"You are kindly requested to get off our bus!"

Lions Gate: entrance to the Acropolis at Mycenae

J:  This week we joined a four-day bus tour of the classical sites of Greece -- beyond Athens.  Perhaps it is not not our favorite way to travel, but it is informative and efficient.  The group varied in size, as some left early and others joined mid-way.  Usually there were 20-25 on the very modern and comfortable bus.  The tour leader, Lea, quickly made her mark -- imagine a spinster whose role model is a drill sergeant.  She recited endless facts and dates and mythological stories, without a trace of humor, smile or grace.  The title of this blog was perhaps Lea's most repeated quotation -- said when the group was splitting up and some were leaving for Athens.  Even though Lea didn't smile, we had many good laughs (a few at her expense) with two couples from New Zealand and a couple from Chicago.  However, Lea did fill our heads with the misadventures of the gods.  The country-side was most spectacular.  And certainly we loved the opportunity to sit and contemplate life at the birth of Western Civilization thousands of years ago.

Treasury of Atreus (beehive tomb at Mycenae)

J:  Many years ago I was impressed with a biography of Heinrich Schliemann called Gold of Troy.   With a fortune gained in the California Gold Rush, Schliemann decided to prove the historical truth of Homer by digging up Troy.  He found and uncovered an ancient city in Turkey (which he declared was Troy).  Next he focused on Agamemnon's home in Greece and started digging at Mycenae.  And as of today, 10% of the site has been excavated.

On our first day on the tour we drove west from Athens, crossed the isthmus at Corinth and visited Mycenae and Epidaurus.  Our trip has accidentally followed the chronology of Greek history.  The "Minoans" of Crete/Knossos start the "time-line" in about 2,500 BC with a gentle, prosperous trading culture.  Next the feisty mainland Greeks, now referred to as the Mycenaeans, run over the Minoans about 1,400 BC.  And the fall of the Mycenaeans in about 1,200 BC leads to the Dark Ages of Greek history, reborn at the renaissance of the Golden Age of Athens and Sparta in about 450 BC.  So Mycenae was a thriving palace about 1,000 years before the Parthenon was built.  Class Dismissed.  Exam on Thursday.

Being entertained at the  Epidaurus theater

 Here's the classical theater at Epidaurus.  It seats 15,000 and has perfect acoustics.  We climbed the 80+ steps to the top, thinking that we would listen to Lea wrinkle a newspaper she brought for demonstration purposes.  Instead, we were serenaded by a choir from Northern Greece, accompanied by an accordion, singing the praises of Alexander the Great (in Greek of course).

In ancient times this was a thriving city.  It disappeared and because it was remote, later generations didn't come to steal the stones of the theater.  So they simply uncovered the hillside and exposed a huge theater.  The rest of the city is still buried.

Epidaurus is the home of Asclepius, the mythological god of medicine (who carries around a stick wrapped with a snake).  Ill and infirm came from all over Greece to his temple here to be healed.  Oh yes, Apollo was the father of Asclepius.  In true Greek mythological soap opera style, his mother was unfaithful to Apollo while pregnant, so Apollo killed her just after Asclepius was born.  Zeus then killed Asclepius for raising someone from the dead.

Give that lady a wreath

J;  Next stop, Olympia.  This was known as the place where the Olympic Games began.  Athletes from all over Greece walked here for the festivities (major party time).  Athens is 336 kilometers away and some came from Thessalonica in the far north.  They really wanted that olive wreath.  Olympia was not a town but rather essentially a religious retreat center, with major temples for Zeus and Hera, his wife.  They did have a stadium that seats 45,000 (sitting on grassy slopes).

Here's Gretchen at the finish line.  Some ran around the stadium.  We chose to walk. 

















The Olympic torch is lighted at a rather modest "altar of Hera".  It's the roped off area in the photo.  A small group of young women in white togas hold the torch next to a metal cone shaped contraption, and the sun lights the fire.  Then it is carried to Athens by runners, each getting a one kilometer leg.

From the Olympia museum:  Hermes of Praxiteles holding Dionysus

Next to the ruins of the temples there is a new museum, with room after room of artifacts uncovered in the temples.  The Michael Jordans of that day were permitted to erect marble statues of themselves, so the place was littered with headless gold medal winners.

