Athens

We loaded up the bus and departed Poros for Athens. Another rest stop at the Corinthian Cut and we arrive around 11:00. We tour Athens by bus checking out the “old” Olympic Stadium and Plaka District. We enjoyed lunch at Tabepna Vizantino in the Plaka. After lunch we check into the Athens Plaza hotel.

Map Photos

Poros Island by ATV

Today was a free day on the island of Poros. We rented ATV (4-tracks) and went touring the island. Achaia Claus Winery

Map Photos

Hydra

Today we catch a hydrofoil from Poros to the Island of Hydra (see map). Hydra is home of the Greek Naval Academy and our first stop is the Naval Museum. Sailors from Hydra played an important role in winning Greek independence from the Turks. After the museum we wandered the streets and this very picturesque town. No automobiles or mopeds are allowed on the island so all transport is by mule.

After returning to Poros, I went for a quick dip in the Agean. It wasn’t much warmer that Chrissy Field in San Francisco.

Map Photos

Poros

We are staying in the Hotel New Aegli a nice place about 2 km out of town right on the water. I’m up early and after breakfast mom and I walk into town. I’m scouting out places to rent bicycles and kayaks. At 10:00 am we catch a water taxi from the hotel to downtown Poros. Poros is the home town of Marie the AHI guide who is with us the entire trip. She gives us a tour of downtown finishing with a trip to the museum of archeology. We have lunch at Taverna Apagio where the owners Spyros and Liz entertain us with tales of how they met and got into the restaurant business.

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Mycenae & Epidaurus

We depart Patras and the Hotel Achaia Beach for good this morning. We retrace our route along the south edge of the Corinthian Gulf and pick up a new guide Kristina in at the Corinthian Cut. We roll into Mycenea at 11:00. Mycenae dating from the 16th Century BC is the legendary palace of Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks in the siege of Troy. This is where the Mask of Agamemnon was excavated. Just down the hill from Mycenae we visit the Treasury of Atreus. After lunch at Kolizeras Restaurant we on the road again.

We arrive at Epidaurus at 3:00 pm. Epidaurus is known for the best preserved theater and the Asklepion a sanctuary where ancient Greeks came for healing by snakes. After Epidaurus we made for our final destination on the Island of Poros.

Map Photos

Olympia

We bus out to Olympia watching a super cheesy DVD on the first Olympics. Today’s guide is Ioanna Papakosta. We check out the museum first. There are helmets from the battle of Marathon both Greek and Persian, also the classical sculpture of Hermes. After the museum we tour the grounds of the early Olympics. Archeologists are currently excavating the Hippodrome where horse and chariot races where held.

Map Photos

Delphi

Lecture on the history of Greece (part II) by Dimitris again. At 9:30 we depart for Delphi with a new guide named Konstantina. She tells tales of sea battles, occupation by the Turks, and extra virgin olive oil. We stop at Clovino Beach for a break, the roads are relatively quite as this is day six of a truck driver strike so petrol deliveries are limited. At Delphi we hike up the Sacred Way past the Athenian Treasury to the Temple of Apollo. Some of us continue up to the Stadium at the top. Afterwards we climb back down to the museum that houses the famous bronze of the charioteer. Map Photos

Patras

We get up early for a lecture on the history of Greece (part I) by Dimitris Karagiannis. Afterwards we tour Patras the third largest city in Greece. The first stop is the Agios Andreas (cathedral of St. Andrew). Legend has it that St. Andrew was crucified at this site on an ‘X’ shape cross. In the 1960s the Vatican returned the head and cross to the Eastern Church. We then tour the central plaza and watched mom work the ATM. Lunch was at the Darious on the water. After a quick nap we toured the Achaia Clauss winery.

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Transfer Athens to Patras

We meet up with the rest of the tour group including my mom and dad at the Athens airport. We load up on a bus and drive from Athens to Patras along the south coast of the Corinthian Gulf. Along the way we check out the Corinthian Cut.

Map

Athens Before Tour

We set out on foot for the National Archaeological Museum, it’s crammed full of famous art pieces from the Minoans to classical Greek period (5th Century BC). Be sure to check out the link and remember the Mask of Agamemnon as we will visit where it was excavated later in the trip. On the way to the museum we got lost a couple of times but managed to take in a couple of other Athens highlights. After lunch at a little restaurant near the Monastiraki station we toured the flea market. See the photos.

Arriving Athens

The date changed somewhere over Iceland. I watched “No Country for Old Men”, kind of rambling with a high body count. Not really Oscar material but what do I know. We arrive in Frankfurt at 10:15 am, hard to believe I lived here for a year in 1989. After passing through security in San Francisco and New York, the Germans seize my soap and mouth wash. At 5:30 pm we arrive in Athens and catch a cab to the Hilton. The Athens Hilton is very nice with a view of the Acropolis.

San Francisco to Frankfurt

We leave SFO at 9:35 am having been delivered by Supershuttle driver Kairy Roosevelt who had a knack of stopping in the middle of intersections and trying to figure out where to go. Arriving in New York at 5:40 pm we enjoy a “Famous 42nd Street” hamburger and Sam Adams before catching the Singapore Airlines flight to Frankfurt.