2018 Greece 03

Today we begin three days of coach tours to see three of the most important ancients sights in Greece. They’re actually bus tours but coach sounds fancier.  Our initial tour guide is Katarina, but she prefers to be called Momma.  The circular Temple to Athena, Zeus’ favorite daughter plus 2 treasury buildings, used to store offerings made by area residents.  A little down the road we come to the Delphi complex which includes the Temple of Apollo (who is Zeus’s son and Athena’s brother).  People came to Apollo’s Temple to petition the Oracle of  Apollo in Delphi.  Area priests would stand by to ‘interpret’ the Oracle’s pronouncements.  By the 6th c BC Delphi became so influential that no great leader would make a major decision without first sending emissaries to consult the Oracle.  We even pass through a ski town, Lamia,  with  narrow streets which looks like Switzerland. 

 

Re photo on the right above: see the irregular shaped stones in the retaining wall.  For this wall the stones were chiseled so they would nestle together and due to the weight of the stones they still stand.  These have no mortar and they’ve been standing for 25 centuries!  Plus, this type of construction makes them better able to withstand an earthquake.  This wall supports the ground on which the Temple of Apollo was built.  Notice the columns above the wall.  The people of Delphi would write their declarations on these walls.  Upon close inspections you can see the small Greek letters, seemingly written neatly, that might declare a slave to be free and given to Apollo, to declare a debt (new or paid off) or other governing comments.

This is the remains of the Temple of Apollo which was built in the Doric style.  The original structure was built in 7th C BC but was later destroyed by a fire about 100 years later.  The temple was rebuilt only to be destroyed in 3rd BC by an earthquake.  The temple was soon rebuilt and the remains are what we see today.

 

Re photo on the left above: “Ok fraternity and sorority people, you should be able to read this.” It says “DEPLHI”

 

Left photo above: We had lunch with Dr Shinsuke, Professor, school of Sociology at Kwansei Gakuin University (Japan) and his wife Mimi.  Delightful people. See the napkin: they’re trying to remember how to fold the “paper crane”. This is taught to all Japanese students and is part of the remembrance at Hiroshima. 

We’re spending the night in Kalambaka, a delightful town we’ve never heard of.  It’s at the base of the Meteora rocks, which we’ll have more on tomorrow. We walked around the town before dinner (7:00 pm) and were impressed with the hotels and shops.  Citizens were sitting at the street-side tables drinking espresso, beer, ouzo and who knows what. Again after dinner (10:00 pm) we’re walking around and there were many more people out and about. The weather and temperature are perfect and this town seems idyllic. In addition, our hotel is great.

Right photo above: We had dinner with Jim and Sandra from Adelaide, Australia.  We had a great discussion with them on everything from alcohol abuse (Australia’s problem) to lack of gun control (US’s problem). Jim has Greek heritage and speaks and understands the language pretty well.  They took us out for a special pastry after dinner.  The 2 desserts he ordered for us were Ekmek Kataifi (custard and whipped cream with a shredded filo dough crust) and Loukoumades (donuts with honey).  Loukoumades can also come in a savory form, usually filled with cheese.  Herb would have loved the donut based pastry with honey.

2018 Greece 02

On Wednesday we went on a 3.5 hour walking tour led by Nikos Bousioutis, a former teacher of Greek Antiquities.  He’s an encyclopedia of information covering thousands of years of history. By the end of the tour our heads were aching.  So were our feet.

Before the tour we saw the changing of the guard in front of Parliament.  This changing ritual occurs every hour, on the hour, 24x7. On Sundays at 11am is the formal attire and all of the guards participate, not just three.  Among other changes the skirts are white and have 400 pleats each.  This represents 400 years of bondage.  The shoes for all occasions have pompoms on the toes and include 33 nail heads in the sole of each shoe, for maximum sound effect as they stomp and slide their feet. The shoes weigh 3.5 kilos.

Next we walked through the National Gardens which were created by King Otto in 1862.  There are more than 7000 trees, mostly evergreen but not all native.  We walked through a grove of California palm trees.

