Talbots Take on Travel: Yassas, Greece!

"It is not down in any map; true places never are." -Herman Melville

A full quarter of the population of Greece live in Athens, but we took a few excursions to see a little more of the rest of the nation. We first took a little side trip to the town of Nafplio, via the ancient ruins of Mycenae. As ancient as the sites we've visited so far, it's hard to believe that the mountain fortress/city, Mycenae we next stopped at came 1000 years earlier. It's a small set of ruins found in the tops of jagged mountains rising above the Ionian Sea, about an hour and a half drive from Athens. We visited the tiny museum first, where many of the pots, burial items, tools, statues and other artifacts found here are on display. We learned that the Mycenaean and Minoan people are the oldest known civilizations in this part of the world and that they both disappeared from the record for unknown reasons. This archaeological site is where the Mask of Agamemnon we saw earlier in Athens was actually discovered. After the museum, we walked through the actual ruins where we could see first-hand some fairly sophisticated early engineering. We passed through the Lions Gate entrance, circled the burial oval and explored what remains of the walls and layout of the ancient city. Steep ravines on either side and a view to the sea made this a perfect spot in terms of trading and defense. The boys all descended deep into the ancient cistern, once fed by a mountain spring, but Anna and I only went as far as we had light and then decided there were too many spider webs visible to make us comfortable going down the rest of the way in the dark. Down the road a ways, we entered the giant Beehive-shaped burial mound known as the Treasury of Atreus or The Tomb of Agamemnon. Eerily magnificent.

After eating our packed lunch, we finished the last 18 miles of our journey to Nafplio. This charming seaside village was the original Capital of Unified Greece for about 1 year until the newly established King moved the palace to Athens. Its beaches are striking for their three early Venetian fortresses...two atop peaks, one located on a small island in the harbor. We had a nice dinner at a quiet restaurant at an outdoor table. As soon as we were seated, a big black dog walked over, plopped at my feet, and went to sleep. The host started to shoo her away, but the family insisted we didn't mind if she stayed. After a luxurious and amazing traditional Greek meal, we got up to explore the town. The dog got up and decided to explore with us. As we wandered, she wandered, when we turned, so did she. It became funnier and funnier to us. As we were laughing and walking around with our new pet, a man on a motorcycle rode and shouted to us, "Her name is Maria!" Evidently she's something of the town dog. She hung with us for quite a while. When we were approached by a beggar woman, Maria barked and barked at her and drove her away. It was pretty hilarious. Eventually, she got bored with all our walking and found a new comfy, restaurant to plop down at.

We enjoyed wandering the little town. We learned a little more about its history as an important Venetian fortification during their period of dominance. It's funny how the places we visit all seem to link together -- so fun to see places connected to earlier parts of our trip. The Venentians left behind their legacy of gelato for which we were grateful. There's also an Ottoman mark on the city with many of their fountains scattered and working throughout the city. We finished up our walk on the seaside promenade, enjoying the sunset from one side and the moonrise from the other. A perfect night.

In the morning, we ran along the seaside trail...one of the most beautiful runs I've ever enjoyed. We sought out bugatsa and fresh-squeezed orange juice for breakfast, packed up and found a spot on the beach to spend the day. The beach here reminded me of Lake Tahoe in many ways. It's much hotter here, and obviously salt water, but it's an enclosed part of the peninsula so the water is gentle, picking up waves in the late afternoon, shallow and pristine as far as you go out. The beach is Anna's happy place, so she was in heaven. We all played in the water and the sand, had lunch at a beach tavern, got sunburned and spent a memorable day at this little-known-outside-of-Greece beach before returning to Athens.

After a few more days in the main city, we packed up all of our luggage and rented the only vehicle big enough for us and all our stuff...a giant 9-passenger-van! I think Cory deserves a special award for his excellent driving of the mammoth bus through crazy Greek traffic, narrow, winding streets, and miles and miles of switchbacks.

First stop of the Talbot Envoy -- Delphi. High in the mountains of central Greece, two hours from Athens, clinging to the side of a mountain is the ancient home of the oracle. Believed in ancient times to be the "omphalos" or navel of the world, pilgrims from every surrounding region made their way to the Temple of Apollo to make sacrifice and consult with the Priests of the great Oracle of Delphi. Scholars like Socrates, Military leaders like Alexander the Great, religious leaders all sought the wisdom and prophecy of the Woman (or sometimes women) who had been selected as the mouthpiece of Apollo. It was here that Socrates read the words "Know Thyself" carved into the temple walls. The ruins today are impressive. In addition to the fallen temple, there are smaller temples, shrines, and gifts that "happy customers" constructed as tribute. In the center of the structures is a replica of the ancient "omphalos" or navel stone. In an area susceptible to frequent earthquakes, most of the site is in ruins. One of the most impressive things left is the "polygonal wall" built with perfectly shaped stones fitted like a puzzle without mortar that is still in remarkable shape despite time and earthquakes that left other man-made structures in ruins. We walked up to admire the theater built near the temple to house plays and ancient singing contests. There were awards at annual competitions for the best songs written for the oracle. We hiked further still to see the well-preserved stadium used for the "Delphic" games...contests held every 4 years, second in importance only to the Olympics.

