Athens to Home - Day 18

It was a long day in many ways. The flights themselves were as good as can be hoped for in economy class, not that we ever travel anything but economy. I think Turkish Airlines is very nice. The entertainment is the best we have ever had, as is the food. The staff is friendly and kind. Our walk to a connecting gate wasn't as far this time, which was good because we had 3 additional security checks to board the plane. I don't mind, it is for our safety. We are not allowed to take any electronics onboard the plane, other than a cell phone, this includes cameras. Needless to say we had to check our bags. Others apparently did not heed this warning and had to get in a special line to hand over electronics when further checked. Last night I put all my photos on a USB drive so it my laptop didn't make it, I would  still have my photos and the blog is online of course. Our flight left an hour late, I suppose due to all the electronics being collected, identified, and stored for the flight. The flight was uneventful, I did doze a little and watched a few movies, none of which I can recall at the moment. 

Upon landing we proceeded as usually to Passport control. John was annoyed it was taking so long but it seemed average to me. Yes, I know about global entry but we travel overseas rarely so it doesn't seem worth the trouble and time to get this. After passport control we waited for luggage... and waited... and waited some more! Our first bag came through but we waited TWO hours for the next bag. That seems crazy. However, looking over at the VERY LONG lined for those waiting to get their confiscated electronics, I was relieved I did not have to be in that line. Of note, it was still very VERY long when we left the airport. 

Our shuttle for the parking area came quite quickly, they dropped us off right at the Jeep. John walked over to the Hilton and showed them our paid receipt so we could exit the parking while I loaded the luggage. Soon we were on our way and happy to be just about to 580, and more familiar area, before it was too dark. We made it home with a strong coffee and determination. If we did have a flight to FYI we would probably not have made the flight due to the long wait for luggage. However,  I really prefer NOT to drive home after such a long flight again.  

We fell into bed just after midnight - Thanking God once again that we had this opportunity to travel together and arrive home safely. 

Athens - Day 17

We slept in until we woke up, about 8a for me and 9a for John. He woke coughing and blowing his nose but felt fine after a hot breakfast and hot shower. My throat is scratchy but I feel fine. We spent the remainder of the morning talking about packing, but did nothing toward that goal!

We were excited to meet Alexandra and Sue at To Mavro Provato (the Black Sheep) for lunch. What a fun place! Alexandra talked a lot with the waiter to decide what we would have for lunch, I chose one dish of potato salad with mackerel. All of the food was delicious. They serve things in smaller portions, almost like "tapas" but a bit larger. The lamb dish was pretty large - Even four of us could not finish it. It is nice we tried different things that we have not had yet. We started with tiny slices of bread with minced tomato and herbs to put on top. Next was a delicious salad with thinly sliced, cured beef, cheese, lettuce, tomato, figs, and topped with balsamic vinegar and truffle oil dressing. Main dishes were veal with pureed eggplant, a fried cheese that tasted like mozzarella with some delicious coating on it and finished off with black sesame seeds and Ouzo (you could not tasted the Ouzo). then the lamb with sliced baked potatoes served also with a side of risotto type dish made with rice butter and chicken broth. This rice dish is served at weddings as the first course appetizer to insure a happy marriage. It seemed to melt in the mouth. Every dish was outstanding, it is hard to choose a favorite. The veal with tomato sauce and eggplant is something I will try at home. They grill the eggplant, then peel and puree, I'm not sure what else is added because it is the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes. We had some white wine from the winery where we had a lunch and wine tasting to go along with this. John thought he was sneaky to secretly tell the waiter to bring us the check - Alexandra thought she was sneaky to use the restroom and try to pay the check! She was too late so she then proceed to order us a table full of sweets! There is a chocolate and caramel pie with peanut butter ice cream, yogurt with spoon sweets, and my favorite that looked a bit like a Neapolitan, but not at all the same. The first layer had a custard cream, the lower layer was candied fruits with honey. We could not eat another bite!

Lunch at To Mavro Provato

Salad

Cheese

Potato Salad 

Veal 

Lamb - Potatoes - Rice 

Desserts

Here We Are!!! 

I've been searching for caper leaves for a dish we were served on Santorini and Alexandra brought be a jar, which a friend of her prepared! How special, thoughtful, and sweet. If I must check my luggage to get them home I will do so, but as it turns out we must anyway.

