple. This statue was one of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World. It was destroyed by fire in the 5th c.
Artistic expression was a major part of the games. Sculptors and other artisans would come to the Games to display their works in artistic competitions. These sculptors created famous works such as the "Discus Thrower". Their work highlighted the shape of human muscles and the human body in movement.
Originally the Olympic Games had only one event, the "Stadion" race, a short sprint measuring the length of the stadium. Later discus throwing, javelin hurling, long jumping, sprinting, wrestling and chariot racing were added.
When the pagan religions were suppressed, the institution of the Olympic games, which had flourished for twelve centuries and made a brilliant contribution to the history of sports, fell into disuse.
It was neat standing in the stadium that housed the early games and wondering what really went on. But somehow running naked and barefoot around the stadium just doesn't appeal to me.
The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in April, 1896, with 300 representatives from 13 nations par-taking in 42 events. Unlike the ancient games, the modern Olympic Games have been cancelled three times due to war in 1916, 1940 and in 1944. Women competed in the Olympics for the first time in 1900. In 1928 the Olympic flame was introduced.
The Temple of Zeus now lies as a pile of rubble on the ground. But it is impressive rubble, with huge fluted column segments five feet in diameter strewn around like huge stone wheels all over representing a lot of history.
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Olympia, Greece
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The head of virtually every statue is missing or the facial features are obliterated on them. The reason for this, we are told, is that Greece was for 400 years under the rule of Turkey and Islam. In 1453, the Byzantine Empire was destroyed by the Islamic Turks and many works of art were destroyed.
The next afternoon, we drive north to Patras, the capital of Peloponnese and the west coast's largest port. From here we take the ferry across the Gulf of Corinth and proceed through the picturesque fishing villages along the south coast of the mainland to the mythical Delphi. Our group is staying at the Pavlou and Vassileos Hotel. Later that night we go for a walk and get caught up in the parade of people leaving the Easter week-end's midnight mass and their celebration.
Delphi is home to the Oracle of Delphi, perched high up on the side of the mountain. It's theatre seats 5,000 people.
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Delphi, Greece
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That afternoon we leave Delphi and drive north by way of Lamia and onto Trikala in Thessaly to spent the night in Kalambaka. We are spending the night at the Antoniadis Hotel.
The name Kalambaka comes from the Turkish word "Kalembak" which means beautiful fortress. The town itself was destroyed by the Germans in World War Two and is fairly modern now.
In the morning we are woken to the smell of smoke close by. The whole valley is filled with a cloud of aromatic smoke and every house has a pit or -BQ fired up to roast a spitted lamb basted with olive oil, lemon, oregano and salt and pepper, for Easter. The preparation and roasting of the entire lamb has remained a trademark Greek food specialty which is made on the Greek Orthodox Easter Sunday. The roasted lamb is served with lemon-garlic roasted potatoes.
This morning it is a short drive to Meteora, which is a cluster of monastic buildings perched high up on an unforgettable manner on a set of rising rock formations. In the late 1300's AD the Greek Orthodox monasteries were built suspended high above the plains on rock out crops. There are currently 6 active monasteries that now have roads and stairs that allow easy access to them. Some of these are run by the nuns now. Today there are 18 defunct monasteries here.
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Plains of Thessaly, Kalambaka
Kalambaka
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Meteora is a holy place where many saints, hermits, monks, nuns and martyrs have lived. I found it to be so serene, quiet and peaceful up in the monasteries that I could have stayed there. I think that for me, this was definitely one of the highlights of this trip. It was just beautiful up there. With the sense of serenity and the Gregorian chants resonating in my mind, we leave to go back down the hills.
On the way down we pass a jeep loaded with nuns on the way up to visit the monks! I guess they aren't so isolated after all.
Later in the day we leave and drive south via Larissa to Athens for the night.
The next morning, we embark on the cruise part of our Greek tour.
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| Looking back across at Athens |
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| Port of Piraeus, Athens |
We spend the afternoon cruising in the Aegean on the MTS Odysseus of the Royal Olympic Cruise Line. Mykonos is 92 nautical miles away from Athens.It is really nice now to have a room on this ship which will be our home for the next while. We won't have to re-pack our suitcase every morning before heading out. We find it is a little cooler out on the ship and we do not get use of the swimming pools.
