Dec 28, 2008 – Patras, Greece – Ferry to Brindisi, Italy

This photo was taken on our way to Patras and looks out across the Sea of Corinth to Greece on the other side.  Seeing the freezing level so vividly reminded us of both the North Shore mountains in Vancouver and the Sooke Hills on Vancouver Island.

We arrived in Patras in good time and boarded our ship, the Ionian Queen.  The Minoan Line boat that Allister is looking at is a competitor but gives an idea of the size of ship on these routes.  As with our trip to Greece, this boat was a car ferry and we had booked an inside stateroom so we could sleep on our overnight trip.

Here is another view from our ship.  Allister is looking in the direction our ship would take after departure on our way to Italy.

There are also mountains to the south of Patras and you can sure tell its December from the snow at higher elevations!

This was interesting.  A crowd of young men had gathered on the other side of our ship as we waited to depart.  You see them in the photo below just to the right of the middle of the photo. 

We asked crew members who they were and why there was military and other law enforcement so visible in the port area and were told they were immigrants trying to stowaway on a boat bound for Italy.

Dec 27, 2008 – Melissi, Greece – En route to the Patras-to- Brindisi ferry

We left Poros on the morning of December 27th and headed towards Patras where we would board our ferry to Brindisi, Italy.

Having passed through Patras on our entry to Greece, we had little appetite to spend the night there but thought it was a good idea to get within easy reach so we’d be on hand in good time to board our ship on the afternoon of the 28th.

Our goal on this day was to reach a place called Melissi on the north coast of the Peloponnese just past Corinth that would leave us with an easy 2.5 hour drive to Patras the next day.

Just out of Poros, we saw this inlet with a site that is familiar on BC’s north coast.

The Lido Hotel in Melissi was family-run and they made us feel very welcome. It was located on the waterfront but at this time was catering mostly to those spending the holidays in the area or, like us, just passing through.

Our family has a soft spot for old VW products because of Laura-Lyn’s family history.  Love of VWs seems to have passed on to Charlotte who took this photo of a fine specimen that belonged to our hosts at the Lido Hotel.

Dec 23 – 26, 2008 – Christmas in Poros, Greece

From Stemnitsa, we headed for the city of Poros, located on the island of Poros on the east coast of the Peloponnese peninsula (see Google map here).  This was where we spent Christmas 2008.

The island of Poros is separated from the mainland by about 500 meters of ocean and you get there on the ferry shown below that we were about to board when this picture was taken.

The view from the ferry on its short (<10 min trip to the island).  The apartment where we stayed was just back from the waterfront, near the base of the clock tower.

A typical street scene.  Like many places in Europe you could stay in shape going up and down the stairs, like many of the elders in these communities.

Orange trees, a common site in Greece, this time right in a square in Poros.

A road winds round Poros and we drove it one day (takes about 30 minutes to circumnavigate).  This was the view from the top of Poros, looking in the direction of Athens.

On Christmas Eve we took a walk around the bay that’s formed by the island of Poros and the mainland.  Our apartment was almost directly behind the sail boat you see in the middle of the bay. 

The boat was a beautiful wood sailboat and easily visible out our apartment window.  We never saw anyone on the boat and appeared as though it might have been moored in Poros for the winter, waiting for next year’s cruising season.

The sun was setting as we began the walk back to our apartment and provided interesting lighting for this picture.

One of the objectives of our drive around the island was to find a nice branch for a Christmas tree.  This is what we found with our presents all ready for Christmas day.

These socks didn’t have much capacity, but they maintained the Christmas tradition!

Ferries and other boats came and went at all hours of the day and night.  This was one of the Athens ferries.  This picture was taken from our apartment.  We were one flight of stairs up the waterfront.

This picture doesn’t show it too clearly but this is a hydrofoil that was a member of the Flying Dolphin high-speed ferry service that operates between the mainland and the islands. 

As many will know, peak Greek ferry season is May – October but for islands like Poros seemed well-served even at this time of year, although its possible extra ferries were added for the holiday season.

Allister helping out in the kitchen.  I could make any of a number of smart-aleck comments but I won’t.   It was nice to have his help.

Dec 22, 2008 – Stemnitsa, Greece

After leaving Olympia, we were headed for the opposite (east) side of the Peloponnese peninsula for the island of Poros where we planned to spend Christmas.  This was a little too long a drive for one day so we decided to stop in Stemnitsa (see Google map link).

The central part of the Peloponnese peninsula is quite different from the coast – mountainous and very scenic with deep gorges.  We didn’t capture the name of this city, but this picture gives you an idea of the scenery.

On our way to Stemnitsa, our guide book described a museum in a village called Dimitsana was a crucial center for the manufacture of gunpowder during the Greek War of Independence in the 1820s against the Ottomans.  The museum displayed the use of water power in manufacturing a variety of agriculture (corn meal, animal hides) and commercial (gunpowder, raki liquor).

