PELOPONNESE, GREECE
6th April 2002 to 13th April 2002
The Greek countryside...
On the way to Kalavrita, Peleponnese.
6th April 2002
well well well... here we are in the middle of nowhere and yet we still get time to find an internet cafe to check mail.. so much for relaxing and getting back to one with nature...but truthfully, after all the nature that Rob has just taken me on, I'm glad for a bit of normality.
Well, we picked up the car Thursday morning and started driving towards the Peloponnese. Remember now that the people in \Europe drive on the opposite side of Oz, ie... on the left.. so the cars are left hand drive. We also have a car with gears. Rob the woes (sissy) is too chicken to drive so I have been delegated driver for the week. Now I've driven here before and I drove stick about 8 yrs ago.. so I'm nervous but confidant that I could do this.
Spent all of Wednesday night dreaming about how to do turns and which side of the road to drive on... cool no probs:) Arrive at Budget, fill out paperwork, get car. Get in car, pull out into street and within 10 seconds I have knocked some poor man's hand off (oops) I carried on driving.... Not MY fault I'm not used to the dimensions of the car yet! Rob still keeps on reminding me about it...
well that's part 1 of our adventure so far...(I'm allowed one human casualty a trip:) Gotta dash.. but please hold your breath for part two..... it is filled with treacherous mountain passes, island fortresses and more. Till then, put on the popcorn, get a book and wait with baited breath till I get to my next Internet cafe:)
Till then our loyal minions
adieu
well dear friends.... we have finally returned to Athens, and since I know that you are all waiting with eager anticipation for our travel news ( as well as not being able to hold your breath any longer:) here goes:)
As I mentioned we picked up our car on Thursday and made our way towards the first leg of our trip. For those of you who know Rob, you'd know that we have a spreadsheet the size of a small map with details of where, how, what, how much, how high, etc etc....so we were pretty much sure of ourselves.
First obstacle? GET OUT OF ATHENS!.. easier said than done. For those of you who have driven in Africa have faith.. Greece is a zillion times worse...forget about the drivers.. the drivers are cool. It's the street signs and lines that are the problem. I now understand why people drive the way they do....
Let me give you an example: we come to a traffic light.. cool.. no probs.... but alas.. the traffic lights are soooo far back from the actual stop line that you cannot see the lights change colours.... all of a sudden you are inundated by a million horns all blaring at the same time....F%#%$#^$%##@ you!!! you scream!!!... Flip a finger and a few more choice signs out the window and start going forward ...only to find that the lines in the road are no longer there, and a two way turn has suddenly turned into a 5 way effort to get round the bend first....
The only way to do it??? close your eyes and hope that the person who is almost in the car with you does not hit you.
And guess what??? it seems to work.... so we finally get out of Athens and head towards the Isthmus of Corynth, this is a very deep canal that you cross to get across from the main land to the Peloponnese.
Our itinerary for the first day was go to Mycenea and see the ruins, onto Argos and the Great Epidauros, see a few more ruins along the way and overnight in the seaside village of Nafplio...cool
Passed Corynth Channel and headed towards Ancient Mycenea...it was raining when we finally got there, but nothing could deter us from exploring our first ruin. Was pretty cool... climbed a whole lot of steps to get to the tip of the mountain and found lots of old walls and half walls that kinda resemble stuff and with a pretty good imagination you can try and figure out what used to be there. Now it always helps when you have a guide book to learn about the real story... but if you are after a sense of adventure and fun.... don't!! just assume you know what the hell you're talking about:)
We spent about an hour there, just trying to fathom how they built the things they did back them and what it would habe been like to live in those times... Jumped back in the car and made our way towards the town of Argos where we would find the Epidauros. For those of you who don't know... this is a great theatre who's acoustics are so spot on that you can drop a coin at it's centre and the people right at the top can hear it... It seats about 1500 people and they still hold plays and productions there.
