Peloponnese

The Peloponnese dangles by a thread to the mainland of Greece, yet it is the site of much of the greatest history and mythology. We drove along the south coast of Attica, crossed the isthmus over to the Land of Pelops, and then drove mostly the coast along its east side to the complex of Epidavros, its healing center and theatre.

Looking back toward Attica; we stopped in a small resort

town for a cafe that had wifi and finally got our European

maps re-installed to the satnav; that was scary!

The Corinth Canal bisects the isthmus; begun by the

Romans, it would have been one of their most monumental

achievements; finished by modern-day Greeks; postcards

usually show a cruise ship being towed through it

Marine farming on the north side of the

Peloponnese

Islands in the Aegean

Marathon: the Race

The marathon race is a modern invention, dating to the 1890s, the first being run from, you guessed it, Marathon, to Athens. It subsequently became part of the modern Olympics, and much, much more.

At the Marathon stadium, kilometer marker 40, the

beginning of the modern-day Marathon/Athens marathon
race

Commemorative mosaic thing

The official starting line

Me, demonstrating proper starting form

Signage on the km marker

Outside the Center for the Promotion of the

Marathon Race; last year was the 2500th

anniversary of the run--alas, like everything

else in Marathon, it was closed

We followed the km markers for the Athens Classic

Marathon Course some distance into Athens, but then,

after provisioning at the Carrefours, had to take the toll-way;

never did find the finish line...

Marathon: the Battle

We spent Wednesday morning getting the Grey Wanderer ship shape and Bristol fashion, and, after the missing luggage arrived after lunch, we boldly set forth for Marathon. More boldly than usual in that, when we loaded the USA maps onto our satnav, we inadvertently erased our European maps. Accordingly we also boldly set forth to find a McDonald's or some other wifi source. Anyhow, we spent some time in the winter necropolis of Marathon, looking for a suitable souvenir for my sister Carole, the marathon runner. Five hardware stores were open, a couple kiosks and the like, but the place was really dead. We took in the Athens Marathon sites in town, then headed out to see the Marathon Battle Trophy and the Tumulus of fallen Athenians.

The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC, when an estimated 20,000 Persians landed, intent on punishing the Athenians for supporting the revolts at Miletus and elsewhere in Asia Minor. It was the Greeks' first Persian War. The two armies glowered at each other for six days, then, spotting a weakness, the 10,000 Athenians attacked the disorganized Persians and routed them. According to Herodotus (we read), 6,400 Persians were killed to 192 Athenians. The rest of the Persians sailed back home. Miltiades, the Greek commander, sent a runner back to Athens to convey the news--thus our modern marathon race--40 km. Unfortunately, he died of exhaustion. Apparently no one even got his name. Some kind of immortality!

Pretty good signage

Reconstructed battle trophy; the site, mentioned by both Plato 
and Aristophanes, was found by an American archaeologist



The Tumulus, on the plain of Marathon, with a mountain back-drop

The Persians no doubt regarded all this as a reconnaissance in force. They came back a few years later with perhaps the largest army assembled in antiquity, sacked and burned Athens and much of the rest of Greece, but finally had to give up and go away after setbacks at sea and on the land. War is as much about communication and supply as about battles.

Anyhow, we camped at the parking lot by the Tumulus; another night of jet-lag adjustment. And still no wifi nor TomTom.

Evoiko Sea Center

We stored our rig for two months at the Evoiko Sea Center, a dry marina near Chalkouti, up from  Athens, http://www.evoikoseacenter.gr/. The Marinos family were wonderful looking after us and our rig, lending tools, giving directions, providing transportation. Their clientele is almost entirely yachts and big power-boats, but they can accommodate RVs, affordably and with care. The facilities include toilets and showers and a cafe, and the site is within walking distance of public transportation and the town. It is certainly the most scenic storage imaginable. And they are great people. (But beware: the GPS coordinates given on the website are for a buoy out in the bay!).

Avast!

Return to Greece

We flew the Friendly Skies of Continental from San Fran to Nerk, and then to Munchen. 18 hours in the air. Everything was fine until Munich and Star Alliance Partner Lufthansa. The flight was delayed, understandably...bad weather. But when we finally got to Athens, a) a major piece of luggage was missing, and b) Athens public transit workers were on strike for the day. World travelers learn to cope with such things. Interestingly, we have probably done 40 flights in the past 2 and a half years, all over Asia, the Pacific, North America, Europe, etc., with no luggage mishap whatever. The missing piece turned up the next day and reached us in good order. Frankly, the strike was no surprise...it is merely routine in Greece these days. The taxi to the bus "station" was 40 euros, but the bus ride out to Chalkouti , a private bus service, fifty miles or so, was only 10. We got to the Evoiko Sea Center, where the Grey Wanderer had been stored, just before dark, and, before crashing, managed to unpack most everything.

Intermission Again: Back in the States

We spent our last few days putting the Grey Wanderer into storage at a marina north of Athens, packing, and watching those old snowflakes fall. The weather Friday turned from balmy 70s to near-freezing, with gale winds off the bay and snow accumulating in the mountains. On Monday the 13th we flew from Athens to Ft. Lauderdale for two months in the States, beginning with a stay with sister Carole, and Jim and Lexi, and then moving up to St. Cloud, with Marie and Norm, and Christmas holidays with Rachel and Will and Rebecca and Jeremy. I'll post again when there's news.

