Princessa Pithagórion

... but finally looted for spare parts. Only a few bits and pieces of stone remain now.

And what of the great goddess herself and all the commissions the silversmiths were concerned about? Only 2 partial marble statues remain - nothing silver has been excavated.

It’s amazing to think that something so important, so fixed in people’s minds, so irrefutable of the day can be gone so ...

... br> As we drove out of Izmir, which used to be called Smyrna, we saw how clean the streets were and how handsome the people. Many have the most beautiful golden skin tone, and aquiline features. They are generally graceful and elegant.
Did you know that Turkey is on two continents? The larger Eastern part is in Asia and is called Anatolia. The smaller Western part is called Frea(?) and is in Europe. 95% of the people are Muslim and there are mosques ...

... harbour became silted over seemed out of sync with the rest of Europe in its time of immersion in the Dark Ages. So much knowledge was lost or suppressed at that time by those who contributed nothing to the rational and wonderful development of the world. The civilisations that created places such as Ephesus and the Acropolis were so advanced and their writings and thoughts were burned in the large libraries they had created by the pagan ignorant and the Christian destroyers. How ...

... actually living there. Our guide was great- she told us about many of the leaders that had come to the city and the influence they had had and she had heaps of funny stories and pointed out many details that we would have missed on our own. The theatre could hold up to 24,000 people and we walked through the entrance that the gladiators would have come through. Apparently, despite what movies portray, one gladiator did not always have to die ...

The village of Mitilinii.

The village of Mitilinii is situated in the southern part of Samos. We have heard that the Aegean Paleontology and Physical Museum is situated here.
On the road to Pythagorio we make a detour to the village of Mitilinii where unique fossilize animals thatlived in the region 8-10 million years ago were discovered.

The museum is housed in a neat modern building situated on the outskirts of the village.

... to be the most intact ruins of the Roman Empire, more complete, in fact, than Pompeii. Much of the city is still embedded in the mountainside; excavations have been going on since the 1970's and will likely continue for decades. Ephesus was a magnificent city, and hosted Cleopatra and Mark Antony; nearby are the basilica of St. John, where the Virgin Mary is said to have resided at one time, and the Temple of Artimis, which today is ...

... in Ephesus, Artemis took other forms and other names, because the mother goddess predates her as Cybele in Anatolia (Turkey) and Gaia in Greece. In Rome Artemis, the Greek name, was also called Diana, and the ancient idols still survive today, with some in natural human form and others in more symbolic form, with multiple breasts, signs of the zodiac, and animals, explaining all the aspects of the goddess. The Roman ruins were extensive, yet for a city ...

Khios Marina. We left the beautiful Oinoussos on Friday 9th and sailed down to Khios where we berthed in the "new" marina. Most Greek marinas go through a very strange life cycle in which they are conceived as a good idea which will bring in loadsa dosh to the local economy, a large chunk of the capital is obtained from the EU, the rest promised from various sources. The project is started and rapidly some walls and pontoons appear. Suddenly - nothing more happens ...

... such clear water - you can easily see the fishes swimming around, even in the deeper water! So on to the first beach and out for a paddle. Then Tina lets out a yelp - one of the cute little fishes has had a nibble of her ankles - then another! Chris doesn't believe her so comes out to stand knee deep in the water...and gets nibbled too!! Not enough to draw blood, but enough for an unpleasant surprise. The trick is to keep swimming or moving - as soon ...

Grabbed an early ferry from Kusadasi, Turkey to Samos, Greece. Turkey was awesome and I will have to go back, lots to see (plus I didn't buy a rug which they were so desperately trying to sell me, I wanted to keep asking them to get me a flying carpet, never did though). Short ferry to Samos, only 1.5 hours. Hanging out here for a couple of hours and then we will be taking another ferry to Mykonos (about 8 hours). Greece looks like it will be quite ...