Tuesday 13th May 2008

We heard yesterday that there is a major strike in progress in Greece at the moment. It involves truck drivers, including the ones driving fuel tankers and there are fuel shortages over the whole of Greece. We filled up with diesel on Saturday but apparently we were lucky to do so. We decided to check out the situation today whilst stocking up with supplies and visiting a local ancient site. We drove into Paralia Akratas to the supermarket, then through Egira and up the hill to Ancient Egira (or Aigeira) high above the modern town. This was a large site with a Mycenaean-type palace on the acropolis, a theatre just below, an agora further down the hill and the associated Roman port some 3km away. The gates of the theatre area were locked but we could see almost everything from outside. The theatre was impressive, carved into the natural rock but there was very little else to see, except that is for the fantastic views, including the small Akrata peninsular where our campsite is located. The site is almost opposite Delphi on the other side of the Gulf of Corinth and in ancient times, with the polished marble of the buildings shining in the sun, it must have been possible to see it from here.
We returned to the campsite for lunch and noted that all of the fuel stations were closed. Later we learned that there was no diesel available in the area and only one station on the National Road that was selling petrol. We were also told that trucks were protesting by blocking 10km of the National Road near Patras. The strikers are making an announcement this evening and we can only hope that they will call an end to the strike.
Photos: The theatre at Ancient Aigeira; View of the Akrata Peninsular from Ancient Aigeira – the campsite is on the tip of the peninsular.

Monday 12th May 2008

What a lazy day! We fully intended to move on today but decided that we had spare time in our planned itinerary, so we decided to stay another day. We spent the day relaxing, eating, drinking and chatting at length with Pat and Sandy – they are such good company. I had lots of blog entries to write but didn't get very far. The evening meal was spent watching the sea gently caress the shore and listening to one of my favourite folk music CDs – 'Warts an' All'. I can guarantee that, unless your name is Bossingham or Mill, you haven't got a copy of this CD. When we visited our great friends John and Sue Bossingham, John gave us this recording of his fiddle tunes. He was very modest about it but I wish that I could play anything like as well as he does. The music transports me back to their lovely house on the edge of Dartmoor and the fantastic walks that we have done with Sue, John and family on the moor. John regularly runs long distances over Dartmoor even in the snow and freezing temperatures. I hate running but love walking and John has, on many occasions, slowed down sufficiently to guide me on long walks in that beautiful area. There are so many options for walks directly from their house or just a short drive away, it really is paradise. I can honestly say that theirs is the only friend's house that I covet. I could live there quite happily, walking every day.
Photos: Our pitch at Camping Akrata Beach with Pat and Sandy's beautifully painted gates.