After lunch we finally went to the Acropolis! Neither of us feel energetic but we will not come to Athens and miss going to the Acropolis that we viewed from afar each morning we were in Athens. With the ticket Alexandra gave us in hand and the book from George, we marched on. We both agreed we could not have done this in warmer weather. We are so glad we came in early Spring because of the wildflowers as well. Up the Acropolis we went and we were surprised it was not as hard as we thought it would be. It seemed so far up when starting out but soon we were looking out from the very top in every direction - Oh the views! We are happy we made it. Going down was more challenging because of so many people and the heat. When we came to a place with little breeze, that is where we rested. One one of these rests a man asked if I spoke English. I have been asked at at least 6 times on this trip, I noticed because 3 times today. I must look Greek! I was surprised this man was from Maine and all by himself, he simply wanted a photo with the Parthenon in the background, which of course I was happy to take for him. I told him in our group we had 14 women from Maine but they just headed home. He wanted to know where all of them were from but of course I drew a blank immediately. I guess I am tired! We made our way down and then over to the Areopagus  where Paul spoke the Athenians and converted a senator who was canonized and became a patron of Athens. We decided since we were out of water and tired, we would not go up there. John posed on the ancient steps and we left happy that we saw it. I might add, we got some really great photos of this spot from the Acropolis. 

The Temple of Athena

The Parthenon

The Areopagus From the Acropolis

Temple of Zeus From Acropolis

Our Hotel and Mountain

The Areopagus & John

We walked through a shopping area to Hadrian's Arch and caught a taxi back to the hotel. We made arrangements for a taxi at 7a. Since the restaurant doesn't open until 7a they will bring us a breakfast box at 6:30a. That would have worked out fine but when I went to use their computer to print the boarding passes it seems we are really leaving at 10:10a not 9:35a so we have a half hour reprieve! We will have a taxi at 7:30a and eat lunch with a view of the Acropolis for the last time tomorrow morning at 7a! That's the good news ... The bad news is we cannot carry any electronics on board but a cell phone. I do NOT like to relinquish my small travel laptop but a rule is a rule. Therefore, we will be checking our carryon suitcase to fly home. I hope it arrives. I spent quite a bit of time transferring all my photos to USB drives I carry with me. 

We packed, which made me feel slightly refreshed to have that done and I wanted to go up and have a glass of wine while looking at the Acropolis, John is a good sport and agreed so up we went to the 6th floor for our last night. We finally had some Ouzo - pretty strong but we cut it with some water. It comes clear, you add ice and it become cloudy, then you add a little water or any fruit juice to again lessen the blow. We enjoyed it with just a bit of water added. We had some shrimp prepared a different way than we were used to and a glass of the bubbly to send us off. We are sad to see this fabulous trip end but also ready to go home and the truth is we are tired. "Home" with our family and Tony sounds pretty good. 

Shrimp Appetizer & Sparkling Wine

Athens & Corinth (Korinthos) - Day 15

What I can say about today is John and I stood on the Bema where the Jews brought Paul before Gallio to be judged. HOW COOL IS THAT? (Acts 18:12-17) 

"To the church of God which is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours; grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 1:2-3)

Let me start at the beginning of our day. As usual we were up, had breakfast, ready, and waiting in the lobby for our 8a pickup. George was prompt and his taxi was a Mercedes Benz, which was clean and comfortable. He had bottles of cold water in a cooler for us to have as needed. George showed us a couple of sites as we crawled our way out of the city, I didn't want to tell him we already saw these sites with Alexandra and disturb his plan. As he drove he told us a lot of information about this city of Eleusis, a mythical story. It sounded familiar. Anyway half way to Eleusis (which we are not going to) we stopped at a Byzantine Monastery of Daphni. The Monastery was badly damaged over the years and by an earthquake in the 1980's. They are painstaking restoring it and it has been closed for some time. However, it is a quick stop and he thought we might like to see it. It is supposed to be open on Tuesday and Friday from 8a-10a so our timing is good. We have never seen such a site! It is the typic al old stone look on the outside and inside there is gold and bright colors being restored on the walls and ceiling. The mosaics do not look completed like they show in photos but only parts are restored. There was one other couple that was very quiet, like we were, it seemed like a very spiritual time. I don't think my photos do it justice. I could not even get a photo of the full outside so I found one online. 