At the Temple of Apollo, and home to the Oracle

The next day we visited Delphi, according to the ancient Greeks the belly button of the world and the home of the famous oracle.  Like Olympia, there was no town in ancient times, just a religious site.  This time the temples were for Apollo and Athene.

The Treasury of Athens at Delphi

So many brought gifts to the gods, that many city-states built "treasuries" to hold the stuff.  And, where there is old stuff, modern Greeks build a museum.  Both Olympia and Delphi have extensive collections.

Delphi also had "games" like Olympia, called the Pythian Games and only held once every seven years.  The site is on a steep mountain side, with the stadium (bench seating) at the top, and a theater just beneath the stadium.  Here the prize was a laurel wreath.  Apollo favors the laurel tree, while Zeus in Olympia likes olive trees???  .

One of the Meteora Monasteries

The last stop on the tour was in central Greece at Kalambaka.  Just outside of this town there are extensive rock formations -- pillars with sheer vertical sides.  Greek Orthodox monks and hermits chose these rocks to build monasteries.  Originally there were 12, but today only six are occupied.  Five of the six allow tourists to visit (for a small charge of course).  We toured only two, and now rather than mythological stories, Lea filled us with tales of the saints and martyrs of the Orthodox church.  James Bond climbed one of these pillars in one of the 1960s movies.

Ok, now it's time to leave Greece.  We are going to be on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship until November 19.  We will leave it in Cadiz, Spain.  The lack of an internet connection means that we will take up with this diary when we're back in an apartment in Sevilla.  Til then.......

Santorini: The Ultimate Greek Island Disneyland

J:  We spent two nights in Heraklion, Crete to see the museum and Knossos Palace.  It is stunning what has been recovered from the 4,000 year-old Minoan civilization.  Then we took a two hour ferry north to Santorini.  We learned the night before we left that the ferry to Santorini had been canceled for two days due to high winds.  So we were pleased that we had a reservation for a rather small hydrofoil, which was packed with the backlog of the previous days' travelers.

J:  Santorini is what we expected and more.  The towns are perched at the edge of the cliff which form the caldera of the Thera volcano.  Some believe that the explosion of the island and resulting earthquakes in about 1450 BC caused of the collapse of the Minoan civilization on Crete.  Clearly the five-story buildings at Knossos collapsed from an earthquake.  An amazing fact is that not a single body has been found in the rubble of the palace.  Somehow the disaster must have been anticipated.

J: We rented a car, drove to a wonderful hotel near Oia (pronounced EE-Ah).  At the hotel I discovered that my pocket camera wasn't in my pocket, but rather in the pocket of the seat on the ferry.  A tourist office explained that the same ferry returned later in the afternoon, so we drove back to the port, waited for the ferry and found the camera exactly where I'd left it.  The bonus was that we were at the water level for the sunset -- Santorini's most celebrated attraction.

G: Santorini is probably the most unusual island I have ever seen--the inside of the crescent-shaped island sheer and rugged as it drops to the coves and harbors below, the outside semi-flat farm land.  From a distance the island appears snow-capped when in fact small white-washed villages are perched on the top of the island's "spine".  With our rental car we were able to criss-cross the island from top to bottom, adding to my sand collection with black sand and red sand from the windy and chilly beaches.  No bikinis on Santorini today.



















G:  When the cruise ships are in, the alleys of the villages of Fira and Oia are flooded and buzzing with tourists.  This being the near end of the cruise season though, the shops and restaurants are beginning to close and the shopkeepers look as though they just want us to leave them alone as they count the days.  Faded hats and dresses, exposed for  the season to the intense sun and wind, hang sadly outside some shops while restaurants  prepare for winter by closing the shutters and removing canvas awnings and umbrellas and stacking chairs inside for the winter.  One can't help but wonder what it must be like to be here after the tourists have gone.

J:  Last night we joined the "herd" at the north end of Oia for the daily worshiping of the sunset.  Surprisingly, most of the restaurants face south, with only a few on the west side with a sunset view.  But the folks gather along the walkways and sit on the walls and steps to enjoy the end of the day.

G:  The light is what makes Santorini in fall one of the most special places on earth.  Photo after photo, whether in the bright morning sun or the fading light of sunset, produced some spectacular moments for us.

Ten Things to Do While Waiting for Self-Service Laundry in Paleochora

Laundry's in the wash at the travel agency--let's go kill some time!

