GREECE
Our arrival into Greece was definitely the easiest so far. We caught the ferry from Bari on the SE coast of Italy, drove Fatima right up to the top deck and were even allowed to sleep and eat in her during the 12 hour voyage to Igoumenitsa, on the north west coast of mainland Greece.
Greece is a land of rugged beauty, nearly three quarters is mountainous, un-inhabited or un-cultivated. We cross the Pindos Range, home to some of Greece’s highest mountains, passing through areas that have been inhabited for than 3000 years, you don’t go far without seeing an ancient theatre, a crumbling pillar or a tiny Byzantine church.
At Meteora we visited monastic settlements that perch on huge and precipitous sandstone towers that rise abruptly from the foothills of the Pindos. Hermits contemptuous of the world were the first inhabitants of the crevices and caves that are abundant here, dedicating their life to prayer and seclusion The grandeur of the landscape and the security from raiders and robbers led to the first monasteries built in the 14th century, many choosing to settle here, halfway between earth and sky, and close to their God, in isolation and solitude. Of the 20 or so once here, only 6 remain.
The first monks reached these monasteries by hammering pegs into the rocks and building rudimentary scaffolding. Later they replaced this with rope ladders and nets, whereby people and goods were hauled up the cliff faces. Thankfully most have now been replaced by rough steps cut out of the rock-face that visitors may use, but the nets are still used to draw goods to the top.
The climb was well worth being able to see the beautiful centuries old frescoes and the magnificent carved wood ceilings, alters and pews in the small chapels. Also the views over the surrounding countryside was breathtaking. At Roussanou, now inhabited by nuns, after climbing the 160 or so steps, you must then cross a small bridge atop one peak to reach the monastery on another. It was just beautiful, gardens all in flower, a fabulous chapel and serenity like I have never before felt.
DELPHI-according to legend, Zeus released two eagles from opposite sides of the world, their paths crossed in the sky above Delphi, establishing this, the centre of the earth and the place where Apollo’s temple would be built. Pilgrims would travel here to consult the oracle or priestess, who had to be older than 50, because we all know once we have reached that grand age we do know all. She would enter a trance-like state and answer, for a fee, matters of business, travel or even war.
Not much remains now of the temple, stadium and many other meeting places and treasury buildings once here, but the location, settling on the side of Mt Parnassos, and over-looking the Gulf of Corinth, making it a very special place, even without the legend.
OLYMPIA-the first recorded Games were held here in 776 BC. The men’s sprint was the only event held then, but during the 7th and 8th century BC, wrestling, boxing, the pentathlon and equestrian events were added. In addition, men competed naked, (that might have bought into play some extra wrestling holds), and women were not allowed as spectators, (the spoilsports). In 393 BC, Greece under Roman rule and thus now Christian, the Games were banned, being called a ‘pagan festival’. It wasn’t until 1896 that the modern Games as we know them were revived and the first fittingly held in Athens.
The temperature was high 30’s the day we were here, so Brian and I decided against a running race down the still intact track, instead once back at our campsite we raced to see who could get changed and into the pool the quickest, it was a draw.
Not much now remains of the original Olympic site, but a reconstruction at the Museum of the Olympic Games gives us a small insight of what a magnificent place this must have been.
KYPARISSIA-we decide to take a couple of days to relax on the beach here, while staying at a great campground with the beach right in front of the site, free WiFi and a numerous cafés near-by.
Our drive through the southern Peloponnese takes us through some of the hottest, temps in the mid 40’s C and driest land we have seen so far in Greece. The twisting mountain road seemed to go on for hundreds of kilometres, and with only olive groves as vegetation. But this road also took us through some of the most powerful area’s of Ancient Greece.
EPIDAURUS-it’s magnificent theatre built in the 4th century BC is still in use, and we are lucky to purchase tickets to a performance of Phédre, given by the British Theatre Company. Helen Mirren plays the lead role, and having seen her in various movies and BBC TV shows it’s exciting to be able to see her play the leading role in this Greek Tragedy.
We have an early dinner at a restaurant just a little further along the beach from our campsite, and even get a little dressed up. Dinner was superb, starting with a Greek salad and followed by Dolmades in lemon sauce and Moussaka, and of course a local red wine to go with it all. No time for desert as we have to pick up our tickets at the box office, and get a good seat.
It has been a hot day, mid 30’s and the ancient stone blocks are still very warm, luckily we bought cushions. Not long before the show is ready to begin we see quite a commotion going on near the front, Tom Hanks and his wife have arrived and the flashes of cameras are everywhere. He takes this really well and stands to wave to the audience, as well as taking a couple of pics for himself.
