Greek Adventure with Visitors - October 2005

Our friends, John and Judy Nelson of Laramie, Wyoming, and Jo Ann Stewart, of Houston, Texas, arrived in Athens on Monday, October 17.  Rita met them at the airport and got them settled at our home.  The evening was spent chatting of old times over a meal Rita prepared.  John was an engineer at Aramco in Saudi Arabia and Judy, Jo Ann and Rita all worked in the Petroleum Engineering offices of Aramco.



Tuesday was a day of getting oriented to jet lag, time changes and generally taking it easy.  Rita took everyone down to the Plaka and I met them for lunch.



Wednesday I took off work for a day tour south to the Peloponnese.  First we stopped so everyone could walk across the Corinth Canal which was started under Nero but only completed between 1882 and 1893.  The canal marks where the Peloponnese really begins.  We continued south, viewing ancient Corinth and Acrocorinth from a distance.



Today’s drive took us through the wine region of Nemea where the grape leaves were turning on the vine.  Grapes were soon to be picked and turned into this year’s vintage.  We passed olive trees ripe with fruit and orange groves where the first oranges of the season are showing up in markets.  Bright red pomegranates were visible from the road in many small towns. 



Our next stop was the fortified palace complex of Mycenae which is believed to have been occupied from 1700 to 1100 BC.  These ruins have been associated with the legends of Kings Atreus and Agamemmon along with Helen of Troy and Klytemnestra.  We walked through the impressive Lion Gate, past what is known today as Grave Circle A, and up the great ramp to the royal palace at the top. 



Then we drove the short distance past the ruins of ancient Tiryns to the scenic town of Nafplio, maybe the prettiest town in Greece.  After a nice lunch where John impressed us all with his command of the Greek language, we walked around town until we came upon our favorite Italian geleteria (ice cream) shop where we all had to indulge.  We walked some more along the waterfront and finally hopped back into the car to drive to fort Palamidi overlooking Nafplio – much better than walking up the 900 or so steps.  We climbed many of the stairs inside the huge fort and posed for photos at strategic places.



Finally we decided to press on to the ruins of Epidaurus, a famous Greek sanctuary from the 6^th century BC to about the 2^nd century AD.  Epidaurus was dedicated to Asklepios, a mortal physician deified by Zeus.  Asklepios headed up a healing cult that spread throughout the Greek world.  Epidaurus is also known for its large, well-preserved theatre which has near-perfect acoustics, can seat about 13,000 people and is still used for plays during the summer months.  We left as the place was closing up and headed a short distance to Ancient Epidaurus on the Saronikos Gulf.  We stopped at a taverna for coffee with outdoor tables overlooking a magnificent view of the town and water below.  The drive back to Athens took us along a scenic coastal road and we arrived home in the dark.



Our next trip began on Friday, October 21, when I took another day off from work and we all headed in a northward direction.  We took the E-75 motorway past Thiva (Thebes) and exited through the town of Lamia.  After some minor mountain climbs near Domokos we entered the long, flat plains of Thessaly which were almost totally planted in cotton.  The cotton was being picked and taken to mills where it was stacked in large piles ready for baling.  We drove through Karditsa and stopped in Trikala for lunch.  Trikala was a pretty town with a large pedestrian walking area full of restaurants and tavernas.  Driving through we noticed the Koursoum Tzami mosque built in 1550.  Trikala deserves more time to be explored.



The next stop was our destination for today, the natural sandstone towers of Meteora which means “suspended rocks”.  We checked into our small Hotel Kastraki in the village of Kastraki near the larger town of Kalambaka.  Since it was getting late and some monasteries closed at 5:00 pm we quickly headed up the road leading to the monasteries.  We headed to the largest and highest monastery called Megalo Meteoro or Great Meteoron at 2,045 feet.  We had to walk several steps down first, then cross a bridge over a chasm and up stairs to enter the monastery.  Women must wear skirts but the monasteries make some money by renting wraparound skirts to all lady tourists in pants.



The views of the monasteries perched on the top of these rock formations are as impressive in real life as in the photos often shown.  The Great Meteoron monastery had great views of Varlaam monastery and the surrounding countryside.  We toured the church, museum, kitchen, refectory, and room where the bones of former monks are stored.  Next we drove to Varlaam monastery but it was closed for the day.  We did walk to the bridge over the chasm for more great views.  On our way back to our hotel we stopped at the small Roussanou monastery which is run by nuns today and perched on a narrow spire of rock.  We climbed the stairs again to see the small chapel with frescoes painted in 1560.  Finally we went back to our hotel, parked the car and walked to a nearby taverna for Mythos beers.  Later we had a dinner at Taverna Meteora across the street from our hotel.  The air was cool and a fire in the fireplace kept us cozy and warm.



