9th – 16th Jan 2008 – more Greece
Some more pics at: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/findthebinghams/35GreecePart2Blog
We had a brilliant Xmas – very busy and hectic, but so lovely catching up with everyone. We really enjoyed it. Mind you, we were ready for a rest! And laid-back Greece is the place to do it. Time seems to go slowly and everything stops at 2.00pm. January is good for sight-seeing - warm and sunny most of the time and few other tourists.
We’ve stayed on only one campsite so far (to do stacks of washing from before Xmas!). Instead, we've been on quiet sea fronts overlooking harbours, beaches and sandy car parks and snowy mountains – just great!
Our advice is never drive through Athens – we did it once and it’s a nightmare, so we took the Metro to see the amazing Acropolis - UNESCO, of course. It’s such an ancient place, we felt privileged to be there – another moving moment for me (no, not due to an earthquake!).
The sacred monuments built on the rock are
mainly 6th Century BC and there are quite a few (eg Temple of Athena (aka The Parthenon), the Erechtheion, The Propylaia, 
Theatre of Dionysos (the first theatre?). The remains survived for generations, until Athens pollution took its toll and so protection and reconstruction has been going on for years (mind you, we’re talking about Greek time here – inverse proportion to reality - so the work may never be finished).
We saw some of the marble friezes around the top of the Temple of Athena, although Elgin, of course, removed most of them. Should the Marbles be returned? Discuss in 500 words.
We watched the strange ritual of the Greek guards outside the Athens Parliament building – it involved lots of waving of arms and legs and shoes with fluffy pom-poms. Interesting....
The prize for the most stunning position for an Ancient Monument must go to the Temple of Poseidon at Soulion – it’s a 6th C BC Doric thingied building, built in Pericles’ time, overlooking acres of sea and islands – a really beautiful setting.
One activity we hadn’t planned for – we’ve been skiing! Yes, in Greece. We spied a sign for Mount Parnassos Skiing Centre and found ourselves in beautiful mountains in glorious sun, with lots of good snow. We camped 2 nights up there and for £12, had a great time skiing at 2400 metres. Unsurprisingly, because this is Greece, there was no piste map. Along with the concept of time, Greek maps are unreliable anyway, so you need a good sense of direction whether on road or mountain. Skiing felt really weird, after having been on a beach in 17 deg the day before!
Delphi was another ‘shiver-down-the-spine’ visit. An extraordinary impressive site (and sight), built on the side of a mountain. The Ancient Greeks believed it to be the centre of the world (nah...Sheffield is, surely?) It was a much larger complex than I thought, with countless temples, a theatre and stadium. Of course, we had to consult the Oracle – our question featured the words ‘retirement’ and ‘how soon?’!
We saw the rather surreal sight of a Sunday Market (carpets, handbags, live chickens...) on a dual carriageway outside Athens, with the central reservation used as a car park....only in Greece.....
Some more pics at: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/findthebinghams/35GreecePart2Blog
We had a brilliant Xmas – very busy and hectic, but so lovely catching up with everyone. We really enjoyed it. Mind you, we were ready for a rest! And laid-back Greece is the place to do it. Time seems to go slowly and everything stops at 2.00pm. January is good for sight-seeing - warm and sunny most of the time and few other tourists.
We’ve stayed on only one campsite so far (to do stacks of washing from before Xmas!). Instead, we've been on quiet sea fronts overlooking harbours, beaches and sandy car parks and snowy mountains – just great!
Our advice is never drive through Athens – we did it once and it’s a nightmare, so we took the Metro to see the amazing Acropolis - UNESCO, of course. It’s such an ancient place, we felt privileged to be there – another moving moment for me (no, not due to an earthquake!).The sacred monuments built on the rock are
mainly 6th Century BC and there are quite a few (eg Temple of Athena (aka The Parthenon), the Erechtheion, The Propylaia, 
Theatre of Dionysos (the first theatre?). The remains survived for generations, until Athens pollution took its toll and so protection and reconstruction has been going on for years (mind you, we’re talking about Greek time here – inverse proportion to reality - so the work may never be finished).
We saw some of the marble friezes around the top of the Temple of Athena, although Elgin, of course, removed most of them. Should the Marbles be returned? Discuss in 500 words.
We watched the strange ritual of the Greek guards outside the Athens Parliament building – it involved lots of waving of arms and legs and shoes with fluffy pom-poms. Interesting....
The prize for the most stunning position for an Ancient Monument must go to the Temple of Poseidon at Soulion – it’s a 6th C BC Doric thingied building, built in Pericles’ time, overlooking acres of sea and islands – a really beautiful setting.
One activity we hadn’t planned for – we’ve been skiing! Yes, in Greece. We spied a sign for Mount Parnassos Skiing Centre and found ourselves in beautiful mountains in glorious sun, with lots of good snow. We camped 2 nights up there and for £12, had a great time skiing at 2400 metres. Unsurprisingly, because this is Greece, there was no piste map. Along with the concept of time, Greek maps are unreliable anyway, so you need a good sense of direction whether on road or mountain. Skiing felt really weird, after having been on a beach in 17 deg the day before!
Delphi was another ‘shiver-down-the-spine’ visit. An extraordinary impressive site (and sight), built on the side of a mountain. The Ancient Greeks believed it to be the centre of the world (nah...Sheffield is, surely?) It was a much larger complex than I thought, with countless temples, a theatre and stadium. Of course, we had to consult the Oracle – our question featured the words ‘retirement’ and ‘how soon?’!
We saw the rather surreal sight of a Sunday Market (carpets, handbags, live chickens...) on a dual carriageway outside Athens, with the central reservation used as a car park....only in Greece..... Sadly, we’ll probably move on to Italy on Friday, although it’s very tempting to stay here.....still so much to see.
5 comments:
Hi Richard and Rosi,
Welcome back to my favourite geog lesson- and Happy New Year! Evidently Almeria is on the same Lat. as we could have sun and ski within a few miles -just like you did but we didn't.
We're off to Malta for ten days hoping for some sun after all the rain, so I look forward to catching up with you in Feb., meanwhile bon voyage and love from H&J
Don't you just hate those crowded pistes!
Fireplace in (photo later) and a new room where you put the under-the-stairs loo.
Rick
Hello, Nice to see you on your travels again. Thanks for all the lovely food over Christmas - it was really good to see everyone.
Did you know that we have an Erechthion here in London on the Euston road? - It's in much better nick than the old shack on the Acropolis too http://botanizing.typepad.com/botanizing/2005/11/caryatids.html (It's just up the road from the Elgin Marbles so very aptly located).
And if you missed what's left of the mausoleum of Halicarnassus (not much) then you can come and have a look at St George's Bloomsbury where we have a replica in A1 just restored condition. Who says that travel broadens the mind!. (Sadly it hasn't been very sunny here though, nor do we have any snow - but we do have a beach at low tide).
Toodle pip, Jonathan
Just saw on the telly that Delphi is on a major fault intersection and the crush zone has been known to generate toxic and disabling gases containg arsenic etc.. So the Oracle may have just been an intoxicated old woman.
On the other hand...
Hi all
Thanks for the comments - its always nice to know somebody actually reads this!
In Rome at the moment, about to meet up with Heather - hooray!
Hope Malta is warm adn fireplace produces required heat in cold England. Can see well have to visit London to see the better Ancient remains. As for the Delphi Oracle - I hope she enjoyedwhatever she was on!
Love to all
R&R
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