Planes, Trains, Automobiles, Ferries & two Camels

As we return on our flight to Seattle, it is time for reflection and an opportunity to relive this trip. It is pretty difficult to remember all of the things we have done, places visited, and the people we have met, but the 5,044 photos we took bring the memories flooding back.

The bare statistics give a glimpse at the physical elements of the trip, but none of the adventures. This trip included four continents, five countries, seven islands, ten time zones, fifteen flights totaling 17,050 air miles, ferries to four separate destinations, two boat excursions, travel on two subway systems, four rental cars that traveled close to two thousand miles in Turkey and Greece, twelve separate hotels, and a ride into the Sahara desert on camels. For those of you who remember Camel cigarettes with the picture of the camel on the front, the pyramids in the background, and the catch phrase “I would walk a mile for a camel” - being on a camel, riding a mile into the desert was like magically being inserted into the cigarette package. Of course riding a camel is not exactly the same as riding in an Aston Martin, both modes of transportation will take you places, but the ride is probably a bit smoother in the Aston.

Will & Kate’s Aston parked in front of our hotel in Athens

While Starbuck’s Coffee is a common in many places around the world, we only saw one closed store on the island of Rhodes at the beginning of our trip, and then one in Athens close to our hotel at the end of the trip. In every Greek village the local taverna is the meeting place for men, and some younger women, who sit for hours drinking Greek coffee, playing backgammon, smoking (always smoking), and talking; it is actually a good place for a light meal at a reasonable price, and with many offering free wifi, a decent place to catch up on the home front.. With many trips to Polichnitos, we got to know some of the locals at the taverna, and throughout our travels frequented many tavernas for lunch.

On our last day in Athens we decided to visit the Starbucks close to the hotel, we were greeted in Greek by George the barista (no idea what his real name is); through our travels we have learned a few basic Greek words along with Turkish and Arabic so I was able to discern some of what he said. Actually he was kidding us; he wanted to know where we were from and of course when we said Seattle, he got quite excited. George wanted to know how long we were in Greece where we had gone and what we saw. This is pretty typical of the Greeks and for that matter anyone we met during our travels, very personable, genuine people who are interested in people they meet. One thing to remember about Greek or Turkish coffee is it served in a cup the size of a large thimble and always with glass of water to wash down the residue of coffee grounds in the bottom. After getting used to coffee served in this manner, it was quite a shock to receive a full cup of Starbucks coffee in a mug the size of a gallon can!

George asked us when we would return to Greece so he could take us to some of the other islands and as we were getting ready to depart he gave us two Starbucks, Athens souvenir demitasse cups as a gift.

‘George’ the Athens barista

As we look back on this trip, the places we visited were spectacular, walking inside the Great Pyramid into the Grand Gallery, or riding a camel into the desert was always something to imagine, not really do! Standing at the entrance to the Parthenon or walking along the same path as Socrates and Plato still seems unreal. In 2012, we will watch the lighting of the Olympic torch in Ancient Olympia, where we stood in 2011, and remember Alkidiviades Siliopoulis who carried the torch in 2004.

But above all, we will remember the kindness of the people we met on this trip; people in the family hotels who were actually concerned about our comfort and well being, not just an employee trained to be considerate. We lived among the Greeks, learned of their culture, participated in their family events and in a way became part of their family. Even in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul where there is great competition to sell their goods, we were taken in by a shop owner who had tea brought in for us, patiently explained the difference between quality and ‘tourist’ merchandise, and taught us to make Turkish coffee.

Unfortunately, not everything was good, being surrounded by revolutions in six Mideast countries, and to watch the final chapter of Osama Bin Laden unfold brought a stark reality to life in 2011.

Before we left the US, many people cautioned us about travel to Turkey and Egypt but what we found was the exact opposite, people who would make sure we were safe and sound. Through all our travels around the world we have experienced the kindness and goodwill of people. The language may be different, but the people are all the same. It is such a shame that countries continue to bring war against others. Starting with Cain and Able, the wars continue and it does not seem possible to stop this behavior, citizens of each country are indoctrinated to believe their country is the best in the world and all other countries are their enemies.

Hate is a potent force and unfortunately tyrants and politicians use it effectively to stay in power while their people suffer and die. None of the people we have ever met want war or harbor hatred, so why is the world always in turmoil with the common man used as a pawn, willing to be sacrificed by their government?

