Sun Sand and the Sea: Six Days in Mare Nostrum, Greece

Disembarkation at Piraeus and installation in Mare Nostrum Hotel.

On a busy morning of the 24 June, 2011 we disembarked from Louis Majesty in to a warm sunlit Piraeus. We were met by the kind and gentle Marie-Noel of Marmaara . There was moments of laughter and anxiety when we found that one of the tourist Simone was missing. Our guide from Louis Majesty could finally locate her after some moments of anxiety in a hotel where she had gone on her own without taking the trouble to inform any one.

The group consisted of tired tourists one of them not so young had her baggage loaded into the luggage hold of the bus and sat with them until she was reminded that she had to leave the baggage where they were and sit inside the bus !!!

It was a long way from Piraeus to gulf of Vravrona where Mare Nostrum Thalasso Hotel is situated. Finally we arrived at the Hotel very large and beautifully situated by the side of a calm sea surrounded by hills.

It is close to the Airport and 38 km away from Athen. The Hotel itself is tastefully decorated with all facilities for a sportive, busy or a calm restful holiday. The hotel has 225 comfortable rooms, concert halls and a large Conference Room.

We later found that the restaurants provided a self service where one could select from a large choice of excellent dishes.

It was pleasant and comfortable sitting on a seat on the aisle over looking the sea and just relax and if necessary call for a drink from the Bar.

However we were not very satisfied with the room no: 452 given to us which was above a large machine-room that made such a noise we had to keep the windows closed to sleep. It was not very satisfactory as we did not like the artificial cooling systems that often end up giving us all types of aches and pains. Though we requested a change of rooms , the management informed us that, as the hotel was full they cannot unfortunately accede to our request.

Close to the hotel on the beach was a little restaurant Alexandro, where we were told one could have a a meal of delicious fish. They had the Squid , Redfish and Dorrade. The restaurant has no Menu . The waiter will tell what they have and we have to place the order on his verbal menu. It is best a client asks how much it would be before ordering as it would otherwise be a great surprise at the end having to pay much more than expected.

The small village close to the Hotel had a good variety of restaurants. There was a newly built beautiful Orthodox Church we visited.

On the 26 we went on an excursion to Argolide or Argolis which is in the Peloponnesian Peninsula . The first stop on the excursion was to see the Corinth Canal that connects Gulf of Corinth with the Saronic Gulf in the Aegian sea. It is an open canal cut at the narrowest land the Isthmus.

It was cut at sea level, a length of 6.3 Km. The water in the canal is 8 meters deep, and the banks on either side 52 meters high. It was cut between 1881 and 1893. Unfortunately the canal which is 24 feet wide is narrow to allow passage to modern large boats.

It had along history. The idea was first conceived by Periander in 7BC. Even Julius Caesar had a project in view but he was assassinated before he even began it. Even the Roman Emperor Nero had launched the project and had even cut the first sod of earth but he too died immediately after. A curse followed all of them, because the project commenced by a French company too failed before it was finally begun in 1881 by a Greek Company of Andreas Syngros, with the Hungarian architects Istvan Turr and Bela Gerster and completed in 1893, but still it was cut too narrow for modern large boats to go through it.

Wth that back ground in mind it makes it a more meaningful tourist attraction , a marvelous work already thought of by Periander the Tyrant and completed by Andreas Syngros’s Greek Company.

The Ancient city of Corinth had been completely destroyed in an earth quake in 1858. But the new Corinth was again destroyed in another earth quake in 1928 and again by a great fire in 1933.

There are olives growing in Corinth and Vine yards that produce famous dry grapes- raisin de Corinth. Ancient Corinth had philosophers, sculptors artistes, and poets . But very little is known of the ancient Corinth. Their Temple rituals were said to have been conducted by beautiful Priestesses who were also courtesans who fulfilled the desires of men.

From there we went to see the archeological sites of Mycenae. Mycenae was a great Centre of ancient Greek Civilization going back to 1600 to 1100 BC . The ruins of the citadel is perched on a hill overlooking the whole of Southern Greece stretching up Saronic Gulf .

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Our Next stop was to see a Tholos Tomb of the Mycenae Civilization, which apparently had connection to the Egypt . The tomb called the Treasury of Atreus is built in massive agglomerated stones placed one on top of another and the tomb built into the hillock.