The performance was amazing, the theatre is known for it’s near perfect acoustics, and every word can be heard effortlessly. After a short drive back to our beachside camp, we sit on the beach and sip a fine Portuguese Port, the end to another perfect day.
This area is also famous for it’s healer Asklepieion. People would come from all over Greece to seek consultation with him, and then wait for a diagnostic dream, a visit from the harmless serpents or dip in the therapeutic springs. I wonder what my clients would say to me if I asked them to sit in a serpent pit while waiting for their treatments?
ATHENS
One third of the 10.9 million inhabitants of Greece live in Athens, and yet the city doesn’t seem over-crowded or dirty. The traffic even seems to flow at a reasonable rate, although most locals seem to use scooters rather than cars to get around, they weave through traffic, often with 1 or passengers and not a helmet in sight.
We camp at Nea Kifisia, a surburb north of Athens, filled with luxury 19th century villas, and only a short bus and train stop from Central Athens. On our first day here a large bus pulled in and about 20 young Aussie’s filed out and started to put up tents, it was nice to hear their voices, it’s been a while since we have run into any Australians.
The Acropolis; (or high city) dominates the city, it sits 156m above sea level and was once both a fortress and the religious centre of the state. According to mythology two Olympian Gods, Poseidon and Athena had a contest to decide after which God the city would be named. Poseidon struck the rock with his trident and a splendid horse appeared, while Athena the Goddess of Wisdom struck the rock of the Acropolis with her spear and an olive tree sprang forth, it’s symbol of peace and prosperity assured her the coveted town would be named after her, Athens.
The Parthenon built on the highest point epitomises the glory of Ancient Greece. Built of marble, and taking nine years to complete. A double row of columns and completely symmetrical it once held a 12 meter gold and ivory statue of Athena. Although partly ruined today, surprisingly it was used as an arsenal during the 17th century and the roof was blown apart, this building still fills you with admiration and awe.
A number of other buildings are on the Acropolis, one we find fascinating is the Erechtheion where Goddess Athena planted her olive tree. Originally with it’s six statues of the Caryatides, although now only five remain, one being stolen by Lord Elgin along with a number of the friezes from around the Parthenon, it’s a beautiful building. When we were in London we spent a couple of days at the British Museum, and saw many of the items, statues and the many friezes stolen from here, it only when you see the Parthenon in person you realize what an crime it was to take these pieces away. There is also a large amphitheatre, a Temple to Nike and the Propylaea, a monumental gate you pass through and the only opening in the encircling walls of the Acropolis.
There is much more to see here. On the foothills of the Acropolis is the Ancient Agora, once the heart of Athens there are markets, still in use to this day. This was where Athenians gathered to exchange goods and ideas, learn the latest news and criticise the government. Socrates was imprisoned, tried and executed here for such criticism. One stoa has been rebuilt and is now houses a fascinating museum, although the best museum is brand new, costing €130 million and only opened a month or so ago and is built over the cities ruins and has glass floors so you walk over and view these. It also has many of the objects, statues, friezes etc. from the Acropolis, also with the temperature in the low 40’s C, a nice cool place to spend the afternoon.
The changing of the guards outside of the Parliament building was like watching a modern dance performance. They threw their rifles into the air, caught them and both guards in unison performed the most intricate arm and foot movements you could imagine. Arms and legs held in the air, twirls and foot stamping which went on for 15 minutes, and all this in the heat, at least 40 C. When they had finished a uniformed solider wiped the sweat from their faces and straightened their caps and uniforms and gave them a sips of water, all while they stood still and eyes front.
The food here in Greece has been nearly as good as the sights, fresh dolmades, souvlaki, calamari and the tastiest feta cheese we have ever had. We often have a Méza plate, an assortment of dolmades, grilled eggplant and dips with a glass of wine around 6pm then eat a small dinner around 9pm or so once the weather has cooled down. At night the plaza’s fill with people, young and old, as well as musicians and stalls selling everything from fruit to souvenirs, so it’s fun just to sit at a sidewalk café, sip your glass of wine and people watch.
BACK in ITALY
We finally arrive back into Genoa, Italy, 12 hours late and very glad to see to the back of the ferry that we have just spent the past 36 hours travelling from Tangier.
Genoa at 3am is a very different place from Genoa in the daylight. And the port area where we arrived is very seedy. So we passed the hookers and night people as swiftly as possible and headed out of the city in search of a spot to pull up and spend the few hours until sunrise.
The Ligurian coast is beautiful, the road winds around the rock face and even at this time of night/early morning it’s scenery is breathtaking.