Cool.. so off we go, Kat at the wheel and Rob the navigator...we drive through
pretty countryside and finally come to these signs in the road..." Ancient
Epidauros" and "New Epidauros"... which would you choose I ask you??? Of
course..."Ancient Epidauros"
More on
Epidauros
So off we go, we end up in this little seaside village and follow the signs down to the port and round to the side of the mountain at the end of the village. straaaaaange... No tourist buses anywhere!!! hmmmmm.. this definitely doesn't look like the place of a famous ancient site???
But putting all our faith in the street signs we get out of the car and walk up this little gravel path... past a man tending to his goats, past some orange and lemon orchards, past some chicken coups, past some tin shacks and finally reach these houses. Voila!! a sign..."Epidauros"... woooo hooooooo!! we look.....a dirt road uphill...we take it and what do we find....a small theatre in the back of someone yard! Yip.... Rob and I both knew that this was not it... there was no way in hell this looked like the pictures nor could it ever fit 1500 people in it.. unless they were the midgets of Lilliputian.
Rob not very impressed at the "Ancient Epidauros"
Very disappointed we make our way back and head to the car, back to our map to try and figure out where we went wrong!...
One thing that is guaranteed in Greece is that you will find a pay phone almost everywhere.. even outside the most secluded places.
Rob made a quick call to Oz and I got accosted by some very friendly orange farmers who filled my arms with oranges and mandarins.... kinda reinstated my faith in Greece after the pathetic excuse for street signs.
We went back and tried the "New Epidauros", which turned out to be a town...getting very frustrated and irritated that someone had hidden the Epidauros from us we backtracked to the start and decided to follow a sign that said "Epidauros"...Duh!!!! should have followed that sign first!
Well we were rewarded for our effort by climbing a hundred odd steps to the top and listening to some Italian teachers reciting poetry and songs.... it was very cool. I wanted to recite Macbeth but Rob wouldn't let me....so I recited it to him later on that night.. all night.. hehehe!
Kat listening to recitals at the Epidauros
At the Epidauros was also the Temple of Asklipion and Demetra who was the goddess of farming.... we saw a whole lot of statues that have survived the times and took some photos.
It's a bit awe-inspiring if you stop for a sec and think that you are in the presence of a few thousand years of history and myth that has survived the centuries.
Anyway, after we had our epiphany, we made our way towards Nafplio, where we were going to spend the night.
Nafplio is a great little town, very picturesque with great atmosphere. The only problem is once again the street signs, very confusing!!! we ended up going up a few one ways and wondering why people where flashing their lights at us... wow how friendly the locals are :) duh... :)
View of Nafplio from the Palamidi Fortress
Nafplio was the main standpoint against the Turks and has 3 fortresses which we were going to explore the next day. We ended up spending our first night at a Pension (rooms) just underneath one of the fortresses. From the balcony we could see the second fortress in the ocean.... It was very beautiful even though it was raining.
Defiantly recommend going there.
Good nights sleep and up early the next day to continue our explorations. We went to the main fortress called "Palamidi" and explored for over an hour. For those of you who play computer games like "civilisations" etc, exploring ruins like this give new meaning to fortification and game play:)
I still can't believe that they could be bothered to build these fortresses and castles as high as they did... but it's all logical when you think about it.
Rob had a great time... he would jump from stone to stone with childlike glee snapping photos and climbing into dark little holes and caverns.:)
Back in the car and off (via back routes) to Monemvasia via Tripoli and some other towns. Desperately trying along the way to find all the ruins that we could see on the map but couldn't find anywhere along the routes we were taking due to very bad signage. The ruins that were signposted, usually led us into bushland, and ended up being a pile of rocks in someone's' garden.
But we were people with a mission... nothing could deter us from our plan. Most times we ended up taking some impossible dirt tracks called roads and ended up seeing nothing.:) At least the scenery was great and Rob got to see lots of mountains.
We saw Ancient Tegea and then took some secondary roads to get us to our destination.
