Greece, pt. II

The ride to Mykonos was turbulent, to put it mildly. Steady 40mph winds out of the north made for pretty choppy seas, and in the small jet boat ferry we were on, most everybody didn't fair so well. Mykonos was quite nice, though not as nice as Santorini. We didn't have any accomodations lined up when we got there, so we took up one of the ladies trying to pawn off rooms on people just like us. The fridge didn't work, and the tv remote didn't either (it was kind of fun watching greek tv, though they did have a channel that carried programming from the USA network), but overall not a bad place, and in the center of all the goings on. At least we think it was the center...

Mykonos' streets were intentionally made confusing to foil pirates that kept ravaging the port town. It worked. On the way to dinner one night, we saw a smoothie shop we wanted to go to for dessert. After dinner, it took 45 minutes to find it again. Went to a beach here as well, which had an abundance of naked men. The sand was pretty large grain though - almost rocky - as there was a large limestone "reef" about 90 feet offshore, so most of the waves broke at that point, rather than crashing on the beach. Other than that we spent a lot of time wandering the streets. Mykonos is the main touristy island, as well as the home of a thriving gay community, both native and tourist. We also spent part of a day on Delos, an abandoned city on a small island just off of Mykonos, and as it was abandoned, it is in great archaeological shape, since the pirates left it alone, as ther were populated places with actual wealth to raid. Some quite incredible sites at this place, beautiful mosaics from the Roman period, and lots of other various culture history, as it was a major destination and trading point in the Greek Isles long ago.

Pop cutlture nugget - the scene at the end of "The Bourne Identity" in the scooter shop was on Mykonos. Or at least the shot before and after the interior of the shop were.

We then went back to the mainland by slow ferry. Took most all of the day, but I liked it, as I was able to sit outside on the back of the ship and just watch the water and occasional island go by. We then managed to get passage by train to Korinthos, where we only stayed the night on the way to Nafplio, a bautiful "Italian inspired" city, influenced this way as it was under Venetian control for some time. And the Turks. Then the Greeks again, then it changed hands another half dozen times before becoming the first capitol of modern Greece, before moving to Athens (much like York, PA in the USA before DC). We walked around a lot before finding a place to stay, but it was easily the nicest place we were in the whole trip. And in conjucntion, the most expensive.

The first day there we went to the old fortress (left from a period of Turkish rule, I think) on top of a hill overlooking the town. Something like 972 steps, each way. Neither Jess or myself has been able to find an exact number, but I think 972 was a number I saw, and it seems damn close. There were multiple stops on the way up, and even a couple on the way down. The fortress was quite nice though, with gorgeous views of the surrounding area.

We used Nafplio as a base for a couple half-day trips - which together made one day - to Mycenae and Epidauros. Mycenae was home to king Agamemnon, famous from Homer's epics, and while much of the ruins were tougher than other places to get a sense of where buildings used to be, the Lion Gate, and some of the sites lower down the mountain from the palace were in fairly good shape. You couldn't ask for much more of strategic point for a fortress/castle. Nestled in the mountains, really only approachable from one side.

After returning we grabbed a quick bite to eat, and made our way to Epidauros, a great healing and cultural center of ancient Greece, and still a famous cultural center. Each summer they perform plays from anceint Greek playwrights in the amphitheatre, which is in immaculate shape, and so well constructed you can hear a match strike at the keystone in the center. When we arrived there was a young lady singing Ave Maria whilst on the keystone, and it sounded incredible. The rest of the ruins are in wonderful shape as well. Especially interesting was the method of healing people. They would take them in the middle of the night, and place them in a labyrinth under the temple to Asklepios and let them basically "face their illness". I don't know what their success rate was, but it's quite an interesting practice.

The next day we returned to Athens, did some shopping and wandering around town, before picking up a small bottle of Absinthe and heading back to the hotel room. We didn't have the spoon, sugar cube, and water drip, as is part of the ritual of absinthe, and while it would've been nice, we were more interested in seeing what this anise based drink was like. It's like jet fuel. At 140 proof, you could sterilize wounds with this stuff. We each did a shot, and while I'd gladly try it with the whole ritural involved, I don't think I'll be putting it down the hatch straight out the bottle ever again. It'll sure keep you warm on a winter night though.

The next morning we woke very early, and caught a bus to Delphi. A three hour ride worth every minute. Santorini is still the most beautiful place I've been to, but Delphi is a close second. Sitting under the shadow of Mt. Parnassas, Delphi was believed to be the center of the world in ancient Greece. and they weren't too far off, at least given the current geography of the country it's pretty close to the center of things. But being what it was in ancient times, it was a major religious site, and of course home to the famous Oracle of Apollo. not much is left of the Temple of Apollo but the outline of the base and a spattering of columns, but it is still quite majestic as in the distance the tops of surrounding mountains are shrouded in late morning clouds. What neither of us realized was at Delphi was a stadium atop the ruins. Always famed more for the mysteries of the Oracle, and the religious rites that took place there, the fact that there were competitions at the site was somewhat surprising. Of all the archaeological sites we visited, Delphi was easlily the most picturesque, in my opinion.

We went back to Athens after this, did some more shopping, then returned to the hotel for our last night. The next morning we made our way to the airport, and made our way back home. A wonderful trip, and I will definitely look forward to traveling abroad in the future.