Athens and Crete

There was the example of hubris where I was driving in Athens evening freeway traffic and I was feeling very confident and actually said to myself, “Kev you are the man!” That statement (even to myself) is an example of having hubris – overbearing pride. This angers the Greek gods and they send nemesis to bring me back down to earth, in this case with the help of my GPS which said something I couldn’t really hear (above the sound of my own self-congratulation) except the word “right” but the GPS seemed somewhat urgent, so I moved right to be ready, after which she tells me to Exit left. Usually she gives me so much time that it is confusing. But not on the freeway. She’s Janey on the spot. I was able to make the exit due to superb reaction time (uh-oh more hubris).

Then I had to climb over a curb to get a parking spot somehow missed by the Athenians.

More later. Coming into port of Heraklion Crete after nice sleep on overnight boat.

Got off the boat and looked around with a dumb expression for a while wondering what to do at 6am. I knew I needed a hotel and there was one I’d seen from the boat that looked good – the Megaron. I felt that 99 euros was a decent deal. I know many travelers would be going out of their minds at the sheer cost but have they checked out the prices of Travelodge in Montana during basketball season. I figure I’m doing well, seeing as how there is a rooftop pool with an harbor view and an awesome breakfast. I recommend it. It’s a little eerie as there is hardly anyone around. Might be a Russian mafia place, but I’m minding my own business.

Saw the Archaeological Museum in Herakion which has awesome artifacts that are all over our textbooks. Unfortunately they are doing restoration so they only have a very small room with the best stuff. Kids – you’d love it! I read all the plaques and spent a while anyway. And it was only steps from my hotel. Then I was going to take a double-decker convertible bus out to see the ruins of Knossos and everything else on the tour. But it was Sunday and the bus doesn’t run. So I figured out how to take the city bus out to Knossos but by the time I got there it was high noon and blazing hot. Luckily for me the heat bounced back off the ruins into my face to keep me doubly warm. Horrible! But not to complain. I am glad I saw it, and especially glad I saw it without kids. Some moron brought his two kids six and seven years old and you can only imagine their boredom and pain.

This a.m. I go to Santorini (which is the site of ancient Thera, which the Minoans blew up to make a tourist resort for us! Actually a massive volcano around 1400 BC blew it up and began the beginning of the end for Minoan civilization, who, weakened by having their Cretan island probably swamped and many killed, were taken over soon by the Myceneans. Off to learn about them now (if I can find something I didn’t already know!) (Yikes – hubris. I don’t know squat!)

Almost 7am. I have to run down for my awesome breakfast. Oddly enough they are always trying to shove cookies into your hand, even at reception. But they’re fancy cookies and not at all to my palate’s liking. But I bet they’d be expensive. And they’re very proud of them. So I’m doing my best, “Oh no I’m full. I couldn’t possibly eat another cookie!” act. Little do they know I could put down quite a few cookies if they were Oreos or something.

 Leaving port of Piraeus. I did get to see a remnant of the Long Walls built to protect Athens, Piraeus and the road in between.

 This is the most famous fresco from the Minoan times showing their distinctive art style and their favorite game of bull-jumping. I tried it but I still prefer golf. (just kidding....about the trying it...not the golf part.)

 Massive clay jars meant to hold honey and or wine.

The reconstructed palace. Some believe it was reconstructed pretty poorly. Looked ok to me.

Epidauros, Sparta, Mystras, Pylos, Olympia, Delphi, Thermopylae

Epidaurus was great except I couldn’t find it right away because the GPS took me to some crummy theatre near Epidauros that was under construction. I first was thinking, “What’s the big deal?” and then realized it couldn’t be right. Epideurals is actually a very very cool theatre and I got some snappies of it (as the aussies say). Made it to Sparta after some of the most incredible scenery. Will try to get some pics up. 

So today is Saturday in Greece. Yesterday was a power day, which means that today I’m a sloth unfortunately.

Driving away from Sparta, where I forgot to do a video of me screaming This is Sparta (darn it), I went to a place called Mystras, which was a monastery during the Byzantine days. It is incredibly high up and the views are spectacular and of course I had to climb it. Took some fantastic video of the panorama. I have to wonder if the Spartans had hung out up there. They must have!

Then I drove up and over the mountain (there is a large mountain between everything in Greece) with the intention of driving to Olympia. Started getting kinda tired on the way down and that didn’t seem wise so I stopped at a mountaintop chalet. Got a room for €30 and pretty much fell asleep. They weren’t serving food so I ate some stale lame plastic bag pretzels (batonettes, they said) and went to bed.

