Greetings from Greece. I'd say hello in Greek, but I have no idea how to do that on the keyboard...
It's been a whirlwind week of ruins and heat! Today we made it to 39c. I thought I was going to wilt. So what have we been seeing? Well we started in Athens on Sunday morning bright and early (we all thought our guide was crazy with the early starts, but now that we realise that we may die of heat exhaustion at 10 am we are suddenly pretty happy with getting out of bed at 6am!).
First stop in Athens was the first Olympic arena of the modern era. I say modern, but it is still pretty old (1800 and something it was built...). It was used at the 2004 Olympics for archery and the marathon. It is also where they have the handover ceremonies for the flame. Believe it or not it seats something like 50,000.
After visiting some other sites across the city, and watching the guards outside of Parliament (they wear pom poms on their shoes) we headed up to the Acropolis.
It is only once you get up there that you can appreciate how massive the site is. The view back down at Athens, with the ruins in the foreground is pretty spectacular.
We moved on to Mycenae in the afternoon and saw one of the best examples of a Greek theater. We had a lesson in acoustics. It is amazing, there is a point in the center where you can stand and even the slightest noise, even just breathing, can be heard by everyone in the theater like you are kitted out with 100 microphones.
They still use it in summer to do performances of Greek tragedies and the like. Apparently the biggest challenge to the modern theater actor performing in this arena is learning to breathe quietly, particularly when concluding a monologue, as the sound travels far more than in a modern theater.
That evening we stayed in Nafplion, which is a quaint little village (and also the very first capital of an independent Greece). It looked just like I had imagined a Greek town would.
Out hotel was up on the hill and we have a lovely view at sunset whilst we enjoyed our beers.
From Nafplion we headed to Olympia. The archaeological site was HUGE. This was the birthplace of the Olympic games. The first games were had here in 776BC. The site had a gymnasium, "hotels" for the athletes, even a " VIP" hotel reportedly built by Nero for his own comfort when participating in the games.
Back in those days, distance was measured by "Olympic stadiums". This was the original track where athletic events were held. Everyone was having a go to run it (though in 40 degree heat I decided a walk would be better). In those days it was a straight track and events were called things like the 6 Olympic stadium race (so 6 laps of the track).
Just one little problem with this site. CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS! My god. They descended like ants on an unguarded picnic. There was a costa boat in port (still floating, go figure) and each group was numbered, the highest number we saw was 75. This was what it was like as we were leaving (crowds reminded me of the actual Olympics in Sydney).
You know how every two years you see on the news the girls lighting the torch at Olympia? Well this is where they do it.
Interesting fact - the idea behind the Olympic torch was bought in for the 1936 Olympics. Whose idea was it? The same man who lit the torch for the first time. Believe it or not - it was Hitler. Not sure I will ever look at the torch the same again...
There have been museums, and Greece has the same problem as Turkey. Headless statues. I hate them.
I think I have worked out why they are broke. I passed a road works sign that said the work was costing €800 million. This bridge cost €750 million...
We had some more hardship views. I had coffee looking at this...
And then when we got to Delphi that night I had this view from my hotel room...
Delphi is of course home to Apollo and the oracle (sorry Mummy, oracle didn't have the lotto numbers - I did ask!). Apollo believed it to be the center of the universe. It was full of treasuries of gifts that people bought Apollo in the hope that the oracle would give them a favorable fortune. The view up at the site was also pretty impressive.
This is the treasury of the Athenians (most of the stuff in there had been pilfered from the Persians and given to Apollo).
There was lots of climbing involved here too...
But so worth it when you got up there to the top. Have I mentioned how blue the sky is here????
T
onight we are in Kalambaka. The hotel room here has yet another hardship view. Took this earlier this evening from my balcony... This place is one of the most active fault lines in the world. Have felt a few little tremors just sitting here writing this. Little disconcerting.
Still trying to get my head around whose who in the mythology zoo, particularly given that the Romans and the Greeks have different names for the same person (eg. Venus and Aphrodite are one and the same). Thanks to the wonders of my Kindle I have downloaded a 700 page compendium on Greek mythology and am making up for taking modern and not ancient history at school.
Tomorrow it is back to Athens, and then on Friday I am making my escape from Greece before they have their election this weekend (would rather be in Italy for that and watch it safely on CNN).
