Another overnight dimensional leap brought us into a bright, sunny day, heading towards Aegina. It didn’t involve a particularly early start, but it was worth getting up a bit earlier than normal for another look at the Corinth canal. It really is a fantastic work of engineering and I loved the telescopic mechanism for opening the bridge. I’ve seen bridges rise up, or swing apart, but never retract.
It was calm, peaceful sailing until we reached Aegina, the largest of the Saronic islands and the one closest to Athens, only 45 minutes away by hydrofoil. We’d visited Aegina before, but many years ago. It looked unfamiliar until the first sign of the pistachio nut stalls, then it all came flooding back.
The bus took us first to the far end of the island, were we experienced yet another fantastic sight/site, the Temple of Aphaia. Another uphill hike had the muscles screaming again, but we heard wonderful tales of how the island got its name from a persecuted nymph. Unfortunately, the guide we had on this occasion was not up to the usual standard. She was difficult to follow and lacked the enthusiasm of our previous guides.
We passed on the museum, saving ourselves for the next visit, to the site of another temple of Apollo, at Kolonna, just outside Aegina town. Only a single column remains standing, but it’s a major landmark on the island. While we were ashore the liner pulled away from its mooring to allow another ship to dock and didn’t return until 6:00 pm. We passed the time having lunch, reading and chatting and watching the to-ing and fro-ing of ships and hydrofoils. It’s grim life, but somebody has to do it!
After a short siesta we returned to explore Aegina Town by night. We had a couple of ouzos inn a picturesque bar behind the fish market, wrapped in the smoke of grilled octopus and other fish and seafood. We finished the evening with some Greek pancakes full of ham, cheese and tomato, with herby cheese spread over the folded circle. Again, it was all locals in the place, with lots of friendly banter going on between the customers and the waiters.
As we were returning to the boat, we met Stelios again. He recognised us from our previous encounter and asked if we’d had a good time. He seemed genuinely pleased when we assured him that we’d had a brilliant time and thanked him for making it possible. It may have been an economy package, but it was a mega-rich experience.(Karmanie)
Friday, 29 February 2008
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Evening in Itea
After a brief siesta to recover from the exertions of the morning it was ouzo-hunting time again and an opportunity to do some more socialising with our companions. We ended up in a restaurant where lots of the locals were having a night out as part of their Carnival celebrations prior to the abstinence of Lent, which falls later in the Greek Orthodox calendar than in the Roman one.
A live trio provided some fine music ranging from modern Greek ballads to traditional rembetika on guitar ands two bouzoukis, while Bob and friends, from California, provided the craic, an Irish word for chat and charm. It was a long day, but a very enjoyable one. (Karmanie)
A live trio provided some fine music ranging from modern Greek ballads to traditional rembetika on guitar ands two bouzoukis, while Bob and friends, from California, provided the craic, an Irish word for chat and charm. It was a long day, but a very enjoyable one. (Karmanie)
Chatting with Kelly
After lunch we had a long and interesting chat with
Kelly explained that her main role on board to ensure that the Classical Greece tours functioned smoothly and that she was responsible for selecting the sites to be visited and for local arrangements, such as employing tour guides. When the tours are not running, she markets and promotes the Classical Greece Cruise as well as selecting the sites and excursions for the following season. We asked her why easyCruise, a company known principally for offering low-cost, high-value leisure cruises, had chosen to enter this market. She explained that they saw it as an unexplored niche market which presented opportunities for attracting a new client group and extending the cruise season at both ends. No other company offered a one-week trip which included visits to so many major archaeological sites.
She felt that the company also had a commitment to promoting and supporting the Classics, as shown by their recent sponsorship of a
Kelly noted that the cruises were attracting a unique client-group, across a wide variety of ages, country of origin and background, whose only common bond was a shared love of culture. This presented challenges in marketing the cruises, but they were trying to attract interested clients through classics societies and classics journals. She said that Stelios himself believed that was important to make culture accessible by making it fun and exciting. She compared the cruise to an affordable 21st century version of the Grand Tour, the 19th century practice of visiting the cultural centres of
We thanked Kelly for her time and wished her every success for future cruises. We are certain that her own obvious commitment and enthusiasm will play a major role in ensuring that this happens. We know that she welcomes comments from any of the passengers, so if you have anything to say, please let her know.