Up at 4 in the morning to plan the day and out by six with no brekkie (as Aussies say; I don’t usually say). By now I’d decided I couldn’t pass up seeing Pylos and Sfacteria (the battle where the Spartans got trapped on an island and were so sad and hungry that they surrendered. The Athenians demanded ransom for their return and the Spartans paid. So much for “come home on your shield… etc.) So that was cool. I drove out on a little sandspit to get a good picture (rental car) and moved on to Olympia. Spent about an hour looking at the ruins. I especially liked the temple that Alexander the Great gave to Delphi with statues of himself. And there was Miltiades actual helmet that he wore at Marathon in defeating the Persians. One might be tempted to disbelieve this, but it was inscribed as a gift to Delphi by Miltiades, so I think it’s legit. Forgot to mention that the National Archaeological Museum in Athens had lots of arrowheads and spearheads from Thermopylae – very cool.

Oh yeah and my favorite part was an are of Olympia where statues of Zeus were lined up right before the entrance to the stadium. The statues were paid for by athletes caught cheating, and their names were inscribed on the bases of the statues. People would then be allowed to spit and urinate on the bases as the entered the stadium. What a cool idea! I’m thinking Barry Bonds and Clemons and that cardinal slugger whose name I forget. And the Boston Marathon cheater. And the biking guy. Anyway, much more effective than court cases and asterisks on their statistics. Greeks had some good thoughts, which is what I’m here to learn about.

Delphi was 4 hours away but I made it in 3 ½ despite the fact that my GPS from hell puts me on gravel roads rather than main thoroughfares every chance it gets. And it scares the living daylights out of me when it screams “Go straight on” for no apparent reason. On the approach (a very stressful approach with cones and signs in Greek with lots of exclamation points and danger symbols) to the bridge across the Gulf of Corinth, it (she, naturally) yells, “Exit ahead!” but I wasn’t really supposed to take the exit. She was just pointing it out or something. Luckily my innate sense of direction saved me. The exit she wanted me to take was a kilometer ahead. Aaaggggh!

So I’m having fun.

Delphi is on a major (yep) mountain. But I got there and saw the Treasury of the Athenians. Very cool. This is where they put all their loot from members of the Delian League. After enjoying Delphi I motored on to Thermopylae which was just over the mountain (natch). Guess who forgot to get gas in Delphi! No prob. There were gas stations along the road…which were all closed because of the economy. So that was a bit stressful. Then it started raining and all other cars disappeared so I was thinking I’d be like the Donner Party but with no one to eat. Made it to a gas station and saw the plaque on the hill where the Spartans made their last stand.

Went home after that. Had to turn the car in. But the office was closed and parking in Athens is a holy nightmare. Found some illegal spot but had to move it to an equally illegal spot. Going off to see if the car is still there. Then it’s off to either Crete or Thera. Getting laundry done too. See ya later!

Tolo, Epidauros, Sparta, Mistras, Kallimata

I've got to hit the road now to get to Epidauros and back before checkout. (Ha ha. The spellchecker wants me to replace Epidauros with Epideurals.) Hopefully I will be able to make Kallimata tonight, or possibly even Olympia tonight. adios for now!

Corinth, Mycenae, Nemea, Nafplion

Last time I wrote in, I had just been back from walking around the Acrop. I then went on a tour of Athens given by an archaeology professor who stays in the hostel and had studied in England. He was a very nice guy, but got stalled at places a bit too long. Ended up being a three-hour tour (...a three owwwerrrr tour) and blew my plan. But we did visit the Athenian and Roman agora, Hadrian's Arch, the Temple of Zeus, Syntagma Plaza (where the riots had been. There was one rather lame union protest going on but the participants looked bored as they marched down the street.) Saw Parliament Building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the guards in their funny shoes. Went through the shopping areas of Monastiraki and Plaka. Saw the stadium where the Marathon ends and the National Gardens. Did I mention the Areopagus where democracy began and where Paul gave his message to the Athenians. Didn't work so well so he went to Corinth. Also saw the Pnyx (try pronouncing that one). After the tour mercifully ended (it was really very good) I raced onto the subway and went to the National Archaeological Museum where I saw manhy famous pieces like Agamemnon's mask and the statue of Zeus or Poseidon (they really don't know which) and several Minoan and Mycenean pieces. Then cabbed it back to the hostel and walked up to teh Parthenon and then the Parthenon museum. Instead of seeing the museum I just went to the cafe and had a cheese melon delicacy and a beer. Actually it was one of the worst beers I've had in a long time - said something like Bio Beer on the label. I've got to stop trying new beers. Heineken was the same price. Anyway I was happy with the honey melon cheese thingy from Crete.

I realize I am probably putting my audience to sleep, so suffice it to say I saw a ton of stuff before getting back to the hostel for the night. Hung out with a lot of people who made me feel very old, but they were very nice to me and gave me proper sympathy for the bloody knee I got during the hike.