Sunday 11th May 2008

Rain woke us in the early morning. We were parked under a large tree and this is bad news when it rains. If there is continuous light rain and the van is in the open, the effect is quite pleasant and it is easy to sleep through it. However under trees, the water collects on the leaves and then comes off in much larger drops, making loud, irregular noises that are much more difficult to sleep through. With large trees the large drops have further to fall and are even louder when they hit Henrietta's roof. The moral of the story is not to park under trees if it is likely to rain. It rained for five or six hours and it was only just before we left, at 10:00 that it stopped.
We had already decided last night that we would visit the Cave Lakes on the way to Kalavrita and, given the weather, it was a good decision. We were very high up in the mountains, the outside temperature was only about 10°C and we saw that the rain that had fallen in Planiterio had fallen as snow only a little higher. We had our own personal tour of the caves as we were the only people there, which was very useful as the guide attempted to explain things in his very limited English. We in turn helped him with a few English words and terms. The cave was quite impressive being 2 km long and on three levels. Only the 500m long second level is open to the public and there are no plans to open the third despite the fact that our old guidebook suggested that they intended to open it in 2000. The guide explained that there is very little airflow in that part of the cave and the the oxygen would not be sufficient for groups to be taken around. The second level has three lakes that are full in January, February and March when Winter rainfall and snow melt find their way into the cave. Small waterfalls join the lakes, running over the formations on the floor of the cave. In the Summer the cave is dry and when we visited, there was still some water in the lakes although they were not full and there were no waterfalls. The two most impressive things were the huge curtain stalactites, some of which had taken one million years to form, and the bats. Over 5,000 bats live in the caves and we were lucky enough to see some of them flying around and also a roost containing a few hundred and making a huge din as we passed directly underneath.
We had intended to stop in Kalavrita but decided against it given the weather, so we carried on beside the railway until we got close to Mega Spileou. Here we stopped for lunch with the monastery high up in the cliff in front of us and fantastic views up and down the gorge.
We then drove on to our campsite, a return visit to Camping Akrata Beach where we had stayed at no charge in mid-April. We were greeted by Manoli again and took up position by the newly-painted gates onto the beach. We met up with Pat and Sandy, the two American ladies and discovered that they had painted the gates – Manoli explained that they really wanted to help him. We then had a long chat with Pat, Sandy and Manoli exchanging news since we last saw them and putting the world to rights. Manoli explained that there is currently a strike of truck drivers, including fuel tanker drivers, protesting about the cost of fuel. This is beginning to lead to a shortage of fuel in some area, especially in Athens where there are long queues at fuel stations. We saw no sign of queues over the last few days and had no problem getting diesel, so we hope that we will be OK out in the countryside!
Photos: The trout ponds in front of 'O Planiterios'; Curtain stalactites at the Cave Lakes; Tiny ponds created by evaporating water on rocks in the Cave Lakes; The site of Mega Spileou as seen from our picnic spot.

Saturday 10th May 2008

Jane was not very impressed when I announced last night that I was going to set the alarm for 06:30 so that I could watch the sun rise over the mountains. However, she was as impressed as I was in the morning. We slept very well and not a single vehicle passed by on the road until well after we woke. There was a glow in the sky and not a breath of wind. We lifted the blind and opened the bedroom window and sat in bed watching the sky turn an orangey red as the sun appeared over the ridge of mountains. Absolutely magical – you would pay a fortune for a hotel room with such a breathtaking view.