1.  Photograph nature just after the morning shower

2.  People watch and wait for crumbs

3..  Enjoy a morning cappuccino

4.  Climb the stairs to the Venetian fort ruins

5.  Explore the ruins

6.  Enjoy the view of town

8.  Take a nap disguised as reading the paper

7.  Take a nap disguised as praying

9.  Wait for a traffic jam at Main and Second

10.  Blow the diet on lunch of gyros & Mythos!

Now it's time to climb the hill with clean laundry in hand and pack for the next adventure:  Knossos, then ferry to Santorini......

Life in Paleochora, Crete

Paleochora, Crete

J:  Our current stop is Paleochora, a fishing village of less than 2,500, on the southern coast of Crete and a two hour bus ride from Chania.  Paleochora sits on a small peninsula 700 yards long and 400 yards wide extending into the Mediterranean.  The ruins of a 12th century fortress are at the far end of the spit.  The west side has a long sandy beach, filled with rentable recliners and umbrellas (5 Euros per day for a couple), while on the opposite side of the peninsula there is a small pebble beach and a long rocky seawall.  The town consists of three streets: a road along on each side of the peninsula and a road bisecting the middle.

Caravella Restaurant

G:  Once off the afternoon bus, we were advised to walk a few blocks to Caravella Restaurant, owned by George our new landlord...and people were gracious to point the way.  Two men met the bus on bicycle and asked if we needed a nice room.  Not creepy, just typical.  Luckily we had one though!  We had found this most amazing apartment online--probably a one of a kind in tiny Paleochora.  The landlord lives on the top floor of a six unit apartment building.  However, George spends most of  his life at his restaurant, right on the waterfront.   It is rated as one of the best fish restaurants in Greece.  We learned that shallow water fish have small eyes and deep water fish have big eyes--for seeing in the murky depths.  How could we have lived this long and not known this? 

Giant beans with wild greens, cheese stuffed artichokes, and meatballs

J:  Since we had not had breakfast, we were famished, so George took us inside and introduced us to the offerings of the day.   These 3 items were what we chose.   Everything was just delicious.  George bragged about the fresh fish which the restaurant's fishing boat catches each morning.  But we were a little shocked when the menu price for each fish dish (about 8 varieties are offered) was 45 Euros (almost US$60).  We quickly decided to order three appetizers for a total of less than 10 Euros!!
Later we learned that the price for the fish was a per kilo price.  Most of the whole grilled fish are about 200 grams or roughly 12 Euros and are prepared for two guests.  We're thinking about trying it this Sunday!

We're on the 2nd floor

G:  When we were done, George popped us into his van and drove us to the bluff at the base of the peninsula  to his Caravella apartments.  They looked just like online.  One year old, the pictures say it all.  And the same price as our disappointing apartment in Agios Nikolaos...And we get maid service every day, clean towels every 2 days and clean sheets every 3 days.  I told him he was going to spoil us!

King sized!

Small but functional

Won't need the fireplace, but we welcomed the comfy reading chairs!

Simple IKEA-style furnishings

Balcony with recliner chairs

The view east from Paleochora

G:  Travel writer Paul Theroux in Pillars of Hercules, a Grand Tour of the Mediterranean,  wrote "But tourists did not really go to Greece for the history; they went for the sunshine, and these cautioning signs were in many cases meant to restrain north Europeans who in the Greek warmth became militant nudists--Germans especially!"  The term militant nudists has caused us to giggle over and over here...part of the beach is a self-proclaimed nudist beach.  As one gets nearer the snack shack, a giant sign proclaims in English "NO NUDISM HERE.  KEEP THE BEACH CLEAN"  Within yards of the sign, the militant nudists are busy getting their share of the Greek warmth!  Guess they can't read English or are just militant enough to ignore the sign!.

Looking back from Paleochora spit at the long sandy beach and our apartment on the hillside

G:  Now is our time to get more walking in--without a car, we are walking to town, to the beach below and uphill coming home!  It is serene here, there is  a gaggle of  retired tourists, but there is a sense that the season is winding down.  It is October, after all!  Two competing supermarkets have everything you could want, including fabulous fresh local produce.  Several outdoor cafes and restaurants, 2 laundromats--one inside a hardware store, the other one part of a travel agency so you can schedule excursions while you wait for your clothes!  What a marketing idea! Wash and dry is $9-10E per load.
Next up:  The Cretan Diet and more!  We're here until Oct.18-- reading, playing guitar, enjoying the sea, making plans for the next place....  Love to read your comments on anything we've sent so far!  There is a place at the end of each blog. Wish you all were here!