The Mycenae civilization which dates back to 1600-1100 BC has a palace built on a hill overlooking the land stretching up to the Saronic Gulf. The entrance to the Palace is the lion gate. The walls are of the Cyclopean style believed to have been the work of the one eyed giant Cyclope, built with massive stones.

The circular tombs had contained rich ancient artifacts which are now displayed in a beautiful museum.

From there we went to the village Nauplie at the foot of a massive hill on top of which there had been the city of Palaméde.

From there we went to see the theatre of Epidaure with a unique system of acoustic. It is said the theatre could seat 14000 spectators, before returning to Hotel Mare Nostrum.

Below are the ancient treasures displayed in the Museum

Below is the Thetre of Epidaure (400 BC )

Athens

Greece the Helenic Republic is one the most popular tourist attractions. Athens the Capital city with the ruins of its past glory does not fail to impress any visitor of its Majestic environment despites the tumbled ruins, the lonely upright pillars with beautifully carved Capitals, and the crisscross of roads with endless boutiques of colourful gift shops, restaurants and never ending groups of jolting tourists.

The birth of Athens as a city goes back to 1400BC. However the period following was called the Dark Age, because of the invasions of the Doric- a people who spoke the Doric language. It was in the 9th century BC that the State of Attic was enlarged by annexation of territories to become the City –state of Athens-dedicated to Athena the Greek Goddess. In 560BC Pisistratus called the tyrant took over Athens. He built the Market Place and the Athena temple on the Acropole.

The Classical Period of Athens begins from 480BC when the city was burnt by the Persians. It was Themistocles who dove away the Persians and rebuilt the city. Pericles who succeeded Themistocles was a democratic leader who brought distinction to the city. He built the Parthenon and other significant monuments of Athens with public funds.

Athens became a cultural centre, with theatres and philosophers, and a well organized society. The city declined after the Peloponnese wars of 431 BC. However, there was a revival in the 4the century BC, when the Platon and Aristote Schools of philosophy were founded. Demosthenes and Isocrates developed the art of rhetoric.

The Romans took over Athens in 146BC, but subsequently in 86 BC the Romans devastated the great monuments of Athens. But Athens continued to be a centre of Culture. Again in the 3^rd Century BC Athens was attacked by Goths. In 529 Justinian ended the classical tradition. Then the Byzantines period saw the end of Athens period of illustrious culture. Christian Churches replaced the Temples of Greek divinities. In 1204 Athens became a French Feudal State under a Duke.

In 1458 Athens was taken over by the Turkish Ottoman The Parthenon the Temple of Athena became Mosque. In 1987 Parthenon was burnt by Venetians who had set fire to a building containing explosives.

That is a short and rapidly noted history of Athens we were to visit.

It was a warm sunny day when we left the Hotel Mare Nostrum to take bus to Athens. From the bus we changed over to the Metro the underground tramway to reach the Centre of Athens the Constitution Square. We climbed the wide stone steps and across the road is the three storied Hellenic Parliament. We arrived just in time to see the change of Guards which is a very popular and grandiose Ceremony. We saw the Guards being changed and the cavalcade of Greek Soldiers in their ceremonial dresses marching past the thronging tourists trying to capture their movements into digital cameras with the simple but imposing Hellenic Parliament in the back ground.

At the end of the ceremony we came down the stairs we climbed up a little while ago and walked down the large Constitutional Square,

where a part of it had been occupied by the Greek Workers on strike demanding higher wages, while the Government is trying to save itself from sinking into bankruptcy.

The Mc Donald in the corner of the street when coming out of the Constitutional Square, not only provide a quick meal but also provides comfort and a quick brush up. We walked down the street enjoying the typical Greek sights: The street vendors of bread, sweets and drinks in their small carts are attractive and “mouth watering”.

We had once visited Athens and memories are still fresh in our minds. We nevertheless wanted to have a quick visit around the city and see the monuments from out side just to refresh our memories. The ideal means was provided by taking the “Athens Happy Train”; Just for six euros we could do a sight seeing tour.

We saw the Presidential Palace, The Panathenaic Stadium and the The Zeppaion Hall.

Of the ancient ruins we saw the temple of the Zuez with its tall beautiful pillars standing like sentinels surveying the city.

The Ancient Roman Market in Monastiraki is now only a few pillars standing among scattered stones.

After that we walked in the commercial quarter of the city looking at various souvenirs for sale in small boutiques with curious crowds walking in and out of the shops.