The area of Cinque Terre is where we are heading and we finally pull into a parking area in a lovely town called Sestre Levante, and wait until the sun comes up so we can look for a camp site.
After getting the last spot in a great family camping park high up on the hillside with great views to the harbour, we have a cup of tea then a little nap and prepare for our next few days here.
Cinque Terre is the name of five small villages that seem to cling dramatically to the very edge of the vertiginous cliffs. Once only accessible by boat and still not all accessible by road these 5 villages are linked by train and an ancient footpath that follows the coast, and gives you wonderful views. The hillsides are terraced with vineyards and olive groves, and the wine from this region is exceptionally good. We walk from Riomaggiore along the cliff on the via dell’Amore (the lovers path), and stop for a photo at a seat in the shape of a heart, where couples had put locks on the fence and thrown the keys into the ocean as a sign of their undying love for each other, and we though the French were romantic!
PISA- when we were in Tuscany last year we didn’t get to Pisa so this time here it’s a must see for us.
It’s surprisingly easy for us back in Italy this time, I don’t know if it just feels this way after the crazy drivers of Spain and Morocco, or we are just getting used to the horn tooting and the overtaking on the inside and on round-abouts. But with Pisa we find a reasonably priced parking area, and only 100m from the gates to the Campo dei Miracoli, where the famous Leaning Tower or Campanile is.
We both are surprised by The Towers size, both expecting this famous gravity defying structure to be much taller. The Tower is dwarfed by the Baptistry and Duomo that sit in front of it, and they give you a good idea of the degree of lean, now only just over 4 m. after stability was ensured in 1998.
The tourist season has started here in Europe and hoards of Americans are everywhere, while trying to get a couple of pics of the Tower we laugh at the dozen or so kids standing in a line and holding out their hands as if the hold the Tower up.
Before we head to Rome we visit our friends in Tuscany that we met while helping them to harvest their olives last year. Della and Mauro kindly offer us another holiday in the fall, staying in their beautiful 1000-year-old villa, in return for helping them once again, we promise to keep in touch, as you never know where we may be by then.
ROME
Rome has thousands of years of visible history and we plan on staying here for at least a week, especially after finding a great campsite ‘Happy Camping’ with a large pool, and a hourly shuttle service to the nearby train station, where it’s only a 30 minute ride to the centre of Rome.
The Ancient Centre and Rome’s greatest amphitheatre, ‘The Colosseum’ is our start point. As with most Roman buildings the exterior is also particularly beautiful, three rows of eighty arches with Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns, that sadly where plundered to build many buildings, including St Peter’s.
With a little imagination you can picture this place in it’s heyday, holding 55,000 spectators, with boxed seating for the benefactors, marble floors and columns, refreshment stands and even a giant retractable sail to act as a roof and protect the audience from the sun, and Gladiators fighting wild animals, and if they survived, each other until death. Still visible under part of the arena floor are the cages that held wild animals, and also a network of lifts and trapdoors where-by the ‘entertainment’ would enter the arena.
Even the ruins of the Roman Forum are impressive, and now it’s hard to imagine the chaos it once was. Temples and the Senate Houses next to brothels and food stalls. It was the social, political and religious centre of the Roman world.
We visit Capital Hill and the Piazza del Campidoglio, redesigned by Michelangelo in the 16th century for a royal visit.
At the Trevi Founatain we threw coins over our shoulders into the fountain, the first supposed to ensure our return to Rome and the second grants a wish. I can’t tell you what Brian wished for, but if we stay healthy and get to do some more travelling in the next few years you will know mine came true.
At Piazza Navona, probably one of the most beautiful Piazza’s in Rome, we have the most expensive espresso to date, but the chance to sit in a sidewalk café, overlooking Bernini’s beautiful fountain, makes it all worthwhile.
The Pantheon gives you an idea of the splendour of Ancient Rome. It’s the only temple to all the pagan gods still standing, and is almost intact. Brian stood transfixed by the beautiful red, green and rare blue marble, the domed ceiling and the workmanship of the craftsmen that built this architectural marvel.
No visit to Rome would be complete without a visit to the Vatican City and St Peter’s. Vatican City is the smallest sovereign nation in the world, and is ruled by the Pope, Europe’s only absolute monarch. Only about 500 people live here, but it has it’s own post office, newspaper, bank, judicial system and radio station. We hear that it’s possible to obtain tickets to a public audience the Pope gives every Wednesday, so go to the Vatican the day before and with much excitement, receive the sort after tickets from the Swiss Guard at the Prefettura della Casa Pontificia.
