Paul's Ol' Stomping Grounds
Trip Start
May 17, 2009
1
21
26
Trip End
Jul 02, 2009
Corinth,
Peloponnese,
Greece
Friday, June 26, 2009
We were awakened at about 4:30 this morning by the arrival of Johnny and Mrs. Brooks. We were expecting them at that time so we weren't surprised when they walked in so early. They were actually supposed to get to Athens 24 hours earlier but they had a series of delayed and canceled flight so they didn't get in till this morning. They were tired and soon went to sleep so we were able to as well.
Bekah and I thought we would go to breakfast at 7:45 and finish up seeing Athens so we could meet up with Johnny and Mrs. Brooks later. We thought we could just spend another day in the area and extend our stay at the hotel. However, when we went down to breakfast and told them we wanted to stay longer, they said they were full and we couldn't stay. This meant a change of plans cuz we would have to pack up our stuff, take it with us, and not have a place to go back to. We returned to our room after breakfast and explained to Bekah's family the situation. Since we all would have to pack up and leave, we decided to just finish Athens at the end of our trip and head out of town today.
Corinth was the destination we decided on. By the time we got out of the hotel, it was 10:30 and then we had to get into the center of Athens which took a little more than an hour by the time we got to the train station. We bought tickets to Corinth to take a train that comes once an hour. We got to the platform at about 12:07, just as we saw the 12:06 train to Corinth leave. So yes, we missed the train and ended up having to wait until the 1:06 train came. Let's just say travel in Greece is not nearly as efficient as other European countries.
Now let me just say that the 4 of us look like the quintessential American tourists traveling around a foreign country. First of all, we've all got the big fat backpacks stuffed with our entire wardrobe that we carried around all day. Then there's also one or 2 of us snapping a picture. (I have a camera now...a package from home that came with the Brooks!) Between Mrs. Brooks' fanny pack and our glowing white legs in the midst of the bronze colored Greeks, we can't help but stick out like a sore thumb. Whereas Bekah and I could blend in pretty well in Germany and we were often seen as any other local, here in Greece, which is like a mix of Europe, Mexico, and the Middle East in the way it feels, the whole blending in thing doesn't work so well. Most people just speak English to us before even asking.
When we arrived in Corinth after the hour and 15 minute train ride, we hopped on a bus that would take us to the city center, a spot we thought we needed to go in order to find the main bus station. It turns out that even if we had needed to go to the city center (which we didn't), we got off the bus too soon at an accidental random stop anyways that left us in a fairly empty run down part of town. Now all we could do is wander around until we found the bus station, and after asking some firemen and shop owners with broken English, we found a little bus station. We took a local bus to the big canal in Corinth. It's a huge canal built in the late 1800s that connects the Ionian Sea and Aegean Sea. It's 6343 meters long and 79 meters down to sea level where the canal water is 8m deep. It's just huge to look at!
A taxi took us from the canal to Ancient Corinth. Overall, there were hardly any tourists that we saw in any part of Corinth. The remains of the ancient city sit at the base of the Acrocorinth and still felt pretty high up compared to today's Corinth. When I say remains, there is literally only remains. While some parts you can get an idea of some of the structure of the building, others are only a few inches of the foundation sticking out of the ground. It was cool to walk around because Greek sites don't force you to stand 20 feet away from everything. We were able to go right up to some things and walk right on top of others. The largest structure was the remains of the Temple of Apollo where 7 of the 38 columns still reach towards the sky, despite being built in the 6th century BC. We were able to walk through the remains of the forum and other shops, as well as more temples. It's unbelievable how many gods and temples these people had. In one of the central areas of all of that was the place where the Apostle Paul was accused and brought before the rulers. There is also a big marble walkway, a fountain, and some mosaics that have been well preserved. The small museum there housed numerous statues, pots, and mosaics that are all well over 2000 years old. It was interesting to see how ancient Corinth had been set up. It was also interesting to see how complex their art and architecture was so long ago. Just outside the site you could look over the ruins of an ancient theater that stretched all the way down the hill. It was all a somewhat successful day of sight seeing in Corinth despite all the transportation issues and confusion for the first half of the day.
