Thursday/Friday, Sep. 29/30 - The Oracle of Delphi and Temple of Apollo: Athens

view from our mtn top CG at Delphi

sunset view from Delphi CG

Why is it that the Greeks and Romans had to build on the tops of remote mountains????  all that climbing!!  And it seemed like we were driving the back roads of Colorado.

Stanley at the Temple of Apollo (6 columns restored)

restored treasury (offering) of Athens to the Temple of Apollo

In the afternoon (to miss the tour buses carrying hordes of tourists), we saw the museum and archaeological site of Delphi (Delfi).  A few pictures attached.  Stan seems to get into everything.

pediment of a treasury building (Hercules on the right)

Greece is certainly having economic problems.  We notice a general slowdown in activity in comparison to Turkey, which is a bustling and progressive country.  In Greece, by comparison, there are many incomplete road construction projects.  There is also a whole lot of graffiti, especially along roadsides, on road directional signs, which makes our navigation even harder.  Another difficulty is the Greek language.  Given enough tine (several hours!) I can make out the names of Greek towns written in the Greek alphabet; many places have 2 separate signs - one in the Greek alphabet and the other in the Roman alphabet.   Also, each town has several different spellings (on signs, on the atlas, in our log).  We are getting to be quite expert in manipulating the GPS.  BTW the roads here have multiple highway numbers on the maps, but the road signs do not use these numbers (except for interstates); you need to know the name of the next major town in the direction you are going.  If you are reading this, you can know that we successfully navigated into Athens and arrived at our latest campground on Friday, Sep. 30.
Tonight we taxi downtown to see the lights on the Acropolis and have dinner.

Stan the Man revisits the battle site at Thermopolae - Thursday Sep 29

Stanley reaches new heights.

You are here with Stan the Man at the battle site of Thermopolae!  With great detective skills, navigational knowhow and a little luck, your Action Man Stan is on the scene in 3 D !!!  Just between you and me, there is not much here--just a memorial to mark a point below the pass where the action took place in 480 B.C.  300 Spartans tried to hold off (hold your hats! 1,700,000 Persians.  It was King Leonidas of Sparta against the Persian king Xerxes.  The Spartans held them off for three days, which bought time for the Spartans to get reinforcements and eventually turn back the Persians. 

The round people and I went next door to a new building  We don't read Greek which is a problem in Greece.  Well, dear friends, it was a brand-new museum and we were the only 3 people in it (except for a nice lady welcoming us).  There was a 3 D movie of the battle (in Greek only, still a problem) and 4 interactive displays.  You will see your on-scene reporter (me) in them.  We don't think the museum is entirely finished, but it certainly was exciting to be the only visitors!!!  Look for me below.  Bye.  Stanley the Great One

Uh oh.  There is going to be trouble!

Stanley with a Spartan soldier.

Wedsnesday, Sep. 28 catchup - Kalambaka monasteries



only 140 steps to the entrance patio!

We took a tour of the area containing 5 active monasteries and one nunnery.  People lived in or on these sandstone pinnacles as early as the 11th century AD.  The monasteries were built beginning in the 14th century; they are a spinoff of the Athos monasteries that we saw by boat last Sunday.  In the early days, the only access was by a l o o o n g ladder and more recently by winches hoisting ropes and baskets.  We went inside the church at Varlaam monastery (inhabited by 7 monks today). In my opinion, the best reason to visit today is to see the religious art inside (very good condition for 14th-16th century works).  Today the govt is widening the road to accommodate more tourist $$$$.

postcard of ceiling "Glory of Christ" (above)

At the nice CG, we cooked outside at their gas stoves.  Dinner was spaghetti and meat sauce (first ground beef I've seen in the stores for 6 weeks!) It tasted good.

Stanley's climbing expedition

Your man Stan here again!  Yesterday we camped just below Mt. Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece - 2917 meters.  That's 9570 feet for you in the USA.  Naturally I thought the round people would be climbing it, but no such luck.  So I had to make my own adventure climbing giant trees in the CG and practicing my rope skills.  BTW, the Aegean Sea was too rough to boat or swim.  Here's me on a tree and on the beach.

