We are all up bright and early. We had an early breakfast at 7:00 am and were in the bus at 8:00. This will be our routine for the next several days. In fact, it almost seems like we are on a work schedule!
We are now starting our land tour. Here is the itenerary we will be on for the next week.
Today, we are at Athens, of course, on the right side of the itinerary you can see above. We are heading west from Athens towards the Peloponnese peninsula. Technically, this is today an island because the ancient greeks cut a canal at the city of Corinth, separating the Peloponnese peninsula from the mainland.
The canal at Corinth was a main attraction on the way to Olympia. The canal was dug to create a short cut from the Aegean sea in the east to the Ionian sea in the west. Going south around the peninsula was fraught with danger because of the high winds. The shipwrecks there were plentiful.
Before the canal was built, a road was constructed between the west and east. Porters would drag boats across from either side on what we would call today trailers.
The canal was dug between two sea-level bodies of water, so no Locks are needed. It is very narrow, only about 80 feet, which means traffic is always one way. The walls are deep, around 300 ft. It's tall enough to give you vertigo.
After around 30 minutes at this site, we headed out to Mycenae. Mycenae was a pre-historic site built at a height of around 900 feet. The name for a high location is Acro. Combined with city, it becomes AcroPolis, meaning city at a high point. The most interesting thing about this civilization was the Lions Gate where you can see one of the first uses of a key stone to build an arch.
But the most interesting architectural construct was the Treasury of Atreus. This was constructed just as if it were a mold in the foundry. As the building was being raised, mud was brought in to the inside and the outside while the stones were being set. The stones also were ground to accurate angles to give the impression of a dome. After the construction was complete, they simply dug out the earth from the inside.
A side note: there were hundreds of bees around. Our guide warned us about it and asked us not wave our hands around to avoid irritating the bees. She also said that if anyone was allergic to Bee stings should stay away. Interestingly enough, the bees didn't bother me at all.
After around an hour, we continued on. Our lunch stop was at Nauplia (Ναύπλιο in greek). This was also the city in which our guide, Matina, was born and raised. It is a seaport. It is spectacular. We had around 2 hours for lunch and walking around. Look how fantastic it looks. The weather was not hot, not cold, perfect.
We walked over to an eating place. My first question was, "do you have Ouzo". The guy at the front said, "of course". So we walked in. There was a couple on our right who were obviously very much in love (and probably had too much Ouzo).
A very petite young lady greeted us and led us to our table. We got talking and it turned out she was a Punjabi girl, whose parents lived on a different island. She commuted every day from a different island. Sounds exotic. Very nice girl. She spoke broken English, but was fluent in Greek. As usual, I used my limited vocabulary in the language and said 'Ki Gal eh', and also told her those were the only words I knew in Punjabi. She was surprised and happy.
I had the Souvalki (a greek kebab), of course. I was stuffed.
All in all, a fantastic lunch. Did I mention that I had a lot of Ouzo. Made me very happy!
Happy, buzzed, we headed out to Olympia. Got to Olympia around 6 in the evening and checked in to the Royal Olympia Hotel. Everthing were perfectly organized. We got our bags to our room in around 10 minutes.
Dinner was great, lot of conversations with our acquaintances and an early 'go to bed' because we have a an early day tomorrow.
We are now starting our land tour. Here is the itenerary we will be on for the next week.
Our Itinerary For The Week
Today, we are at Athens, of course, on the right side of the itinerary you can see above. We are heading west from Athens towards the Peloponnese peninsula. Technically, this is today an island because the ancient greeks cut a canal at the city of Corinth, separating the Peloponnese peninsula from the mainland.
The canal at Corinth was a main attraction on the way to Olympia. The canal was dug to create a short cut from the Aegean sea in the east to the Ionian sea in the west. Going south around the peninsula was fraught with danger because of the high winds. The shipwrecks there were plentiful.
Before the canal was built, a road was constructed between the west and east. Porters would drag boats across from either side on what we would call today trailers.
The Canal At Corinth
The canal was dug between two sea-level bodies of water, so no Locks are needed. It is very narrow, only about 80 feet, which means traffic is always one way. The walls are deep, around 300 ft. It's tall enough to give you vertigo.
After around 30 minutes at this site, we headed out to Mycenae. Mycenae was a pre-historic site built at a height of around 900 feet. The name for a high location is Acro. Combined with city, it becomes AcroPolis, meaning city at a high point. The most interesting thing about this civilization was the Lions Gate where you can see one of the first uses of a key stone to build an arch.
The Lion's Gate in Mycenae
But the most interesting architectural construct was the Treasury of Atreus. This was constructed just as if it were a mold in the foundry. As the building was being raised, mud was brought in to the inside and the outside while the stones were being set. The stones also were ground to accurate angles to give the impression of a dome. After the construction was complete, they simply dug out the earth from the inside.
A side note: there were hundreds of bees around. Our guide warned us about it and asked us not wave our hands around to avoid irritating the bees. She also said that if anyone was allergic to Bee stings should stay away. Interestingly enough, the bees didn't bother me at all.
The Tomb of Atreus — An Engineering Marvel
After around an hour, we continued on. Our lunch stop was at Nauplia (Ναύπλιο in greek). This was also the city in which our guide, Matina, was born and raised. It is a seaport. It is spectacular. We had around 2 hours for lunch and walking around. Look how fantastic it looks. The weather was not hot, not cold, perfect.
Scenes of Ναύπλιο. So beautiful!
We walked over to an eating place. My first question was, "do you have Ouzo". The guy at the front said, "of course". So we walked in. There was a couple on our right who were obviously very much in love (and probably had too much Ouzo).
A very petite young lady greeted us and led us to our table. We got talking and it turned out she was a Punjabi girl, whose parents lived on a different island. She commuted every day from a different island. Sounds exotic. Very nice girl. She spoke broken English, but was fluent in Greek. As usual, I used my limited vocabulary in the language and said 'Ki Gal eh', and also told her those were the only words I knew in Punjabi. She was surprised and happy.
I had the Souvalki (a greek kebab), of course. I was stuffed.
All in all, a fantastic lunch. Did I mention that I had a lot of Ouzo. Made me very happy!
Mandeep and Sandhya at Naflplio
Happy, buzzed, we headed out to Olympia. Got to Olympia around 6 in the evening and checked in to the Royal Olympia Hotel. Everthing were perfectly organized. We got our bags to our room in around 10 minutes.
Dinner was great, lot of conversations with our acquaintances and an early 'go to bed' because we have a an early day tomorrow.
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