Grecian Dream

Thursday September 29, 2011

It was an early morning as we were up at 10 to 6, almost as bad as a seminary day. We left Athens headed west. Today we were headed for an explore of the Peloponnese. Our first stop was the Corinth canal which was dug through the narrowest neck of land between the Peloponnese and mainland Greece. It is 6.3 km long and 79 meters down to the water and 8 meters deep. It was dug so ships could get from the Ionian gulf to the Aegean Sea without having to go all the way around the South tip of Greece. It looked like a big “make work” project to me. It was started in 1881 took until to 1893 to complete. It is 24.6 meters wide at sea level. Before this time they transported the ships overground or big ones sailed around. It was much like looking down into the Colorado river at Page Arizona. Straight walls on both sides. Our next stop was the prettiest little town in Greece according to our guide and I really couldn't argue with her It was much cleaner than Athens with beautifully quaint narrow marble streets. I am always amazed to see cars drive down these streets, dodging the wares that are setting out begging bargain hunters to come dicker. I am learning to have my ears open and move close to the shop at the sound of traffic. Nafplion had two walled fortresses above the city. One was on a very high hill so we did not have time in our hour of exploring to climb up to the top nor did we have time to walk below to the long shore of the beautiful beach with clear turquoise water that beckoned for swimmers to take a plunge. We did however climb up to the first fortress where apparently unpopular political leaders had be imprisoned from time to time. The view of the town and the ocean was so picturesque I just wanted to pull out some water colours and have the goddess of ability sprinkle some magic dust on me and I would spend the day, paintbrush in hand, creating the magic I could see and feel.

Our next stop was Mycenae, a fortress like settlement built on a high spot now in the middle of vineyards and olive groves. It has huge stone walls and two lions standing above the gate. The area is huge with much excavation still to be done to uncover all the secrets of a civilization that begun in the 16^th century BC. I was reminded of the wonder of the cave dwellings at Mesa Verde, as we looked and listened and learned about a people who have influenced much of the human race. They must have had some real engineers for the Beehive tomb they built to house their kings body after death. It was 46 feet tall, the doorway about 20 feet high with a lentil on it that weighs approximately 120 tons. The tomb is a perfect dome inside built with blocks of rock fitted tightly together. They must have had a lot of patience and some pretty intense man power and some rather advanced tools of some kind. They really don't know how they got such a big rock situated in the right spot. We stopped for lunch in a little town near the ruins and after walked around a bit to explore and got some picture of the disparity seen in just a short block. A classic Mediterranean villa here and a crumbling hut there. The last three hours of the trip was driving over the mountains with Sparta to the south and the Olive groves of Kalamatra to the north and finally arriving at the Ionian Sea and going up the coast and inland to Olympia. Our hotel is on the hill with a wonderful view of the village. We were fed a delicious traditional meal, enjoyed conversation with new made friends and were entertained by Bernie on his mini bagpipes . It was a perfect ending to another Grecian dreams kind of day. No wireless here so not sure when we can post this.

From Dad -- Internet access is 1 euro for 5 minutes so I am able to post this but this is all you get.