For travelers only
If your vacation is just to hang out on a beach, drink beer and watch the girls or guys, don’t bother to read this column.
However, if you are a traveler who wants to experience a country, get the feel of its people, food, and history, this column is for you.
I’m going to take you on a drive, starting in Athens, Greece, around one of the most scenic and historic peninsulas in the world: the Peloponnesian. That drive will begin in the cradle of democracy, Athens, and go south through Corinth, the ancient city where Paul preached, and continue on south to the Gibraltar of Greece, Monemvasia. It’s a great trip, but an easy one. The driving is routine and the scenery, ancient ruins and food are all superb.
A number of airlines serve Athens, and one of the ways to get there is to fly non-stop to Zurich, Switzerland, spend a day to rest up, and then fly to Athens. If you haven’t been to Athens, you should spend a few days there. The Archeological Museum, the Acropolis, and Plaka (old city) are a must.
When you visit the Acropolis, you can stand on the low hill beside the structure where Paul addressed the Stoics of Athens. At night, when the Parthenon is lighted and the bouzoukis are playing, the Plaka is magical. You can stay on Constitution Square in a four or five star hotel, or venture down into the old city, and be just as comfortable and a lot closer to the action for a whole lot less money. A short trip from Athens to the nearby mountains will take you to Delphi where Alexander the Great was told by the Oracle of Delphi, “You will be a great ruler.”
We were living in Benghazi when we took a mid-January trip to Athens. After a few days in the city, we took a bus to Delphi and walked through snow in the ancient ruins. I have never been that cold. We could hardly wait to get on that warm bus. It stopped at a small town, we opened the bus window, and bought two lamb shish kabobs for the equivalent of 50 cents each for supper. The best money I’ve ever spent.
Our trip to the Peloponnesian came much later when we traveled with Clara and Dr. Steve Jones. After Athens, we took our rent-a-car and headed toward the Peloponnesian.
Our first was stop was ancient Corinth, and the Corinth Canal. The canal cuts across the peninsula to link the Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf. When the Apostle Paul preached in Corinth, slaves dragged ships across the narrow strip (four miles) of land, which saved weeks of sailing around the peninsula. One of the Roman Caesars started to cut a canal, but Egyptian engineers told him the Aegean Sea would flow through and flood Rome. Well, that Caesar listened to them, and stopped construction. The canal was built centuries later in the late 1800s… and it didn’t flood Rome.
There is a place to stop and view the canal, which looks like a saber cut through the rock. It’s only a few miles on to the city of Corinth, and you should spend most of a day in Corinth in the ruins of the old city. You can stand where they say Paul preached to the Corinthians, which was the center of the ancient town during the first century, and then take a tour of the upper medieval
city. The upper fortified city is much better preserved and the view is spectacular. Don’t bother with the new town.
Our next stop was ancient ruins of Mycenae where we walked through the Lion Gate to the excavated ruins. The Lion Gate is one of the most impressive ancient wonders I have ever seen. When you look closely at the two lions framing the gate, you will realize the Mycenaeans hadn’t invented the Roman styled arch and the gate is not an arch. It is called a relieving triangle, Cyclopean Masonry. The tombs just inside the Gate have been excavated and the contents are breathtaking.
Mycenae is pre-classical Greek (1250 B.C.). The excavated and restored ruins and the museum are worth most of a day. Nearby is the tomb of Agamemnon that is an easy visit however it is a little disappointing since it is just a huge empty domed structure.
The next part of our drive was through the mountains to the coastal town of Nafplion, which advertises itself as the most beautiful village in Greece, and it is gorgeous. The town has a wonderful medieval atmosphere, and a walk on the narrow paved streets of the Old Town is a must. On top of a hill above Nafplion is the Fortress of Palamidi, which has a great view of the Aegean Sea. At the entrance of the port, near the beachfront, there are a number of great seafood restaurants. We had lunch there outside on an open patio, and the fresh fish right out of the Aegean was wonderful.
The next stop on our drive was Monemvasia, sometime called the Gibraltar of Greece because of its strategic position on the lower Peloponnesian coast. The town with its impressive city wall sits perched above the Aegean on the end of a causeway. The small town is pedestrian only.
We parked our car and carried our bags into the old village. That’s not a big deal since it’s a very small town and everything is fairly close. We stayed there a couple of nights and the first night we went to a restaurant down the street from our hotel and dined overlooking Homer’s “wine dark sea.” It was a wonderful experience and the meal was fresh seafood.
However, just after we had paid our bill, the lights went out, and not just in the restaurant, but in the entire town. Of course, we figured they would come back on in a few minutes, but the restaurant folks seemed just to take lights-out as time to get out the lanterns, and then we started trying to figure out how to get down a pitchblack dark street. We didn’t have a flashlight, but after a few minutes we came up with a packet of tissues and some matches. Then, as we left the restaurant, it was light a tissue and throw it out in front of us on the street and then walk to the burning tissue and then do the same thing over and over again until we came to the hand rail up to our hotel.
On our return trip to Athens, we stopped at several interesting sights as we drove through what was ancient Sparta. A short drive from new Sparta, very near the town of Mystras is an impressive Byzantine castle with numerous churches. From the top of this castle you get a view of the valley of Sparta and view remnants of a society where every man was a warrior.
The drive on to Athens from Sparta was less than three hours including a couple of stops. We all gave that trip to Greece and the drive five stars.