Monastery of Daphni

Not Completely Restored

One of Many Restored Sections

So after a visit there we continued on our way to our first stop at the Corinth Canal. Another amazing site. This used to be the Isthmus of Corinth until 1893 when this canal was completed after 11 years of work. It is 3.6 miles long and finally connected the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea, creating the Corinth Canal. It is breathtaking to walk along the pedestrian walk, a stretch for me as it is narrow. John took most of the photos from this point. George brought us along the old road at the top bridges so we can see it from this perspective. He will take us to the lower area near the end of our visit in Corinth. The first to try this construction was Periander in the 7th century BC. He soon gave up and instead built stone ramp as a way to move goods and small vessels across the Isthmus of Corinth. called the Diolkos Passage or stone carriage way. Nero attempted to construct this with Jewish slaves in 67 AD but this was abandoned after his death. The remnants of the stone passage way still remain, although quite overgrown with grass and wildflowers, George will show us that when we go down to the water later.  At one point in history they rolled s hips along logs from one side to the other, using some ancient Egyptian devices. Seems like a lot of work but in fact is saved them 200 nautical miles!

The Corinth Canal 

Map of the Area

Now on to Ancient Corinth. We drove through the current city of about 2K people to the ruins of Ancient Corinth and the Museum. The museum was small  but very interesting. it really had nothing to do with Paul but had some very interesting items. The most interesting was two Sarcophagui with two men of approximate 35 years old and the Sarcophagui  had two bigger-than-life statues on top of them. We were not allowed to photograph that exhibit because the docent said the information has not been published yet. The skeletal remains still had perfect teeth intact. It was all quite amazing to look at. It was very quiet in the museum and the docent showed us several things and explained them to us. The museum is small so it didn't take long to see everything. 

Museum Photos

Trade Amphora

Mirror

Bed

Now we are outside in the Ancient City of Corinth. Paul stayed on in Corinth for 18 months staying with Priscilla and Aquila, he met them when he came here from Athens (Acts 18:1-3). Then he went on to Ephesus, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him. (Acts 18:18-19) First we can see the market area, the Temple of Apollo, and many other partial structures that we don't know what they are. Birds are singing, bees buzzing around the wildflowers in bloom, and a group of monks are softly singing Hallelujah under a tree to our right in the shade. Can you see the splendor of this place in time? We walked on amazed by what we saw and came to the Bema where Paul was taken before Gallio (Acts 18:12-17) this is a bit surreal!  To think that we can just walk right up there is astonishing! I wonder what Paul saw as he looked out over the area? Surely the Temple of Apollo as it is large. Could he see the Ionian Sea from where he was? He was a small man, if trees or structures were too high, maybe not. Surely he could look up at Acrocorinth! George told us Paul stayed in a cave on the side of the mountain part of his stay in this area, I have not attempted to confirm or deny this yet. George also told us to take as long as we want in the area. He is parked near the exit, he is not allowed to come in with us to be a guide, one has to hire a professional guide to take you through. In hindsight, that would have been nice because there isn't even a pamphlet to guide you through, only a map on a plaque and some signage. There are at least a couple of church groups here reading Bible verses under the few shade trees in the area. What an amazing place. This morning we were tired and could have stayed in bed, thanking God we did not!!! Everything pales in comparison to this stop but I will enter the rest of our activities for the day. 

Market Place

Bema 

Plaque on Bema

Bema & Acrocorinth

Market Place

The all important lunch was next. It was the only lunch we were slightly disappointed in, just that the lamb was dry. The Greek Salad was huge and we had an artichoke dish called aginares me araka  (artichoke and pea stew) with the largest artichoke hearts I have ever seen, the one is about 3" across!

Lunch

After lunch we headed to the Ancient Port of Cenchreae where Paul came when he entered this area. There isn't much there but a tattered sign and a few men fishing. The shore curves and on the other side of the curve it says that is ancient Christian dwellings or remains of a basilica. I stuck my hand in the water and talked to the guy fishing, he caught something but I didn't recognize the name he said. George said "bull head" but that is a fresh water fish no one want to eat, so who knows? It was nice to see the port anyway. There is a lot to read about the Corinth Area. We saw the stone carriage way where they pulled boats and cargo across the Isthmus.

Ancient Port of Cenchreae

Stone Railway - The Diolkos

"The Diolkos was a roadway with a width of 10 meters at the starting point on the Gulf of Corinth. The stone-paving began at the very edge of the sea. Ships were taken to this starting point and there dragged onto the Diolkos. These ships rested initially on wooden cylinders and were then transferred to a special wheeled vehicle. To reduce the weight of the ship as far as possible, it was unloaded before being hoisted onto the Diolkos and the unloaded commodities were taken by ordinary road to the other end of the Isthmus. Narrowing to between 3.50 and 6 metres after its starting point the Slipway was paved with porous stone throughout its length. Two deep parallel grooves, which ran at a distance of 1.50 metres from each other, marked the Diolkos. Thus, the ship was dragged all across the Isthmus. On reaching the Slipway's terminus on the Saronic Gulf, it was lowered into the sea, the cargo was loaded again, and the ship continued with its journey. This arrangement did not merely speed up traffic. It also enabled ships moving between the Central and Eastern Mediterranean to avoid the rough seas almost unavoidable in a voyage round the Peloponnese."

