Greece

Monemvasia and the Sea

Monemvasia

Laconia

Mani Peninsula

Peloponnese

Greece

April 29, 2015

 

So, here I am, halfway up “The Rock,” looking out over the Gulf of Epidaurus.  The alternate nickname for this fast fortress is “The Gibraltar of Greece.”

Founded in 583 CE and derived from two Greek words meaning “one entrance,” Monemvasia has been settled, besieged, conquered and re-conquered over the ages by every Mediterranean power.  Now, after we drive across the narrow causeway, the island town is mostly besieged by tourists.

 I climb up through the narrow streets past the souvenir shops, coffee shops and restaurants to find the actual town – homes, churches, flowers, cats … and a sparkling view across the blue blue sea.

Kythira Island

Kythira

Κύθηρα

Greece

May 2, 2015

Here’s a brief discussion:

“You have a strategic decision to make,” observed my New York friend David L. when I told him of my upcoming journey to Athens and The Balkans.

“I have already made that decision,” I responded.  “As an alternative to sailing east from Athens to visit the ever popular Greek Islands, I am driving west to the Peloponnese peninsula.  I anticipate a destination of rich diversity and ample rewards.”

But, once on the Peloponnese, I cannot resist at least one island.  The Ionian island of Kythira is my choice.  (I had never heard of it.   Have you?)

Olympia: The Marathon

Olympia
Peloponnese
Greece
May 1, 2015

My Fellow Athletes,

Can we agree on one thing?  Frank Shorter started it all.

In 1972 at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, Frank Shorter became the first American man to win the Gold Medal in the Olympic Marathon.  (The Marathon by definition is 40.2 kilometers or 26.2 miles.)

In 1984, Joan Benoit added her name to Olympic Legend when she became the first American woman to win the Gold Medal in the Olympic Marathon.  Actually she was the first woman ever to win Gold since the female Marathon event was first added to the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that very year.  (Joan had already won the Boston Marathon in both 1979 and 1983.)

After Frank’s championship and surely after Joan’s extraordinary Olympic accomplishment, we Americans decided to emulate our two new heroes.  We donned our sweat suits and our Nike Waffle Trainers and Adidas County Striders, dutifully performed our stretching exercises, and headed out the door for our training run. 

Three Castles

 

The Peloponnese

Greece

May 4, 2015

 

Civilizations are born, grow, prosper, decline and disappear.

Empires are here for a moment and fade into history books.

Fortresses are built. Castles and walls are constructed, besieged, breached and conquered.

Here in Greece I encounter three such examples.

How many past examples do we need?

The American writer William Faulkner wrote: “The past is not dead.  It's not even past.”

Vartolomio - Population 4271

Vartholomio
Βαρθολομιό
Peloponnese
Greece
May 6, 2015

So my friends,

It’s the end of my journey in the Peloponnese.

What shall I do?

Visit yet another marble site of Ancient Greece?

Explore the crumbling remains of the Byzantine Empire?

Climb the stone ramparts of one more Venetian Castle?

Admire the aqua view of the sea once again?

I decide on “None of the above.”

Thessaloniki: "Welcome to Greece"

Litohoro
Greece
July 6, 2001

I took the bus south. It took one hour to cross the border out of Bulgaria and another hour to cross into Greece. After all the passport checking and rechecking - standing around in the hot sun for two hours - the driver drove about thirty seconds, pulled off the road and we stopped for a coffee! As Manuela might say, “Welcome to Greece.”

I arrived in Thessaloniki on July 4 and celebrated with a drink at a bar overlooking the Bay of Thessaloniki. I finally made it to the Sea. The bar was noisy and crowded with young people on cell phones, and the orange juice I ordered cost about as much as a full dinner in Sofia. I guess I am now in the West.

Yesterday I rented a car for my trip here in North and Central Greece.

You think Bostonians are crazy? Parisians? New Yorkers? Floridians? Forgetaboutit. Greek drivers are …!!! It’s a Greek Tragedy and The Furies are everywhere!

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