With a good breakfast on our stomach we continued our way again. We drove on end to Olympia. This is about 150 km driving from Pylos. Upon arrival (still in the morning), we dropped our luggage at the hotelroom and immediatly we started to explore the old Olympic village. But first we went to the museum, where all the excavated items (statues, attributes and military equipment) are showcased. This was nice and impressive to see. After a scanty breakfast we continued our way, first in the direction of Areopoli. Here nearby is a stalactite cave. This was really special to see. It's a route of 1,2 km by a small boat, you have to do the last 300 meters on foot. In the cave the massive chambers vary with alleys so narrow the boats just fit through it! The water is so crystal clear (like a glass of water). In the cave there's just a peaceful silence, the only thing you hear is the sound of rippling water. After a good breakfast we got in the car to drive 190 km to Gythio. But on our way we drove to Mystras via Sparta. This is a monastery village that contains a lot of ruins and about 5 quite intact monasteries. These monasteries are build against a mountainwall, so it's a lot of climbing and catching your breath. The terrain is actually massively big and sepperated in 2 pieces. After a good breakfast we took the car and drove to Mykines, this is about half an hour driving away from Tolo. In Mykines, or actually just outside of it we went to the fortress. Actually, the ruins of it, because it dates back from 1600 until 1300 B.C. thus making it the oldest ruins of the ancient Greek civilization. In the ruins there's a royal tomb, a palace, storage depots, a well and an underground cistern. This morning we had a delicious and solid breakfast. After breakfast we left Athens (unfortunately) behind us and took the car to drive to Tolo (170 km). On our way we stopped at a place, 20 km before Isthmia. Here is a bridge crossing a channel. The bridge itself isn't really special but the channel was digged out by hand in the time of Napoleon. The bridge is about 70 meters high, this gives you an idea how deep the channel was dug out. Besides that the channel is also verry narrow, I found it quite strange for such a deep channel... The water is azure of color by the way and crystal clear, the water looked like it just came from a Caribbean paradise! On the 1st full day in Athens we had a delicious breakfast, after that we hit the city. Today was mainly about the Acropolis. We took the subway to that place and from here we walked upstairs. The Acropolis is the name of the fortress / terrain. On this area you can find the Parthenon. This formerly temple is actually a lot bigger then I had Imagined. Furthermore there are some ruins scattered around and you have a beautifully 360° view over the city! Good evening / night people! The day started very early, at half past four(!!) my alarm clock went of. Quickly I packed the last things, ate a sandwich and had something to drink and then we went to Schiphol for the flight to Athens. After 3 hours of flying (which was a very smooth flight by the way) we arrived in the Greek capital. Then we picked up the rental car and drove to the hotel ... but navigating in Greece is a huge drama, the details on the map does not really match the information you see along the way. On the highways it wasn't that bad, but navigating in the streets was a disaster. |
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