It was surprisingly polished for a museum in the middle of a string of small villages and then we learned that its construction had been funded to the tune of 600,000 Euros by the EU.  At the museum we met a family from South Africa.  The father was the son of Greek immigrants to South Africa but his father had a house in a nearby village that they used when visiting Greece.  Interestingly, the children spoke English, Greek, and were learning Zulu which has probably taken over from Afrikaans since the fall of the apartheid.

A picture showing the water flowing through the site used to power the various processing equipment.  We met a Greek-Australian and his family while we were at the sight (his family owned an apartment in a nearby village they used when they were visiting his parents) and he said that capital and operating expenses for this museum were provided by European Union grant(s).  He had a few choice words about local politics – something about everyone having to get paid – which left me in no doubt he would not be leaving his residence in Australia for his ancestral home anytime soon.

The water-powered corn mill.

 

The tanning room.

During our visit to this museum we learned that gunpowder is a compound made of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate and needs to be mixed together as part of its manufacture.  That is the function of this machine was also powered by water which raised and lowered these poles and crushed the gunpowder which was placed in the holes beneath the poles.

This is a raki still.  They put the grape stems and skins in the ball at the left and then heat it along with some alcohol and collect the distillate out the spout at right of the picture.

This is the town of Stemnitsa which is located at about 1200 meters elevation from the road in front of our B&B.  It reminded it of hill towns we’d seen in France and Italy.  Yes, that is a skiff of snow on the rooftops that had fallen a day or two before our arrival.

This picture below is of the bed and breakfast we stayed at in Stemnitsa.  We were on the floor just about the rock wall – I think the balcony you see pictured was attached to our room but we didn’t test it. 

The family of the B&B owner, Nena (pictured below), owned this house and one on the other side of the village.  Nena had lived and worked as a teacher in another part of Greece and had eventually decided to move back to the village and develop one of the family homes into this lovely B&B which she operated with great grace and hospitality.  The other family business was the village bakery that her mother operated – we had great Greek cookies and goodies during our stay.

Here is a picture of Nena, in a pose with some attitude, which seemed in character.  She was great and our stay with her ranked with the best of the entire trip.  We’ll never forget the breakfast she made and the view from her breakfast room which had a great view of the village.

On our way to Poros from Stemnitsa we gained a little more elevation and evidently got above the freezing level and found snow for the first time on our trip.  Allister had heard about the snowfall back in Canada and was missing the chance to throw snowballs and make a snowman so, for his benefit, we got out of the car and scraped together a few snowballs.

Dec 20 – 21, 2008 – Olympia, Greece

Our next stop was the town of Olympia, home of the Ancient Olympic Games.  This Google map link shows its location on the Peloponnese peninsula.

There are 4 museums in the town and we decided to visit the archaeological museum and the site of the ancient Olympic games.

This first picture shows Allister and Charlotte entering the stadium to the applause of … well… one proud parent.

The stadium was the site of the running events and, according to information available at the site, could seat up to 45,000 spectators.  The stone structure you see on the far side of the track was the judges area.

Allister and Charlotte at the start line.

Another important building on the site is the temple of Zeus which, according to a description in one of our guidebooks is the largest temple in the Peloponnese and considered a perfect example of Doric architecture.

The temple was built to house the Statue of Zeus at Olympia that was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  The following is an artist’s rendition of the statue, housed with the Temple.

This rather unassuming monument, Hera’s Altar, is the place where, since 1936 AD (fairly recent, I’d say) for the Berlin Olympics, the Olympic flame has been lit.

There was also an excellent museum located across the street from the archeological site that had a number of well-preserved and interesting exhibits.

 

Some examples of early helmets.  These date from around 400 BC.

Dec 17 – 19, 2008 – Gialova, Greece – Methoni Castle

A short drive south of Gialova, is a city called Methoni.  It looks like many of the other cities in the area – and not as cute as Pylos, but it has an old Byzantine castle that we explored on an afternoon drive through the area around Gialova.  It turned out to be very scenic.

For our family any place located on the ocean (or a sea) is automatically attractive and when that sea is breaking onto land, we get even more interested.  When the ocean is breaking against a centuries-old castle, its pretty much irresistible.  Methoni Castle had all these things.

This was one of our first views of the castle after we parked our car and walked 50 meters to the ocean.

Charlotte and Laura-Lyn walking towards the bridge over the moat that leads to the entrance to the castle.

The site was quite large and it was late in the day and we almost didn’t walk down to the end of it.  The castle was supposed to close at 1500 hours but it was already 1605 when we took this picture and we joked darkly about spending the night on the site if we went down and explored this end.  We were glad we did (and we didn’t get locked in!).

As we got closer to the edge of the castle grounds we could see this guard house through some gaps in the fortifications.  We headed towards an arch that looked like the way you got an unobstructed view.

But as we passed through the arch and emerged on the other side of the fortification, this was the view that greeted us – the Mediterranean surge passing through this arched bridge – very neat!

 

This was a photo of the surge as it approached the arched bridge.

This photo was taken from the guard house back towards the fortifications and the arched bridge and shows the surge  through the arches.