Delphi

Today we are visiting Delphi,  dedicated to Apollo,  and famous for the seat of Pythia the Oracle. Delphi was considered to be the centre of the world.

Layout of Delphi

Navel Stone

Treasury of Athens

Greek lesson today. Due to the donation made by the island of Chíos, the inscription reads that they shall take the oricale before all others.

Visit to the museum.

Sphinx 

Charioteer of Delphi

Twins

Thomas at the Sanctuary of Athena 

Short stop to see the monument to the battle of 300 Spartans.

Monument of Leonides

Olympia

Sanctuaries contained four elements: the altar, temple, stadium and the theatre. Yesterday we saw the best preserved theatre, today we are at Olympia, the site of the ancient Olympic games. The temple is dedicated to Zeus.

Temple of Hera,  wife of Zeus

Events held at the Olympic games included wrestling, discus, javelin and running. The length of the running race was a stade, so the place where the race was held was called a stadium. The tour guide arranged a little foot race for us in the stadium. We all got a chance to wear the olive wreath.

After the race in the stadium

We then made a visit to the museum. Original sculptures from the temple.

Now time for sightseeing...,

Up early again today, we have enough time to get a little walk in around our neighbourhood before we are picked up for our tour.

After rounding up the remaining group around Athens our first stop is  the Corinth Canal. Built between 1881-1893, opened to traffic October 28, 1893. Cut between the mainland and the Peloponnese it reduced the distance between the ports of te Aegean and the Adriatic seas by 131 nautical miles.

Basic data:

Length 6 343 m

Depth 8.0 m

Height 79 m

Transits annually 12 500

Our next stop is Epidaurus. The theatre is the best preserved monument at the Sanctuary of Asklepios, erected at the end of the 4th century B.C., seats 12,000 spectators.

Next on the agenda, Mycenae

Citadel of Mycenae dominates the Plain of Argos. 

According to myth, Mycenae was founded by Perseus, the son of Zeus and Danae, and employed the Cyclopes for the construction. 

The entrance to the citadel is marked by the Lion Gate, 1250 B.C.

Mycenae, was home to The Comannder-in-Chief of the Trojan Campaign, Agamemnon, King of Mycenae.

The wealthiest Mycenaeans were buried in behive-shaped tombs,

The entrance to the Treasury of Attreus 

One final stop at a local potter for a quick explanation of the creation of Mycenaean pottery, before we end the day in Olympia.

BRAVO CANADA

PB 9 years, 6:27:11

Acropolis

After our epic day yesterday, our plan today is not to walk a half marathon. After breakfast we head out to up the Acropolis.  Early enough in the day that there is no line up yet, in and up we go.

After the Acropolis, we had a gelato on the way to the Acropolis museum. Great museum ,

Of course no trip to Athens is complete without a little Polish dancing....

Poland is celebrating 100 years of independence on November 11. We saw them at the expo, and Belinda was hoping to get a t-shirt,  no luck though.

For dinner we went to the restaurant next to our hotel, ellévoro where Belinda had the five course 42k meal and I had the roast chicken, great meal.

We confirm our game plan for tomorrow. The day! Nervous, existed and anxious. 

Get A Taste of Athens

Arrived in Athens last night after an uneventful trip over. That is after being concerned if Belinda would get out of the north in time for our flight to Frankfurt,  she did, all well. We had a transfer from the airport arranged by the hotel. After a quick check in, we were off to find dinner. Found a little roof to restaurant with a view! Some fried feta and fig jam go start. I had a salad and Belinda a chickpea dish,  and cold beers to round it out.

Up early Friday morning for a run, we head to the gardens near by and get our 6km in. And then we are off to meet Pascal for our food tour of Athens.
First stop, traditional coffee house for Greek coffee, accompanied by loukoumi (Turkish Delight).

Next stop 'Open Sesame' for a koulouri, with a new twist on an old tradition. It is Athens version of the New York bagel, sold all over the streets. We have one filled with feta and the other a Greek salad. Both super yummy.

Then we are off to have loukoumades, a Greek donut smothered in honey.

No food tour would be complete without an olive oil tasting. Followed by Greek yogurt and honey. Man I love Greek yogurt,  nothing like Greek style yogurt back home. Belinda picks up a few items to take home.

Then we stroll through the meat and fish markets. Then we are off to sample. Olives, buckets of olives. Belinda samples a few varieties and has some packaged up to take home for Nick, apparently he loves olives.

Across the street we head downstairs to a taverns for lunch, Diporto taverna. These tavernas are a tradition that is dying. They are not marked and you would never know it was down there. The owner will go to the market in the morning and buy what is fresh and cook it, no menu, no options.
Fish, chickpeas, greens and wine. Tasty!

Next on our agenda is package pick up! I thought I knew where it was, but surprise I didn't.  So back to the hotel to change shoes, drop off Belinda's shopping. And off to the expo. Two metros and a tram,  assistance from a couple runners and we make it. Pick up a few gels, socks and headphones. Get our t-shirt and metro passes and we're outta there. Back to our neighbourhood for dinner. Belinda opts for kalamari stuffed with feta and rice, I had spaghetti Bolognese, no complaints. Now that we've walked a half marathon today, we are done!

Out on the water

We have decided on a 2 hour cruise down the Danube. But first breakfast. Sounds simple, but no. We passed a breakfast place last night and our plan is to go there. After walking around, literally around,  for half an hour we still haven't found it. We do find an alternative, but are informed we can't get food for another half hour. No thanks, we'll continue on and hopefully find our original destination.  And 50 minutes later we do, but they finished serving breakfast at 10, and lunch doesn't start till 11. Really! After a bit longer we find a place and finally eat.

We are all set for our 1pm departure, the fiasco of the morning not quite forgotten. We are on the Swarovski boat.

We sit on top and enjoy the hours on the water.

Mexican tonight for dinner for a change of pace. And an early night (as usual), for tomorrow we are off to Munich.