Back to Athens

 

We said farewell to Nauplio and took off for Athens, with the goal of meeting Melissa at the airport and returning the car.

Bourtzi castle in the background

We stopped at Mycene and Corinth on the way. Phil and I have seen both many times, so I took the opportunity to rest my just-about-60-year-old knees. I sat on a bench in the shade and read a book. Phil and Alex explored the site and museum. Alex seemed to have enjoyed it even though access to the underground water source that we used to love to bring the students through (with flashlights) was closed. They had a big conversation about fortifications and sieges.

Mycene from afar

View from the parking lot

We drove on to Ancient Corinth, which always has our hearts. We stopped first at Tasos' for lunch. David had told Suli that we were going to be coming through, so we were not surprised that he seemed to recognize us. Through a mixture of English and Greek, we chatted with him and his wife and shared news about kids. It was very fun to introduce them to Alex. And the food was as good as we remembered: the best tomatoes we have had so far and the platonic ideal of Horiatiki salad, pastitsio and gigantes. The apricots they shared with us for dessert were the best we have ever had -- juicy and sweet. The tzaziki had carrot in it as did the sauce for the gigantes, something we want to remember for future for our own recipes. We sat under the enormous grapevines with trunks as large as trees and told stories to Alex.

Selfie with Suli

The amazing apricots

That tree trunk is a grape vine

The covered veranda...this is what we are trying to create at our house.

This seemed quintissentially Greek: grape vines, Greek flag, and a pot of basil, whose sent wafted through the veranda on the breeze

The outside...it didn't used to have bushes

Although our bellies were full and we all wanted to nap, we pushed on to the site at Corinth. 

The site from outside the gates. This is the postcard view (though it is my photo).

Ellie used to name all dogs that looked like this "Dee-Dee Day-Day Water", which was a riff on the Manaris's dog, Dee-Dee. So here she is again.

An archaeologist and his trench

They have changed the flow of the site, so now you start with the museum, and a guard greeted us telling us the particular way to see the museum. We started with the Asclepeion and the origin of the tamata. These are body parts and babies that were physical representations of prayers to Asclepius

The legs and feet are obvious. Above them are breasts and penises

These are the testimonials to the efficacy of the treatment

I always enjoy the animal representations in the museum. One of my strategies for museums was to focus on seeking out one kind of image. This time it was birds.

We also checked in on the Jewish remenants: an inscription that is pointing to the "Hebraic" quarter and the wonderful menorahs.

Other things that attracted my attention

The detail on this is extraordinary

I love his face

The Frankish face!

The fountain of Peirene

Another good view of Acrocorinth and the temple

Pomegranates ripening in a parking lot

On our way to Athens, we stopped at the Isthmus to admire the wonder.

The water is 26 feet deep, but to get there, they had to dig 270 feet of land 

The sign there says "Bungy jumping". Even if it was a bungee, it would be a hard no. 

No idea what this was doing on the space in between the two directions of traffic on the isthmus

We picked up Melissa, got to the Airbnb, and went out for dinner  (10:30pm) which was prime time, so we had to go to our second choice restaurant, which turned out to be fabulous, but we took no photos, unfortunately.