Chania/Hania/Khania/Xania--A Picturesque Port, No Matter the Spelling!

Waiting for the bus in Anogia

G:  We began Saturday morning, Oct 2, with our new US friend, Peter, driving us from Enagron to the village of Anogia, seven kms from Axos, where we would catch the bus back to the city of Iraklion (or sometimes Heraklion or Iraklio), to the central bus terminal for all points west.  We had been in Anogia before, but were quite unsure whether the bus would arrive at 8am on this quiet Saturday morning,  And the fact that the bus would stop two feet from the outdoor cafe chairs, some of which already occupied by men having coffee,  left us incredulous...  What could we do but join them while we waited?  Jon ordered a coffee while we pondered our surroundings.  The attendant from the cafe across the alley came over to offer his helpful bit of English--yes we were in the right place--and then he told us that one of the men at another table had paid for Jon's coffee!  It was one of those moments that reinforces why we continue to travel to out of the way places....the bus came right on time--the driver loaded our bags underneath, and we were off on our way...


Once we changed buses in Iraklion, by mid-day we were on to Chania (on the NW coast of Crete)  which the guidebooks touted as being "charming". 

J: One big problem in Greece is translating Greek letters to the Latin alphabet.  The letter "X" in Greek alphabet  is translated as "H" or "CH" or "KH".  So maps and guidebooks will spell the names of towns completely differently based on which Latin letter they decide to use.

G:  And if we didn't mention, the bus system on Crete is amazing.  The drivers could not be nicer and more well trained for the winding mountain roads, narrow village lanes and harrowing city traffic, often compounded by double parked cars. Many times we would sneak past cars and motorcycles with less than six inches to spare.  The buses are new, comfortable coach-style, with doors for luggage on the outside. Small freight is also sent from village to village this way--at the appropriate destination, if no one is there to receive it, it is just left on the curb--no problem!

Chania harbor

Since we had not really seen "charming" since we arrived on Crete, we opted to spend two nights at a small family run hotel, the Alexis, on the edge of the port city and have a good look. We were not disappointed in the port--it had it all:  a Venetian fortress, a mosque on the waterfront which is now an art museum, a  Turkish prison, a lighthouse, a beautiful harbor/marina lined with a wide walkway and lots of outdoor restaurants..Chania was once the capital of Crete--it was here that Crete became part of Greece in 1913, after 200 years Turkish rule, but Iraklion is now the capital and its biggest port.

The harbor at Chania and lighthouse

Chania is where the tourists come--mostly Scandinavian and northern European.  Just behind the harbor walk is  a maze of alleyways--the original old city, built to foil intruders.  Small inns and homes, shops, etc.  After checking in to the hotel, we walked to the harbor, had lunch there of zucchini fritters, stuffed red peppers, and 3 small "pies"--typical  turnovers of herbs, cheese, and onions.  The we walked out to the lighthouse just as the afternoon sun was getting lower in the sky.  It produced some amazing light on the water.

Arriving at Balos Bay

The next morning we were picked up on the main road by a travel agency bus for a day-long adventure by boat to the unpopulated NW corner of Crete, which consists of two parallel  peninsulas with a huge gulf between them.   By the time we had loaded the rest of the folks from various hotels along the way, we were 26 in all, including our darling, well-spoken guide--and we were the only outsiders-- all the rest were Finns!  How these things happen, we don't know, but we were grinning all the way to the boat!  The open-air boat held many more tourists from other buses and soon we were all loaded and leaving.

Balos Bay with our anchored ship in the background

We sailed in the morning sun for Balos Beach on the far side of the most westerly peninsula to one of the most amazingly situated lagoons of shallow water.  It took only one hour.  This is the twin of Bali Hai or Bora Bora.  We spent three hours exploring and sitting in the sun and wading in the turquoise waters, enjoying the remoteness of this place.

Wading in the lagoon -- the Blue Lagoon?

