Hotel Possidonion Spetses

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

... ground and some solid foundations but it’s still cool to see the large size of the sanctuary and use your imagination when you’re walking around the grounds. Asclepius, the son of Apollo, was the god of healing and it’s said that he built this sanctuary to hold the ill. Among all the rubble you also come across a huge field area which was used for exercise and sports in ancient times.

... extended beyond the natural lay of the land, has there been repairs made. Looking at some of the chipped, yet worn rock seats I was amazed at how they’ve stood the test of time and wondered who may have occupied them over the last 2200 years.

The size and scale of this thing were truly amazing to behold. Even with my widest angle on my camera, I couldn’t get it all in ...

... walking along the harbor. The one big thing we did was climbing to the top of the hill, to the Palamidi Fortress. It’s actually a Venetian fortress, built in the early 18th century. It’s just how you would think an old fortress on a hill would look too. It’s all made of stone and winds around the top of the big hill. I counted how many stairs it was to the top: 890. It was actually a little less than we imagined it would ...

... either. He found a pen belonging to an archaeologist (his name was engraved on it), and a living ancients monument: a tortoise!

For the late afternoon, we clambered up to the top of the rocks for a commanding view of the surrounding water and watched the sun set while drinking really bad Retsina. Interesting enough to try, but has quite a kick. Not recommended for climbing down the rocks in the dark…

... Ginger' again and went on a local tour; swimming in Kiln Bay, overnight under the stars in Hinitsa and then a longer-than-expected swim in to Maistraiki for lunch before returning to Porto Heli.The week ended in fine style with the Spetses Armata festival – the annual firework fest celebrating local heroine Laskarina Boubolina's victory in the 1821 war of independence. The display is massive and we were on Spetses for once, cowering beneath huge explosions and ...

Corinthian Travels in the Gulf of Corinth The word "Corinthian" derives from the ancient inhabitants of Corinth who were renowned for their skills at Horseriding (Gina and I both enjoy that), Sailing ('nuff said) and Fighting (Gina has a mean right hook when necessary). Thus our travels here could be truly termed Corinthian! Itea. We decided, on Wednesday, to head for Itea which is an iron ore mining town a short bus ride from ancient Delphi. The pilot ...

... dreams, the god himself would advise them what they had to do to regain their health. Found in the sanctuary, there was a guest house for 160 guestrooms. There are also mineral springs in the vicinity which may have been used in healing. The prosperity brought by the Asklepieion enabled Epidauros to construct civic monuments such as the huge theater, the ceremonial Hestiatoreion ...

... drama, painting, music, dance, and song. Drama can be traced back to the religious worship of Dionysus and you can see where an altar once stood in the orchestra. Of course being in this great theater required us to sing - for an audience this time, who did give us quite an applause (amplified of course). We also ran some of our own acoustics tests to make sure this theater was all it was worked up to be. We climbed to the top row of seating and our guide stood ...

... ride and ate lots of excellent Greek food on the harbour front, watching the world go by. Then it was back on the stuffed-full-of-cars 'Katerina Star' and home for Friday evening.

The weather has been interesting - we had one of our occasional big winds (the Punedi) on Saturday, which came out of nowhere just as we were derigging our Laser 4000. Within minutes it was blowing a force 6 and a smoothly oiled plan moved into ...