Wednesday – After an early breakfast and checkout I was off walking to find the rental car place – also found a post office but only had enough money for 3 stamps. Dang. Needed an ATM also. The car is ok but the directions from the Avis lady were totally lame, so I spent alot of time missing turns and getting lost while trying to get out of town. Like…an hour. Ouch. Didn’t get too bummed out, as nobody was being inconvenienced but me. Very mature. I had brought my GPS from the States but it doesn't work here, and the GPS I rented from Avis is slow at crucial times, like saying "turn right" after the intersection is behind me. I eventually got the hang of it and checked out the Corinth canal at the isthmus. Seventy feet below the bridge over the isthmus at Corinth, the water was a gorgeous blue and you could see the outlets on both sides a few kilometers away. I decided to stop off in ancient Nemea (where they had Pan-Grecan games like Olympia’s) and then ancient Mycenae, which was truly spectacular. Fantastic geography. And then came down to Nafplio, which is one of the more beautiful places I’ve seen. Right on the Aegean coast and beautiful neo-classical architecture (from around late 1800s). It was the first capital of Greece so they made it look good. Now it’s off the beaten path so prices are pretty good. Nothing I’ve seen has been very crowded. It’s like I’m off-season with prefect weather and everything’s open. Grabbed a 3* business hotel (with a pool) at 2* prices near the beach. Ate a Greek pizza overlooking the port and castle at sunset.
Thursday

I like Nafplio so much I’m going to hang here for the morning until checkout. Then I see the beach town of Tolo for a quick swim and will hit Epidauros, site of the best preserved  ancient theatre in Greece, which has a lot. I’ve already seen five. I brought a book of three Euripedes plays so maybe I can read them in Epidauros. But then I have to hustle on to Sparta (yeah I know – there’s nothing there). Maybe I’ll get someone to film me on the iphone screaming, “This is SPARTA!” like the movie, and then kick some animal into a well. Not really. About the animal. Maybe the other part. After that it’s over the hill into Mistras (like a Byzantine Bechtesgaden) and to see the Messenian plain. I’ve attached some pictures of Nafplio, including one with me in it.

It's Tuesday morning here. Athens is 10 hours ahead of Medford Standard Time. I finally got to sleep around 1am in the hostel. I was trying to figure my way around my dorm room with no lights on so I wouldn't wake everyone (I couldn't have figured out how to turn the lights on anyway). I was pretty proud of myself but  shouldn't have bothered as four yahoos woke up at 230am and showered, talked and had a velcro party, constantly zipping and unzipping suitcases and other junk. On the other end of the spectrum, it's 9am and there is still one guy sleeping.

I was up at 6, showered and walked around the Acropolis trying to get my bearings. Also got some breakfast and coffee. Will do a walking tour with a history professor and an archaeologist this am.  Then I will go to the national Archaeological Museum during the heat of the day and then maybe take a bus tour to Piraeus (hoping to see the long walls that kept Athens from being stomped by the Spartans (for a while) in the Peloponnesian War. Then back to the Acropolis Museum during the evening. Happy hour at 8 here at the hostel. Missed yesterday's trivia night.

Greek is seriously tough to figure out. Two different styles of writing it. I'm getting the hang of it though. A little worried about renting a Citroen car tomorrow. Besides the fact that I don't relish driving a French car in a dangerous place, they have stop signs at almost every driveway meant to tell people to stop before entering the big road (duh) but they face the big road so it's hard to tell which signs are for me and which are for the other guy. Whatever. I'll just drive like the Greeks and ignore them all. Gotta go. Can't sit around jawing with the homies all day. Will post when I can.

Don't have any good Athens pics yet, but this is an idea of the parking situation around the city. Teeny little cars. Excellent parallel parking skills.

Hey welcome to my blog! I am taking about 17 days to travel around the world of ancient Greece (which includes what is today western Turkey). I teach ancient history and geography at St. Mary's in Medford, Oregon, so my goal is to see as many as I can of the places I teach about. Itinerary will include Athens, Corinth, Thebes, Sparta, battle sites of Thermopylae and Marathon and Salamis and Plataea. I will go to the islands of Thera/Santorini and Crete and maybe Milos and Samos. Will also see Ephesus and Sardis and Pergamum and the battle site of Aegospotami (inshalla) (Those who know me know I'm not Muslim, but I figured I'd throw in a phrase or two since I'll be a guest in their religious territory). Of course I will check out the ruins of Troy and then Gallipoli (from WW1) and check out Istanbul for a couple of days, hopefully leaving a day for the supposed grave of Philip II of Macedonia (Alexander the Great's father). Then I hustle back to Athens.

As of right now I am sitting in my mom's living room. Got into SFO at 7am and have a 12-hour layover to catch 17-hour flight to Athens via Frankfurt. Let the fun begin. Maybe I will try to upload a pic from dawn in Medford. Saw St. Mary's students Jem Burke and Becky Fu-Phi (Fuller-Phillips) at the airport.

More to come!