Got horribly lost near the mountain village of Stolos and ended up right at the top of this mountain who's main claim to fame was three little houses. We got out and asked directions from some men who were looking at us incredulously.. probably wondering what these stupid tourists where doing there and they were mad to be driving a little Fiat on roads that only tractors should take .. or maybe donkeys.
Finally got back on the map and headed to Monemvasia where we had booked a room in an old castle. Monemvasia is an incredible place. In the olden days the villages used to live on this tiny island fortress for protection. As the population grew they moved onto the mainland, but they have restored the old buildings on the island into shops, restaurants and rooms/apartments. We spent the night in a room of the old castle which was absolutely incredible experience.
The Hotel we stayed in Monemvasia
Kat in our hotel room (Ardamys Hotel), Monemvasia
We played Maiden in distress and king of the castle...was lots of fun and recommend it..
Enough from me for now... will bore you some more tomorrow!
kissies
it's Saturday afternoon, 'bout 1pm and we've just arrived at our local
hangout... the internet cafe:)
Couldn't leave all of you in suspense about the rest of our trip, so I will
be dedicating the next hour to you. See what happens when we go on holiday?
we flood your email with mail:)
ooohhhh... just a note.... if some of the links don't work when u click on them, physically add them into the address line and they work... might be glitch from hotmail...
Got some coffee happening??? 'cause here goes....
Woke up early Wednesday morning, after spending an amazing night at the castle, and where on the road again.
Rob's goal? .. to take us through every mountain back road that he could find on the map, purposefully miss every main road possible, and stop at every ancient rock that he spotted.
Our trip today took us through to Sparta. This is where the word "spartan" comes from.... from the way the Ancient Spartans led their lives. There lives were dedicated to being the best soldiers and athletes that they could be. Children with deformities where thrown off this mountain top and girls were considered more of a liability than people.
Anyway the city was horrible so we made a hasty getaway and tried to find Menelaos tomb ( an ancient king).. has disappeared off the face of the earth.. but found Bafios tomb instead. Rob got highly excited when he saw the sign, so we followed this tiny little cobble lane through someone's olive grove and found....... a hole in the ground! too cool.. NOT
Trying to keep the car on the cobble stone lane was a lot more exciting...trust me:)
Off to the castle fortress of
Mystras, which is very well kept and has the
most amazing mountain views.... if you climb to the very top and look down,
you can almost imagine living in the medieval ages with wenches and
squires, kings and queens....when you are in places like this you seem to
forget what day it is or what is happening in the world. We got some yummy
cheese pies and sat in the parking lot and had a quiet lunch just mesmerised
by the view in front of us.:)
Kat climbing Mystras Fortress Wall
Off again via a very "scenic" (read hairpin bends all the way) route to Kalamata. Kalamata is where the big black Kalamata olives come from that I love so much.
The roads where truly the windiest I've experienced so far...wait till we show you the photos... you thought these emails were bad.. huh!!!! we have 8 reels of film so far.. and you all have to sit through all of them.. hehehehe:)
Windy roads between Tripoli and Astos
Found a cheap and nasty room in
Kalamata to spend the night.... the room
wasn't too bad.. except for the scratchy blankets.... but our room was right
in front of the reception and facing the main road. The owner sat in the
reception most of the night (till 2am) and smoked non stop.. the smoke
permeated our room through the bottom of the door and created an ethereal
choking haze through which the all the noises of the main road could be
heard. one word- "hoonville"... this was the place for hoons to drive their
motorbikes and cars.
Needless to say, we did not sleep very well and got up early to escape. Before I carry on.. I MUST describe the bathrooms in Greece.... it is a small room with a toilet ( you cannot throw the loo paper in the loo, but into a waste basket Yuck!), a basin and a shower. If you are lucky, your shower will actually be a small square area that you step into. It is about 4 bricks high - making a kind of ledge. It has a drain hole and a hand shower ... and that is it (no shower curtains). If you are not lucky enough to have a little cubicle you shower in the actual bathroom itself... very interesting indeed.. I'd KILL for a bath.