Now we have just a quick drive to a crossing at the sea level of the Corinth Canal. Our timing was perfect because they have a bridge that submerges in the water 27-28' to let boats pass. It was down when we arrived so we saw two boats pass through and then watched as the bridge reappeared from beneath the water. It took about five minutes for it to come up into place. After that we walked across it and got a few photos. What great timing! The bridge only submerges on demand and it doesn't happen that often according to George. 

Corinth Canal From Sea Level 

It took about an hour to get back to our hotel, there is a lot of traffic when you reach Athens. We relaxed the rest of the day. I would highly recommend George's Taxi to anyone wanting a organized private tour company. They can take 2-4 in the taxi we had but they have vans and buses as well. George and his three sons run the business. George was born in Greece, met his wife who was born in Greece, in Australia. He lived in the USA and two of his sons were born there. He moved back to Greece because his wife missed her family too much. It is difficult to make a living here. Use George for cruise ship excursions and more. I will be writing a review on both Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor. 

George's Taxi

Athens - Day 14

Even though we both got up several times in the night, we slept in until just after 10a. The entire group has left by now and we are on our own. We missed breakfast but we have coffee in our room and John had an apple and granola bar. I worked most of my time on photos and my blog, John read.

By 2p we decided we better get out and find a bank and eat a meal. We went back to To Kafeneio (I guess the English spelling) where we ate outside and had yet another marvelous meal. We had an interesting conversation with a couple of men who live in Greece. One is from the UK and seemed distinguished and one from Denmark who was drinking and smoking a lot and clearly it has taken a toll. The two men seemed to be old friends and that is the nature of old friendships that they remain even as we differ greatly in life and experiences. I digress... It is amazing that we have not met one person in Israel, Egypt, or Greece who does not like Trump and yet have a great loathing for both Obama and Hillary. The gentleman from the UK was especially interesting with his views of the US, Brexit, Greece, North Korea, and more. On a lighter note they had Sambuca for their after dinner drink and taught us how to drink this the "Italian" way, which we had as well. You are served the Sambuca in small shot glasses with a small dish of coffee beans. You add some coffee beans to your glass and lite it on fire. The fire does not show but the Sambuca bubbles. You let it go on like this for a few minutes and then cover the shot glass with the base of another glass to put out the flames, then you let it cool. It was a bit embarrassing - since the Sambuca was in a shot glass and I "assumed" it was to be "shot" but when I did the UK man was amusingly horrified. Apparently I was supposed to sip it, well he had a good laugh and so did I. I must say it would have been better to sip. You crunch away at the coffee beans and I am sure that is where I got my strength for the following adventure. 

Lunch

Fava Beans (we messed it up before the photo!)

Greek Salad-A Meal In Itself!

Lamb For Both of Us

Our New Friends

 Sambuca

After the Burn

After our meal we had a banking adventure. We walked to a bank down the street in hope to exchange our US dollars for Euros. Personally I just wanted to use the ATM but John didn't like having so much cash on hand. We were told we could exchange at the bank. Once we figured out how to "get in" the bank (there is a button to push, you then enter an enclosure, push another button to go from that chamber into the bank itself. So once we were inside we asked if we could exchange before standing in the VERY long line. We were told we could not unless we belonged to that bank, which of course we do not. So, that said we got in what we thought was the ATM line inside the bank. After waiting some time watching a woman deposit E$50 bills (at least 30 of them) one at a time, it was finally our turn. I did voice concern to John that the machine looked different and maybe it was a deposit only --- but we went ahead and stuck the card in. It asked for our card number so we put in our pin number and then things got worse. It said that was not our card number. We pushed the button to cancel our transaction and the machine flash black, then said it was out of order, not returning our card. Meanwhile, there is a long line of unhappy people behind us. Well, I assume they were unhappy, I would be, but they did not look unhappy, nor did they grumble at us. We called a man from a nearby desk and told him it kept our card. He opened the machine and worked on it for a few minutes and then asked if we were sure we put a card in? Yes, we did. He said it must be destroyed and that is why it won't come out. He called a second guy who did manage to get it out by inserting another card and forcing the screw on the side to release our card. It was not damaged! They did need our passport for identification before giving our card back. I only had a copy of mine but thank God John had the foresight to put his in his money belt in case he needed to exchange money. The nice man filled out a form and had John sign and we had our card back in hand. Then he pointed out the Cash Withdraw machine, where we used our card and went on our way - of course after the dual chamber exit process. Phew, we won't do that again!!! Back up the hill and numerous steps and we are at the hotel. We got to our room and then our key cards didn't work. Thankfully, the maid was nearby and let us in. Then we called the front desk and had them send up new key cards. All's well that ends well!!! We had a nice, slow paced day. It was such a leisurely lunch, no need to meet a schedule, visiting with former strangers, learning a little bit about their lives, that's what travel is for me as well. We have an 8a call for our private tour to Corinth tomorrow, I hope I sleep tonight after such a lazy day. I am sure I only climbed 9-10 staircases! 

