Istanbul Arrival

 Hotel Armada was nicely located, and we had a great room opening onto the back of the hotel One of my first actions in Turkey was to exchange some money. After trying some smaller credit shops, I went to the bank. While awaiting the calculation, I was given some tea-quite civilized.  The only trouble…

Twilight Of The Gods

It was a long, drive back from Meteora and we got to home base at the grand Britannia barely in time to appreciate that our room was now a suite with extra fruit and red wine. We had just 1/2 hour to eat and pick up before a long walk took us to the spectacular…

Ancient Sandstone Spires

Meteora can only be described as spectacular. Its sandstone and limestone spires were pushed by volcanic activity from the floor of the Adriatic 50 million years ago, at the end of the Jurassic. A standing wall in the Theopetra cave has been dated back to 21,000 years ago. In the 14th century, Hermit monks, seeking…

Visiting Delphi

Delphi’s mythology, geography, architecture and history all combine to build interest In one of the worlds most unique areas. First Inhabited thousands of years ago in the Neolithic, and rebuilt on Mycenaean ruins, the oracle was founded in the eighth century BC when Opollo slew the serpent, python. Originally named Pythia, Delphi became known as…

Delphi And Greek Mythology

Zeus released two eagles from the “ends of the Earth”. They came together and crossed over Delphi, the center of the earth, its  omphalos or navel. Delphi became an important temple of many-talented Opollo, who among other diverse functions, was the god of prophecy. The inner sanctum of Opollo’s temple was in a cella, “dark…

The Landscape Of War

Ancient Greeks were either practicing to fight, as in the Olympic Games, fighting among themselves, or resisting larger, more unified neighbors such as Persia, Macedonia, and Rome. Famous battlegrounds decorated our way to Delphi.  As we left Olympia, we visited its port, Pirgos, the capital of the Elis prefecture. Next was Patrias, the site of…

Classic Olympia

The flurry excitement and action of the July and August Olympic Games in Ancient Olympia is hard to imagine looking at what remains; a few blocks of stone and fallen columns. The first stadium in the world was built there in 776 BC. One of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the giant, “divinely…

The Healers Of Epidaurus

The gods and mythological creatures came with us to Epidaurus. Asklepios, the child of Apollo and Coronis, was taught healing by Chiron, who was not at all the usual barbaric and chaotic centaur, but a good teacher, who also instructed Jason and Heracles. . The Snake coiled around Asklepios’ staff, still emblematic of the medical…

Mythology Or History?

Everything we saw in Greece was entwined with gods, heroes, and myths, so it was sobering to see an actual structure dated to about the time as the Trojan war, 1250 BC. Mycenae, on the Peloponnese, was the first ancient site we visited outside of Athens. On an outcropping of rock there( called the acropolis),…

First Impressions Of Venice

I returned to the Columbus hotel by taxi, and we made it to the train in good time. The 2 bottles of Montepulsiano wine nicely lubricated the salami sandwiches we ate on board. It was very fortunate that we had made reservations, since there was not a bit of room on the train.  We were…