Greek Peloponnese cont...

Hello everyone

Well we lingered for 10 days enjoying the hot sun, pool and relaxation, and it was a great place for a happy birthday!

We packed up and headed north via Sparti and Tripoli towards Mycenae – a complex of ruins excavated in 1874 rising above the surrounding area. It consisted of merchants’ houses, a palace and a welcoming ‘Lions Gate’ entrance.

There are several graves, the most fascinating being the tholos tombs – huge beehive shaped structures buried under a mound of earth dating from 1250 BC with a corridor leading to the entrance.

 

Then northwards to Ancient Corinth - we arrived at the camper stop early this morning to discover there was an ultra-marathon (the Spartathon race) passing through town this afternoon. After a quick website search, we discovered it was a 246.2km run from Athens to Sparti to be completed non-stop in less than 36 hours with athletes being disqualified if they don’t reach the checkpoints in the allocated time. As a dozen or so British folk were running, we took our Union Jack bunting and headed off to cheer them on.

 

 

 

Our spot in front of the archaeological site became the gathering place for those supporting the British runners, who looked remarkably refreshed passing us at this 93km mark. The marshalling was sporadic and then absent, so Peter spent the latter part of the afternoon directing the runners towards the checkpoint!

 

Tomorrow, we will explore the ancient site, and head up to Acrocorinth – a huge castle complex overlooking the town.

Will post again next week - love to all

Greek Peloponnese

Hello everyone
 

Ancient Olympia is such an amazing place. The huge site dates back from 10^th – 9^th BC as a place to worship the gods - Zeus in particular -but most of the ruins are from 5^th century and later as new structures were added by the Greeks and then the Romans. It’s a fascinating landscape of temple columns and uncovered mosaic floors, but the best part was the arched walkway leading to the stadium where the early Olympic Games were held. The stadium is now a grassy banked ‘seating’ area surrounding a sandy/gravel running track – the stone start and finish lines are still here, with ruins of the seating area for the judges.
 

The museum contains statues which decorated the temples, including the huge frieze scenes from the pediments of the Temple of Zeus. It truly brings history to life.

We left Olympia and went in search of more temples! The Temple of Apollo Epicurius is set up high in a hilly remote spot in Bassai, and was the first Greek site to be listed in UNESCO’s world heritage list. The remains are currently covered by a huge tent as major restoration work is underway as rain water has affected the limestone columns - however, not a lot appears to have happened since 2009. The frieze finds are now in the British Museum.

 

We headed south via Kalamata and have been staying on a site at Gyethio on the Mani Peninsula (the ‘middle leg’ of the Peloponnese) for the past 4 days. It’s a lovely campsite with shade under fig and olive trees, a pool and the beach in view. As we’re now in low season, it’s quiet and peaceful with plenty of sun loungers to choose from and the weather has been hot and sunny. The town itself is a pretty place with a small island said to be a stopping point for Troy and Helen before they left for Sparti.

 

We’re enjoying our time here in Greece. Soon it will be time to head north towards Ancient Corinth and Athens, but we may just linger here a little longer…………

Will post again next week - love to all

Central Greece

Hello everyone 

After a couple of days chilling on the beach and taking a dip in the sea, we headed west along the coast. We had travelled along the modern A2 road – from here sections of the ancient Roman Road are visible and still in remarkably good condition.

 
 
We decided to visit Halkidhikí – our guide books suggested the beaches here were beautiful, so we headed down Sithonía (the middle leg) and camped at Sykia on the southern tip for a couple of days. There are numerous sandy coves with a narrow beach leading to the sea – beautifully clear and quickly deep enough for a dip.

The drive back up the western coast of this ‘leg’ was equally beautiful – thankfully not too crowded as we head towards the end of the season.

Skirting around Thessoloniki, we headed towards Ancient Vergína – an archaeological site from the 3^rd century BC, with a fantastic underground museum. In the 1970s, the burial tombs of King Philip II and Alexander IV (father and son of Alexander the Great) were discovered. The excavated tomb finds are displayed, which include beautiful gold caskets containing the bones of the deceased, gold head wreaths and ivory decorations – the tomb entrances have been re-sealed with their entrance facades on display buried under their tumuli. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed in here.

From here we headed south to Kalambáka and the site of Metéora – a strange landscape of large monolith rock formations which rise from the valley floor. Perched atop there are 6 remaining monasteries – built in the late 1300s and home to monks and nuns. We visited 2 (Varlaam with a beautiful small painted church, and Megálo Metéora which is the highest and largest), but the fascination lies in their position and how they were built in the first place.

We’re currently at Mesolonghi at the southern tip of the mainland – a pretty (and free) stopover at the harbour before we cross to the Peloponnese towards Ancient Olympia.

Will post again next week - love to all

Istanbul

Hello everyone

The blog today comes from our beach stop at Nea Peramos in Greece – a place where we’ll chill after a busy week!

Our exit from Bulgaria involved further scrutiny of our passports and the van’s V5 before we encountered Turkey’s bureaucracy – buy visa, police authorise it, have the V5 and green card insurance scrutinised , Peter’s passport stamped as the ‘driver’ and the customs police authorise that. Fortunately, the road surfaces are a vast improvement and we made our way towards Istanbul; however, the driving standard is the worst we’ve encountered – everyone in a mad hurry to get somewhere quickly, ignoring all the rules of the road and adding chaos to the grid-lock.

The city car park used by motorhomes was ideally placed on the Fisherman’s Quay a short stroll from the centre. Istanbul is an assault on your senses – there are sooooo many people, the noise of the calls to prayer blast from the minarets 5 times daily (start at 5am) and with hot and sunny weather. We hired a local guide for an hour and then hit the sights on our own.

 

 

The Blue Mosque (building started in 1609) is the most beautiful building with the interior covered in more than 20,000 blue mosaic tiles. The Grand Bazaar is an extraordinary vaulted market place of over 4000 shops in a labyrinth of streets selling everything and anything you can imagine and more besides. The Aya Sophia was commissioned in the 6^th century, became a mosque in 1453 before it was declared a museum in 1934 – although beautiful it couldn’t beat the Blue Mosque!

 

 

 

We took a ferry across to Asian Istanbul, where we visited a Crimean War cemetery, passing the barracks building where Florence Nightingale cared for the wounded.

After 48 hours we were exhausted and headed west back to the border towards Greece. All vehicles had to drive through a trough of deep water before the rigmarole of checking passports, visas, V5 and being stopped at barriers to have the registration plate checked and videoed.

Here at Nea Peramos, it’s a cool 29°C and slightly hazy at the moment. After a beer with lunch we’ll plan our time here. There is so much to see we’ll likely be in Greece for the next few weeks.

Will post again next week - love to all