We catch the first shuttle from the campground to make sure we arrive in plenty of time to get a seat at The Vatican, but obviously lots of others had that same idea, but we do get a seat, not right at the front but close to the middle and in good view of the stage. While we waited for the Pope’s arrival we were entertained by the various choirs seated around us and by people watching, always entertaining.
It was easy to know when the Pope arrived by the cheers and waving of the crowd, 4998 people stood on their seats, so we did as well (although we refrained from cheering). We listened to His Holiness address the audience, in Italian, then decided we would get ahead of the crowd and visit the Vatican Museum.
VATICAN MUSEUM
You could spend day’s at this world famous museum, they even have colour coded itineraries based on time to follow. We follow our own plan, as well as using a audio guide, a great help and worth the €7 each charge. The art on display is astonishing, collected over the centuries by various Popes. And of course ending in the Sistine Chapel, with it’s crowning glory, the frescoed ceiling by Michelangelo. It takes time to take it all in, and with a bit of a crick in our necks from admiring the famous work, we leave and find ourselves in the gift shop. We pick up a few gift items, they will go well with the holy water from Lourdes, and leave the walls of the Vatican City, another big day spent in Rome over.
Rome is a magic city, saturated with history and awe inspiring buildings, and hopefully my wish at the Trevi Fountain will come true and we can visit here again one day.
THE AMALFI COAST
After the hustle and bustle of Rome the Amalfi Coast is a lovely place to chill for a few days. Describing this area as having ‘dramatic scenery’ would not do it justice. Villages are perched impossibly in between rocky crags, and homes have been built to blend into the surrounding area, making them at times impossible to define. This is the land of the jet setters with the Isle of Capri just off the coast.
Deciding to give Fatima a well earned break we catch a fast catamaran from the dock near our campsite to Amalfi, and work our slowly back through Positano and Sorrento, having a incredible day dining on fresh seafood at the beachside cafes and swimming in the azure blue Mediterranean Sea.
Napoli being the birthplace of pizza, and hearing from the owners of the campground about a excellent pizza place a short walk away, with a patio overlooking the Bay of Napoli it wasn’t a hard decision what we would be having for dinner that
night.
Getting there early (before 9pm, a normal time for the locals here to go out) we get a great table, overlooking the bay and with Mt.Vesuvius in the background. You can imagine our surprise when looking at the menu we see the pizza comes by the metre, yes 100cm of pizza! We look around and see serving tables being placed alongside some other tables, and with great flair 2 waiters deliver a large tray of pizza. The waiter comes to take our order, and we mention we would like pizza but don’t need so much, ‘you just want pizza for two? that’s OK’. Our 50 cm pizza arrives, fresh tomato’s and rocket with thin slices of prosciutto, bellisimo.
POMPEII
Majestic and menacing, Mount Vesuvius still dominates the Neapolitan landscape.
It’s been nearly 2000 years since it erupted on August 24th, 79 AD, putting on a show with devastating effects, excavations and restorations are still ongoing. Much of what we know of the daily lives of the ancient Romans is known because of Pompeii, and it’s wealth of artifacts and architecture preserved for decades in the hot ash and pumice of Vesuvius’ fury.
It’s an odd feeling to wander the well preserved streets of Pompeii, sit in it’s
Amphitheatres and see the inside of the homes of the 2000 or so residents that perished here. Many items have been removed to museums, or stolen over the years, but the frescoes on many villa walls, and courtyard fountains still remain, and give you an idea of the sumptuousness that was once here. In the Garden of the Fugitives, once a vineyard, but sad and sombre now, are plaster casts of some of the victims, men, women and children caught here while trying to escape the fury of the eruption.
We leave Pompeii, once only a name in history books for us, now knowing a fragment more about life in Ancient Rome.
TRULLI’S of ALBEROBELLO, PUGLIA
We had heard about these strange looking circular buildings with conical roofs and as it was on our way to Bari on the south eastern coast of Italy, we make it sure stop.
You start to see these odd shaped buildings in the neighbouring towns, but where surprised by the number of Trulli’s still in use as homes, restaurants and gift shops in Alberobello. They are built from the local limestone that is stacked without mortar and with conical stone roofs that often have religious, pagan or magical symbols painted on them. To see the whole village freshly whitewashed and with beautiful flowering pot plants, it was another magical moment in Italy.
Our time in Italy has come to an end, from here we catch the ferry to Greece and the start of our journey through Turkey then north and through Eastern Europe. Our time here and in Western Europe has been a wonderfully awe inspiring and educational experience, and we will treasure those memories and the friends we have made here forever.