Our tour of the adjacent museum gave us instruction and insight into the process of making a visit to the oracle. You washed at the nearby Kastilian springs, traveled the "sacred way" to the entrance of the temple of Apollo, where you offered your first sacrifice. Then you entered the temple where 1-3 middle-aged, and married women from the city of Delphi selected as oracle(s) sat in bronze tripods. They had visions that may have been inspired through the use of hallucinogenics that were then interpreted by the Priests. You offered another sacrifice and left to ponder or fret the meaning of your prophecy.

We followed the cliff-side road back a little ways to walk down to the nearby Temple of Athena Pronea, a round "tholos" structure. The exact purpose of the tholos is unknown, but it has become the most photographed spot in all of Delphi.

We left the middle-of-nowhere Delphi to make the long and winding three hour drive to the middle-of-nowhere Kastraki -- home to our next stop. Google maps took us on an unintended adventure when we got to the town. It led us down a narrow paved road that became a narrower dirt road, that got narrower still then dipped down into a stream about 100 meters from our "target destination." It was pretty much the opening scene of every horror movie; there was no hotel, only abandoned shacks, trees, and rocks. Cory expertly backed our giant van about a kilometer before we found a place to turn it around and back-track to the actual hotel. We were all relieved to check in and discover our room was facing a spectacular view of the cliffs of Meteora. We enjoyed the view from the room; while cooling off in the pool; and then on a lingering patio dinner, anticipating our tour up into those picturesque views come morning.

A tour bus picked us up after breakfast for a half-day tour of Meteora. On the edge of a vast, fertile plain, a series of craggy cliffs shoot up 600-700 meters towards the sky. Pocked with caves, this place became a place of refuge for Christian monks persecuted by the Muslim Ottoman Empire. They built "hermitages" in the caves and fled here from their new Empire's restrictions of their faith. Eventually, they decided to build more permanent monasteries, and what better place to rise above the persecutions of the state than atop these monoliths. In the 14th century, stone by stone, brick by brick, buildings began to emerge on the tops of these sheer cliffs. The only way up or down? -- rickety rope ladders -- ideal for keeping monks in and keeping Turks out. Eventually 24 monasteries were built this way -- some housing as many as 30 monks, some only large enough for 3. In the early 1900s, stairs, bridges, and other construction brought modern and safer entry to several of the monasteries. Today, of the original 24, there are only 6 still open and active. All but a handful of monks are actively living here now. The monasteries have become more museum than holy refuge. We were able to climb up, up, up to visit 3 of them...Meteora Monastery, Two Brothers, and St. Nicholas. Touring the cliff side dwellings is something you just can't fully describe. It's incredible that all of this was accomplished in the 14th century. There are fresco-decorated chapels, reliquaries, kitchens and gardens. In the biggest monastery, there is a room full of monks' skulls and bones, lined up and waiting for the Resurrection. But most difficult of all to describe are the vertigo-inducing views of the vast valley below and looking DOWN to the cliff-top monasteries below you. One of the most amazing things I ever expect to see in my life.

We made the last three hour drive to our final destination and gratefully dropped off our crazy rental. Last stop, Thessaloniki. This is the other city Cory served in during his mission, and it's very different from Athens. The buildings are taller, there are far fewer tourists, lots of college students attending Greece's university here; the people have more in common with Serbians and Balkan countries than with the "Classical Athenians." We hit a few highlights on our last day in Greece. Thessaloniki is known for their pastry so we made sure to coordinate our sight-seeing around bakery stops. We started at the "White Tower" a Byzantine fortress-turned prison-turned execution site that earned it the nickname, "The Red Tower." Alas! It was closed for "security reasons" most likely meaning strike.

Undaunted, we continued on to the Byzantine Museum. It is a marvelous museum! We've seen our share so far, and this is one of our favorites. The displays are open and beautifully displayed. The information is clear and interesting. It was a fantastic crash-course on the whole Byzantine Era and Thessalonica's part in it. My favorite exhibits were the beautifully reconstructed tile floors discovered from city ruins and a couple of worn but beautiful "Good Shepherd" statues. Learning about the Byzantine culture showed how many of our modern traditions and practices come from this era.

After the museum, we visited some Roman ruins scattered through the city including the Roman agora, The arch of Galerius, and an ancient Roman temple-turned Christian church-turned Muslim mosque-turned Christian church. It's interesting to see these sites in Thessalonica, because the way they are opened up in blocks you realize that all of Greece is basically built on the "second floor." Every building's basement is essentially the ancient town that is buried beneath. On this walk, Cory finally found the icon of St. Georgos he's been searching for, just in the nick of time before our departure.

In the evening, we walked down to visit a 1300-year-old Orthodox Church, the Agia Sofia. We followed a priest inside and listened to evening prayer sung in beautiful chant, accompanied by swinging incense bells. Many worshippers came in while we explored to kiss icons, receive blessings from the Priest, and pray.

We wandered back to the waterfront for dinner, stopping to watch a pretty talented juggling street performer. We had one last Greek salad (sigh) and finished off the night with dessert at a bakery. I ate amazing baklava that has ruined me for all future baklava I will ever eat.