Posted by Paul Groves on April 8, 2017

Mykonos, Greece




Day 93 of 111. Mykonos, Greece

The town of Mykonos is delightful. It is nearly Easter, so the houses and shops are being whitewashed and everything is bright. The colorful accents really stand out against the white, such as the blue dome on the church and the red doors on one of the restaurants. The streets lined with shops and eateries are very narrow and so only pedestrian traffic (and an occasional motor scooter) pass through them, especially in the afternoon.

Five windmills (formerly used to grind flour) are iconic for Mykonos as well as the large pelican who we ran into during our stroll through the town. The water has various shades of blue and looks very clean. We stopped at the Sunset Cafe and had some fried cheese, bread, and drinks and then went to Leonides Snack Bar for a great gyro. The gyro was really a little larger, but I took two bites out it before I remembered to take a picture!

Posted by Paul Groves on April 7, 2017

The Palace of Knossos, Iraklion, Greece






Day 92 of 111. Iraklion, Greece

We visited two sites today in Crete, the Palace of Knossos and the Heraklion Archeological Museum. These are closely related because on the palace site, the frescos and most of the artifacts have been removed to the museum. This site has ruins that date back to the Minoan Civilization, 1700 years B.C. The name of the civilization was given its name from King Minos, although the culture was really matriarchal, meaning that the Queen (Pasiphae) was the real ruler.

This site was discovered by a Greek businessman in 1878, but systematic excavations began in 1900 under Arthur Evans, then Director of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and was completed in about three years. About 20 years later, Evans began a project of reconstruction. This process always brings different opinions by different people. Some people argue that there was not always enough archeological evidence to back up the reconstruction ideas of Evans. On the other hand, the reconstructions make the ancient ruins more meaningful. It has certainly increased interest by visitors. The Palace of Knossos is the second most visited site in Greece. The colors of the columns and frescos come from excavated remnants of the frescos. For example, the dolphins were from frescos in the Queens chamber. The picture on the wall is a recreation, the picture of two dolphins in the center group of pictures shows the dolphin remnants from the original fresco.

The bull was a sacred animal in Knossos. Stylized bull horns adorned the tops of many of the buildings of the palace. The three-columned porch with the relief bull and olive trees was near the North Gate where all visitors to the Palace entered. The red and white decorated throne room was interesting because of the stone throne with the seat carved out for comfort and a large bowl that was filled with water for cleansing before speaking to the ruler. The frescos on the walls depict griffins, but the wings were not shown to keep the griffins from flying away.

The mythological story of the Minotaur probably came from the fact that the bull was a sacred animal in Knossos and was often sacrificed. One amazing athletic feat that was popular in Knossos was Bull Leaping. Athletic men and women would jump at a charging bull, grab the horns and somersault over the back of the bull. The decoration on the tall thin vase depicts the story of Theseus defeating the Minotaur.

The archeological museum contained many well-preserved and interesting artifacts. The Snake Goddess, a 7-inch tall figure, is an iconic symbol of the Minoan civilization. From the small, we also saw huge ritual jugs where the olive oil tribute was poured. I especially liked the cat-like figure through which ritual liquids were poured, the small ritual double axes made of gold, and the ceramic bathtubs with great decoration.

Posted by Paul Groves on April 6, 2017

The Castle of Palamidi, Nafplion, Greece




Day 91 of 111. The Castle of Palamidi, Greece

On a tall hill above the city of Nafplion a castle or fortress was built. This is a very well preserved fortress from the Venetian occupation. The castle dates back to the 18th Century A.D. There are three different fortifications in the city of Nafplion, one dates back to 100 B.C. Another small structure is actually in the water. Today, it is only accessible by boat, but in ancient times, there was a submerged bridge that could be raised out of the water.

The Palamidi Castle was built by the Venetian, taken over by the Turks, and finally reclaimed by the Greeks in the 1800’s. The castle has many stairs and storerooms. It also served as a prison. One interesting feature was a plaque showing the St. Mark’s Lion, a symbol of Venice. We followed a dozen Greek students into a prison cell. It was a tight climb through a short dark tunnel into the prison cell. The electric light allowed us to see the small stone room, but it must have been a terrible place when it was used as a prison.

Posted by Paul Groves on April 6, 2017

Epidaurus, Greece




Day 91 of 111. Epidaurus, Greece

This is a city with an ancient amphitheater whose importance was based on the god, Asklepios, son of Apollo who had the power to heal. People would come to his temple, have a good bath, a good meal, relax with entertainment in the theater (smaller back then) and then be visited by Asklepios in their dreams where the healing would occur. Through the years, many healing techniques were developed, so this was a development area for medicine.

The city is still an archeological site for the Asklepios Temple (Asklepios is shown with a serpent). There is a small museum with ancient medical instruments and a very well-preserved Corinthian column capital.

In modern times, the theater is famous for its great acoustics. The seats are made of local stone, but some of the seats were actually made with backs. These must have been for the more important viewers. The huge circle is called the orchestra from the Greek word for the area where the chorus danced. The raised area behind the orchestra circle was called the “scene”. These terms are still used in modern theater. There is a small disk in the orchestra circle that is the focus of the theater. From that point, the voice of the speaker can be heard throughout the theater without any amplification. Our guide demonstrated and it was an impressive difference from the disk to only a few feet outside of the disk. We saw another tour group demonstrate the acoustics by forming a large circle and clapping and stepping closer and closer to the disk and clapping. This theater is still in use and has had many famous performers such as the opera singers, Maria Callas and Placido Domingo.

Posted by Paul Groves on April 6, 2017

Nafplion, Greece



Day 91 of 111. Nafplion, Greece

This port has a shallow bay, so the ship had to anchor offshore and we traveled to the shore via “tenders,” the lifeboats on the ship. The sea was very calm, so the ride was very pleasant. From the top of the hill above the city, we could see our ship in the bay.

After our tour, we stopped at a restaurant and had some local food. The dessert was especially good, thick creamy Greek yogurt with fruit, honey, and cinnamon. This was simple and delicious. Next to my seat was a poster for the local cinema advertising Beauty and the Beast, written in Greek. Pretty interesting.