Greece now has a president but is ruled by Parliament.  It wasn’t always so.  In 1974 the people voted against the monarchy and established the office of president. However, the power is held by the 300 members of Parliament.  Currently there are 7 parties represented in Parliament, but there are more than 100 political parties in Greece.  To be represented in Parliament that group must garner at least 3% of the vote.

Greece became a member of the EU in 1980 but did not adopted the Euro as its currency until 2002.

The unemployment rate is still high at approximately 15%.  There are lots of seasonal workers, primarily in the tourism industry.  Between November and March the rate can hover at 28%.

The picture below is the Temple of Zeus, which was the leader of the Olympian Gods.  Today there are only 16 columns standing and one on the ground that was toppled by the wind.  Originally there were 104 columns.  Construction began in 2nd c BC by tyrants and was completed in 2 c AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian (of Hadrian’s Wall in northern England).

Our final stop was the Acropolis and  Parthenon.  The Acropolis is the top-of-the-hill fortification and the Parthenon is the temple. Acro means high (think acrobat) and polis means city. This area is under renovation and has been since the mid-1980s.  I think it will be quite a bit longer before all the pieces strewn about the area find a home.  On the long sides of this site the floor rises about 4 inches in the middle compared to the corners.  On the short sides it is about 2 inches.   This is to trick the eye into thinking the lines are straight.  The columns are constructed out of round discs maybe a meter high with the upper disc having a protrusion which fits into a well on the lower disc,  The column is assembled and then the fluting is chiseled into the entire column at the same time.

For the next three days, we’re on bus tours outside of Athens.

Below, Temple to  Nike (NEE kay) and Odeon Theatre.  The theatre was once buried and has been rebuilt. Elton John, Yanni and others play here. An Odeon is a theatre where music is performed.  Although the acoustics are good at the Odeon, because of Athens city noise performers must now use amplification for better sound.

 

Most of today’s verbiage was written by Brenda.

2018 Greece 01

We’re on our way to Greece for a three part vacation:

• Part one is based in Athens and includes a walking tour of the city center including the Temple of Zeus and Acropolis then excursions to Delphi, Meteroa Monasteries, Epidavros and Mycenae.
• Then on to the island of Crete for a 10-day bike tour sponsored by our club, Bicycle Adventure Club (see bicycleadventureclub.org).  We’ll stay at the Nautilus Bay Hotel ( See https://www.nautilusbay.gr/) on the Sea of Crete Or is it The Mediterranean Sea? I get conflicting information. (Neither, it’s the Aegean Sea.) The hotel is in the northwestern end of the island.
• Part 3 consists of three 2-day tours of islands Santorini, Mykonos and Hydra.

All in all it’s 25 days and we have high hopes for a great time.  Every one we’ve talked to raves about Greece, it’s people, it’s food and it’s wine.   Planning parts one and three were difficult until we discovered Paris Dimidis and his tour company  Dimidis Tours. Two brothers run this 12-person agency started by their father 45 years ago.  I highly recommend them.

Greece set much of the standards of today’s world - 450 years before Christ.  Greeks in Athens developed art, democracy, literature, mathematics, mythology,  philosophy, science and theatre all during a 50 year “golden age”.

But it started even earlier with the pre-Greek Minoan culture on the Island of Crete.  Civilization flourished here from 2000 to 1400 BC. Hopefully I’ll write more on this when we travel to Crete.

The trip to Athens went well but when we got here it took almost 2 hours to get to the  hotel; part of the downtown was shut down due to protests of the bombing of Syria.  We’re within walking distance of the Acropolis.

TUSCANY ON THE MED - 9

On our last day in Florence/Italy

• We’d scheduled an in-town bike tour.  Only Lou and Brenda rode.
• We’d also scheduled a cooking class: pizza and gelato.  Photos from that event are shown below:

So the tour is ending and not too soon.  We’ve been on over 60 tours with Bicycle Adventure Club and others with the Dallas Area Tandem Enthusiasts, but we’ve never had one in which so much has gone wrong:  lost luggage, rain and wind, an accident and illness (which we’re still not over).  So we’ll forget about this event and look forward to the next one – in Crete next April.