When we last visited Vassae, we were able to walk all around the outside of the temple underneath the tent but now, one end of the temple had been closed off although we were able to view the area from the side. This was part of the extensive work that they are doing on the temple, which has an estimated completion date of 2020. Although the temple is beautiful, it is very easy to see the faults – columns lean at incorrect angles, parts of the floor have slumped and there are cracks in the walls of the cella (the inner, holy part of the temple). Thousands of years of weathering, settlement and earthquakes have taken their toll and repairs were desperately needed in order to ensure that the temple will still be there for future generations. They are systematically dismantling the temple, correcting the problems, replacing stone where needed (although always incorporating every available piece of ancient stone that is available), reinforcing the foundations and then reassembling it. This is obviously a very slow process! All of the columns at the northern end of the temple were removed in 2001 and put on a specially constructed base whilst the foundations and flooring were consolidated. These columns have not yet been replaced, although it is clear that much work has been done on them. When this work has been completed and those columns replaced, they have to do the same with all of the remaining columns, repair the floors and the cella, reconstruct the upper structure (currently stacked neatly all over the surrounding area like jigsaw pieces) and perhaps put a roof on – the original one was made of Parian (from the island of Paros) brilliant white marble. Then they plan to remove the tent structure to reveal the temple in all its glory. I suspect that 2020 may be a little optimistic but I really want to see it when it is completed and uncovered. Let's hope that it is in my lifetime!
After a last look at the view from the temple, we set off on what must be one of the most attractive drives in Greece, through the mountains and the traditional villages of Andritsena, Karitena, Stemnitsa, Dimitsana and Vitina. Our first stop was Andritsana where we had stopped at a hotel on our first visit to this area some 15 years ago. Then, all of the traditional shops such as the 'Pantopoleio' (everything shop) were open and their were only three small restaurants. Many houses were empty as the much of the population had moved to the cities for jobs and the remaining houses were attractive but in a rather run-down way. The change was quite dramatic – most of the traditional shops had closed to be replaced by more modern versions and new tourist shops had appeared. There are now many restaurants and cafés, houses have been modernised and disused houses renovated. There was only one medium sized and one small hotel then but now there are at least four and there are many signs for rooms to rent. It was good to see that the village was more affluent although a shame that it had lost some of its charm. However, some of the traditions had survived and I spent some time chatting to a cooper, still making wooden wine casks – they give a much better taste to the wine than plastic he told me. I left with a gift of local wine and I promised to send him a copy of one of the photographs that I had taken.
We also stopped in Stemnitsa and sampled their speciality tiny pastries filled with honey and walnuts and covered in huge amounts of icing sugar. The icing sugar went everywhere including all over my trousers, but the pastries were delicious. We made one more stop on the way which was just outside Dimitsana on the road to Zatouna. Here there is a viewpoint that gives a wonderful view down the Lousios Gorge with two monasteries, one clinging to its side and the other perched on top of its cliffs. I have vowed that next time that we visit, we will drive to the Philosophou Monastery and walk to the Prodromou Monastery.
We carried on north until we joined the road that we had used to travel south nearly three weeks earlier. We enjoyed Planiterio so much then that we decided to return there. Once again, we agreed with the taverna ('O Planiterios') that we could stay overnight if we had a meal there. This time the meal was lacking a little in atmosphere as it was too cold to sit out on the balcony and we were the only customers, but the food was still very good.
Photos: Sunrise at Vassae; The western side of the temple; The northern end with the removed pillars on their temporary bases; The protective tent; Karitena village and castle.