Tuesday, Sep. 27 - Kalambaka and Pella visit

Today was a short drive day.  We had a devil of a time leaving the CG and getting back onto the highway.  The Greek govt. is building a new 4-lane road, and they've already got a light rail running.  Between the train tracks and the construction, our GPS was totally useless and the road atlas doesn't have enough detail.  Did I forget to mention the toll booths, one-way ramps and roads closed with barriers??  We finally found a way after lots of local "sightseeing."  Then we toured the industrial area of Larisa, a mid-sized town that we were supposed to bypass.  Oh dear, both the navigator and the GPS were having an off day.  : ( 

Yesterday we stopped en route to tour Pella, the ancient capital of the Macedonian empire.  We need to study up on Alexander the Great.  We heard a lot about him in Ankara because Gordion is near there.  That's where he was supposed to untie the Gordion knot and become the ruler of the entire world.  Instead, he sliced through it with his sword, and that's why he died young.  Or so the story goes.  In Pella, we visited both the archaeological site and the new museum.  Both are famous mostly for their mosaic floors made of different colored pebbles.

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The museum contains a sample of things they found, such as coins, statues, burials and offerings, murals, original mosaics from 325-300 B.C., and maps of the Macedonian empire.

Last night's CG was on the Aegean coast, but it was too chilly for a swim and too rough for Stanley's boat.  We were listening to the waves pound up on the beach all night.  Dinner was one of our best--chicken breast with noodles and peas in a 4-cheese sauce and plums for dessert.  I have a spice mix for making tzaziki (sp?) with yogurt and cucumber.  Will try it out tonight.  Rest of the meal will be spaghetti with ground beef; at least I hope it is beef and not pork.  The package has a picture of a cow on it.

Tomorrow we have a bus to take us on a tour of monasteries.  They are related to the ones that we saw by boat.  It seems that when you build something in a very remote spot, tourists flock to it with their prying eyes.  If you built it beside an interstate, probably nobody would bother to come.

Sunday, Sep. 25 - Boat ride past where the road ends

Today's tour was along the Chalkidiki peninsula of Greece.  We are camped on one of the "three fingers" (peninsulas) of the big peninsula in Ouranopolis, the end of the road on the Athos peninsula.  The land farther along is reachable only by boat and is known as the Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain.  Only monks and male pilgrims who apply 6 months in advance are allowed to enter.  It is self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Repblic (Greece).  There are about 20 monasteries today, most built or established in the 9th to 12th centuries.  The monk population is about 2200.  Each monastery is governed by an abbott.  Each monk works 8 hrs a day, sleeps 8, and prays 8.  We didn't much sign of life, but since it was Sunday, the monks might not have been working.  We did see a few monks at the boat dock where we started our ride.

Since I have mentioned the many good restaurant meals provided by our caravan company, I feel that I should show you last night's homemade attempt.  It has been very pleasant to have meals outdoors, and that somewhat makes up for the lack of style and gourmet-ness.  Last night's menu was pork chops (no longer in Moslem Turkey), peas, tomatoes, cukes, and pasta.

Stanley's geography lesson

Hi, folks!  Stanley here on the A E G E A N   S E A   coast.  The round people and I looked at our map of the big area and discovered we are still on the Aegean Sea, not the Mediterranean as I said in my last post.  Here is me pointing with my right hand to where we are camped tonight.  We are on a peninsula of a peninsula in Greece.  It is a pretty place.  If you want to know, my left hand is near Istanbul.

I was sightseeing at a high point near the coast.

This morning (Sunday) we all took a boat ride further down the peninsula, past where the road stops.  No doubt the round people will tell you why there is no road.  Clue - it's not because of the terrain.  While on the boat, I tried to train a sea gull to fly me around (faster than my own boat) but  that plan didn't work. So I just stayed on the boat and had a nice time. 

Stanley's blog - the right boat

Hey, it's your man, this time in Greece!  I've made a boat but had a few problems'  First, when I first tried to launch my sailboat,  the Aegean Sea was too rough.
Then on the Dardanelles, the freighters and our ferry were too big.

Then I found an old boat but it was leaky.

Finally here on the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, my boat was just right!!!

Gule Gule!  That's Turkish for Bye Bye.       Your friend, Stanley

Friday, Sep. 23 - Alexandropolis, Greece

So here we are in Greece already.  Tme went fast in turkey.  We enjoyed Selcuk (near Ephesus)-nice beach and sunsets.  We had some rain the last night there.