Rodney King said it best “why can’t we all just get along”.

The Parthenon

Tuesday morning, in a light rain, we went for a walk in Athens. Not far from our hotel is the giant stadium built for the 2004 Olympic track and field events and just down the road are the remains of the huge temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arch. The temple was the largest in Greece, larger than a football field and 80' high; work on the temple took over 650 years to complete, interrupted by tyrants being overthrown, with the Romans eventually completing the task in AD131.

Along the path to the Acropolis is the Greek Parliament Building, the Presidential Palace, Tomb of Unknown Soldier, and National Gardens. The Acropolis, which is visible from many parts of Athens, was in the ancient past simply a walled compound used for defense of the city. As the centuries went by, fortification walls were built to protect Athens and the Acropolis changed to being a sacred place to worship the gods. Numerous temples were built on top of the rock before the Parthenon construction started in 447 BC.

Today, the main structures on top or around the Acropolis are the Beule Gate, Propylia (grand entrance)' Temple of Athena Nike, The Erechtheion, Theatre of Herodes Atticus, Theatre of Dionysos, and of course, the Parthenon along with a number of minor structures. The Parthenon is one of the world's most recognized buildings with 2500 years of history, the fact it remains today after all these centuries is simply amazing. Built on a 9:4 ratio to make the temple completely symmetrical, visual tricks were used to counteract the laws of perspective; the building is slightly arched both in length and width to make the columns look straight. The temple was reasonably intact until the Venetian siege of 1687 when it was bombarded by cannon-fire. The structure is constantly being renovated or repaired to maintain stability of the remaining elements, many of the carvings have been removed for protection and are displayed in various museums.

The view from the Acropolis hill is truly breathtaking, not far away is the Filopappos Hill which is the highest point in Athens at 482', below, the sprawling city of Athens is visible along with numerous ancient monuments, churches and other structures. We were fortunate that it had rained during the night and breeze helped to clear away the haze so we had nice views as we walked up the hill to the Parthenon, and magnificent views all around the city.

After walking back down from the Acropolis, we stopped at the new Acropolis Museum that was recently completed. This museum houses treasures found during excavation work, plus statues and ornamental pieces from the various buildings. During construction of the museum parts of the ancient city were unearthed, now the entire area under the building is being excavated to reveal large sections of ancient buildings. Eventually, this area will be open to the public after the preservation work is complete.

On the north side of the Acropolis are ruins from both ancient Greece and Roman periods, sometimes mixed together. Just below the Acropolis is the ancient Greek Agora (marketplace), in one corner is an unusual octagonal tower built in the 1st century BC, designed as a water clock and weather vane; still in remarkable condition on each side are friezes personifying the eight winds. In another corner of the Agora is the Fethiye Mosque built in the late 15th century to mark the visit of Mehmet The Conqueror to Athens. The library of Hadrian was built in AD132 close to the site of the ancient Greek Agora. This massive library measured 387, X 256' and contained a garden with a pool, and various smaller rooms.

Not far from this site is the the ancient Greek/Roman Agora which was the political heart of Athens from 600 BC. Democracy was practiced in the Council and law courts, Socrates was indicted and executed here in 399 BC. This huge site has been excavated and the large Stoa of Attalos (roofed arcade) was rebuilt in 1955. While most of the site is foundations from ancient buildings, one of the best preserved temples in Greece (Hephaisteion) built in 449BC is located on the West side of the area. Also well preserved is the Panagia Gorgoepikoos church built in 1000 AD. Our final stop of the day was at Keramekios, an ancient cemetery used since the 12th century BC. On our trek back to the hotel which was about 3 miles away, we walked through the flea market and bazaar areas the streets lined with shops selling everything from hardware to fine clothing.

One of the most difficult aspects of visiting all of these ancient sites is trying to remember all the gods and deities associated with ancient Greece. Unless an avid student of mythology, it is impossible to keep track of all the myths and gods associated with the various buildings, temples, etc. My head is still swimming with all that we have seen and trying to keep track of all the different places is making me tired.