Delphi
Thursday already, and we’ve now moved along the coast to the port of Itea. It looks pleasant enough, but there’s no time to explore, as we’re heading straight off to Delphi. A half-hour drive took us through planted fields and farmlands sprinkled with pigs and sheep until we started climbing and arrived at Delphi about 10:00 am.
We started in the museum, viewing wonderful marble statues (the winged sphinx was particularly impressive) and other artefacts in gold. Our guide Elektra (I’m beginning to detect a pattern here) was amusing, articulate and informed in her presentations. She gave us a fascinating explanation of how the burial process had allowed these artefacts to escape the looting which has bedevilled so many archaeological sites. However, the museum could do with more seats – it’s difficult to be a culture vulture when your legs are aching!
Armed with loads of information, myths and tall tales, we set off along the base of the mound that acts a plinth for the shrine of Delphi. An impressive, if somewhat steep climb took us past the walls where long-gone statues of thanks were once left after successful consultations with the Oracle. We passed empty treasury boxes before arriving at a fine reconstruction of a treasury, mostly done by French archaeologists in the 19th century.
The amazing vistas from the hillside make it clear why the ancients chose this site as to holy of holies. According to legend, Zeus sent two eagles flying round the world, one heading East and the other heading West. The place where they met was Delphi (meaning “from the womb”), which was therefore considered to be the centre of the world and the womb of civilisation, from which the Greek people emerged. We didn’t manage the final climb up to the theatre, but we didn’t feel that we’d missed out because of the wonderful visit we’d had. Our view seemed to be more than shared by our travelling companions.I realise that words like wonderful, amazing and fabulous keep cropping up in these posts, but there as so many situations where they seem deserved. The guides on these trips have been informed and enthusiastic about their subjects, making the sites come alive. The awareness-raising process gives one an added zest for living in general an not just for the moment.
On our return to Itea we went along with a dozen or so of our companions for a family-type meal at one of the seafront tavernas. We shared a wonderful selection of typical dishes and enjoyed chatting about our experiences so far. (Karmanie)
Wednesday, 27 February 2008
Evening in Patras
After finding an Internet café and updating the blog, we settled for the easy option – no more walking – and went to the Station Restaurant, just across from where the liner was moored. We initially ordered a large plate of mixed snacks, but on the advice of the waiter, changed to a small one. He was right, the large one would have needed a fork-lift truck to bring it to the table!
During our marathon munchethon we chatted about how strange it was to go to sleep in idyllic Ithaca and wake up in boring Patras. A bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but Patras seemed like a poster town for modern conformity, with its Pizza Hut, TGI Friday and all the same dismal high-street stores as can be found in any European town. Such are the joys of cruising in and out of Ancient Greece, with EasyCruiseOne acting as some kind of interdimensional portal. (Karmanie)
During our marathon munchethon we chatted about how strange it was to go to sleep in idyllic Ithaca and wake up in boring Patras. A bit of an exaggeration perhaps, but Patras seemed like a poster town for modern conformity, with its Pizza Hut, TGI Friday and all the same dismal high-street stores as can be found in any European town. Such are the joys of cruising in and out of Ancient Greece, with EasyCruiseOne acting as some kind of interdimensional portal. (Karmanie)
Olympic Sprinting
Who was it who said that those whom the gods would destroy they first drive mad? In our case it mad with the pain of exhausted legs due to some confusion about the way back to the bus after the museum visit. After traipsing round the wonderful statuary and artefacts, we left early, not through lack of interest, but to allow time for a leisurely walk back as the guide had made it clear that she wanted us all back by 2:00 pm. We walked for about a kilometre, crossing the bridge back to where the bus had dropped us off and waited for our companions to appear. And waited, and waited …
Eventually it became obvious that neither companions nor bus were going to appear, so we made our way back to the museum. As we approached it we could see the buses waiting in another car park, on the other side of the river. We stopped some passers-by and asked how to get over there and they were adamant that the only route was back the way we had just come.
With aching legs, we made our way back across the bridge to the original car park and made our way in the general direction of where we had seen the bus. Eventually it came into view, but just as we reached the car park it started up and pulled away. All the curtains were drawn, so no-one could see us. At that point, we noticed another bridge, leading to the museum a couple of hundred metres away!
We decided that our best option would be to get a taxi to take us round the town, figuring that since it was fairly small a restaurant with three coaches outside should be easy to spot. However, as we approached the taxi rank we met a search party out looking for us and Saskia gave us a lift to the restaurant, which was only a few hundred metres away.