  The next day we visited Pergamon (we had seen the Pergamon Altar in Berlin).  It is an acropolis way up on a hilltop.  We took a gondola part way up.  Wonder how the builders got the marble slabs up so high???

Last night we had a delicious dinner at our last Turkish CG; we sat outdoors by the sea; fortunately under a roof because it rained quite heavily. Today we visited Troy.  It was hard to visualize the city there because it had been rebuilt time after time on 9 different levels.  Someone donated a large wooden horse in the 1990s and it was on prominent display.

After that we crossed the Dardanelles by ferryboat; this carried us from Asian Turkey to European Turkey.  Another 50 kilometers or so and we crossed the border into Greece.  We are again at a CG on the seacoast.

Wednesday, Sep. 21 - Selcuk (Efes), Turkey

Today is a free day, and we are taking advantage of it to sleep in and catch up on chores.

Yesterday we visited Ephesus in the morning--when it was cooler and the crowds were less.  It is a HUGE tourist destination for cruise ships and bus loads of people.  Excellent Greco-Roman city.  We have totally lost track of the many conquerors who have passed through Turkey - Greeks, Romans, Ottomans, Persians, Hittites, Hattis, Selcuks, Crusaders, Silk Road merchants, etc.  Thank goodness there is no test on Turkish history when we leave.

The Celsus Library was the most reconstructed (with original materials) and impressive building at Ephesus.  It was the 2nd largest library in the ancient world (after Alexandria and ahead of Pergamon).

Stanley was disappointed that all the scrolls were checked out. 

We walked along the Arcadian Way (the road to the ancient harbor, which is now several kilometers inland because of earthquakes changing the water table and the river silting up the harbor).  Cleopatra and Marc Antony also walked here on their honeymoon.  Some of the statues and friezes (like Nike, goddess of victory, below) remain in place; others are in the museum here in the town of Selcuk.  Also saw the public toilets; the Romans had a well developed water supply and sewer system.

 Finally, leaving through the gift shop tourist traps we saw an interesting sign and national flags, one with Kemal Mustafa Ataturk's picture.

Ataturk is the national hero.  He was an undefeated general in World War I, and after becoming president in the 1920's, initiated many reforms such as changing the alphabet overnight from Arabic to the Roman, making Turkey a secular nation,  giving women the right to vote (in 2nd European place after Switzerland), increasing education (from 10% to 95% now), and generally making Turkey more of a western rather than eastern-looking country. 

Tomorrow we move on to our last CG in Turkey, and then the next day we ferry across the Dardanelles, go along close to where we entered Turkey, and cross the border into Greece.

Tuesday, Sep. 20 - Stanley's blog

Hi, folks!  Your reporter Stanley here on the scene in western Turkey!!  We are now in Selcuk, near Efes (Ephesus) on the Aegean Sea coast.  I've been busy as usual with my adventures--defending a castle and becoming a Roman emperor.  But first the Marmure Castle on the southern coast.  Of course I had to do some exploration and watch for enemies.

I was the only guard on duty at a B I G castle so I had to be very alert.  The castle is on the Mediterranean Sea (nice warm water!!) so I got to th8nking about swimming.

That was quite an adventure, but instead of guard, I thought I might be a Roman emperor.  Seems like an easy job--just standing around like a statue.

When we drove through some of the new road tunnels, I thought I was an astronaut!  Usually I can't stand up by the GPS, but the round people let me do it once if they held onto me.  The ride gave me goosediscs!

When we were at Aspendos and looking at old carved rocks and a big Roman theater, I climbed up on stage and pretended to put on a show.  Later I looked down below to where gladiators fought lions.  : (
More goosediscs.

Yesterday was the first day of the school year here in Turkey.  I see lots of kids going to or from school in their uniforms.  I see a lot of signs in Turkish (after all we are in Turkey).  I am writing a dictionary for you.  I see signs that look like English;  I'll have to ask my teacher if she wants me to spell in English or Turkish.  I am learning both.

I have to go now.  Just came back from swimming in the Aegean.  Now I am going to make a boat for tomorrow.     Best regards from Stanley!!