Delphi, Part Two

Our hotel in Delphi (Fedriades) was located on the cliff above the valley below, approximately one-half mile form the ancient site of Delphi. Looking out of the window in the early morning revealed a valley spread below with farms and looking out to the sea, the village of Itea. The air was crisp and clean in this alpine type village close to the center of the ancient world. As the story goes, Zeus released two eagles at opposite ends of the world, when they met it was directly over Delphi which became one of the most important religious ares in the Greek world.

We drove to the archeological site and started our tour with a visit to the museum which houses many important finds excavated from the site. The statures, religious objects, and other artifacts help to paint a picture of what this site was 3000 years ago. Reconstructions of the site and models help to visualize the magnificence of the this ancient religious area. After the museum we walked up the hill into the remains of Delphi, as a religious site, this was truly astounding and in the early centuries was visited by people from all of Greece where they placed offerings, built monuments and thanked the gods for their successes.

Upon leaving Delphi we drove along the coast and into the country toward Athens about 150 km on two lane roads, through small villages, and finally to the toll road toward the airport. The closer we got to Athens, the more traffic increased until finally we found the exit to airport, dropped the car and walked to the metro for the train ride to our hotel. The Metro is an easy way to get to the heart of the city, it is fairly new and the is gradually being expanded, with the new airport located some 20 km from the city center, the metro is a fast, inexpensive way to travel. Tuesday we start to explore the city.

Delphi, Part 1

Sunday morning dawned with a slight overcast and the car was covered with raindrops, but no rain in the forecast for the day. We departed Ancient Olympia on the New National Road to Patra then over the Rio-Antirro bridge which spans the Gulf of Corinth at Patra, on to the Greek mainland from the Peloponnese. On the way we stopped at the Chlemoutsi Castle, the most famous Frankish castle in Greece, built between 1219 and 1223. The road up to the castle wound through the typical narrow streets around curves and up the hill, unfortunately when we arrived, the castle was closed for May 1, a national holiday, even though the sign says the castle is open on holidays. Sigh, so we walked around took pictures of the massive walls and then got back on the road to the mainland.

The road was in fairly good condition, one lane each way with a shoulder in most places; as with all driving in Greece, the locals can not be behind anyone and must pass on curves, in no passing zones, through towns and intersections, normally exceeding the speed limit by at least 40+ kmh. So, along the New National Road most people drive on the shoulder so the impatient drivers can pass in the normal driving lane all the time keeping an eve on upcoming bridge abutments, stopped cars and people on the road. Let's just say, attention is of the utmost importance to stay out of trouble. But then, after all the driving in Greece and Turkey, I am almost Greek; returning to US roads will require some behavior modification.

The Rio-Antirro bridge is not only beautiful but an engineering masterpiece. It is the second longest cable stay bridge in the world, was built under difficult conditions and must withstand tsunamis, seismic events and the tectonic plate expansion between the two shores. I have attached a link and also a photo of the bridge. It was quite windy as we crossed over in the narrow strait, but this bridge significantly reduces the travel time and eliminated the need for ferries.

We drove along the shore toward Delphi, the coastline was indeed stunning with small villages, islands and beaches along the 90 km stretch before reaching Delphi. Of course, the final length of road to Delphi is up the mountain on narrow winding roads which deliver you into the town with even narrower roads. Delphi is literally built on the side of a mountain and was considered the center of the earth to the Greeks. It flourished from the 8th century until the Romans abolished the oracle in AD393 with the Christianization of the Byzantine Empire.

Since the museum and archeological site were closed today, we visited a portion of the site known as the Marmaria precinct and the temple of Athena. On Monday we will take time in the morning to see the rest of Delphi, then drive back to Athens for our final three days in Greece.

The Peloponnese

On Thursday night we departed Lesvos on the Hellenic ferry Nissos Chios for Athens. The ferry departed at 10:00 PM and arrived in Athens at 06:30 AM. As I mentioned in an earlier post, these ferries are very nice with sleeping cabins, staterooms, lounges and airplane type seats. Yiannis took us to the dock and we parted with fond farewells and promises to return to Lesvos. He presented us with a beautiful cup and saucer set from Lesvos as a remembrance. We will certainly miss the family and the nice times we spent on the island.