It's been a whirlwind week of ruins and heat! Today we made it to 39c. I thought I was going to wilt. So what have we been seeing? Well we started in Athens on Sunday morning bright and early (we all thought our guide was crazy with the early starts, but now that we realise that we may die of heat exhaustion at 10 am we are suddenly pretty happy with getting out of bed at 6am!).
First stop in Athens was the first Olympic arena of the modern era. I say modern, but it is still pretty old (1800 and something it was built...). It was used at the 2004 Olympics for archery and the marathon. It is also where they have the handover ceremonies for the flame. Believe it or not it seats something like 50,000.
After visiting some other sites across the city, and watching the guards outside of Parliament (they wear pom poms on their shoes) we headed up to the Acropolis.
The most amusing part of this was hearing the other side of the stories I had heard in Turkey about the Greeks! Suddenly all I was hearing about was how Greece's ruins would be better had it not been for the Turkish occupation. The were still pretty impressive. The Greeks have patented a technique for cleaning ancient marble, so the ruins scrub up well.
We moved on to Mycenae in the afternoon and saw one of the best examples of a Greek theater. We had a lesson in acoustics. It is amazing, there is a point in the center where you can stand and even the slightest noise, even just breathing, can be heard by everyone in the theater like you are kitted out with 100 microphones.
They still use it in summer to do performances of Greek tragedies and the like. Apparently the biggest challenge to the modern theater actor performing in this arena is learning to breathe quietly, particularly when concluding a monologue, as the sound travels far more than in a modern theater.
That evening we stayed in Nafplion, which is a quaint little village (and also the very first capital of an independent Greece). It looked just like I had imagined a Greek town would.
Out hotel was up on the hill and we have a lovely view at sunset whilst we enjoyed our beers.
From Nafplion we headed to Olympia. The archaeological site was HUGE. This was the birthplace of the Olympic games. The first games were had here in 776BC. The site had a gymnasium, "hotels" for the athletes, even a " VIP" hotel reportedly built by Nero for his own comfort when participating in the games.
Back in those days, distance was measured by "Olympic stadiums". This was the original track where athletic events were held. Everyone was having a go to run it (though in 40 degree heat I decided a walk would be better). In those days it was a straight track and events were called things like the 6 Olympic stadium race (so 6 laps of the track).
Just one little problem with this site. CRUISE SHIP PASSENGERS! My god. They descended like ants on an unguarded picnic. There was a costa boat in port (still floating, go figure) and each group was numbered, the highest number we saw was 75. This was what it was like as we were leaving (crowds reminded me of the actual Olympics in Sydney).
You know how every two years you see on the news the girls lighting the torch at Olympia? Well this is where they do it.
Interesting fact - the idea behind the Olympic torch was bought in for the 1936 Olympics. Whose idea was it? The same man who lit the torch for the first time. Believe it or not - it was Hitler. Not sure I will ever look at the torch the same again...
There have been museums, and Greece has the same problem as Turkey. Headless statues. I hate them.
I think I have worked out why they are broke. I passed a road works sign that said the work was costing €800 million. This bridge cost €750 million...
We had some more hardship views. I had coffee looking at this...
And then when we got to Delphi that night I had this view from my hotel room...
Delphi is of course home to Apollo and the oracle (sorry Mummy, oracle didn't have the lotto numbers - I did ask!). Apollo believed it to be the center of the universe. It was full of treasuries of gifts that people bought Apollo in the hope that the oracle would give them a favorable fortune. The view up at the site was also pretty impressive.
This is the treasury of the Athenians (most of the stuff in there had been pilfered from the Persians and given to Apollo).
There was lots of climbing involved here too...
But so worth it when you got up there to the top. Have I mentioned how blue the sky is here????
onight we are in Kalambaka. The hotel room here has yet another hardship view. Took this earlier this evening from my balcony... This place is one of the most active fault lines in the world. Have felt a few little tremors just sitting here writing this. Little disconcerting.
Still trying to get my head around whose who in the mythology zoo, particularly given that the Romans and the Greeks have different names for the same person (eg. Venus and Aphrodite are one and the same). Thanks to the wonders of my Kindle I have downloaded a 700 page compendium on Greek mythology and am making up for taking modern and not ancient history at school.
Tomorrow it is back to Athens, and then on Friday I am making my escape from Greece before they have their election this weekend (would rather be in Italy for that and watch it safely on CNN).
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