Friday 9th May 2008

We left the immaculate, most un-Greek but very comfortable, campsite and headed for more ruins. Nestor's Palace lies a few miles inland on a hill with commanding views down to Navarino Bay. On the way we passed many signs to Mycenaean tombs including many royal tholos tombs – this was a very rich area ruled by powerful kings. The rule of Nestor is very much tied up in Greek Mythology but he was a real Mycenaean king who ruled the area in the 13th century BC. His palace is the best preserved example of a Mycenaean palace and gives us a fascinating insight into Mycenaean life. It was in this palace that hundreds of clay tablets were found written in the ancient Mycenaean languages known as Linear A and Linear B. For many years after their discovery, these could not be deciphered and it was only in 1952-3 that two Britons, Ventris and Chadwick, established that both scripts were an early form of Greek. The tablets were only used for lists and administration, no Linear A or B novels or poems have been discovered but the contents of the tablets are still intriguing. The two main 'archive' rooms that contained hundreds of tablets seem to be associated with tax collection and administration, recording tax paid, debts due, distribution of goods etc. There are many storerooms in the palace and tablets found on huge olive oil jars described the qualities and flavours of the oil within. We learnt that they called their domestic pets such names as 'Whitefoot', 'Bawler', 'Darkie', 'Winey' and 'Blondie'. The clay tablets were only preserved because they were baked by the fire that destroyed the palace around 1200 BC – every cloud has a silver lining, although the Mycenaean residents may not have seen it that way. The palace had no defensive walls, another sign of the power of the rulers and Nestor had a large navy, second only to Agamemnon. However, leaving nothing to chance, there were guards stationed in the palace, two at the entrance and two by the door into the 'throne room' with its huge central, circular hearth, frescoed walls, tiled floor and royal throne where the king would receive visitors. Although we were very (and unnecessarily?) restricted as to where we walk, especially outside of the main palace building, it was still a magical site and well worth the visit. It was also very good value as we learned that all Greek sites were free for three days starting from today – something to do with Europe. This meant that our visit to the archaeological museum in the local village of Chora was also free and we were able to see many finds from Nestor's Palace. Amongst the highlights were example of the Linear A and B tablets, huge amounts of pottery cups, bowls and plates (they must have had huge banquets), large vessels decorated with octopuses and a Venetian gold coin thought to have been dropped when the Venetians were pinching stone blocks from the palace!
On then to more ruins at Messini, which we hoped to approach using fairly minor roads. However, and we had heard this from someone else who attempted the same journey, we saw no signs that bore any relation to the places on our map. We ended up in modern Messini, confusingly a long way from ancient Messini but finally made it to the site at 14:30. Our guidebooks told us that the site closed at 15:00 but, fortunately, only the museum closed at that time and the site was open until 20:00. This gave us plenty of time to view the extensive site. We met an archaeologist working on inscriptions on a large slab, part of a monument with four such slabs. Her job was to record and then translate the previously untranslated inscription and the result would form the basis of a speech to be given to a conference by her professor. She told us that the slab recorded a treaty between Megalopolis and Messini but we didn't find out whether this was before or after the Messinians poisoned a visiting general from Megalopolis! The walls of the city are also very impressive with large selection extant to a large height. We were particularly impressed by the Arcadian Gate which we drove through on the way to and from Messini (see photograph).
We visited my favourite palace earlier and we now drove on to my favourite temple through the beautiful mountain scenery so typical of the Peloponnese. So many people who come to the Peloponnese stick to the coast except when they have to go in land to the next major tourist site – they make a big mistake! Vassae is the site of the Temple of Apollo Epikourios (Apollo the Helper) built in the 5th century BC by the inhabitants of Figaleia in thanks for being saved from the plague of 429 BC. It is probably the best preserved temple in Greece and certainly occupies the most spectacular position of any site that I have seen. At over 1,030m (3,700 ft) it sits majestically on the edge of a mountain surrounded by many other mountains and ravines (Vassae means ravines) – the views are beautiful. It is 11 km to the nearest village – this is a wild land where the inhabitants had to fight hard to eke out a living from the small areas of fertile land, evidenced by the threshing floors cling to the windy slopes.
We knew that there were no campsites in the area and as we got close to Vassae, we noted potential wild camping spots. There were plenty of them and some were in spectacular positions with lovely views. For the uninitiated, the first sight of Vassae is a disappointment as the temple is covered by a vast white tent. This is designed to protect the temple whilst major repair work is carried out.
We arrived at the site at about 19:30 and decided to take a quick look before it closed. Because of the special Europe celebration, it was free but I bought a guidebook and had a brief pigeon Greek / German / English chat with the guardian who actually lives on site. He had already established that we had a motorhome and indicated that he expected us to stay overnight in the car park, which was somewhat surprising given that this is illegal. I asked when he opened in the morning and he answered “with the sun”! So we decided to take up his offer and stayed in the car park on the side of the road, parking lengthways so that we could sit and watch mountains as the colour faded in the sky and they became black jagged shapes against the deep blue.
Photos: The Throne Room of Nestor's Palace with the huge circular hearth and the place for the throne on the right; The bath at Nestor's Palace where Nestor's daughter Polykastra bathed Telemachus, rubbed him in oils and wrapped him in fine clothes so that “he came godlike from the bathing place”; Henrietta negotiating the Arcadian Gate through walls of Messini – this is the main road to the town of Meligalas; The treasury at Messini which is mentioned in ancient texts. The massive stones used to cover the top are also on display.

