Greek Road Trip

After our brief stay in Athens, we joined our friends on a weekend trip to Nafplio, a seaside town on the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece.

We drove from Athens (and back again), each time taking a different route that showed us the historic sights of Greece. Our first stop on Saturday morning was the Corinth Canal. A technological achievement of its time, the canal was built in 1893 to link the gulf of Corinth to the Saronic gulf of the Aegean Sea. While now it's mainly used for tourist ships, it originally saved 400 kilometers off the journey of trade ships. But to us, it was a cool sight. The blue was vivid and the bridge just rickety enough to make a fraidy-cat like me hold my breath.

Our next stop was the Theater at Epidaurus. The acoustics here are noted for being perfect. From the center of the stage, noise is audible even to the highest portion of the theater. Naturally, we tested the theory ourselves and found it to be pretty credible. That's my dear husband standing in the middle of the theater in the photo below. He pulled a coin from his pocket, dropped it on the dirt, and sure enough we could hear it from the top of the rows.

On Sunday morning, we got an earlier start on the trip back to Athens and visited a few more sights, exploring the Mycenaean world. The Treausry of Atreus was our first stop and we were doubly lucky that it was 1) free and 2) completely empty (at least, until our way out). The lintel stone above the doorway weighs over 120 pounds! Can you even imagine how that was lifted and used during the Bronze Age (around 1250BC)?! Mind-boggling. The interior is an underground dome that was richly decorated and served as a tomb.

After exploring the citadel of ancient Mycenae (the photo at the top of this post is from the height of the fort) and taking a cheesy group picture under the Lion's Gate, we hopped back into the car and headed for stadium at Nemea (below). This athletic facility may look like a field of dirt but the flat surface was run by many an athlete and is still used for reenactments these days. Around the corner is the 'changing room' facility where the athletes disrobed (they competed naked) before running into a tunnel that empties to the stadium. The NFL (and many colleges) have picked up on this tradition so clearly athletes have always loved a grand entrance. After a woman snuck in to view as a spectator, all visitors were also expected to disrobe and watch the competition in the nude. Thanks goodness this is an Olympic tradition that hasn't continued.

While on the road, it wasn't all about ancient sites and historic figures. It was, naturally, about wine as well. When we passed a vineyard that our friends were familiar with, we stopped for a brief tastings. Naturally a couple favorites from the Terra Leone vineyards in Greece made it into our suitcases. Thanks goodness we booked our return on Olympic Airlines - EasyJet doesn't allow for free bag checking! It wasn't all about the fancy wines, our friends stopped to get some unmarked bottles of the good (cheap) stuff at a roadside stand. We were highly tempted by the olive oil and amazing-looking citrus for sale but restrained ourselves, knowing it'd probably leak all over our suitcases!


Our last stop before heading direct to the Athens airport was Temple of Zeus at Nemea. The Nemean Games were founded here and were part of the Panhellenic games cycle in ancient Greece. With the blue skies and warm air, it was a perfect bookend to a fabulous long weekend in Greece. We're keeping our fingers crossed to return again someday (we still have quite a few islands to visit!).