Greece/Albania – The Travels of Eric and Eva

May 13 – May 17

We visited multiple sites in Greece and one in Albania. For those of you who, like me, had no idea where Albania is located, it borders Greece on the north.

Crete and the Peloponnese region: Imbros Gorge and Diros Caves

We started the journey in Crete which is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands. It sits about 100 miles south of the Greek mainland. What surprised me is that the island is primarily mountainous with a high mountain range running from west to east. Climate warming has affected weather here as well with there being practically no snow remaining at the top of the mountains, which apparently hardly used to ever be the case in mid-May.

There were several excursions offered and we chose to get some exercise and take a hike through a well-known gorge there. Travel to the gorge was on very narrow mountain roads but these bus drivers have proved to be amazing. Some photos are below.

The Peloponnese is the large area hanging off the southern part of Greece. The Diros Caves are among the largest in the world and contain spectacular rock formations as well as ancient artifacts just recently discovered. Only two of the three caves have opened to the public. This area of Greece also contains Mystras, a popular 13^th century Byzantine town, but we didn’t go.

Athens

To visit Athens by sea, one must dock in the port of Piraeus.

The primary reason for us to visit Athens was to visit the Acropolis. The word acropolis means highest point and there are many of them around the country. Of course, the one we were interested in is the one that contains the Parthenon. We took a bus to the site and discovered that there were apparently several large cruise ships in the area that dumped literally thousands of people there at the same time we were there. The crowds were horrendous and simply getting up to the top from the parking area took 45 minutes. Once up there, it was difficult to get some good photos and the site was blocked off as well as parts of it being restored, so our visit really was not quite what we had hoped. Kind of similar to our Pyramids experience in a way.

The Parthenon was built in the 5^th century BC as a temple to the goddess Athena. It was heavily damaged in the 17^th century by a Venetian bomb that exploded munitions stored there by the Ottomans. In the early 19^th century, some dude known as the Earl of Elgin took down many of the remaining sculptures and brought them to Britain. These are known today as the Elgin Marbles and reside in the British Museum. Greece insists they were brought to Britain illegally and have been trying to get them returned for many years.

Saw this parrot from the parking lot. Couldn’t get him to turn around.

Monemvasia

Monemvasia, founded in the 6^th century BC, is a walled fortress on a large rock connected to the Greek mainland by only one road. The town sits inside stone walls and would have been nearly impenetrable in ancient times. It contains narrow cobbled streets, stone buildings and terracotta roofs. This place is special and would be worth a return visit for a long weekend of relaxation of further exploration.

This is the only accessible entrance to the village. They use these two horses and the hand carts on the left to bring in all the supplies.

After Monemvasia we went to an estate where they grow olives and produce high quality olive oil. This is an old olive press that they keep in their small museum. We got the impression on our visits to various places in Greece that nothing is prepared without generous portions of olive oil.

Olympia

Have you ever watched the Olympics? This is where it all started with the first games held in the 8^th century BC (nearly 3000 years ago) and continued until the 4^th century AD. We had an outstanding tour guide who really set the mood of the athletes coming from far away regions to compete. The original site eventually held over 70 temples and was a major religious sanctuary for centuries as well as containing all the buildings required to host the games, such as housing, roman baths, gymnasium and many others. Over time, earthquakes and floods eventually left the site unusable and the games were abandoned only to be resurrected in 1896.

This remains an area of heavy archaeological research. It covers a wide area with many trees which allows for casual strolls around the site. There are history buffs on our cruise who could write volumes about the rich history here, but I will leave you simply with a handful of photographs of the remains of what was once a flourishing city and religious site.

The athletes had to enter the stadium under this arch and through a narrow entrance way with the judges purposely placed high above them for intimidation. Once they entered the open portion, there were 44,000 people sitting on the hillside to welcome them, or not.

The old Olympic stadium where the athletes performed. The ancient Games included running, long jump, shot put, discus, javelin, boxing, pankration (a form of martial arts) and equestrian events. Later the pentathalon and other events such as wrestling were added.

This is a fabulous statue of Nike, the goddess of victory that is displayed in the Olympia museum on the site. It was done in the 5th century BC. This restored depiction was created from the many precious fragments excavated at Olympia in 1875. The restoration is lacking significant pieces, including Nike’s wings. The figure had initially stood near the Temple of Zeus in the center of Ancient Olympia on a three-sided triangular pillar 6-meter high.

Butrint, Albania

Albania was under Communist rule until the 1990s and remains largely isolated from the outside world. It is one of the poorest countries in all of Europe and is still hampered by widespread corruption, dilapidated infrastructure, powerful organized crime networks, and combative political opponents. The authorities have yet to warmly accept cruise ships and there were significant difficulties on the morning of the tours. The rumor has it that the harbor master decided that we couldn’t visit one of the scheduled sites unless he was given a bribe. A flurry of phone calls by Silversea all over Europe and the US for a couple of hours were made without resolution. However, we were able to go ahead with one specific tour here and it was magnificent. I seriously doubt Silversea will be returning here any time soon which is unfortunate for the locals who are starting to make a living based on tourism in a country suffering from broad unemployment.

Butrint is a UNESCO World Heritage Site as are many of the other places we have visited. It was an important settlement due to its position on the route from Italy to mainland Greece down the Ionian Sea. It boasts archeological remains from every period of the city’s development, from the Late Bronze Age to the turn of the 19^th century. Its uniqueness is derived from the variety of cultures reflected here from the time when it was inhabited in turn by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and the Ottomans. Additionally, it sits in a well forested area that adds a lot of natural beauty to the site and hosts many endemic birds and plants.

Butrint sits in a lush hilly area of the country. The northern part of Algeria is actually quite green.

Note the different kind of construction materials (stones, bricks) that reflect the different cultures that added to this site over the centuries.

A few nature photographs.

On to Algeria and Portugal.