Thursday 8th May 2008

We wanted to take the opportunity for a long walk and we decided that the castle guarding the north-west entrance to the bay was in reach. We walked along the beach and, as we approached the castle hill, we came across a the nature reserve based around a large brackish lake on the other side of the beach from the bay. Turtles wander around the paths, terrapins scurry in and out of the freshwater stream and ospreys fish in the lake that is rich in sea life. At least that is what the boards said but we didn't see any of them! Except the fish and it is true to say that we saw hundreds of them - as we walked along the shore the water boiled with shoals of small silver fish breaking the surface.
A sign at the bottom of the castle hill said that the castle was closed for safety reasons but the path was well worn so we decided to go up to see the view even if we couldn't get in. The path took us beside the very narrow channel between the island of Sphakteria and the mainland and around to the open sea. We could only see a small part of the wall from the bay side but as we rounded the seaward side we saw the castle in its full glory, as potential attackers would have seen it. Now known as Paliokastro (old castle), it was built by Nicholas II of St. Omer (Northern France) in 1278 and area was known then as Porte des Joncs (rushes) after the rushes that grew in the marsh below (now the brackish lake). There was however a fortification on the hill in Classical Greek times when it was know as Koryphasia and the area was settled by many different invaders over a period of 2,000 years. We were able to get into the castle and found a route through the stones to the castle keep, with is also thought to have been the ancient acropolis. We were nearly at the highest point but couldn't see the exit at the other side or any obvious route across. Jane stayed in the shade whilst I acted as scout and when I found the exit, I met a young German couple coming up through it. They told me that it was very steep and they had to find handholds in order to climb up. I knew that I would never get Jane to clamber down so I reluctantly went back to Jane and told her that we would have to retrace our steps. However, before we descended, I was able to go to the Eastern side of the keep to see the view down over Navarino Bay, Sphakteria Island, the lake and one of the most beautiful bays in Greece. Voidokilia is a perfect semi-circle of white sand enclosing beautiful blue and turquoise water and it looks as though it has come straight off a holiday poster. This was our next objective but via the longer, if safer, route.
In the meantime I admired the view of Navarino Bay across to the modern town of Pylos overshadowed by another castle, Neocastro (new castle) – they are not very original with their names here! This castle, built originally by the Turks in 1572 and improved by the Venetians in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, guarded the other, wider entrance to Navarino Bay at the southern end of Sphakteria Island. There is jet another fortification on the island itself and this shows just how important this very large natural harbour was over thousands of years. It was here that, in ancient Greek times, the Athenians one a battle over the Spartans and took a number of surrendering Spartans prisoner. This destroyed the reputation of the invincibility of the Spartans who never allowed themselves to be captured.
A more recent and very decisive battle occurred in October 1827 and this was to signal the beginning of the end of the Greek War of Independence. The Greeks had massacred the Turks in Neocastro at the beginning of the war in 1821 but they had returned and were in control of the area. The British admiral Cunningham was sent to the area in command of an allied (British, French and Russian) fleet with orders to guarantee Greek independence without offending the Turks. This seemed to be an impossible task and so it turned out to be. After negotiations with both sides, the Greeks agreed to sign a armistice but the Turks refused. On this pretext, Cunningham gave the order to attack the Turkish fleet. Entering the bay through the southern channel, Cunningham faced the 82 warships and 2,438 guns of the Turkish fleet with the 26 ships and 1,270 guns of his own. By the end of the day the allied fleet had been annihilated with 53 Turkish ships sent to the bottom and 6,000 men dead. Meanwhile, the allied fleet had lost no ships and only 145 men. The British, ever the diplomats, desperate to limit the damage to relations with Turkey, described the victory as an 'untoward event' but the French and Russians did not conceal their delight. The Greeks erected a statue to the three allied admirals in the square in Pylos and every 20th October, ships from the three nations attend a celebration of the victory.
We walked back down and along the strip of land between the castle hill and the lake, arriving at the beautiful Voidokilia bay. I wanted to walk up to the so-called 'Cave of Nestor', occupied since Neolithic times, with a classical Greek remains below it. The cave went deep into the cliff but was largely featureless except for the faint shaft of light coming from a tiny hole in the roof. The cave was directly below the castle exit that I had rejected and on the way I met a Swiss family that had taken that route down. They explained that, although the first 3m were slightly difficult, there was no danger and it was easy after that. I could have come down that way but I still don't think that I would have persuaded Jane. Perhaps we will do it next time that we are in the area, in the reverse direction. There are many Mycenaean tombs in the area and the tholos tomb on the other side of the bay is said to be that of Thrasymedes, one of the sons of Mycenaean King Nestor. It was a long way around the bay in deep sand and we have seen a number of Mycenaean tholos tombs, so we decoded to head back to the campsite.
Photos: A shipwreck (not one of the Turkish fleet!) in Navarino Bay with Sphakteria island on the right and Pylos in the centre distance; Sphakteria Island from the old castle with the sea on the right and Navarino Bay on the left – the northern channel runs between the island and the castle hill; Voidokilia Bay viewed from the castle with the lake to the right.

