2/28–Corinthian Canal

We’re heading back, but first we must take a detour to the Corinthian Canal.  This is one of 3 in the world – Panama, Suez and Corinth – we think because of the  mechanics – but we're not exactly sure.  Whatever, we want to see it.  The Hertz agent has told us how to get there going out – but we’re doing this on the return, so it’s a bit dicier.  We can handle it.  Only one wrong turn (because we programmed the GPS for the town, not the canal – which Alice couldn’t find) and we end up at the canal when it was open.  Totally good luck!

The electronic sign says the road will be open in 14 minutes. So we get to stand there and watch as a tug pulls a freighter through, and then the lock closes and the bridge emerges from the canal.  Totally wild. Almost better than the ruins!! The series below shows how the lock closes.  Video posted here shows it in motion.

Great unexpected surprise.  We get back to the car, then drive over the bridge….

..with a look to the left down the canal.  Great way to end the day. Ancient to Modern!

Back on the highway, we head back into Piraeus, letting Alice guide us through the inner city and back to Hertz.  Good long day out – capped off by a drink at the Irish Pub (well, what the heck, it was there, and well, heck, the ship’s only a block away!).

Back aboard, we’re too stuffed to even contemplate dinner – buffet for salads, and we’re happy campers.  Turkey (the country, not the food!)  tomorrow!

2/28–AkroKorinthos and lunch

Moving on – we head out of the parking lot for the museum, trying to miss running over the 3 dogs lying in the street (they are everywhere – if it’s not cats, it’s dogs!), and head up the mountain to AkroKorinthos.  This is the oldest and grandest castle in the Peloponnese.  The walls were built around the middle ages, and it is considered the residence of the Sun God. We could see it when we were down at the archeological site, and it looks totally cool.

The drive up is wild – no guard rails, heck, no shoulders.  Just a drop off the edge down into oblivion. Ed makes it look easy, taking the curves and corners with ease.  We make it to the top in no time, with no opposing traffic, which is nice.

The views from up here are amazing. We spend quite a bit of time just at the bottom of the castle entrance taking pix.

We start the climb up to the top of the castle, stopping constantly for pictures. It’s just too pretty not to click away!

We stop climbing about halfway up, in what looks like it could have been a courtyard.  Great blossoming flower trees (it really is spring here soon – even if the wind up here makes you believe it is still winter!) and really good long-view vantage points.  Well worth the narrow, hair pin curve road.

Ok, we’ve worked up an appetite! We’re going back down the mountain to Marino’s Taverna, in the middle of the old Korinthos-town, for a good, old fashion Greek meal.

It’s easy getting back down the mountain to town, and we find a parking lot below the tavern quite easily.  It’s just noon, and we are the first customers (well, if you don’t count Grandma who’s already sitting there with her food and drink).  We take a table near the fake fireplace (newly affixed to the bar – new because once the regulars start showing up, they all comment on it!).

It’s a great little place, complete with a mural of the ancient ruins site.

Cozy and warm, we order 2 Mythos, Saganaki (the fried cheese), Grilled Octopus for Ed and Souvlaki for me.  Yum.  The food is fabulous.  Too much, but fabulous.

And the atmosphere is the best. We get to sit and watch the locals come in to smoke (yes, they are smoking inside!) and chat and eat.  We get handed off from son (takes our order, then goes to cook) to Dad to Daughter, it’s definitely a family affair.  After we finish stuffing our faces, Ed makes the international sign for the check. But Dad brings us dessert instead.  Hmmmmm….maybe Ed has discovered the international sign for dessert??

Whatever it is, it is good! Ed even enjoys it.  So now, we have to really get the check. It takes a while, but we finally get the bill. 32 Euros – a bargain. We want to use the credit card, but the reader is giving them fits. First daughter tries it, won’t work. Then Dad comes over, he takes it – moves it all over the building, then outside, then takes it to the front – not happening.  We finally say we’ll use cash – but it was hysterical watching them try to figure the machine out. 

Finally paid and done, we head outside into the little village, buy some beer at the grocery and start our trek back to Piraeus.

2/28– Ancient Korinthos

Today dawns cold and cloudy. We pull into Piraeus a little early, but under dark and threatening skies.  Oh well, another umbrella day.  We do our normal morning thing, then head out to find the Hertz office near the port. We’re a little concerned, because while they have accepted our reservation, the description of the office on the website says it is seasonal – April through October.   Hmmmm…

Turns out the office is really close, and really open! Yay!  We want to go to Ancient Korinthos today, to explore the ruins, have lunch in old time and see the canal.  If there was no car, we were figuring this would be a “sea” day for us and we’d just go back to the ship. Nope – we’re exploring!

The rental agent is the best – he is so nice and helpful. Prints us out a color map of Piraeus and tells us how to get to Korinthos – an easier way he says – plus explains how to get to the bridge at the canal.  Nice.  We’re finally on the road (Ed says he’s bought cars in less time than we rented this one!), and head out around the harbor (always keep the water on your left and “ignore” the first sign to Korinthos).  Knowing Alice like we do, we turn her off and follow the agent’s instructions.  Not the most bright idea. He’s sweet, but his directions are not right and we end up lost for about 10 minutes in the West end of Piraeus.  Even though we can’t find the ancient ruins site on Alice, we turn her back on and head toward Modern Korinthos – and at least she gets us on the highway and on our way.

Takes about an hour of highway driving until we see signs for Ancient Korinthos. Once we’re on the right road, it’s easy.  We find the museum and archeological site with only a couple of mishaps (sigh – we will NEVER d0 the Amazing Race!!) and are safely inside by 10am.

It’s really quite amazing – all these ancient ruins.  This site reached its peak in the 7th C BC.  Simply astonishing what has been excavated and saved.  In the 5th C BC, Korinthos was one of the 3 major powers in Greece.  It was totally destroyed in 146 BC by the Romans and then resettled again in 44 BC by Julius Caesar.  The city grew around the Temple of Apollo – which you will see we were quite obsessed with. The Doric columns are all that is left, but they are just spectacular in their setting.

 

I mean, really – isn’t it amazing? And look above the temple – at the top of the mountain there? That is AkroKorinthos, which we also visited – the largest castle in all the Peloponnese.  But more on that later.

The rest of the site was equally amazing. The stores, the agora (market), the pillars and statues that have been excavated and saved. the detail on these pieces is simply amazing.

The most incredible part of the whole site, though (besides the Temple of Apollo) is the Peirene Fountain. This area is just astonishing.  There is still a spring running through it, you can hear it, but in its day, there were 10 bathing rooms in the back of the structure, a fresh spring fountain and water that ran from wells dug deep into the soil.  Remember, we’re talking 7th C BC here.  Wow!

We wandered a bit more, then moved on to the museum, which was equally as great.  So many pieces of pottery and statuary that had been uncovered and saved. 

Probably the most amazing was the tile floors from a Roman villa that were saved and preserved almost wholly intact.  Really incredible.

Great morning excursion.  After filling out a survey to help the museum “be better”, we decided to head up the mountain to AkroKorinthos.