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The tour was organised by Andante Travel (details). Here is the map showing the route we took, which started and finished in Athens.
Athens - Delphi - Olympia - Pylos - Mistra/Sparta - Nafplion/Mycenae - Corinth - Athens
Monday September 17th we landed in Athens and immediately took a coach up to our hotel in Delphi. The next morning, our first site visit was to the pan-hellenic sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, pictured below. This is where the Delphic oracle uttered her enigmatic prophecies. There's a short video sequence here.
Tuesday: Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi
Later, we drove across the new - and impressive - Rio-Antirio bridge to the west coast of the Peloponnese, to Olympia and our hotel.
Wednesday morning we visited the site of Olympia. This was another pan-hellenic site where the ancient Olympic Games were held for more than 1,000 years. The site had been mostly levelled by successive earthquakes in antiquity (see picture) but was preserved by being buried since the 6th century AD. It was re-discovered and then excavated at the end of the nineteenth century.
Wednesday: Temple of Zeus at Olympia showing collapsed columns - (Nigel in shot)
Wednesday afternoon we drove south along the coast to Pylos, where next morning (Thursday) we would see the Mycenaean Palace of Nestor, as mentioned in the Odyssey.
Thursday: Palace of Nestor - near Pylos on the west coast of the Peloponnese
We stayed in a hotel overlooking the bay at Pylos -- a video sequence of the rather impressive view can be seen here.
Wednesday/Thursday: View from our hotel in Pylos
Thursday afternoon we had a rather alarming boat trip around the bay. The ancient vessel was distinguished by an engine louder than Concorde, which vented a large proportion of its exhaust into the cabin - thankfully it was warm and all the windows were open. The gnarled, ancient captain had the disconcerting habit, as we approached the rocks of each successive point of interest, of leaving the wheel to go to the back of the boat and converse with our Greek guide, Kostas, as to what to do next. Our British sang-froid was severely tested, although he always made it back to the wheel just before we grounded.
Friday, September 21st, having survived the boat trip, we were back in the coach en-route to ancient Sparta. We had to traverse the Taygetos mountain range, which showed the full effects of the summer's fires. A video sequence, taken when we stopped for a break in the mountains, can be seen here.
As we exited the mountains, we arrived at the ruins of the abandoned Byzantine town/fortress of Mistra, which overlooks modern Sparta (built on the ancient site). I took a video clip showing the Byzantine frescoes in the church, and also the view over the plain of Sparta, which can be seen here.
Friday: Ruined Mistra overlooking Sparta
We stayed the evening at the modern hotel Amalia on the outskirts of Nafplion and were up bright and early Saturday morning to visit the nearby sanctuary of Hera.
Saturday: Clare and Nigel at the Argive Heraion (sanctuary of Hera)
Then it was on to the site of Mycenae, the traditional capital of King Agamemnon in the Iliad. The site is extensive but largely levelled, although there are some impressive tombs.
Saturday: The famous Lion Gate at Mycenae
Saturday evening, we dined out in the charming little port town of Nafplion. Before dinner, Clare and myself relaxed in the picturesque main square, where I had my first Ouzo of the trip and shot the following video. The meal - outside in the square (the tables can be seen in the video) - was notable for the unusually-shaped stuffed vegetable starter. I couldn't help but notice that the women all rejected the course with polite but amused expressions, while the men just got on with it and merrily ate away. Must prove something!
Sunday September 23rd we were on the road again to Epidauros, Corinth and eventually Athens. Driving in Greece is extraordinarily hazardous. Outside of the two or three main cities, the country is quite depopulated and cars are few. However, being a mountainous country, the roads twist and turn and overtaking is difficult. Greek drivers address this problem by overtaking anyway, especially on blind bends, reckoning that the chances of a car coming the other way are slim. Apparently, they have also been known to take a drink or two. The result is that pretty much every bend has a roadside shrine (pictured) marking the scene of a fatality. Sometimes we saw up to three clumped together.
Roadside Shrine - view from the coach
Our first Sunday stop was Epidauros, sanctuary to Asklepios, god of healing. This is a massive site, with an athletics stadium (shown below) as well as extensive temples, 'healing buildings' and workshops, in process of restoration. We spent a good two hours walking around and visiting the museum.
Sunday: The athletics stadium at Epidauros
The high point of a visit to Epidauros is the enormous theatre. In the picture below you will see a tour guide at the centre of the performance circle to the left. He was able to rip a piece of paper, and drop a coin onto the ground, and we could hear both events from the top with perfect clarity. A little later a party began singing "O Canada" which we caught on video here.
Sunday: The massive theatre at Epidauros - seating 14,000 with perfect acoustics
After Epidauros it was back on the coach to the site of ancient Corinth, in the hills above the modern city. Clare was particularly interested because St. Paul had lived and worked here for a period. The site is both large, and largely ruined, although some restoration has been done. Here's a quick tour video.
The Peloponnese connects to the main part of Greece at a narrow isthmus at Corinth, and there has always been a need to move ships across it. In ancient times, a road was built to haul them. Nero tried to dig a canal with 6,000 Judean slaves, but on his death the project was abandoned. The Panama canal team eventually succeeded in completing the 6.3 kilometre canal in 1893 (article here) and an amazing sight it is too. So the Peloponnese is now officially an island.
Sunday: The modern canal at Corinth
Monday found us in Athens, where the air pollution was less than we had feared, and the traffic terrible. Our hotel was just round the corner from the Acropolis, that huge mound of rock which juts up from central Athens.
Monday: The Acropolis at Athens (picture from Wikipedia)
Monday morning found us making our way up. We started at the Theatre of Dionysos, which Socrates, Plato and Aristotle frequented and where all the classic Athenian dramas were held. The picture shows the theatre from on top of the Acropolis.
Monday: The Theatre of Dionysos from the Acropolis
The Acropolis at Athens is dominated by the Parthenon, although there are other ancient temples and buildings there as well. What there is mostly is people, as the YouTube video below shows. Monday evening's dinner was on a rooftop terrace where we could view the illuminated Parthenon on its high vantage point, under an almost full moon.
We flew back to the UK on Tuesday, and into the Autumn ...
A nine-day tour of ancient sites in the Peloponnese, Greece.
The clip above highlights fire damage, the giant theatre at Epidauros and the Acropolis, Athens.
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