Nothing was open when we got up so we couldn't even get a cup of coffee...we maid our way to a place called Megalopoli...ended up doing our usual trick of going up a few one ways and finally stopped at a very unfriendly shop for a quick cup of coffee, plotting of the map route and some directions.
As we were going out of the village we came across this powerplant literally spewing tons of crap into the air... had to take a picture of it.. kinda reminded me of the industrial revolution pictures that one saw in England... imagine living near there.. you'd be VERY healthy!
Beautiful mountain drive again through Karritena, Krestena and onto Olympia.
Found an exceptional "Temple of Apollo at Vasses", which we explored for about an hour and then went on our merry way again.
Temple of Apollo
To be honest with you, Rob and I where very excited about getting to Olympia.. I mean this was the birthplace of the Olympic games. arrived there quite hungry so we stopped for a bite to eat...we had something horrible, got served by some very sour waitress, paid and and tried to find some accommodation before we went touring of the ancient site. Expensive crappy accommodation around, so we decided we'd go see the site instead and carry on driving. We got to Ancient Olympia only to find that it had closed for the day ( it was 3pm)... so we took a quick squiz from the side of the road, took some snaps and made a very disappointed exit onto the next place.
We ended up at a little village called Kalavrita. One of the quaintest places we have come across so far... it is a ski resort during winter and the people are just so friendly and hospitable. We spent the night in a hotel called "Hotel Anesis", owned by an ex Brisbanite. Rob got to speak a bit of English with the owner... poor Rob, he never gets to do the fun stuff, like ask for directions or how much things, are because he can't speak the language.:)
Kalavrita is a great place to stay. The village is lined with cobble streets and lots of alpine looking apartments, houses and hotels. It is very picturesque and I'm thinking that Switzerland might look a bit like this when we get there. At night the streets light up with colourful lanterns and street lights...would definitely come back here and stay longer next time.
see you all again tomorrow for the next two days
ande yia!!!
HI you guys, hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was quite interesting but Rob says that I can't tell you about it 'cause it will just confuse all of you:) I have to tell you about our trip first and then about our weekend... golly... he's become very bossy here in Greece... I think all these Greek men are rubbing off on him.... time to get moving I think...
well, back to my novel:)... I'm drinking a lemon Fanta at the moment which is absolutely the yummiest drink in the world... you'd better get something to or you'll get parched by the end of this.
cool.... here goes: (I'm sure the suspense is just killing you:) )
We spent a wonderful night at Hotel Anesis in Kalavrita and the next morning had a leisurely breakfast at a cosy little coffee shop whilst planning our next move.
The town of Kalavrita actually has great historical value in Greek History during the German occupation. In December 1943 the people of Kalavrita took a defensive stance against the Germans and were finally all massacred. Rob and I went up to the memorial were all the names were written on huge slabs of stone. One gets a feeling of such sadness and finality standing there, a total sense of loss and desolation. It all hits home a little bit more now because of all that is happening in the middle east, and you have to ask yourself... "what is it all for?"
It's very sad what mankind does to each other ...anyway
After the memorial, we went onto the Lake Caves which are found just outside of Kalavrita. The caves were great. Apart from an awesome collection of stalactites, stalagmites and other calcium deposit formations, the caves have 3 lakes, on different levels, that run into each other. They say that these are the only caves in the world that they have found with this kind of lake formation in them.. (don't know for sure)
The caves were awesome. pity about the tour itself though. Instead of having this great tour guide who talks you through some of the most amazing sites, you walk through in silence and darkness, no explanations, no questions, Nothing, nada! how pathetic!! I was very disappointed, because as a tourist and as a person who is paying for a tour.. you expect some kind of tour.. If I wanted a walk in the caves, I could have chosen one of the many that Rob and I had found in the mountains and walked through there.. I mean really now!! I guess I'm quite hard on the Greeks sometimes, I just expect professionalism from them.. but I forget where I am.. Tourism just happened to fall accidentally on the Greeks, they definitely are not geared up to deal with it. God help them during the Olympics in '04.