Saturday morning, after a small breakfast in our hotel, we headed back up to the monasteries and visited Agios Stefanos or St. Stephens monastery.  I believe it is a nunnery today. 



After our fill of monasteries we headed back through Kalambaka to the highway heading up into the Pindos Mountains where wolves and bear still roam, although scarce – and we didn’t see any.  But the scenery was super and we saw beech trees with their yellow and orange leaves among the green pines.  Just before the town of Metsovo we crossed the Katara Pass which at 5,594 feet is the highest pass in Greece.  We stopped in Metsovo which is a pretty mountain town known for its Vlach population.  The Vlach men are mostly shepherds with a long-forgotten language which is a dialect of Latin origin.  It’s thought they may be descended from Roman settlers who moved into this area.  We had a coffee at an outdoor taverna with huge oak trees which were turning colors.  We spent time walking around town taking photos and making purchases of honey, cheese, wine, preserves and wood carvings.  In winter this is a popular ski resort but we enjoyed the autumn air this time of the year.



We had to press onwards so we drove more of the mountain road until we descended into the rather large town of Ioannina, the capital of this region called Epirus.  We were just a few miles from the Albanian border (as the crow flies) here and Ioannina was the headquarters of Ali Pasha from 1788 to 1822.  Lord Byron met with Ali Pasha here and in 1822 the Turks, afraid of Ali Pasha’s growing power, laid siege to the town but couldn’t overtake it.  They tricked Ali Pasha out on a truce talk but captured him and cut off his head.  Those Turks were brutal.  There is an old walled town with a fort at the center of it overlooking Lake Pamvotis.  There are old mosques remaining which remind one of the Turkish influence but they are turned into museums today.  Sitting in the shade of the large oak trees looking out over the mountains surrounding the lake, one is reminded of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.  It is a beautiful town with much to explore in the countryside around it and deserves a return trip.



But we didn’t have the luxury of time and headed south through pretty country to the town of Arta.  We stopped in Arta mainly to view the 17^th century stone hump-backed bridge.  One of the rumors has it that the builder buried his wife alive in one of the bridge supports.  Makes for a good, if morbid, story.  We had no hotel reservations but soon came across a nice, modern hotel on the outskirts of Arta that had been open only months.  We checked in and then drove back into Arta town center for dinner.  Arta is a maze of one way streets which sometime change names for no good reason so we easily got lost.  We finally parked and found the pedestrian walk way and began looking for restaurants.  We found plenty of places to get drinks but not many restaurants with food.  Finally we found one and had a nice meal before driving back to the hotel and crashing.  Lots of driving down winding mountain roads today.



Sunday we had breakfast once more in our hotel before hitting the road towards Athens.  We drove along the Amvrakikos Gulf and Adriatic Sea through the towns of Amfilochia and Agrinio before stopping in Mesolongi for coffee and to see the statue of Lord Byron in the town square.  We also walked into the Garden of Heroes cemetery where Greek resistance fighters are buried.  Lord Byron fought for the liberation of Greece against the Turks but he died of a fever.  His heart was buried in the cemetery under another statue of him.  We drove on along the Gulf of Corinth and while viewing the new suspension bridge from Antirrio to Rio, I missed my turn off and accidentally found myself on the bridge.  Luckily we were able to get off by a special exit (it must happen often) and head east along the coastline.  We drove through Nafpaktos with its Frankish fort on the hill and pressed along the pretty drive.  We made it to Galaxidi for a late lunch.  Galaxidi is a pretty town with several waterfront restaurants which make you feel as if you’re on an island. 



After our late lunch we headed through massive olive groves up into the mountains once more to the sanctuary of Delphi.  Unfortunately, and to our surprise, Delphi closes at 3:00 pm every day and had just closed.  However we could still make out several of the major ruins and could see the overall setting of Delphi in the mountainous, craggy land.  We did walk to the temple of Athena Pronaia across the road which is never closed off.  The round tholos there is one of the best ruins still standing in Delphi.  Finally we headed back to Athens, arriving home in the dark as the days are shortening.



The next day I took off early and we all took a quick drive to Sounio at the tip end of the Attica peninsula.  We toured the pretty Temple of Poseidon built in 444BC where tourists flock to see the sun set each day.  After Mythos beers at a nearby taverna we headed back into Athens where we ate at an Italian restaurant near our home.



Sadly, the next day our excellent guests headed back home except for Jo Ann.  She headed to Istanbul where she enjoyed a few days on her own before returning to Texas. 



We certainly enjoyed our guests and hope they enjoyed their stay in Greece and may return again some day.