Amalia Nauplion

... you’ll see in the Athens blog entry). The best-preserved thing we saw in the ancient city was the Lion Gate- the main entrance. It is a stone doorway with solid stone carvings of two lions over the top. When I walked through it I just kept thinking of how every Mycenaean must have walked through it thousands of years ago, including Agamemnon (if he really existed). Being somewhere that ancient almost gives you chills. It’s really incredible.
Mycenae, Peloponnese, Greece mdaa

Hi everybody,

As you all know, we are back in the states! I haven't had time to finish writing the last three blog entries but I will as soon as I am able. I just wanted to let you guys know so you can check back over the next few days.

I hope everyone is excited to read about Athens because that was our last city and it was epic. Check back soon!

-Michelle

One of our day trips from Nafplio was to Epidavros. This is a small town that is home to the world's best-preserved ancient Greek theater and an ancient healing sanctuary.

The theater was built in the 4th century B.C. and has 56 rows of limestone seats that can seat up to 15,000 people. It’s especially famous for its amazing acoustics. You can stand on a small, circular piece of stone in ...

... 8217;s amazing how the ancient Greeks came up with the idea of an amphitheater and their designs are still used today: amphitheaters, coliseums, stadiums. The most effective way to pack people in needed little improvement it seems.

Had a nice picnic lunch perched at the very topmost seats and enjoyed eavesdropping on everyone’s conversations while they walked through the theater.

... rocks. High indeed. With each rest break it was incredible to see the city and hillside around revealing itself. Inside, there were several separate Bastions belonging to different people. Each unique in it’s own way, and joined by more stairs. Our goal was UP. So we kept climbing until we found the topmost bastion with unobstructed 360 degree views.

This is the type of castle that didn’t need to worry about fortification. Just ...

... ancient times, the runners don't run naked, no doubt because no one wants to see their bare butt showing up on YouTube. But the costumes, the facilities and the procedures are recreated as faithfully as possible from the research. If you run, you go barefoot, you wear a white chiton, and you swear the ancient oath that you won't cheat in any way. "Be worthy of victory" is part of what the judges say to each athlete beforehand. All ...

... are a lot of stairs, believe me! Coupled with the incredible wind blowing at us from across the bay and sporadic rain showers, we make a concerted effort and finally get to the top. On the way we meet two other families, one from Corfu and the other from Germany . It is said that in the summer there are traffic jams on this route. Certainly not today! We turn the last corner....and find a closed door. We read the notice, which says the castle ...

... br>Yep! This is where you should stand and speak so that everyone in the the theater will hear you talk!











This is an olive tree! I've always thought it would be much ...

This city was nice clean and cheap. On the first night we got some gyros... then we got some more and more... the greeks know how to grill. The next day we saw the ancient corinthian/roman ruins in old corinth. THen we hiked up to the acrocorinth, a medivel for that resides on top of a mountain. This was absolutely amazing to climb to the top and hike amongst old ruins.. and it was free.

... the name Erastus, the city inspector of public works, because he had donated money to the building. This is significant because he is mentioned in Romans 16, and the stone provides non-Biblical evidence. There is also a base stone that has the name Sosthenes on it, a synagogue ruler from the New Testament. Corinth had many resources for water from the pubic water fountains and cisterns. These were some of the few structures not destroyed by ...