Upon arrival in Athens, the ship was parallel parked in a tight space at the dock in Piraeus which is pretty amazing when you consider the ship is 462' long, has a capacity for 1715 passengers and 418 vehicles! Piraeus is the largest port in Greece and the third largest in the world servicing approximately 20 million passengers each year, so ships are docked very close together. After our arrival we found the metro, paid our 14 Euros and rode to the airport where we rented a car. We rented the car from the airport to avoid driving through Athens since a major motorway leaves from the airport and goes directly to Corinth on the Peloponnese peninsula.

The Peloponnese peninsula history goes back at least 5,000 years with many major archeological sites including Ancient Corinth, Mycenae, Ancient Nemea, and Ancient Olympia among others. It would be easy to spend weeks exploring these archeological sites and museums. We started at Ancient Corinth which had a population of 750,000 and was very important as a shipping port
for the Romans. The Peloponnese peninsula is connected to the Greece mainland by a strip of land only 4 miles long. In ancient times sailing around the southern tip of the peninsula was dangerous because of frequent storms so ships would often be unloaded and hauled over land along the narrow strip of land. Nero wanted to dig a canal along the strip but it was not until the late1800's that the French dug a canal 75' wide to connect the Aegean and Ionian Seas. Now, the canal is only wide enough for smaller ships.

Excavations at Ancient Corinth and Acrocorinth have yielded significant finds from the past 2000 years. Acrocorinth is a fortified citadel perched high above the city, on a mountain contains three miles of walls and has been occupied by successive occupying powers since Roman times.
Excavations at the ancient city of Corinth have revealed the vast extent of the city destroyed by earthquakes in Byzantine times. St. Paul wrote two Epistles to the Corinthians criticizing their licentious living practices.

Our next stop was Ancient Olympia, one of the most important cites in all of ancient Greece where Zeus was worshiped, and for over 3500 years athletic games were practiced. Although the site was inhabited in 3000BC, the establishment of the Olympic Games in 776 BC is traditionally treated as the first certain event in Greek history. The Roman Emperor Nero competed in the events in AD 67 unfairly rescheduling the games and 'won' the most prizes. The modern revival of the games came in 1896 when they were held in Athens, today the Olympic flame is ignited at Olympia and then carried around the world.

The road system in mainland Greece is very modern with high speed toll roads and secondary roads in excellent condition. We took the toll road as far as Tripoli then ventured off on a narrow twisting road over the mountains to Olympia, of course we could have take the major road but would have missed the fun and excitement of driving over roads barely wide enough for two cars to pass. The road travels along the Lousios Gorge which is a popular hiking area with villages hanging on the side of cliffs. Because of the remote mountain setting, this area was one of the strongholds of the revolutionaries during the Greek war of Independence. Medieval monasteries and churches cling to the steep cliffs of the gorge and picturesque villages are scattered along the route.

In Olympia, we stayed at the Hotel Pelops, a nice hotel owned by the Spiliopoulos family in the heart of the city, close to the ancient archeological site and museums. In the dining room are three Olympic torches from Tokyo 1964, Mexico 1968, and Athens 2004. The torches were carried in 1964 and 1968 by Theodoros Spiliopoulos, and in 2004 by his son "Alki" Alkiviades Spiliopoulos. It is not everyday you see an Olympic torch, let alone three, and meet the people who carried them. Quite an honor.

On Sunday we will depart Olympia for Delphi then back to Athens. Maybe the oracle will have good words for us, but first we have more mountainous roads to travel.

"Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah"

For those of you old enough to remember Alan Sherman’s song about the kid at summer camp, “Hello muddah, Hello faddah, here I am at Camp Granada, life is very entertaining, we might even have some fun if it stops raining”! Today it is raining in Vatera, after many nice days, so we are sitting at the hotel thinking about our experiences in the last few weeks.

We have spent the last month in Vatera at the Aphrodite Hotel on Lesvos Island as the only guests. Last week, a few people arrived for the Easter week celebrations so the hotel came alive with people, food, and conversation. May is the official start of the holiday season on this island so more people will be arriving and our own little hotel will become more of a tourist destination. The owners of the hotel were concerned about our staying here for the entire month since there is not much to do, but our plan was to travel extensively to Egypt, Turkey and other islands, then settle in for some down time. We did travel mid-month to Turkey, Santorini and Chios before returning to Lesvos for the last two weeks, so we did not spend an entire month staring at four walls.