A few miles across the bay from Balos Beach is a huge well-preserved Venetian fortress on Gramvousa Island, which must have been perfect to watch for invaders.  This was our second stop and included a walk to the top....but some of our knees were aching that day, so it wasn't in the cards!  Very disappointed!

Not the 100 year old Cretan who climbed to the top of the castle

On our boat that day was what looked to be 4 generations of a Cretan family.  An elderly man-- 90-100 years old, maybe his 70-year old daughter,  her daughter and 10ish great-grandson.  Back on the boat, we learned from our tour leader, the man had made it to the top!.  We had read and heard about  longevity on Crete and that their special diet plays an important part--as I looked at this man--I believed it!  Apparently he does this hike to the top every year.  He and his great-grandson shared a special bond, that was clear.  The women had stayed on the boat. What a day!















Our last night in Chania ended with a lovely dinner in the hotel's restaurant--son, Theo, is the chef.  We feasted on lamb chops and salmon brochettes with grilled veggies.  Delicious--our best meal on this trip!
















Next up:  we head by bus to the southern coast of Crete to the small port of Paleochora.  Did you know that the south coast of  Crete is closer to Libya than Athens?

A Mountain Crete Retreat

Traffic on main street in Axos

J:  Before leaving the US, G bought a copy of a food magazine -- Saveur -- because it was the "The Greece Issue".  In the list of resources in the back, there was a mention of  Enagron, a farm and cooking school in a villiage called Axos in the remote mountains of Crete (see www.enagron.gr).  We took a bus from Agios Nikolaos back to Heraklion, then a cab to a different bus station on the other side of town.  The cab driver knew the village, but didn't think there was bus service, and he offered to drive us to Axos for 50 Euros. We checked at the ticket office in the bus station and yes, there is one bus each day for 6 Euros.

Axos at the upper right and Enagron at the lower left

It was a wild 1-1/2 hour ride up into the back country, through rocky gorges and winding up into the center of Crete.  Axos is a one street town, population 200,  and when we got off the bus we had no idea  which direction to Enagron.  While we were standing in the street, a car stopped and Marcel, a kindly older gentleman, asked in very broken English if we needed help. When we mentioned Enagron, he looked at our three suitcases, guitar and two backpacks and said, "Problem".  Enagron was about a kilometer away, down a very steep canyon.  So he drove about a block away to empty out his trunk at his house and squeezed all our bags into his car and drove us down to Enagron. He was a most welcome bit of luck!

Our building

G:  We could see the cluster of buildings that makes up Enagron and as we approached, we noticed each building was different from the next including the largest one which houses the reception, office and living room and balcony  upstairs and the kitchen, dining room and outdoor dining room below.  Although the buildings, including guest rooms,  look deceivingly small from the outside, inside are cathedral ceilings, thick stucco walls.  And the placement of the buildings make it appear to be a small village nestled on a hillside just above river canyon with the village of Axos perched high above us on a ridge. We noticed immediately how absolutely quiet the mountains are except for goats outfitted with bells that echo across the canyon.

The  owners had a vision 10 years ago to create a mountain retreat in which  the guests would feel a part of  a "village" surrounded by olive and fruit trees, vineyards and produce, all organically grown and prepared by the kitchen staff.  And there are goats, sheep and donkeys too.  It apparently is a very popular place for families searching for a "farm experience" in July and August, with its 32 rooms in all--but just a few guests here now in late September.

We ate well and watched cheese being made (wine vinegar added to boiling sheep's milk creates the curds) as well as moussaka.   When we approached the kitchen/patio,  our favorite server and kitchen helper, Afrodite, would always greet us with  "Kalimera!" (Good Morning"), followed by "Tell Me" in English, which is "what can I bring you?"  Her husband works as a shepherd with a flock of sheep.

We spent the week hiking to various destinations with other guests: Polish and Americans.  The resort provides good maps of the area and a Dutch woman (the only non-Greek employee) leads informative walks "in nature".  Lots of steep ups and downs.

J: We had a wonderful time at a beautiful place and certainly enjoyed getting to know some very interesting new friends.  The week flew by!

Here are some photos from our time at Enagron in Axos, Crete:

Stavroula demonstrating making cheese from the morning goat milking

Potatoes frying in olive oil

Working in her garden

          

At a summit

Traffic jam

Visiting a solitary Monk at his mountain top monastery with Betsy and Peter from VA