I think somebody wants a walk...

Crete to Athens - Day 13

This was one full day. We left our hotel at 8a to avoid the cruise ship crowds that will show up at the Knossos archaeological site. This was a wise move as when we arrived we were the first bus, when we left there were at least 30 buses, not to count vans and cars! Now on to The Palace of Knossos - This city of antiquity has been continuously inhabited since the Neolithic period until the 5th century AD.  We entered via the West Entrance of the Palace on an original pathway and viewed the original courtyard. The tree here signifies where there was an alter where sacrifices were made. The Minoans worshiped Mother Earth and everything that goes along with that thought process. The Palace has many thrilling legends such as the myth of the Labyrinth with the Minotaur and the stories of Daidalos and Ikaros.  You can read about those if Greek Mythology is an interest. One of the most interesting things to me was the road we saw at the end of the tour. This road is the original road built 2200 BC that is believed to be the oldest road in Europe. This road is 52 miles long and connected the palaces of Knossos and Festos (Phaistos) on the south coast. 

West Entrance Original Stone Courtyard

Original Stairs

Reproduced Column

Oldest Road in Europe 2200 BC

After the visit to the Palace of Knossos we went to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum where the artifacts from the Palace are housed. There are a lot of police around the museum today. We were told it is because the Environmental Minister of China is having a private tour. His tour isn't really "private" as we see him along with his group in front of us for most of our tour. We are told by our friends on tour with us that know details of Chinese Gov't structure that he is not a very important person in China. Anyway, about our visit.  This is an excellent way to visit archaeological sites; to first visit the site and have this perspective to see the original artifacts in the museum. It really gives a comprehensive knowledge of life of the times. One of the most impressive items is the Festos Disc. There are so many amazing finds at this museum you could spend the whole day. At least we had a guided tour and saw the highlights. Though photos are allowed, it is almost impossible to get good photos because of glass and other visitors. 

Festos Disc

Bathtub for the Queen

Bull-Leapers Fresco

After the museum we had free time for lunch and walking around the area. I found a silver chain for the column pendant I bought in Athens. We had a hamburger for lunch and walked to the famous lion fountain. We were back to the bus by 1:30p and surprisingly everyone was on time. 

Fountain of the Lions

We met this big boy - so friendly, talked to his owner. When you stopped petting him he nudged your legs and rubbed around your legs to make you continue. He was really very beautiful with long dark hair and immaculately groomed. A well-loved pet with a disposition like Tony. His owner was eating a sandwich, which he longing looked at but she said he cannot have salt. He is part Schnauzer and part something I did not understand. 

From here we headed to the airport for our 40 minute Aegean Airlines flight back to Athens. The stewardess were smartly dressed in suits with pill box hats, makeup, scarf around the neck, very neat and professional. It was like something from the 60's! They even served us with a smile and gave us a candy before take off and a soft drink or coffee mid flight with a little pack of almonds covered with something sweet. Every time we fly something but US carriers we are greatly impressed! After arrival in Athens our luggage was placed on the bus and we headed directly to our seaside drive along the lovely coast to Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon. We are all very tired but we solider on for this 50 minute drive. This tour was rearranged because of the Easter week or we would have visited when we were in Athens before. It wasn't too far up to the temple after arrival and we had some outstanding views. 

Cape Sounion

Poseidon Temple

One hour on the bus and we were back to the Lycabettus hotel in Athens for our Farewell Dinner at 9p. This would have been our simple welcome dinner and the welcome dinner at the restaurant would have been our farewell dinner but again due to the schedule change for Easter things were changed. That was fine with us. We typically don't eat so late but we ate some of our dinner, and had some wine. Some of our group is leaving as early as 3:30a for the airport, most leave around 9-9:30a I think. We were among the first to say good-bye and goodnight! We just dumped everything in our room and went to bed, closing our eyes just after 11p.

Farewell Dinner

Spanakopita 

Chicken - Potatoes - Vegetables

Dessert - Sesame Seed & Honey Shell

Ice Cream and Fruit Glaze