In my heart and in my head I felt like Odysseus, reunited with his old dog on returning from his travels, but in my back and in my legs I felt like Sisyphus, who had to push his stone up the hill. Apologies to everyone who had to wait for us and to our guides for being so kind, and not even cross with us. (Karmanie)
Eventually it became obvious that neither companions nor bus were going to appear, so we made our way back to the museum. As we approached it we could see the buses waiting in another car park, on the other side of the river. We stopped some passers-by and asked how to get over there and they were adamant that the only route was back the way we had just come.
With aching legs, we made our way back across the bridge to the original car park and made our way in the general direction of where we had seen the bus. Eventually it came into view, but just as we reached the car park it started up and pulled away. All the curtains were drawn, so no-one could see us. At that point, we noticed another bridge, leading to the museum a couple of hundred metres away!
We decided that our best option would be to get a taxi to take us round the town, figuring that since it was fairly small a restaurant with three coaches outside should be easy to spot. However, as we approached the taxi rank we met a search party out looking for us and Saskia gave us a lift to the restaurant, which was only a few hundred metres away.
In my heart and in my head I felt like Odysseus, reunited with his old dog on returning from his travels, but in my back and in my legs I felt like Sisyphus, who had to push his stone up the hill. Apologies to everyone who had to wait for us and to our guides for being so kind, and not even cross with us. (Karmanie)
Olympia
A quick breakfast passed without misadventure. The staff seem to be getting the hang of things. It was a longish and relatively uninteresting drive from the sprawling port of Patras up to the idyllic calm of Olympia. This area suffered badly from the fires that devastated large areas of Greece at the end of the scorching summer of 2007. However the museum, the temple area and the stadium were spared obliteration by divine intervention, or perhaps just by a stroke of good luck – is there a difference?
Our guide, Saskia was first class. She was clear, interesting, knowledgeable and patient. It was incredible to stand on the Olympic site and see the fabled columns and the stadium where history lived and breathed. What words can explain the tingle felt when standing in the gymnasium where the naked athletes trained? What phrases can sum up the magnificence of the temple of Zeus or the majesty of the fountains built to provide water for the participants and the attending throng. How can you express the thrill of passing under the ancient archway into the arena, seeing the starting line and putting a tentative toe into the groove. Some of the younger members of our party decided to try an Olympic sprint themselves, but we felt it more prudent to head back towards the museum.
We were truly privileged today as we were the only three busloads of visitors exploring this vast site. It certainly added to the splendour and grandeur of the site seeing it relatively tourist-free. Like the visits to Corinth and Mycenae, these digs help us to maintain a sense of continuity from the past to the present day, and give us hope for the future, despite our apparent headlong rush towards annihilation
Cultures rise and fall with appalling regularity, whether through god-sent or man-made disasters, but somehow we always triumph above our ineptitude and stupidity. There’s always some Odysseus or Heracles to wear the laurel wreath and devise a means or put in the effort to scale the heights again.
Of course, it also helps to appease the Gods. My vote currently goes to the level-headed, but rarely-seen God of Common Sense, to lead the new Pantheon. Suggestions for other potential members are welcome. (Karmanie)
Our guide, Saskia was first class. She was clear, interesting, knowledgeable and patient. It was incredible to stand on the Olympic site and see the fabled columns and the stadium where history lived and breathed. What words can explain the tingle felt when standing in the gymnasium where the naked athletes trained? What phrases can sum up the magnificence of the temple of Zeus or the majesty of the fountains built to provide water for the participants and the attending throng. How can you express the thrill of passing under the ancient archway into the arena, seeing the starting line and putting a tentative toe into the groove. Some of the younger members of our party decided to try an Olympic sprint themselves, but we felt it more prudent to head back towards the museum.
We were truly privileged today as we were the only three busloads of visitors exploring this vast site. It certainly added to the splendour and grandeur of the site seeing it relatively tourist-free. Like the visits to Corinth and Mycenae, these digs help us to maintain a sense of continuity from the past to the present day, and give us hope for the future, despite our apparent headlong rush towards annihilation
Cultures rise and fall with appalling regularity, whether through god-sent or man-made disasters, but somehow we always triumph above our ineptitude and stupidity. There’s always some Odysseus or Heracles to wear the laurel wreath and devise a means or put in the effort to scale the heights again.
Of course, it also helps to appease the Gods. My vote currently goes to the level-headed, but rarely-seen God of Common Sense, to lead the new Pantheon. Suggestions for other potential members are welcome. (Karmanie)
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