Later that evening we arrive in Mykonos, a granite island, the most typical of the Cyclades. Our ship drops anchor and we disembark onto local tender boats to get to shore. Mykonos's cubic houses, windmills, and chapels seem to make the island's light even more translucent. Plastered white buildings with blue shutters and doors line the cobbled streets. We follow these narrow alleyways of streets winding our way up, down and around the hillside until finally we feel like we are walking in circles and aren't sure of the way back. We found that all we needed to do was go down hill and we ended up back at the shore line.
We walked to see the towns famous row of windmills and then walked thru Little Venice. The foundations of the buildings here are all below sea level. We enjoyed our wander around the town and wished we had more time to spend there.
"Kah-loss O-reeh-ssah-teh" means "Welcome".
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Getting close to Mykonos
Mykonos and it's whitewashed houses stacked on the hillside.
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Little Venice, Mykonos
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The last tender back to our boat was at 9:30pm and we then set sail for Kusadasi, Turkey which is 98 nautical miles away.
"Ka-lee-me-rah" means "Good Morning". It is 7:00 am and we are in Kusadasi, Turkey where we dock in the port. Most of our group go off to Ephesus, but we plan just to walk around the city and take in the sights. We are constantly approached by rug salesmen who are dressed to the nines in their fancy suits, with their hair slicked back. They all want you to buy a rug from them and they are not bashful.
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Arriving at Kusadasi, Turkey
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At 3:30 pm we arrive at Patmos, Greece. Our day in Patmos is shortened because the wind blew our ship and we collided with a Dane Sea Line Ship. We are detained on board for hours till the damage is accessed and we are finally allowed to go by tender to shore. Not once does the cruise line apologize for the delay.
7:30 pm is the last tender back to the ship.
The next morning we dock in Rhodes, the largest of the Dodecanese islands. In 1246 the island was run by the Genoa until 1306, when they sold it to the knights of the Order of St. John, who remained for 200 years, and built the magnificent walled town, which still stands today. In 1522, Rhodes was invaded after a long siege by the Turks, under Suleiman the Great. The Turkish conquerors stayed until 1912, when it was taken by the Italians, who rebuilt the old town. The island passed in 1944 into the hands of the Germans, who occupied it until the end of the second world war. Rhodes was finally incorporated with Greece in 1947.
Today, the Old Town is included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. Our time in Rhodes was spent walking around in the old town looking at the magnificent old buildings of the Knights of St. Johns, the Grand Masters Palace, the Byzantine churches, the stalls, shops, square, court yards and gardens
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| The street of the Knights which housed the Knights of St Johns |
Palace of the Grand Master
-was destroyed by ammunition depot explosion in 1856
-reconstructed by the Italians as a summer home for Mussolini
-paved with mosaics moved from Kos.
We set sail from Rhodes at supper time for Heraklion, Crete which is 167 nautical miles away.
Our cruise ship puts on a Gala show with dancers and singers to entertain us tonight.
"Kalee Nichta" means "Good Night".
We arrive in Crete the next morning. Some go off to explore and go to the Palace of Knossos. But we stay back and just relax. We set sail for Santorini at 11:00am. It is 66 nautical miles away and we arrived there at 4:00pm.
The formation of the island of Santorini is the result of many volcanic eruptions in prehistoric times. In approx 1620 BC a massive volcanic eruption occurred causing half of the island to sink below sea level. The geographical phenomenon which formed the bay that we will enter, is called "Caldera" and is where the centre of the island was before it sank. Here you see two burnt islands which only appeared many years after the volcanic eruption. There are also another two islands which were originally part of Santorini but became separated after the eruption.
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Arriving in Santorini
You can ride the mules/donkeys up the switch backs, walk the 587x steps, or take the cable car - which we did. The cable car dropped us off half way up the hill. We decided to walk further up the narrow streets, stopping to overlook the port and the islands beyond. Finally we seemed to reach the top away from the bustle of the busy port. It seemed that we found a bit of tranquility here. The magenta bougainvillea climb the white walls and contrast with the wooden doors that are as blue as the sea.
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...and then back to the cruise ship
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We spent most of our time walking along the myriad of cobblestone lane ways which criss-crossed one another, constantly taking in the amazing views, taking more stone stairways, trying to teach the very top of the caldera. It is much easier on the way back down. Near the base we decide to stop for a drink and snack. Here we find that a patron to a cafe does not only buy a cup of coffee or a snack, but rather rents a seat for the view.
Santorini is undoubtedly the most extraordinary and beautiful island in the Aegean. We set sail from Santorini at 8:00pm to cover the 135 nautical miles back to Piraeus, Greece. We arrive back in Athens the next morning at 8:00 am.
The next day is spent resting and sight seeing around Athens.
...and then our long flight home...