Wednesday 7th May 2008

We got very distracted this morning and didn't leave the site until 12:00. We had a long chat with a very pleasant Scottish couple near us who confusingly had a Spanish registered motorhome as they lived in Spain and then Pat Miller introduced herself to us just as we were about to leave. Pat is the editor of the Hobby Club magazine in the UK and had spotted that we had a UK registered Hobby, quite a rarity especially in Greece. We didn't even know that there was a UK Hobby club so Pat gave us the details and we may well join once we return from the Odyssey.
So, eventually, we left and headed the short distance to Methoni and its castle. This is much more elaborate than the one at Koroni, having a large moat and intricate, very well guarded entrance. Methoni has a long history, being mentioned by ancient historians as a city in the 8th - 7th century BC and it was occupied by Phillip II of Macedonia (Alexander's father) in 354 BC. However, just like Koroni, it is the Venetians that have left the castle in its current form, as was obvious from the number of stone-carved Lions of St. Mark that we saw. In 1125 the Venetians invaded and destroyed the city and from 1206 to 1500 they ruled the area. During this time they built a massive fortification to protect what they called the 'Eyes of the Republic', an extremely important strategic location on their main trade routes to the Black Sea and the Middle East. The history was very bloody – after a Turkish siege in 1500 the Turks managed to storm the castle and beheaded every Venetian and Greek male over 10 years of age. They then held the castle until 1685 when, at the 6th attempt, the Venetians, desperate to win back Methoni, took it after the Turks surrendered. In 1715 the Turks once again took the castle, again massacring the Greek and Venetian defenders. You may by now be beginning to understand why the Greeks hate the Turks. The Turks continued to hold the castle even after the Greek War of Independence, only falling to French forces in 1828.
The castle encloses a very large area that contains ruins from many periods including two Turkish baths. The walls are largely intact except on the side that faces the wrath of the storms where large sections have fallen into the sea. We walked all over the site, including the Bourtzi (a small octagonal fort) built on an islet just off the castle. It was interesting to see stone cannonballs, bits of pillars and carved stones incorporated into the walls and buildings, indicative of the importance of the defence of the site over and above the aesthetics.
Conveniently, there were picnic tables on the beach just by where we had parked Henrietta and we had lunch there together with two other groups who came to use the facilities.
Pylos was the next stop, a working port and very pleasant town with an unusual silver-domed church in its centre. After a walking tour of the small town, we carried on to Camping Erodios at Gialova just a few miles away around the bay. This turned out to be a very sophisticated campsite by Greek standards – constant hot water in the showers, toilet paper provided, liquid soap at the washbasins and hand dryers – all almost unheard of in Greece. Unsurprisingly, it was quite a lot more expensive than other sites but occasional luxury is really appreciated.
Photos: Entrance to Methoni castle; The Bourtzi off Methoni castle linked to the castle by a stone bridge and a wooden drawbridge. In the background is the island of Sapienza ('wisdom' in Italian), on the other side of which lies the 'Well of Inousses' a 12,500 ft deep trench in the sea where European physicists have built an instrument on the sea bed to detect neutrinos; The interior of the castle – the column in the foreground comes from a shipwreck off the island of Sapienza. The ship was carrying granite columns pillaged from the 1st century AD Great Peristyle in Kessaria, Palestine built by Herod. One of the two Turkish baths can be seen in the middle distance, with the Bourtzi in the background.; The silver-domed church in Pylos.