Lesvos is the third largest island in Greece; the basic economy is olives, olive oil, sheep, goats and tourism, with worldwide competition, olive production has become less of the economic engine as in the past, so tourism is becoming more of a money maker, but only four months of the year during the summer months; during the rest of the year, Lesvos is still a Greek island with families, traditional culture, events and celebrations based on centuries of life here.

We have been fortunate to experience more of this traditional culture instead of staying at a four star resort on Santorini. During our time here, while we are still the foreigners, we have met and become friends with several people, from the tavernas, to the grocery store, to the people who have cleaned our clothes. In the US, I can not imagine the owners of the dry cleaners inviting us to Easter celebration with their family, or the hotel owners treating us like family. The roads are narrow, clogged with parked cars, yet there is no road rage, no anger at parking your car in the middle of the road to talk with your friends, no desire to become rich and famous, or flout your wealth to less fortunate people. It is a different world, less stress, less anger, more family, more friendship, more taking care of others.

While I would not want to live on this island, I do understand how people can live here and flourish, not with wealth, but with love, concern and honest appreciation for living. We have met the family, the grandparents, brothers, children, grandchildren of the hotel owners as they work together to make staying at the hotel a great experience; we have almost become family as we help to prepare the hotel for the summer guests, enjoy an intimate Easter experience, attempt to converse with the non-English speaking family, and just enjoy being a part of the family.

Thursday evening we depart on the ferry to Athens where we will rent a car and drive through the Peloponnese mainland for three days, to ancient Corinth, Olympia, and Delphi among along with a myriad of other destinations before returning to Athens for three days where we will finish our trip.

Dances With Horses

Monday, is the name day of St George (yes that George, the dragon slayer) in Greece. The saints name days are celebrated more than a person's birthday here, and today was St George's day, although the date is not the real date but celebrated on this Monday after Easter instead of the normal day in mid-April. This has something to do with the date of Easter falling later in the month, but don't ask me to explain why.

We learned of a big celebration at St George's church not far from Vatera, so off we went in a caravan into the hills, up steep rutted, winding, twisted roads to this church in the middle of a million olive trees. The road got so bad that we abandoned the vehicles and walked off through the olive orchards to the church which was still one half mile away. I had wondered how bad the roads must get before the locals could not go any further without a tank type vehicle that is able to go anywhere. We found out after scraping the bottom of the Panda and what sounded like the oil pan being ripped asunder leaving precious engine fluids in the ruts. The ruts were so deep in places the Panda almost disappeared so we backed down the hill a short distance where we could park the car off the road, also being careful not to run over any barbed wire in the process.

We had taken along two small children and their grandmother who are also staying at the hotel so we had plenty of screams as the car tried to overturn in the ditch, but thanks to my skillful driving we parked safely and started the hike through olive groves, fresh horse manure and lots of beautiful wild flowers. I am not sure why there is a church in this remote place, there is literally nothing for miles except olive trees. Olives were still on the trees or liberally scattered all over the ground since the prices were so low for olive oil last year the olives were not picked.

So after a 15 minute walk uphill through dangerous olive groves surrounded by hungry woodland creatures, we arrived at the church where at least 300 people were already gathered eating some kind of bean stew with meat. Did I mention the bull that gets sacrificed for the good of the neighborhood as part of this celebration? It is possible the meat in the stew was from this bull, but we were not sure. At noon a band started to play with sound equipment powered by a gas generator, and it was time for the horse and rider dancing. There were at least 10 horses, two with foals about one or two years old, all were decorated with fancy saddles and tack, and very high spirited. When the music started, the riders started to dance with the horses and attempted to dance standing on the saddle which was only semi-successful since the aforementioned high spirited horses were not that cooperative.

This dancing went on for some time with different riders and horses taking turns in the small road in front of the even smaller church. Yiannis tells me in the past, these festivals, which are very common in May and June, would last for days, traveling from one village to another, I believe large quantities of Ouzo were also involved. But here everyone was having a good time listening to the music, watching the horses and enjoying the food. Basically, your typical community gathering. Yiannis and his family are great musicians who sometimes provide the entertainment at the hotel, his father and brother are very versatile, playing numerous instruments and singing. I think they are all slowing down as they get older.

We watched for a while then hiked back to the car, checked the oil pan for leaks and returned to the hotel along the twisting, rutted dirt and gravel road.