Our Corinth and Athens Marathon...phew!

17 May 2017, Wednesday: Early this morning Emile goes for a run. When he comes back, he persuades us to explore the Pre-historic Cave of Franchthi which he discovered on his 8km run. According to them, the oldest skeleton in Greece was found here. Our lunch stop next to the road, at a small white chapel, overlooks the island of Idra. Mum wants to take a detour via the peninsula of Methánon and Merzy, and Dad, are obliged to comply. Sleeping over here is not part of the equation as the sulphur smell hits us 4km before we reach the little port of Méthana. This little village's claim to fame is its thermal springs. We drive on to the Archaeological site at Epidaurus, which is situated near the Ancient sanctuary of Asklepios. Ancient Epidaurus is famous for the Ancient Theatre with its superb acoustics and architectural symmetry and is regarded as the most beautiful and best preserved in Greece. It had a capacity of 13 000 spectators. Mum and Dad opt for a coffee while the 3 younger siblings explore some rocks and stones and take some photographs. Only day parking is permitted at Epidaurus, therefore we head for Kalamki Beach at Palaia Epidavros. Mum, Dad and Emile go for a stroll while we girls prepare tortillas for supper. Upon their return, Emile boasts an octopus he has caught from the rocks (his first one!). For his effort he receives a beak-like pinch on his finger. Dad cleans it, scrubs it and hangs it in the shower to dry. (Just as well as the cats come out in their hordes during the night.) 18 May 2017, Thursday: Dad’s birthday is initiated by overcast sky and the sound of rain. Finally Merzy is having a wash. Yet, it is ‘sunny’ in the camper as Dad gets spoilt with a healthy breakfast, a card, and gifts in bed. Coffee has to wait because our gas bottle needs to be swapped. We head for Corinth. Our first stop is at Acrocorinth high up in the hills. This steep rock of the Acrocorinth rises to the southwest of Ancient Corinth, surmounted by the fortress, also called the Acrocorinth. This was the fortified Citadel of Ancient and Medievel Corinth. It is 575 metres high and its walls are a total of almost 2 000 metres in length. It has 3 imposing gateways that lead to the interior of the fortress. Within the third line of defense (enclosure wall) are to be found monuments of all periods. As it is pouring down, only Mum, Dad, Genève and Emile leave Merzy to brave the elements. Soaking wet (only the ones who got out), but still cheerful we descent to the town of Ancient Corinth. On our way down the rain starts to subside, yay! In Ancient Corinth we once again explore rocks/stones and the remains of the old city of which the Temple of Apollo is the most prominent feature. The remaining 7 standing pillars are quite impressive. Among the ruins we come across the church ruins at which the Apostle Paul would have converted the people in Corinth to Christianity. As the Greeks were so generous to make Dad’s birthday National Museum Day, entry to all Museums and Archaeological sites are free today, so we make a dash for Athens. As we exit Corinth, we cross the Corinth Canal over the Isthmos Bridge, which means we leave the Peloponnese and are now back on the Greek mainland. Time is running out and we have lunch on the run/road. We stop close to the Acropolis and do a short hike to the entrance, once again for free. At this point Mum’s camera, which has been giving us intermittent problems, decides to finally give up the battle. Hence our poor photo gallery collection for this blog. On the way down we go past the Areopagus Hill where Paul did his speech and converting sermons to the Greek in Athens. At the foot of the Acropolis, we go past the Odeon of Herod the Atticus, and right next to that the Theatre Dionysus. Due to time restraints we have to pass (skip) the Acropolis Museum and aim for the Temple of Olympian Zeus, passing the Hadrian’s Arch along the way. After the normal photo shoot (with the iPhone this time), we go round the northern slope of the Acropolis towards the Temple of Hephaestus where we are informed that the gates will close within the next half an hour. As we are ‘power’walking through the Stoa of Attalos (museum) we are asked/guided by various attendants to leave the site as it closes at 8pm. They do not fall for our suggestion of climbing over the gate once we have finished. We find our way back to Merzy after asking various Athenians to direct us to a specific point on our map. Eventually we arrive where faithful old Merzy is waiting. We complete the short distance down to the port where we stop at 9pm for our overnight park. Dad has to Skype some family members before we head off in search of a restaurant. The clincher that allows us to take Dad out for supper is the mentioning of pasta on the camper menu. The meal turns out delicious with us having fried squid and Dad, veal (min maar dis in). We get treated to a free bowl of ice-cream to share with compliments from the restaurant. This gives us enough energy to do the last stretch of 1.3 km back to Merzy. We tuck ourselves in at 12:00. What a day…jam-packed with special memories!

Thankful that it stopped raining for us to explore...wipe the lens Mum!

'Temple E' standing 900 metres above the forum

Some be-headed statues at the Museum of Ancient Corinth

Corinth Canal...man-made. Wow!

Athens...and beyond!

Odeon of Herod the Atticus

Up the Prophaea from the one side

Erechtheion

Parthenon - one of the most significant sights in Greece

Parthenon - the landmark of Athens

View of the Theatre of Dionysus from up top

Through the Prophaea and out on the other side

The so-called Sacred Rock of the Acropolis

Worked our way down to the Theatre of Dionysus

Temple of Olympian Zeus (pictures without the farts requested)

Beautiful old church in Athens

Made it to the Temple of Hephaestus and only half an hour till closing time...

Quick pose guys!

Temple of Hephaestus (no farts to ruin the beautiful picture)

View towards the Acropolis from Ancient Agora

Treating Papa on his birthday ...eating out at a Greek restaurant

Fried squid and veal for the b'day boy

Ice-cream 'on the house'

More famous stones and rocks - Ancient Corinth

Selfie taken on the Isthmos Bridge with the Corinth Canal below...leaving the Peloponnese and back to the Greek mainland

Temple of Hephaestus below...another selfie!

Getting the knack of this selfie business! - Parthenon

Using the timer this time

Beach-stop at Salánti

Pre-historic Franchthi Cave

That's a BIG gap!

Upper cave

Hold on honey!

Looking back - Franchthi Cave

Ticked, time to move on

Lunch-stop overlooking island of Idra

Poros

Luv ya bro!

Port of Méthana

13 000 Spectators! - Ancient Theatre at Ancient Epidauros

Ancient Theatre at Ancient Epidauros

Cooo-eeeeee...can you hear meeee! Theatre at Ancient Epidauros

Stadium

Hestiatorion Complex

Sanctuary of the Egyptian Gods

Abaton - Enkoimeterion

Tholos

Our peaceful stop at Kalamki Beach

Emile's cool catch...an octopus

Happy birthday Papa! Spoiled with a healthy breakfast in bed

Surprise! Birthday card and gifts as well

Steep rock surmounted by the fortress which was the fortified citadel of ancient and medieval Corinth - Acrocorinth

Within the third enclosure walls - Acrocorinth

Gate - third line of defence at Acrocorinth

Gate - second line of defence at Acrocorinth

Gate - first line of defence at Acrocorinth

Acrocorinth's Outer Wall

Impressive - Temple of Apollo

Temple of Apollo...difficult not to take another picture

Ancient Corinth

Rocks and stones...Temple of Apollo in the background

Our walk of fame down Ancient Corinth's ancient paths

Ancient Corinth - so much history

#Greece