View from the marina storage center, Sunday morning

Plato's Academy

On our numerous bus rides to and from the centrum, I noticed signs for the archaeological site of Plato's Academy, and, of course, had to follow them to the site, well into some of the working-class neighborhoods, just outside the ancient walls of Athens. There's not much left, but I was there and saw the remains of one of the world's oldest and most famous educational and intellectual institutions.

Athens Museum of Archaeology

As it happened, we visited Athen's Archaeololgical Museum three times: first time, we found it closed by a strike; second time, arriving after lunch, we learned it closes at 3PM; third time was the charm. But it would have been worth four tries or even five.

Museum entrance

Notice of closure on our first visit; when we returned from Mykonos, public 
transit workers were on strike; railway workers went on strike the day we left 
Athens (we got out just in time); and there was a national strike all day

December 15th; all recession/EU bail-out/austerity related

The museum is arranged chronologically but also has special galleries for bronze, 
vases, etc; here we are in the Cyclades gallery (mid-Bronze Age, out in the 
islands), admiring the very distinctive Cycladian figurine work 

And now in the Mycenaean galleries; this is the famous 
Agamemnon death mask Schliemann found; of course 
it could have been any of scores of kings/princes/rulers,

but since Schliemann was looking for the most famous 
Mycenaean, it had to be Agamemnon

Schliemann's famous communication to the king of Greece

The golden cups...



Moving right along, the very famous Zeus/Poseidon (scholars 
are divided) throwing a spear/trident/whatever

The Jockey

Jumping back a little in time, the "boxers" fresco from 
Akrotiri/Santorini, 16th century BCE

There is so much at which to marvel...but the Antikythera Mechanism, another 
find of marine archaeology, is a knock-out; it is a complicated brass system of 
gears for calculating astronomical phenomena

It took many years and much high tech to figure out what this 
thing was and to reconstruct it, as above; no one was expecting 
a 2000 year-old computer



Interior side view of all the gears, etc.

The Hellenistic Gaul pleading for his life

Incredibly realistic bronze bust, showing how eyes were 
represented in such things

Aphrodite and Eros fighting off Pan

Head-smashed-in bronze

It's an incredible museum, worthy of many posts...but I'll leave it at this.

Delos; or, Never Trust Athenian Travel Agents (Even When Bearing Gifts)

Our plan had been to arrive at Mykonos in the early afternoon, look around, find a hotel, and then take the boat to Delos the next morning, arriving back on Mykonos in time to take the return ferry to Piraeus. Travel agents in Athens consulted the schedules and assured us all this was feasible. As we eventually learned, in Mykonos, the tours to Delos operate only on Fridays and Sundays in the off-season. We arrived at Mykonos on Tuesday, and, it was so nice a place, we seriously considered staying over until Friday's tour. Bad weather was on the way, however, and the port police could not guarantee that the Friday boat trip to Delos would not be cancelled. So, after a few more hours' sight-seeing in Mykonos, we rode the Ithaki back to Piraeus. Sadder, but wiser, just as in Greek tragedy.

I have always thought it would be fun to do a completely fictional post on our travels, grabbing pix off the web, making it all up and posting it. This would have been a great opportunity. Alas, as I write, it seems less fun than work. If you're interested, there is a great site, with great pix, for Delos at http://www.sacred-destinations.com/greece/delos. Perhaps we'll visit Delos next time.

"Never trust Athenian travel agents!" they told us on

Mykonos

Mykonos Museum of Archaeology

Mykonos is very near the Apollo shrine island of Delos, where few lived and which was so sacred no one was permitted to be born or to die there. It served through the centuries as Delos' non-sacred portal, auxiliary, and warehouse, and itself has surrendered not a few artifacts, some of Cycladian age, most of 9th-8th-7th century BCE Greece.

Mykonos' excellent little archaeological museum

A "frying pan" ceramic piece--so-called because of the shape--apparently no 
one knows what they were used for (we saw plenty more in Athens' museums)

Beautifully-painted pottery, 8th century BCE

"Who's been into the wine cellars?!"

For us, the most impressive piece was this 7th century BCE 
4-foot high funerary urn, decorated with scenes from the 
Trojan War; hardly a century after Homer himself is supposed 
to have lived

Trojan horse

Hector, Andromache, and Astyanax?

8th century griffin

"No thanks, I'm driving"

Mykonos

We landed at Mykonos' "new" harbor in the early afternoon, took the bus to the "old" harbor, and began wandering the old town's almost completely pedestrian maze of kissing alleys. Greece really does pretty much shut down to tourism in the non-summer months, but we nonetheless got the relevant information, advice, and found a quite decent little boutique hotel, the Carbonika. We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the old town, seeing the sights, having a nice Greek dinner on the old harbor, watching the sunset, and getting thoroughly and seriously lost in what is a very distinctive and beautiful place.

Approaching Mykonos

Typical Mykonos old town view

Mykonos' "Little Venice"; apparently a scene from one of

the Bourne movies was shot here

Sea camel near the old harbor

Mykonos' signature windmills

It's a beautiful little town with many

distinctive architectural features



OK, polychrome it's not; and you can't tell

people you live in the white house with the

blue trim

Sunset view

Next morning, old harbor

Petros, Mykonos' pelican mascot for more than 50 years;

he's completely accustomed to humans; wanders around the

harbor and fish market every day, getting hand-outs and

getting photographed

View from our balcony