Anyway, after I had my tirade on the way back to Kalavrita (poor Rob), we stopped and got some fresh bread, feta cheese and tomatoes. We found the highest point on our mountainous road and stopped and had lunch. It was the best lunch ever. Great food, a view to die for and it was all ours:) After lunch we started making our way towards Rio... no.... not Rio in South America, but to a harbour town where you put your car on the ferry and cross the ocean to get to the other side.
Picnic on Mt. Helmos
That in itself is an experience. Theses ferry boats are HUGE!!! and there are hundreds of cars that get on at any one time. You have these guys that yell at you in which direction to go and you have to reverse you car into the hull. Now if you had time on your hands, could relax and concentrate on what you where doing.. no problem.. but it is a highly stressful experience, especially when they try and park these monster trucks right next to you:)
Anyway, got through Rio across to Anti-Rio (duh) and headed through the beautiful seaside towns of Nafpaktos, Galaxidi and onto Delphi.
Delphi, is on our list of top memorable places to visit and stay. Delphi is the place where the mythological Temple of Apollo is and the Oracle that the ancient Greeks would consult.
Delphi as a village is beautiful. It is perched right on the edge of the mountain. The town consists of two main roads, (one going up, the other going down) it is full of restaurants, tourist shops, coffee shops, hotels, apartments, a few night clubs etc. It is abuzz with life and excitement. It was one of the few tows that actually felt touristy , but in a really warm way. We stayed at a hotel called Olympic, which offered us eagle-eye views of the little towns below us. It was lovely.
The next day we made our way to the Temple of Apollo and Athena and the Oracle itself, and spent a good 2.5hrs there. It is a place that you found yourself immersed in and time just flew. We also went to the museum and tried to take some photos next to some statues but we got yelled at. The man said that we were showing disrespect to the statues. Personally this confused me, as the statues were made of stone and really couldn't get offended, and on the other hand, I'd think they'd be quite pleased to have their picture taken with such great looking people like ourselves:) soooooooo.. I went and asked this guy, how where we showing disrespect by standing next to these statues? It turns out he was just peeved off at some guys who were fondling the privates of some large male statues and thus all tourists with cameras where in the dog box! yea
So Rob and I tried nonchalantly to stand in the general vicinity of the statues whilst pretending to be doing something else. It was quite funny really:)
Once we had our fill of the Oracle, (no, we did not have any epiphanies or visions), we found our back to the secondary roads and started making our way to Mt. Parnassos. This is where the major ski village of Greece is. Our way to the top was like driving through the clouds, awesome. We had to turn our lights on and couldn't see more that a few feet in front of us. I had to jump out and play in the clouds a bit... although clouds really don't feel like anything, they don't taste of anything, it was just sooo cool being that high up. It reminded me of when I was a little girl and did what little girls do... pretend you are a fairy in the clouds....tee hee
Kat at Mount Parnassos. I wonder why Kat wants to go into the woods.... :)
Finally got to the top, after I made Rob jump out of the car and pretend he was a fairy too. There was still snow and skiers about, so we got out and had a bit of play there too. It was great but cold... good thing we had a change of clothes with us:)
Our trip went down hill from there onwards both literally and figuratively. We made our way down the mountain, through the clouds to this crappy little town called Lamia, took us an hour to find parking through some horrific traffic conditions, couldn't find any. Asked the receptionist at our hotel where we could possibly park? but she was more interested in reading her book and chatting on her phone.. as you would. so after another futile hour we gave up and carried on driving. Found some "domatia" (rooms) on the side of the road at around 9.30 and crashed there for the night.
The next day we took a slow drive back to Athens to give the car back. I managed not to run over anybody this time, but I did close my eyes a few times and hope for the best:)
well, that's it. That was our practice trip. On Friday we leave for London and the rest of our European trip. oh .. but please don't despair... we will keep you informed on those travels too:)
Off for a late Frappe (Iced coffee) with Rob now.. so will tell you about the Acropolis tomorrow.
Toodles!!!!