Peloponnese

It was our last full day in Greece today. Bummer. 

We had a private tour booked to see the Peloponnese area so we got up early and headed out. Our driver, Michael, is nice enough but he's no Dominic.

First we stopped at the Corinth Canal. It's a narrow canal that cuts through the Peloponnese to mainland Greece. It's 6km long and only 9m wide. 11,000 ships per year pass through, though, as it's a big time saver. 

This mountain is the peak of Corinth and the Corinthian Acropolis is there. 

The apostle Paul stayed here for 18 months and preached to the Corinthians in around 53 A.D. The platform from where he spoke is still there!

We didn't stop though. Just a drive-by. 

I asked our driver if Corinth was known for its leather and he said no. (What was Ricardo Montalban going on about in those Chrysler commercials?)

80% of Greece is mountainous or scrabbly hills. The flatlands are covered with olive groves and orchards. 

I got Michael to stop so I could take a picture of an orange tree. All the orange fruit trees (oranges, clementines, persimmons) are ready for harvest. And the are delicious.

Next up: the Archaeological Site of Mycenae: it's a UNESCO World Heritage site. We explored ancient ruins all day. Some of these places are more than 3000 years old.

 Entering the underground cistern. 

Lion gate. It has been here forever. 

Mycenae was an important civilization in Greece during the 2nd millennium B.C.  It was the center of civilization at the time, with 30,000 people. 

This is the treasury of Atreus.  It's built in a conical shape and has great acoustics.

Epidaurus has a Theater built in the B.C. times. They still use it to put on plays! It's renowned for its exceptional acoustics.

The Greeks built a hospital next to the theatre, thinking that it would help patients heal faster. 

There are a lot of ruins in Mycenae. 

There were lots of plaster reproductions of statues of the gods. Athena in particular was popular with the sculptors. 

At the museum there were all kinds of relics from 3000+ years ago.  Kind of mind-boggling.

Check out the teeny tiny tea set from 1300 B.C.

Bourtzi Castle is a fortress built on a small island in the Napflio Harbour. The Venetians started it in 1672, the the Ottomans invaded, got rid of the Venetians, and finished it. Then, in 1822, the Greeks organized and ran the Turks out. 

Just an aside: Michael told us that in 1922 the Turks slaughtered thousands of Greeks in an occupied area. There were no repercussions. (I'm starting to have a bit of a problem with these nasty, blood-thirsty, killing-machine Turks.)

Clara is inside one of the prison areas of Bourtzi castle. She is sad because the General responsible for leading the Greeks in successfully defeating the Turks and ending their 400 year occupation, in 1822, was thrown in this prison. 

Nafplio is a picturesque town with Venetian architecture and cobbled streets. This picturesque community on the coast used to be the capital of Greece (only for seven years) but it changed to Athens in 1934.

We stopped here to have lunch. Well, Clara and I did. Rik wasn't feeling well. A touch of Norovirus, I think.

We'll be doing our final souvenir shopping tonight. Early day tomorrow to start our 24-hour trip home. 

- Ruth