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We have advance tickets for the Uffizi Museum and The Academia.  If you don’t have these advanced tickets, you’ll stand in line for hours.  It matters little which month you’re here or the time of day.  There is always a long line. With the special tickets, it’s usually only a 15 to 20 minute wait.  The special tickets are 4 Euro.  So here are some selected photos from the Uffizi.

   

Above, Aristotle and Socrates plus the “only painting” that Michelangelo finished.  Well that can’t be true; he finished the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, didn’t he?

See the panel on the right; there is a blank on the bottom row. “Must be waiting for me to die!

See painting to the  left; when you try to take a picture, there’s always someone in the way. Usually Chinese.

Then we went to the Academia to see the  16 foot David, mankind’s greatest piece of art.  If you’re going to see it – and everyone should try – first read Michelangelo's biography, The Agony and The Ecstasy.  When we were there 7 years ago photographs weren’t allowed but I took a couple anyway – until the guard warned me not  to.  But I got an image good enough to be hanging in our bedroom in Frisco.  But now, photographs are allowed so here are  mine.  Best guess is that David is sizing up his opponent.  This statue spent over 300 years outdoors before this space was built.  Not really showing his age.   In 1991 a deranged visitor attacked the statue and damaged his right foot.  Now this Plexiglas surrounds all the art in this museum.

TUSCANY ON THE MED - 7

Today we leave Marina di Categneto; most us are are taking a chartered bus to the Pisa airport and then going in all directions. Lou and Elaine and Brenda and I are  going to Florence.  Others are  also but not with us. This is pretty easy since there is a commercial bus from the Pisa airport to the Florence train station.  We only have to wait 20 minutes for the bus.

In Florence, the  bus driver is very helpful and calls two taxi’s for us.  We have a bi-lingual driver (His grandmother taught him English.) and he is also helpful in planning the  return trip.

We’re reserved an “apartment” in Florence.  If is directly across from the entrance to the Academia; couldn’t be closer to the action.  The apartment turns out to be super large with a kitchen and large living room. Although a 16th century building, it is air-conditioned and has wi-fi.  There  is a coffee shop a couple of doors away.

We don’t make the best decision for lunch and end up at a Chinese restaurant.  Although this is not what you expect in Florence, the  food turns out to be pretty good.

We started on Rick Steve's’ Renaissance Walking Tour but somehow get diverted and head toward Santa Marie church.  This is after shopping in a Leather shop.  The super-salesman Italian shop owner claims he went  to high school at South Park High School in Beaumont, Texas.  This is where Lamar Tech originally played their football games.

TUSCANY ON THE MED - 6

This is the last riding day and once again we’re not riding.  Brenda’s cough is deep in her chest.  I’m in fairly good condition but the only helmet I have is cracked.  This is our 65th tour with Bicycle Adventure Club and never before have we ridden so little.  Usually, we ride every day.  So this is a “bad luck” tour for us.

But another off day gave me time to edit our photo gallery.  So far we have 109 photos.  And we went to lunch at Santa Lucia.  It appears that most clients are regular and have their “reserved” table.  We were there early and got one of the open tables. Brenda had muscles and French fries. I had “il burger” which is probably 4 times as large as a BIG Mac.

 

Tonight is the last dinner at the hotel and the Chef tries to outdo himself.  I had a picture of him and his large cake but lost it.  Here is the menu (I couldn’t eat all courses.)

Shrimp Pie

Orecchiette pasta with clams, zucchini and calamari

Sea bass medallion with tomato composition

Mixed salad buffet

Sponge cake with Chantilly cream.

Of course we had white and red wine. But tonight also a dessert wine with the cake.  I’ve told you several times how much we liked the hotel.  But they liked us also, saying we were one of the best groups to stay there.