Mycenae and Epidaurus

Our adventures with the Greek public transportation system on our trip to Thermopoulis taught us one thing: the easiest way to see things in Greece is by tour bus. It does not really fit with our status of backpacking adventurers, but it gets you to the places of interest much quicker and a lot more conveniently. So since there was still so much that we really wanted to see, and little time, we decided to treat ourselves to a day on a bus, with a tour guide, into to the Peloponnese.

Our first stop was the Isthmus between Attica and the Peloponnese, at Corinth. It has a man made canal 6 km long, connecting the Aegean and Ionian seas. Both are very blue. And pretty. The canal is only wide enough for yachts to pass. Commercial sea traffic will have to go around. After that we stopped at the theater of Epidaurus, where we were able to test its famously amazing acoustics. Standing in the dead center of the theater, you will be heard by each and every one of it's 14.000 potential spectators, without a megaphone.

On to the ancient ruins of Mycenae. The Mycenaean civilization, dating from the 17th century BCE, is one of the oldest known in Europe, after the Minoan civilization on Crete, which is even older. We saw the lion's gate (the lions are now missing their heads, because those were made of gold instead of stone, and were never found), the remains of the old city and its grave circles, and the treasury of Atreus, or 'beehive tomb' of Agamemnon. That's right, this is where archeologists believe the famous Greek king Agamemnon was buried. We'll never know for sure, however, since the tomb was found to be completely empty. The only thing that vaguely reminds us of his presence is the large hill across from the Mycenaean ruins. The profile of the hill looks a exactly like the profile of a man, and it is strikingly similar to the profile of one of the golden death masks that was found in a grave on the Mycenaean acropolis. Who knows...

We were provided with a sumptuous lunch at a 'typical Greek tavern' (mmmm, Mousaka) and then it was time to start making our way back home.

Today, we plan on visiting the National Archeological Museum of Athens before boarding out train back to Patras. From there, we will get on the ferry to Venice. To Venice!

XXX Renske & Nicholas.